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Introduction to Developmental Psychology

• Developmental psychology is the study of how and why people of all kinds, everywhere, change and remain the same over time.
• It is essential to understand normal development to work with individuals of a particular developmental stage and to recognize when things go wrong.
• Understanding factors that affect development and continuity and change with development is crucial in developmental psychology.

Factors Related to Human Development

• Human development is influenced by both nature (genetics) and nurture (environment).
• Epigenetics plays a role in the interplay between nature and nurture.
• Development is a lifelong process that involves both continuity and change.

Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems Theory

• The theory proposes that relationships between an individual and their environment are bi-directional.
• The microsystem refers to the immediate surroundings, such as family, friends, and teachers.
• The mesosystem reflects relations between microsystems, such as the connection between home and the workplace.
• The exosystem comprises social settings that affect the individual without them playing an active role.
• The macrosystem operates at the outer level of the ecology, including laws and cultural values.
• The chronosystem represents changes that occur over time.

Development as a Trajectory

• Development can be viewed as a trajectory through the lifespan, with critical periods and sensitive periods.
• Critical periods are limited periods of time during which the brain is set to acquire a function.
• Maturation refers to biologically based changes that follow an orderly sequence.

Stability and Change

• Change can refer to the acquisition or loss of a behavior or function.
• Change can occur continuously or discontinuously, with stages of growth that are qualitatively different and ordered in a fixed sequence.
• Continuity in development refers to strong consistencies over time in intelligence, personality, and social skills.

Normative vs Non-Normative Events

• Normative events are typical experiences that most people encounter at certain ages.
• Non-normative events are atypical or unexpected events that can alter a person's developmental trajectory.

Developmental Psychology Research Methods

• Sequential designs examine different age groups at multiple time points to reduce cohort effects.
• Combination of cross-sectional and longitudinal designs can be used to study development.

Periods of Development

• Prenatal period: Conception to birth.
• Infancy and toddlerhood: Birth to 2 years.
• Early childhood: 2 to 6 years.
• Middle childhood: 6 to 11 years.
• Adolescence: 11 to 18 years.

Cognitive Development

• Jean Piaget's Cognitive Theory proposes that children's thinking changes qualitatively with age.
• Schemas are organized patterns of thoughts and action that are acquired and modified through assimilation and accommodation.
• Piaget's stage model outlines the stages of cognitive development, including sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational stages.

Vygotsky's Development through Social Interaction

• Social interaction is essential for development, as children learn from contact with others.
• Learning "scripts" for activities in the world is a key aspect of development.
• Vygotsky's theory emphasizes the importance of social interaction in shaping cognitive development.