College of Education

School of Continuing and Distance Education 2014/2015 – 2016/2017

PSYC 335

Developmental Psychology I

Session 1 – Introduction to Developmental Psychology

Lecturer: Dr. Joana Salifu Yendork, Department of Psychology

Contact Information: jyendork@ug.edu.gh

godsonug.wordpress.com/blog

Session Overview

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• Psychology has several sub-disciplines and Developmental Psychology is one of such with a unique focus. The aim of this

session is to introduce students to aspects of the disciplines in

terms of definition, the characteristics, domains, stages of lifespan, the concept of age and themes.

Session Outline

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The key topics to be covered in the session are as follows:

• What is Developmental Psychology

• Nature/characteristics of development

• Domains of human development

• Concept of age and stages of lifespan

• Themes/controversies/issues in human development

• Goals of developmental psychology

Reading List

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• Read Chapter 1 of Developmental Psychology: Childhood and

adolescence, Shaffer & Kipp (2014); and Chapter 1 of development through the lifespan, Berk (2006)

Topic One

WHAT IS DEVELOPMENTAL

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PSYCHOLOGY

What is Developmental Psychology?

• Development: systematic continuities and changes in the

individual that occur between conception and death

(Shaffer & Kipp, 2010, 2014).

• Systematic: changes are orderly, patterned, and relatively

enduring

• Continuities: ways in which individuals remain the same or continue to reflect our past

• Development: pattern of change that begins at conception and continues through the life span (Santrock, 2011)

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What is Developmental Psychology?

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• Branch of psychology devoted to identifying and

explaining the continuities and changes that individuals display over time (Shaffer & Kipp, 2010, 2014).

• Branch of psychology devoted to studying pattern of change that begins at conception and continues

through the life span (Santrock, 2011)

Topic Two

NATURE/CHARACTERISTICS OF

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DEVELOPMENT

Nature/Characteristics of development

• Development is lifelong

• Development is multidimensional

• Development is multidirectional

• Development is a holistic process

• Development is Plastic

• Development is Contextual

• The study of development is multidisciplinary

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Nature/Characteristics of development

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• Development is lifelong spanning from conception to

death.

• Development is a continual process such that the

path of developmental changes stretch ever onward

until we die.

• Changes are cumulative: such that changes that occur at each stage of life can have significant implications for the future.

Nature/Characteristics of development

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• Development is multidirectional: Throughout life, some dimensions or components of a dimension

expand and others shrink.

• Eg, when one language (such as English) is acquired

early in development, the capacity for acquiring

second and third languages (such as Spanish and

Chinese) decreases later in development, especially

after early childhood.

Nature/Characteristics of development

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• Development is a holistic process: formally some developmentalists studied physical only, cognitive only or psychosocial development

• Presently: a unified view that emphasizes the important interrelationships among domains of development

• Deǀ elopŵeŶt ĐaŶ’t ďe pieĐed out ďut ǀ ie ǁed as a holistiĐ process encompassing cognitive, physical and psychosocial aspects and each aspect impact on the other

• E.g., Popularity with peers: age of puberty + social skills + intellectual abilities

Nature/Characteristics of development

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• Development is plastic: capacity for change during

different stages of life and in response to positive or negative life experiences.

• The course of development can change abruptly if iŵportaŶt aspeĐts of oŶe’s life ĐhaŶge.

• Development is contextual: the context influence development

• Context include cultural, social, geographical and historical

Nature/Characteristics of development

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• The study of development is multidisciplinary: to

understand development, information is integrated

from different disciplines such as biology, psychology, sociology, anthropology, and medicine.

Topic Three

CONCEPT OF AGE & STAGES OF

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DEVELOPMENT

The concept age

• Chronological age: number of years since birth

• Biological age: describes biological health and functional capacity of vital organs, such as heart, lungs, kidneys, circulatory system

• Psychological age: measure of adaptive capacities, including

ability to learn, establish and maintain motivation, be

flexible and think clearly

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Stages of development

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• Prenatal development: conception to birth. A point where single cell develop into a complete organism with complex brain and nervous system

• Infancy: birth to 18-24 months. extremely dependent on adult and other older individuals. Psychological activities begin

• Early childhood: 2 to 5/6 years/preschool years. Become more self-sufficient, learn school readiness skills such as following instructions and recognizing letters and colours.

Stages of development

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• Middle and late childhood: 6 to 11/12

years/Elementary school years. Master skills of reading, writing and arithmetic, achievement is

central theme and person shows increasing self- control

• Adolescence: 10-12 to 18-22 years/transition from

childhood to early adulthood. Begins with rapid

physical changes, characteristic of puberty, major goals of becoming independence and developing an

individual identity. Think more logical and abstract.

Stages of development

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• Early adulthood: from late teens through 30 years. Establish personal, social, emotional and economic independence, beginning career development, select life partner, start family and child rearing

• Middle adulthood: from early 40s until around age 60. Expands personal and social involvement and responsibility, assist next generation and reach and maintain career satisfaction

• Late adulthood: from 60s and 70s until death. Time to review and reflect, retirement and adjusting to decreasing strength and health, longest span of any developmental period

Topic Four

CONTROVERSIES/THEMES/ISSUES

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IN HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

Controversies/Themes/Issues in human development

• Nature vs nurture,

• Active vs passive,

• Continuous vs discontinuous/Quantitative vs qualitative;

• Stability vs change

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Nature vs. nurture

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• Is human development primarily the result of nature (biological forces) or nurture (environmental forces)?

• One group of developmentalists advanced the view that heredity and not environment is the chief maker of man.

• . . . Nearly all of the misery and nearly all of the

happiness in the world are due not to environment. . . . The differences among men are due to differences in

germ cells with which they were born (Wiggam, 1923, p. 42).

• Nature-focused

Nature vs. nurture

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• E.g., cognitive developmentalists and biological theorists

• Another group of developmentalists (nurture-focused) advanced the view that environment and not heredity

causes development.

– E.g., Watson

• Currently: integrative approach

• The relative contributions of nature and nurture depend

on the aspect of development in question

• E.g.,: Language: brain component and influence of Đaregiǀ er ’s laŶguage

Active vs passive theme

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• Are children curious, active creatures who largely determine how agents of society treat them? Or, are they passive souls on whom society fixes its stamp?

• Active-viewers opine that children are born with certain predispositions that influence how people treat them

• E.g., a child with difficult temperament • Passive-viewers opine that children are extremely

malleable—literally at the mercy of those who raise them

• Eg. a young preteen girl who has gone through the biological changes of puberty earlier than most of her classmates and friends (passive). But her early maturity will affect how she is treated

Continuous vs discontinuous/ quantitative vs qualitative

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• Do you think that the changes we experience occur very gradually? Or, would you say that these changes are rather abrupt?

• Continuity theorists view human development as a continuous/additive process that occurs gradually and continuously, without sudden changes.

• Discontinuity theorists view development as series of sudden changes each of which elevates the child to a new and presumably more advanced level of functioning.

Continuous vs discontinuous

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Continuous vs discontinuous

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Quantitative vs qualitative

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• Quantitative changes are changes in degree or amount • Eg, grow taller and run a little faster with each passing

year • Qualitative changes are changes in form or kind—

changes that make the individual fundamentally different in some way than he or she was earlier

• Eg, an infant who lacks language may be qualitatively different from a preschooler who speaks well

• Continuity theorists view developmental changes as basically quantitative in nature, whereas discontinuity theorists view development as a sequence of qualitative changes

Stability vs Change

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• To what degree do early traits and characteristics persist through life or change

• E.g., can a shy child develop to become a sociable and talkative adult?

• Theorists who emphasize stability argue that stability is the result of heredity and possibly early experiences in life

• Theorists who emphasize change take the more optimistic view that later experiences can produce change

Your opinion

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• Which side of the debate do you stand?

• Today, many developmentalists are theoretical eclectics: rely on many theories, recognizing that none of the grand theories can explain all aspects of development and that each makes some

contribution to our understanding.

Topic Five

GOALS AND RELEVANCE OF

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DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY

Goals of developmental psychology

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• Description: observe behavior at different ages in order to specify how people change over time

• Typical patterns of change (normative) and individual variations in patterns of change (ideographic)

• Explanation: determine why people develop as they

typically do and why some people develop differently

than others

• Optimization: applying what they have learned in attempts to help people develop in positive directions

• To gain insight into human nature

• To gain insight into the origins of adult behavior

• To gain insight into the origins of sex differences and gender roles and the effects of culture on development

• To gain insight into the origins, prevention, and treatment of developmental problems

• To optimize conditions of development

Relevance of Developmental Psychology

Sample Questions

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• Define development.

• What is developmental Psychology?

• With relevant example, describe

three themes in developmental psychology.

References

• Beck, L. E. (2006). Development through the lifespan (4th

Edition). New York, NY: Allyn & Bacon.

• Santrock, J. W. (2011). Life-span development (13th Edition). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

• Shaffer, D. R., & Kipp, K. (2010, 2014). Developmental psychology: Childhood & adolescence. (8th & 9th Editions). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

• Wiggam, 1923, p. 42

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