Developmental psychology - Developmental issues from life cycle Flashcards
What is development?
Development is an event constituting a new stage in a changing situation.
Development leads to growth –> progress –> advances –> maturity –> Characteristics/ changes –> Decline
Definition of developmental psychology
Psychology in general is the science or
investigation and study of human and animal
behaviour.
• It is a science that seeks to understand and predict
human and animal behaviour.
What is the concern of developmental psychology
Developmental psychology is concerned with
exploring development and change in thoughts,
feelings and behaviours across the lifespan as well as
health and illness patterns that develop during the
lifespan.
The branches of developmental psychology
The branches of study of developmental psychology are •child development, •adolescent development and •adulthood development.
#The field of human development, in its entirety/totality , is regarded as developmental psychology.
Lifespan development
Child psychology focuses on the developmental
changes of children from conception to early
adolescent.
Child psychology is the centre of developmental
psychology since brain & behaviour develops
rapidly in the childhood state.
Adolescent psychology and adulthood psychology
deal with developmental changes, characteristics and
problems that occur especially in adolescence and
adulthood periods.
Six aims in studying human development
How do these influence health and illness patterns. These would be of medical interest.
i) What are the common and characteristic age changes
in brain, physical aspects , behaviour, interests, and goals
from one development period to another;
ii) When do these changes occur;
iii) What causes the changes;
iv) What behaviour changes ;
v) Whether they can or cannot be predicted; and
vi) Whether they are individual or universal
Bio-psycho-social aspects of development
from pre-natal stage to adult stage and old age/senescence
The goal of developmental psychology is to identify how
the individual develops biologically, psychologically and
socially
Psychological development means
-Cognitive (thinking, reasoning, intellectual,
-perception
affectively –feelings and regulation of feelings
Biological Development means
physical & motor
development
Social Development means
-ability to relate constructively to
other humans and the environment/social
maladaptation.
What does developmental psychology emphasize and what does the study include?
Developmental psychology emphasizes the factors affecting
developmental changes, and the orderliness and sequential
nature of human development.
Thus developmental psychology is a special branch of
psychology focusing on physical & mental processes which
involve growth and developmental changes. This relates to
aspects of differentiation, maturation, and learning;
It also includes the integration of biological, cognitive
(thoughts) and affective (emotional) processes (Akinboye et al
1982).
The above study also includes the study of processes that
contribute to foundations of life in terms of fertilisation, zygote
formation, embryonic development leading to the development
of the neonate, the child, adolescent, adult and senescence (old
age)
Mind development in developing brain
- Thought development
- Memory Development
- Attention & concentration
- Perception
- Feelings and Intelligence
The concept of the use defined brain…
-Reflects the idea.. that our brains are shaped by
repetitive neural experiences [RNE]
-RNE result in the formation of strong synaptic connections
(“cells that fire together, wire together”)
-The mind develops in the brain partly,
due to the result of repeated early experience or adaptation
to early conditions that have become synaptically sculpted
(hard wired) into neural circuits.
Freud’s personality structure and Psychosexual stages of development
Freud theorized that as we develop, 3 personality structures emerge. These are the : 1. Id 2. Ego 3. Superego
Freudian Psychological stages of development
- Oral
- Anal
- Phallic
- Latency
- Genital
Oral = 0-2 years
Infant achieves gratification through oral activities such as feeding , thumb sucking and babbling
Anal = 2-3 years
The child learns to respond to some of the demands of society (such as bowel and bladder control)
Phallic 3 - 7 years
The child learns to realize the difference between males and females and becomes aware of sexuality
Latency 7-11 years
The child continues his or her development but sexual urges are relatively quiet
Genital 11 - adults years
The growing adolescent shakes off old dependencies and learns to deals maturely with the opposite sex
Piaget’s Cognitive Development. The four stages of cognitive development
Piaget developed four stages to his theory:
1. Sensori-Motor stage - the discovery of the relationship between sensation and motor behavior. Object permanence and separation anxiety. [0-2]
- Pre-operational stage - Use of symbols to represent objects internally, especially through language. Ability to pretend. Egocentric. [2-6]
- Concrete operational stage - Mastery of logic and development of “rational” thinking. Can add and subtract. The child understands conservation. [7-12]
- Formal operational stage
Development of abstract and hypothetical reasoning. [12-adults]
Erikson’s Psychosocial Stages
These are in an order of increasing complexity
- Trust vs mistrust [infant -2 years]
- Autonomy vs shame & doubt [2 -3 years]
- Initiative vs guilt [3-5 years]
- Industry vs
inferiority [5-13 years] - Identity vs role
confusion [13 -21 years] - Intimacy vs isolation [21-39 years]
- Generatively vs
stagnation [40 -65] - Ego integrity vs
despair [65- older]
Kohlberg’s stages of moral development
I. Pre-Conventional Morality (EARLY CHILDHOOD)
II. Conventional Morality
III. Post-Conventional Morality
Kohlberg’s 6 stages of moral development
Post-conventional Morality
Stage 6:Universal Ethics Orientation
Stage 5:Social Contract Orientation
Conventional morality
Stage 4:Law and Order Orientation (EARLY ADOLESCENCE)
Stage 3:Social Conformity Orientation (MIDDLE TO LATE
CHILDHOOD)
pre-conventional morality
Stage 2: Self-Interest Orientation
Stage 1:Obedience or Punishment Orientation.
