PSYC 50Developmental Psychology

Section 1 Chapter 1: Introduction

Development: The pattern of change that begins at conception and continues through the life span. Most development involves growth, although it also includes decline brought on by aging and dying.

Original Sin: The view that children were basically bad and born into the world as evil beings.

Tabula Rasa: The idea, proposed by John Locke, that children are like a “blank tablet.”

Innate Goodness: The idea, presented by Swiss-born philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, that children are inherently good.

Life-Span Perspective: The perspective that development is lifelong, multidimensional, multidirectional, plastic, multidisciplinary, and contextual, and involves growth, maintenance, and regulation.

Context: The setting in which development occurs, which is influenced by historical, economic, social, and cultural factors.

Culture: The behavior patterns, beliefs, and all other products of a group that are passed on from generation to generation.

Cross-cultural studies: Comparisons of one culture with one or more other cultures. These provide information about the degree to which development is similar or universal, across cultures, and to the degree to which it is culture-specific.

Socioeconomic status (SES): Refers to the grouping of people with similar occupational, educational, and economic characteristics.

Gender: The psychological and sociocultural dimensions of being female or male.

Social Policy: A national government’s course of action designed to promote the welfare of its citizens.

Generational Inequity: A social policy concern in which an aging society is being unfair to its younger members.

Developmental Processes: Biological: changes in an individual’s physical nature. Cognitive: changes in an individual’s thought, intelligence, and

language. Socioemotional: changes in an individual’s relationships with

other people, emotions, and personality.Characteristics of the Life Span Perspective:

1. Lifelong 2. Multidimensional3. Multidirectional4. Plastic5. Multidisciplinary6. Contextual7. Growth, Maintenance and Regulation

Periods of Development:1. Prenatal: the time from conception to birth. It involves

tremendous growth—from a single cell to an organism complete with brain and behavioral capabilities, produced in approx. a nine-month period.

2. Infancy: from birth to 18 or 24 months. It is a time of extreme dependence upon adults. Many psychological activities are just beginning—language, symbolic thought, sensorimotor coordination, and social learning, for example.

3. Early Childhood: from the end of infancy to about 5 or 6 years. This period is sometimes called the “preschool years.” During this time, young children learn to become more self-sufficient and to care for themselves, develop school readiness skills (following instructions, identifying letters), and spend many hours in play with peers. First grade typically marks the end of early childhood.

4. Middle and Late Childhood: from about 6 to 11 years of age, approx. corresponding to the elementary school years. The fundamental skills of reading, writing, and arithmetic are mastered. The child is formally exposed to the larger world and its culture. Achievement becomes a more central theme of the child’s world, and self-control increases.

5. Adolescence: transition from childhood to early adulthood, entered at approx. 10 to 12 years of age and ending at 18 to 22 years of age. Adolescence begins with rapid physical changes—dramatic gains in height and weight, changes in body contour, and the development of sexual characteristics such as enlargement of the breasts, development of pubic and facial hair, and deepening of the voice.

6. Early Adulthood: late teens or early 20s and lasts through the 30s; personal and economic independence, career development, selecting a mate, starting a family, rearing children.

7. Middle Adulthood: 35-45 to 60s; expanding personal and social involvement and responsibility; assisting the next generation in becoming competent, mature individuals; maintaining satisfaction in a career.

8. Late Adulthood: begins in the 60s or 70s and lasts until death; adjustment to decreasing strength and health, life review, retirement, or new social roles.a. The young old: 65-84b. The oldest old: 85 and older

Conceptions of Age:1. Chronological Age: the no. of years that have elapsed since birth.2. Biological Age: biological health; knowing the functional capacities

of a person’s vital organs.3. Psychological Age: adaptive capacities compared with those of

other individuals of the same chronological age.4. Social Age: social roles and expectations related to a person’s age.

Developmental Issues:1. Nature-Nurture2. Continuity-Discontinuity3. Stability-Change

REFLECTION:1. Do you think there is a best age to be? If so, what is it? Why?2. Can you identify an early experience that you believe contributed

in important ways to your development? Can you identify a recent or current (later) experience that you think had (is having) a strong influence in your development?

Reference: Feldman, R. S. (2010). Understanding Psychology. 9th Edition. McGraw Hill Companies, Inc. Morris, C.G.,et al. (2007). Psychology Concepts and Applications. Pearson Education, Inc. New Jersey.Santrock, J.W. (2006). Life-Span Perspective.10th Edition. McGraw-Hill. New York.

Prepared by:Mrs. Maria Angela L. Diopol

Instructor