PSY505 Handouts

Table of Contents

Lesson 1 Lesson 2 Difficulties in Study of Development Psychology Lesson 3 Methods of Prenatal Assessment Lesson 4 Piaget Theory of Cognitive Development Lesson 5 Cognitive Development during Early Childhood Lesson 6 Treatment of Anxiety Disorders Lesson 7 Piaget Theory of Cognitive Development Lesson 8 Adolescence Lesson 9 Adolescence Conduct Disorder and its Types Lesson 10 Early Adulthood Lesson 11 Divorce Lesson 12 Single Hood and Middle Age Lesson 13 Late Adulthood Lesson 14 Late Adulthood (Continue) Lesson 15 Death Lesson Lesson Lesson Lesson 01

Developmental Psychology is one of the sub-fields of Psychology. It is an ontogenetic study of human organism from conception to death. Developmental Psychology seeks understanding and controls the basic processes and dynamics underlying human behavior at the various stages of life. Its investigations encompass the growth and maturation of the individual organism, its cognitive and emotional powers, as well as its personality structure. Developmental Psychology, as a science of growth, deals with all the processes contributing to becoming an infant, a child, an adolescent, and a mature adult. According to Hurlock, " Developmental Psychology is the branch of psychology that studies intraindividual changes and interindividual changes within these intraindividual changes. Its task is not only description but also explication of age-related changes in behaviour in terms of antecedent consequent relationship."

Some developmental psychologists study developmental changes covering the life span from conception to death. Others cover only a segment of the life span, childhood or old age.

Developmental Psychology is a scientific discipline that attempts: (I) to devise methods for studying organisms as they evolve over time ( U ) to collect facts about individuals of different ages, backgrounds and personalities and (iii) to construct a theoretical frame work that can account for the observed behaviors as well as for the changes occurring throughout the life cycle.

ASPECTS OF DEVELOPMENT

There are four aspects of development which are closely intertwined. Each aspect of development affects the other 1. Physical development 2. Intellectual development 3. Personality development 4. Social development

We will now discuss each of these in brief.

1. Physical development. Physical development consists of changes in the body, brain, sensory

capacities and motor skills. They exert major influences on both intellect and personality. For example, much of an infant's knowledge comes from the senses and from motor activity. A child who has a hearing loss is at risk of delayed language development. In late adulthood, physical changes in the brain as in Alzheimer's disease - which has been estimated to affect about 10 percent of people over the age of 65 (Evans et aL 1989) can result in intellectual and personality deterioration.

2. Intellectual development, Changes in mental abilities - such as learning, memory, reasoning,

thinking and language are aspects of intellectual development. These changes are closely related to both motor and emotional development. A baby's growing memory, for example, is related to separation anxiety, the fear that the mother will not return once she has gone away. If children could not remember the past and anticipate the future, they could not worry about the mother's absence.

Memory also affects babies’ physical actions. For example, a one-year old boy who remembers being scolded for knocking down his sister's block tower may refrain from doing it again. 3. And 4 personally and Social development. Personality and social development affect with the cognitive aspects and the physical aspects of functioning. For example, anxiety about taking a test can impair performance; and social support from friends helps people cope with the negative effects of stress on their physical and mental health.

PRINCIPLES OF DEVELOPMENT

Development follows certain principles. These principles are:

(i) Development is similar for all: All children follow a similar pattern of development, with one stage leading to next.

For instance, they baby stands before he walks, or draws a circle before a square.

(ii) Development

Proceeds · at · Different · Rates:

Even though all individuals follow much the same pattern of the rate of varies form to Because rate of differ, all children of the same age to do not reach the same point of physical or mental Nor do all individuals decline physically or mentally at the same rate. In the same different physical and mental traits develop at different ages. Different rates of decline have likewise been observed for different physical and mental traits.

(iii) Development is continuous: From the moment of conception to the time of death, changes re taking place within the individual, sometimes slowly. As a result, what happens at one stage of development varies over and influences the following stages. Unhealthy attitudes developed in childhood, for example, have been found to be at the root of much of the unhappiness and poor adjustment during middle and old age.

(iv) Development Proceeds from General to Specific Responses: In mental as well as motor responses, general activity always precedes specific activity. For example, the baby waves his arms in general movements before he is capable of a specific a response as reaching. Studies of speech have revealed that the young child learns general words before he learns to call each toy by its name.

(v) All Individuals are Different: Although all individuals follow a definite and predictable pattern of development each individual has his own distinct style of doing so. Some develop in a smooth, gradual, step by-step fashion, while others move in spurts. Some show wide