DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY – UNO NA E2

(WAG KANG TAMAD BOBO)

LESSON 1 – LESSON 2 LESSON 3
FOUNDATION OF
HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
Developmental Psychology
Definition
Developmental Psychology
expansion of scope
Importance of studying
life-span perspective
(Highlighting the
universality and
commonality)
Goals of Developmental
Psychology (Describe,
Explain, and Optimization
of Development)
Nature VS. Nurture
(Differences and
Interaction)
Stability VS. Change
(Differences and
Interaction)
Continuity VS.
Discontinuity (Differences
and Interaction)
Definition of Aging and
Growth
Conception of Ages
shaping human
development
(Psychological, Biological,
Social Age)
Concept of Life Expectancy
Gain and Stability Loss
Concept
Defining Development
Domains of Development
Physical, Cognitive,
(Psychosocial
Development)
Periods of Development
(Prenatal, Infancy,
Toddlerhood, Early
Childhood, late childhood,
 DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY – UNO NA E2
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adolescent, emerging
adulthood, early
adulthood, middle
adulthood, late adulthood)
Modern life-span
perspective – Paul Baltes
Principles of Hereditary
Transmission (DNA
Structure, Genes and
Chromosomes, Inheritance
of DNA)
DNA Replication and Cell
Division
Meiosis and Genetic
Variation
Mutation and Evolution
Modern Approaches in
Understanding Genetic
Expression
Role of Environment in
Gene Expression
Hereditary Disorders:
Chromosomal and Gene-
Linked Abnormalities
(Chromosomal
Abnormalities and Sex-
Linked Chromosomal
Abnormalities)
Genetic Abnormalities and
other Genetic
Abnormalities
Behavioral Genetic
Definition (Highlighting the
twin and Adoption studies)
Three types of Hereditary-
Environment Correlation
(Passive, Active,
Evocative)
Ethology and Evolution
Definition as well as their
viewpoints on
development
John Bowlby’s and Mary
Ainsworth’s - Attachment
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theory
Evolutionary
Developmental Psychology
Bidirectional view of albert
bandura

DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY DEFINITION

Developmental Psychology is also known as life-Span

Development study which aims to describe, explain optimize the age-
related changes and development that happen at the moment of
conception to death. It tries to justify the journey of “Womb to Tomb”,
where individuals undergo with continuous and distinct changes across
the life span/stages of development.

In this field of psychology, it tries to understand the issues surrounding

the field of Developmental Psychology such as nature vs. nurture,
universality vs. individuality vs. continuity vs. discontinuity, and
stability vs. change. Understanding these issues enables us to understand
holistically the complexity of human development. It recognizes the fact
that humans are individuals who are constantly changing and growing as
they interact with biological, psychological and social predictors of their
development.

In the past, developmental psychology focused on childhood

development, but now its scope expanded to include the developmental
changes happening throughout the stages of life. The work of Sigmund
Freud and Jean Piaget serves as the foundation for contemporary
discoveries of human development, where Sigmund Freud highlights the
importance of early experiences and sexual motives of the person and
Jean Piaget who recognizes the cognitive processes and stages of
cognitive development of the children. The remarkable views of these
theorists laid out a larger opportunity for the other theorists to expand their
understanding of human development.

These discoveries expanded on understanding the impact of genetics,

biological processes, environmental systems, culture, moral
development and such. And at present, experts in the field of
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developmental psychology are now focused on understanding the complexity
of aging as well as transitioning to adulthood.

IMPORTANCE OF STUDYING LIFE-SPAN PERSPECTIVE

Humans are both unique and similar in some ways. Generally, we see
humans as unique in their own way as they differ in terms of life choices,
culture, experiences, and personal background which makes the
trajectory of their development unique from one another. On the other
hand, they are also similar as they share commonalities or universal
patterns of development like being able to walk at the age of 1,
undergoing puberty, reaching maximal peak of strength at the late
adulthood, and such.

This complexity of human development reflects the interaction

between universality and individuality of a person which serves as the
heart of developmental psychology. Where we understand that humans
are being influenced by biological, psychological and social factors that are
very broad in nature.

GOALS OF DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY

Understanding the goals of developmental psychology is crucial in

understanding the developmental psychology itself, as it serves as its
structure in understanding and resolving the issues and conflict surrounding
the field. The goal of describing, explaining, and optimizing
development is the framework of developmental psychology as it
navigates the complexity of human development.

Describing is a crucial part of developmental psychology, as it begins

to characterize and identifies the developmental patterns and
variation of development across individuals. While humans share
commonalities of experiences, it is crucial to identify the variation of their
developmental patterns for us to understand and explain these outcomes.
Explaining is a critical part after we’ve identified the developmental
patterns as well as the variation of these patterns. These serve as the
mechanism for justifying the commonalities and changes of
trajectory in the development of a person. It answers the question of
how and why these development and growth occur with the help of nature
and nurture concepts. Where it integrates the role of biological processes
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as well as genetics in shaping the development of a person, with the
consideration of environmental predictors that may hinder or support the
developmental trajectory of individual. And lastly, optimizing the
development of a person justifies the meaning and goal of
developmental psychology, as it tries to overcome the issues and
difficulties that underlies within the development. It tries to tailor
adaptable policies, methods, and therapeutic intervention that can
effectively support growth and development of a person, and to lessen
the transitionary difficulties across stages.

DEVELOPMENTAL ISSUES

NATURE VS. NURTURE

Nature V.S Nurture is a well-known developmental issue as it

questions whether the development of a person is rooted in innate
biological tendencies or environmental predictors. Believers of
nature state that human development is biologically programmed into
their genetics. Where the sequence of physical, psychological, and
emotional are deeply embedded into the genetic make-up of a person.
Though, nature believers recognized the impact of extreme
environmental conditions in altering genetic expression, but still they
strongly believed that genetics is the core of growth and development
of a person even if it is may or may not be affected by external factors.

On the other hand, environmental believers state that external

factors such as culture, experiences, education and such are strong
defining factors of developmental trajectory of a person. It states that
biological tendency alone does not primarily shaped the growth and
development of an individual, but rather environmental predictors are the
one that mainly shapes developmental outcomes.

While on the epigenetic view of nurture and nature, understands

the ability of the two in shaping the developmental trajectory. It states that
while genetics gives the person the potential developmental trajectory,
the environment is the one that alters the genetic outcome or
expression to the development.

All in all, the nature and nurture debate should not be the issue in
understanding the development of a person but rather how these two
concepts interact resulting in change and development. These
concepts are critical in answering the question of how much influence that
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genetics plays in the development of a person and how does the
environmental factors influence genetic expression.

STABILITY VS. CHANGE

The issue of stability VS. change is one of the defining concepts that
influence the trajectory and nature of the development of a person. In a
sense that it answers the question whether the development of a person
dictated by the earliest experience and continues to persist later in life, or
the possibility of intervening of later experiences resulting in change of
development. The concept of Stability VS. Change are one of the pillars of
issue that continue to linger around the field of developmental psychology,
which it is pivotal to understand and determine what developmental
attributes will continue to persist or change throughout the lifespan
of human development.

The believers of stability in the development believe that the

earliest experiences or behavior such as shyness or outgoing continue
to stabilize or persist throughout life span of a person. It argues that
heredity and early experiences play an important role in shaping long
term behavior and characteristics of a person. On the other hand,
believers of change state that individuals can change their behavior due
to the influence of later experiences. These optimistic perspectives
believe that humans can grow and change later in life, it highlights that
early experiences and hereditary are not defining factors of what
human will be throughout their life. Moreover, on the epigenetic view
of stability and change, believe that early experiences as well as late
experiences are important for the growth and development of a
person. According to some research, children show some strong emotional
and psychological adaptability in later life due to the caring and loving
environment in their early experience. But some epigenetic views argue that
a loving and caring environment in the early experience combined with
positive experience in later in life can significantly lead to growth and
development. According to the experiment made by Developmentalist Paul
Baltes, early adulthood shows a strong adaptability and learning of behaviors
and skills while individuals who are at the old age show a slow pace of
learning new behavior, but their already learned skills still show some
stability and possibility for more refinement. This research highlights that the
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stability and change reflect the plasticity of individuals to learn and grow
depending on their age and circumstances.

All in all, stability and change are important in understanding the

complexity of human development and plasticity as it determines what
attribute continues to persist or change throughout the lifespan. These issue
of stability and change highlights the nature of humans to be resilient and
adaptable throughout the lifespan

CONTINUITY VS. DISCONTINUITY

The debate between the continuity VS. discontinuity is considered as

one of the defining factors whether our mechanism for development is
gradual or abrupt. Where it tries to answer whether our development
undergoes in a cumulative process or distinct qualitative shift. It is very
important for us to understand this issue to identify what are the attributes
of our development that undergo with continuous development or distinct
qualitative shift.

Believers of continuous development state that we undergo with the

continuous process of growth, it takes time, effort, and needed maturation
for us to attain a certain level of development. Similarly to our puberty, it is
cumulative process that takes years to see observable differences and
completion. On the other hand, believers of discontinuity believe that our
development comes with a distinct qualitative shift, jumping from one period
to another. It is an abrupt process, like the stages of cognitive development
of Jean Piaget where children undergo these stages with a certain age.
Though these concepts are different in their own way, it is important to
understand that there are some attributes in our development that follow a
continuous mechanism or distinctive shift of development. For example,
infants who shows some behavior cooing and bubbling marks as the start of
gradual learning how to speak which can be considered as continuous
development, while on the other hand individual who undergo different
stages in life which shows some distinct changes in cognitive abilities and
emotional maturation which can be considered as a qualitative shift.

All in all, these concepts play an important role in understanding that

human development comprises different kinds of development that may be
continuous or distinct. For some identifiable traits like language and physical
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changes are seen a gradual development, while cognitive abilities and
emotion resiliency are identified as a distinct qualitative shift.

DEFINITION OF AGING AND GROWTH

We all know that the development of a human comes in a dynamic

mechanism, the issues that surround them serve as evidence of how
complex and perpetuating our development can be. But the question here is
what does it mean by development? What does it mean by change?
Development and change happen when there is something that
differentiates between the past and the present, a factor that marks a
qualitative change and improvement or deterioration. But how does human
develop?

The development of a person is reflected in terms of his growth, which

marks some physical changes from conception to maturity. Our growth is
intertwined with biological maturation and physical changes which enables
us to attain some difference of cognitive, physical, emotional, and social
abilities. However, growth is always accompanied with biological aging which
marks as a change and deterioration leading to death. It is important to note
that our development is not always about growth, but it also comes with
deterioration, it is not always about upward development, but it may be a
stability or deterioration of some of our abilities.

All in all, the development process of a person is seen as cyclical

process which starts with an outstanding growth at the early times of our life,
stability in early adulthood, and deterioration and death in the last phase of
our life.

CONCEPTION OF AGES SHAPING HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

As humans undergo with continuous development across stages of life,

age serves as a marker of their development. In early times of
developmental psychology, chronological age serves as the marker in
determining the phase or stage of development that a persons in. As
developmental psychology advances, numerous discoveries and concepts
unfold leading to the question of whether chronological age is the sole
determinant of stage development.

In contemporary world, developmentalist believe that the chronological

age is not just the sole determinant of our development as well as the
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sequence that may occur in that age range. For them, biological,
psychological, and social age are one of the defining factors of the level of
development of a person. Biological age refers to a person’s age in terms of
how efficient organs are in terms of functioning. In the research conducted in
Korea, it is said that if your chronological age is much higher than your
biological age your life expectancy may prolong. It is because your vital
organs are still efficient in functioning even if some physical abilities
deteriorate in old age. On the other hand, psychological age is also one of
the considerations in seeing the development of a person, as it measures the
ability of a person to regulate his/her emotion, cognitive abilities, and
adaptability. For example, individuals who are at old age demonstrate
prowess in emotional regulation, flexible attitude, and continues in learning
shows some more adaptive behavior than those individuals who do not
demonstrate that prowess. Moreover, social age is one of the defining factors
also of our developmental age, where it measures how we maintain and
create relationships with each other person. According to some research,
individuals who have high-prolonged connections with each other and have
positive relationships tend to live happily leading to a much prolong life
expectancy.

All in all, though chronological age gives us some framework that

marks the possible changes and development of a person, it is still not the
sole determinant of the developmental level and social events that may
occur in life. It is important to note that humans are unique with one another
and have an autonomy that may influence the sequence of events as well as
their development.

Life expectancy is a developmental term for the amount of time that a

life of a specie may persist which is influenced by specific-gene specie

GAIN AND STABILITY LOSS CONCEPT

The development of a person is dynamic and complex, where the

developmental trajectory of every person is different and unique from one
another. It is believed that humans develop rapidly at the beginning of their
life, they show a remarkable adaptability as they learn and refine their skills.
However, the development of a person is not always about growth and
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adaptation, but it is accompanied by deterioration during the late times of
their life.

Gain and stability loss is one of the observable phenomena that happen
normally at old age, combined with deterioration of some physique and
changes in biological processes. Moreover, the development of a person
seems not always to be about gains and losses, but it is also about
qualitative shifting or transformed focus. For example, a child is expected to
gain a higher cognitive ability as he grows, enabling him to think rationally
and logically, but unfortunately these changes on their cognition decrease
their imaginative ability as they become more objective in seeing things.
Similarly, aging is not always about loss. In fact, adults under 60 and above
years old scores higher in vocabulary than those early adults, which shows
that aging is not always about losses, it may be accompanied by neutrality of
stability of their cognitive skills showing the years of their experience.

In other words, the development of a person is not always about gains and
losses, but it is also about stability and refinement as they persist in their
life. Human development is naturally complex, which marks cumulative
change and qualitative shift of their development. These concepts enable
developmentalist to comprehend the complex nature of human
development, where trajectories of change vary person to person.