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Chapter 1
The Study of Human Development
Human Development
What is it?
The study of how people change & how they remain
they same
Recurring Issues
Nature versus Nurture (Environment or genes?)
Continuity versus Discontinuity (Development as a
smooth progression or as abrupt shifts?)
Universal versus Context-Specific Development (One
path of development or several?)
Basic Forces
Biological
Psychological
Sociocultural
Life-cycle
Developmental Theories
Psychodynamic
Main idea: personality develops through sequence of
stages
Freud’s Theory – Stages of Psychosexual Development
Erikson’s Theory – Stages of Psychosocial
Development
Learning
Main idea: environment controls behavior; learn
through modeling and observing
Skinner – Behaviorism
Bandura – Social Learning Theory
Theories Continued…
Cognitive-Developmental
Main idea: thinking develops in sequence of stages
Piaget – 4 Stages of Cognitive Development
Kohlberg – Theory of Moral Reasoning
Ecological
Main idea: adaptation is optimal when ability & demands
are in balance
Lawton & Nahemow – Competence-Environmental Press
Theory
Life Span
Main idea: development is multiply determined
Riley – Life-Span Perspective
Doing Developmental
Research
Measurement
General Designs
Correlational Studies
Experimental Studies
Designs for studying development
Longitudinal Studies
Cross-Sectional Studies
Developmental Research
Continued…
Conducting Research Ethically
Communicating Research Results