Download Module 45: Issues of Development

An Introduction to Development:
Fundamental Issues in
Developmental Psychology
What is Developmental Psych?
• Basic question: What shapes the way we change
over time?
• Developmental Psychology - the study of how
people change physically, mentally, and socially
throughout the lifespan
• At every age and stage of life, developmental
psychologists investigate the influence of multiple
factors on development, including:
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Biological
Environmental
Social
Cultural
Behavioral factors
DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY’S
MAJOR ISSUES:
How does our genetic inheritance interact with
our experiences in development?
– Study similarities caused by our shared biology
– How do we learn ways of thinking of acting from those around us?
– Biological, psychological & social forces interact
DEVELOPMENT’S MAJOR ISSUES:
Development means change –
change can be abrupt or gradual
Types of Growth Patterns
DEVELOPMENT’S MAJOR ISSUES:
Stability & Change
• What developmental traits remain stable over
time, and which change?
– Studies show our temperament (emotional reactivity &
intensity) is stable over time.
– As we grow older, our personality stabilizes.
– Social Attitudes change with time
• Stability give us an identity while Change
allows give us hope to make ourselves better
Developmental Research Methods:
• Cross-sectional - performance
of people of different age
groups is compared
• Longitudinal - performance of
one group of people is
assessed repeatedly over time
• Meta-Analysis – combining
the findings of many
independent studies