Course Code:

Course Name: Developmental Psychology

SEMESTER: B.A. SemIII

Unit-1 &2, Unit-3(Physical Development)

Developmental Issues, Scope, Definition, Cognitive, Psychodynamic,
Social Development.

If humans are always changing, how do we get a baseline?

Every psychological study development is gradual and
has the confounding smooth
variable of age. Continuity
view
Discontinuity view / Stage development is
Theories disconnected stages

 Periods of Development – to meet the needs of understanding, development is divided into periods.
 Stage Approximate Age
 Prenatal Conception to birth
 Infancy Birth to 3 years
 Early childhood 3 years to 6 years
 Middle & Late childhood 6-12 years
 Adolescence 12-20 years
 Young adulthood 20-40 years
 Middle adulthood 40-65 years
 Late adulthood 65 years to death
 Prenatal stage is when the baby is still in the womb and is not formed yet.
 It involves a rapid multiplication of cells to form a complex organism in an approx. 9 month period.
 Infancy is a time of dependence. From birth to 2 years
 For two years the baby is involved in acquiring psychological abilities such as language, thought, and
motor coordination
 Early childhood is during the preschool years from 2-6 years
 Children become self-sufficient, develop goal directed behaviour, and play with peers.
 Middle & Late childhood correspond to the elementary school years. Age 6-11(puberty)
 Fundamental skills of reading and writing are acquired, achievement becomes a central theme.
Formal introduction into one’s culture.
 Adolescence involves a rapid growth spurt –physical and sexual. Age Puberty- 20 years
 Issues of independence and identity
 Thought becomes more abstract and logical
 Understanding one’s sexuality becomes important.
 Early adulthood involves establishing financial and individual independence. Age, 20-40 years
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 Middle adulthood involves increasing individual’s financial and developing social responsibility. Age, 40-
65 years.
 Late adulthood involves developing and changing to new rules and dealing with loss of friends and family
members including spouse. Age 65>
 Principles of Development – Provides a theoretical lens to the various aspects within the domains involved in
the study of lifespan development
 Development is lifelong
 Development involves both gain and loss
 Development is Multidirectional: meaning that development takes place in different speeds.
 Development is multidimensional: meaning that it moves in different domain, simultaneously.
 Development is plastic: meaning that it can change whenever and is modifiable
 Development is influenced by the historical and cultural context
 Individual differences: Differences in characteristics, influences or developmental outcomes. They are based
on
 Heredity and environment
 Major contextual influences
 Normative and non-normative influences
 Heredity & Environment
 Heredity: Inborn, innate characteristics that are inherited from the biological parents at conception through
genes
 These affect multiple parts of development such as intelligence, personality and resilience.
 Environment: the effect of the outside world on an individual.
 Learning that comes from experience.
 Major contextual Factors such as family and neighbourhood play a great role in shaping any individual. There
diversities must be kept in mind.
 Normative & non-normative influences
 Development must be understood in terms of changes that affect a majority and a minority
 Normative: An event and its impact happens in a related way for most people that belong to a group.
 Normative age graded influences: Natural and situational influences that are similar for individuals of
a specific age range.
 Biological changes are usually more foreseeable than social changes e.g. adolescence as
compared to French revolution
 Normative history graded influences: Natural and environmental effects that are related with historical
changes affect the group that exists around the same time.
 These are common only for individuals of a specific generation e.g. world war 2
 Non normative influences: An unusual event that happens to a specific person or a typical event that
happens at an exceptional point of time.
 Non- normative influences are positive or negative

PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT (Life-Span Development)

 Begins with prenatal development.

 Prenatal development is the stage before the birth of the infant. It begins with conception.
 Conception occurs when the male sperm fuses with the female ova.
 It is also known as fertilization
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 Divided into three parts:

 Germinal Stage/Period of Zygote
 first 2 weeks after conception.
 Development of zygote with increased cell division,

Embryonic Period

 Occurs 2-8 weeks after conception.

 The rate of cell division increases leading to Organogenesis:
 The process of the developing organs
 Structures that form in this stage:
 Yolk Sac
 Placenta
 Umbilical Cord

 By the 8th week: Rapid growth continues which can be seen in the formation of
 Body parts such as arms, legs, fingers and toes
 Facial parts such as eyes, ears, jaws and neck
 Internal organs diversify and become separate
 Functional sense organs
 Response to touch
 Size of the embryo is around 1 inch and weighs around 4-6 grams
 Period of the Foetus
 Begins at 8 weeks or 2 months after conception
 7 months ( 9-38 weeks) (average)
 By the end of the fetal stage the infant should be around 20 inches in height and 3 kgs in
weight on average
 Appearance of fingernails, toenails and eyelids.
 Sense organs taste and smell begin to develop.
 Organization of organs, muscles and nervous system
 Stronger heartbeat
 Detectable through the fetaloscope
 After birth the infant is assessed using the APGAR scale
 Appearance
 Pulse
 Grimace
 Activity
 Respiration
 Post birth the post natal stage begins, starting with infancy
 Infancy: is the developmental period from birth to 24 months.
 Reflexes: are innate, automatic, unlearnt, and involuntary responses to stimuli
 Human beings have many reflexes from birth and some develop slightly later
 Rooting: This reflex starts when the corner of the baby’s mouth is stroked or touched.
The baby will turn his or her head and open his or her mouth to follow and root in the

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direction of the stroking. This helps the baby find the breast or bottle to start feeding.
This reflex lasts about 4 months
 Sucking: This reflex doesn’t start until about the 32nd week of pregnancy and is not
fully developed until about 36 weeks. Premature babies may have a weak or
immature sucking ability because of this. Because babies also have a hand-to-mouth
reflex that goes with rooting and sucking, they may suck on their fingers or hands.
 Eye Blink:
 Tonic: When a baby’s head is turned to one side, the arm on that side stretches out
and the opposite arm bends up at the elbow. This is often called the fencing position.
This reflex lasts until the baby is about 5 to 7 months old.
 Babinski: This reflex takes place when the foot of the baby is stroked and all its fingers
fan out
 Moro: This reflex causes the baby to cry, throw back his or her head, and then pull his
or her limbs into the body
 Darwinian Grasp/Palmar: Stroking the palm of a baby’s hand causes the baby to close
his or her fingers in a grasp. The grasp reflex lasts until the baby is about 5 to 6
months old. A similar reflex in the toes lasts until 9 to 12 months.
 Walking/Stepping: This reflex is also called the walking or dance reflex because a
baby appears to take steps or dance when held upright with his or her feet touching a
solid surface. This reflex lasts about 2 months.
 Most reflexes disappear soon
 first 6 months to 1 year
 Attributed to the increase in voluntary control over motor behaviour
 Only reflexes that serve a protective functions remain
 Blinking
 Coughing
 Gagging
 Sneezing
 Principles of Development:
 Cephalocaudal: development occurs from top (head) to bottom (legs)
 Proximodistal: Development occurs from the center of the body outward
 Independence of systems: Development occurs independently in different part of the part
 Interdependence of systems: development occurs as a result of coordination of the difference
part of the body, in conjunction with one another
 Gross Motor Development
 Begins with head control, movement – crawling to walking to running to jumping
 Hand eye coordination begins
 Depth Perception begins
 Brain Development
 Corpus callosum: helps coordinate between the hemispheres
 Hemisphere specialization
 Right: mechanical skills and spatial reasoning
 Left:, logic, arithmetic, and language development
 Size of the brain increases due to new connections
 Synaptic pruning: removal of unrequired neurons is done
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 Increased myelination: aids in stronger connections

 Early childhood (2-6yrs)
 Height growth: By the end of early childhood the average child is around 3.5 feet
 Gender differences: boys are taller than girls
 Weight: By the end of early childhood the average child is around 15 kilos
 Gender difference: no difference
 Nutritional needs: 1500-1800 calories per day on average
 Too much food intake can lead to obesity
 Sleep should be for 10-12 hours
 Gross Motor Skills:
 Goal-directed behaviour
 Movements are simple eventually culminating into athletic movements
 Fine Motor Skills
 Hand-eye coordination develops further
 Middle childhood (6-11/puberty)
 Height: By the end around 4 feet 10 inches
 Gender difference: girls taller than boys
 Weight: 20-35 kgs
 Gender difference: boys heavier than girls
 Appearance is more adult like – learner bodies
 Gross motor
 Athletic prowess
 Training aids development
 Rough and Tumble Play
 Adolescence (Puberty- 20)
 Height: average growth is around 7 inches
 Growth spurt: increase in height and weight during puberty
 Weight- Average growth by 20+kgs
 Adult like body
 Fully coordinated movements
 Puberty: Attainment of sexual maturity and the ability to reproduce
 Earlier attainment compared to earlier generations – secular trends
 Increase in sex hormones – gonadotropins
 Boys: production of sperm, age 12-14
 first ejaculation is called Spermache
 Girls: menstruation, age 8-12
 first menstruation is called menarche
 Puberty can be noticed by changes in primary and secondary sex characteristics
 Primary sex characteristics are seen in organs directly related to reproduction
 For males: Enlargement of penis and scrotum sac
 For females vaginal discharge and changes in Uterus lining
 Secondary sex characteristics: Physiological signs of sexual maturation that do not involve
sexual organs.
 Females: Breast development, growth of body and pubic hair, oilier skin
 Males: Growth of body and pubic hair, deepening of voice, oilier hair
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 Adulthood (Early and Middle – 20-40, 40-65)

 Age related visual and auditory problems
 Presbyopia: deterioration in sight due to age
 Presbycusis: deterioration in hearing due to age
 Basal metabolism: basic rate of calorie burning drops
 Health: optimum in early adulthood, drops as one gets older
 Same as strength for energy
 Athletic prowess
 Self-serving bias that no harm will come to the individual as they are in peak physical
condition
 Osteoporosis will develop by the end of middle adulthood
 Late Adulthood (>65)
 Primary Aging- aging due to change in chronological age accompanied by body deterioration
 Secondary Aging- aging due to lifestyle factors and diseases
 Functional age: the measure of a person’s ability to function effectively in his or her physical
and social environment in comparison with others of similar chronological age.


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Chapter 1 Themes and theories in developmental psychology

Chapter 1

Themes and theories indevelopmental psychology

Learning outcomes

By the end of this chapter you should:

– understand how developmental psychology has evolved as a discipline;

– be able to critically evaluate the main themes and theories in developmental psychology;

– know who the key historical and contemporary figures are in developmental psychology;

– have a critical understanding of the research methods commonly applied in developmental

psychology;

– have developed your written communication and independent learning skills;

– be able to engage in reflection on contemporary and traditional approaches in

psychology.

Introduction

Developmental psychology is the scientific study of age-related changes in mind and behaviour.

Originally it was believed that the development of all our skills and abilities was completed in

childhood. We now understand that development is a lifelong process; change does not stop

because we have reached adulthood. The purpose of this chapter is to introduce the lifespan

approach to the study of development and to show you the importance of examining changes

that occur in adulthood, as well as those that occur in childhood. In Chapter 7, for example, we see

the way in which cognitive skills can continue to increase in adulthood or decline depending on

personal experiences. Developmental psychology informs several applied fields, including

educational psychology, child clinical psychology and child forensic psychology, and also
complements the other main fields in psychology, including social, cognitive and individual
differences.

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Themes in developmental psychology

There are a number of themes that run right through developmental psychology. These are:

• the influence of nature verses nurture;

• continuity versus discontinuity in change;

• critical versus sensitive periods of development;

• stability versus change;

• the role of the individual in development.

Nature versus nurture

As a student of psychology you will come across the nature–nurture debate throughout your

studies. It is one of the most fundamental and oldest issues in psychology and philosophy, and

one that we will return to in later chapters. The debate concerns the relative contributions of

inheritance and the environment in determining our knowledge and behaviour. Philosophers

such as Plato and Descartes supported the idea that we are born with knowledge and innate skills.

Other thinkers such as John Locke argued for the concept of tabula rasa – the idea that the mind

is a blank slate at birth, with experience determining what we know. These philosophical viewpoints
have influenced some of the great thinkers in developmental psychology as you will see

later on in the chapter.

In developmental psychology the debate centres around two main questions.

• Are children born with innate knowledge or skills or are these acquired from interaction with

the environment?

• Is development driven by external factors or by something inside each individual?

In this context, nature refers to traits, abilities and capacities that are inherited. It includes anything

produced by the predetermined unfolding of genetic information. Development that relies on

nature alone is known as maturation. In contrast, nurture refers to the environmental influences

that shape development. These can be biological; for example, substance misuse in pregnancy

may result in changes in growth and development of the unborn child. More often than not,

nurture refers to the social and cultural factors that shape our environment and way that the

behaviours of those around us influence our development. This includes the way we are raised as

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children, the attitudes and behaviours of our peer group, our experiences and even the choices

we make as we get older. Societal factors, such as the socio-economic circumstances in which we

find ourselves, may also be important.

Developmental Psychology

One area where this debate has been quite prominent is that of language acquisition, a topic we

will return to in more detail in Chapter 3. A major question here is whether or not certain properties

of human language are specified genetically or simply acquired through learning. The nativist

position argues that the environmental input from language is insufficient for infants and children

to acquire the structure of language. A well-known proponent of this view is linguist Noam

Chomsky, who asserted that there is a ‘universal grammar’that applies to all human languages and

is pre-specified (Chomsky, 1979). He calls this the language acquisition device (LAD). This view

is supported by some contemporary psychologists, including Steven Pinker, who argues convincingly
that language is a human instinct, wired into our brains by evolution (Pinker, 2007).

In contrast, the empiricist position on the question of language acquisition suggests that

language input is sufficient to provide the information we require to learn the structure of

language. This perspective proposes that infants acquire language through a process of statistical

learning. Language is acquired by the general learning methods that apply to all aspects of human

development.

There is evidence to support components of both the nativist and the empiricist position, both for

language and for other aspects of development. In contemporary psychology the consensus view

is that development results from an interaction between genes and environment. However, that

does not mean that this issue has been put aside. The debate now concerns the relative role of

nature and nurture for different aspects of development. In language development, for example,

theorists such as Jerome Bruner (1983) agree with Chomsky’s notion of an LAD. However, Bruner

asserts that Chomsky gives too big a role to this aspect of language acquisition, noting that social

context, and the behaviour of parents in particular, have a significant impact on language

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development. This aspect of the environment he calls the language acquisition support system

(LASS). According to Bruner, the LAD cannot function alone and every LAD therefore needs a LASS.

Continuity versus discontinuity

This issue concerns whether development follows a smooth continuous path, or whether it is a

discontinuous stage-based process. In continuous change, development is gradual and cumulative.

Changes are quantitative in nature and the underlying processes that drive change are the

same over the course of the lifespan. In this view, one behaviour or skill builds upon another, such

that later development can be predicted from what occurred early in life. Physical growth and

changes in height provide one example of continuous change in childhood. In discontinuous

change, development occurs in distinct, usually abrupt stages. Each stage is qualitatively different

from the last. Examples sometimes cited from nature include the caterpillar that turns into a

butterfly, or the tadpole that becomes a frog.

The question for developmental psychology concerns whether psychological skills and abilities in

childhood are qualitatively different from those of adults. Or are children merely mini adults, who

simply lack the knowledge that comes with experience? One area in which this debate has been

of primary concern is cognitive development. Jean Piaget, for example, proposed a four-stage

theory to describe how children reason and interact with their surroundings (1952, 1962, 1983).

According to Piaget, children’s thinking is characterised at each stage by different forms of mental

organisation. This gives rise to qualitative differences in thinking and reasoning at each stage. This,

in turn, means that a child’s view of the world is different from that of an adult. In contrast to this,

information-processing models of cognitive development have proposed that this idea is flawed

and that cognitive change occurs because of an increase in quantitative advances, not qualitative

differences. A child’s ability to engage in more sophisticated reasoning processes is believed to

stem from a change in their capacity to handle information. This increased capacity, along with

improved processing speeds, makes processing more efficient.

Once again, psychologists generally agree that neither approach is complete. It is more likely that

some processes may be better described as continuous and others as occurring through stages.

There is also some suggestion that continuous and discontinuous processes may interact.
NeoPiagetian theory (e.g. Case, 1999) suggests that the changes in information-processing
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mechanisms, such as speed and memory capacity, are responsible for the progression from stage to
stage.

Critical versus sensitive periods for change

A critical period is a specific time during development when a particular event has its greatest

impact. As you will see in Chapter 2, maternal diseases, such as rubella, have greater consequences
for foetal development in the eleventh week of pregnancy than in the thirtieth week.

Rubella contracted in the eleventh week may lead to blindness, deafness and heart problems.

Rubella in the thirtieth week may have no significant impact on prenatal development. In this

case, specific events during the critical period lead to atypical development. In developmental

psychology, a critical period for development usually implies that certain environmental stimuli

are necessary for typical development to occur. John Bowlby (1951), for example, suggested that,

if children did not receive the right kind of care in the first two years of life, their emotional

development would be adversely affected. According to Bowlby, between six months and two

years of age is a critical period for relationship formation. If children are not able to form a strong

attachment with a carer during this period, their ability to form relationships later in life will be

permanently damaged.

Better understanding of the plasticity and resilience of human nature has led to a reassessment

of this idea. Most developmentalists now agree that, rather than suffering permanent damage

from a lack of stimuli during early periods of development, it is more likely that people can use

later experiences to help them overcome deficits. It is now more common to talk about ‘sensitive’

rather than ‘critical’periods. In a sensitive period we may be more susceptible to particular stimuli;

however, the absence of those stimuli does not always result in irreversible damage.

Developmental Psychology

Stability versus change

This issue concerns the extent to which early traits and characteristics persist throughout life or are

able to change. Does the shy child become a shy adult? Can a shy child become a gregarious adult?

The stability–change issue involves the degree to which we merely become older versions of our

younger selves. Theorists who believe in stability in development often argue from a nativist stance,
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emphasising the role of heredity for the development of psychological characteristics. We inherit

aspects of our personality, for example, in much the same way that we inherit eye colour. From this

perspective we cannot change our psychological self, only learn to control it. Thus, the shy child

remains shy as an adult even if he or she learns to act in an outgoing manner in social situations.

From an empiricist viewpoint, stability in psychological characteristics stems from the impact

of early experiences that cannot be overcome. An individual is shy not because of a genetic

predisposition, but because during early experiences of interacting with others they encountered

considerable stress, leading them to avoid social interaction. This has much in common with the

idea described in the preceding section, that there are critical periods of development during

which specific experiences permanently influence later behaviour.

The alternative viewpoint is that there is potential for change throughout the life span. Later

experiences are believed to be able to influence development just as early ones do. The majority

of contemporary theorists accept this perspective. However, there is still some debate as to how

much change is possible. On the one hand, Baltes (2003) argues that, while adults are able to

change, their capacity to do so is less than that of a child and diminishes over time. On the other

hand, Kagan (2003) argues that personality traits such as shyness have a genetic basis; yet he also

provides evidence that even these inherited traits can be subject to change over time.

The role of the individual in development

This concerns the extent to which development is driven by external factors or by something

inside each individual. Are children active agents who influence their own development or passive

agents who merely respond to forces in the developmental progression? Traditional views of

development see the individual as passive in their development. Empiricists see the child as a

passive recipient of stimuli, while nativists see the child as passively following a biological

programme. Most contemporary theories of development recognise an active role for children in

their own development. This thinking has its roots in the philosophy of Immanuel Kant, who

argued for a synthesis of nativism and empiricism. He proposed that we are born with certain

mental structures that help us to interpret input from our senses in particular ways. By themselves,

they cannot give us knowledge. It is only through interaction with the environment that these

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structures order and organise experience. He also proposed an active role for individuals as

organisers of this experience.

Modern theories of development recognise children as central to their own development. The

individual is able to influence development directly through the choices they make and increasingly,
as they get older, by selecting their environment. They are also able to affect development

indirectly through their behaviour, which can affect how others respond to them and, to some

extent, the experiences they encounter.

Theories of development

Miller (2002) defines a theory as a set of interconnected statements including definitions, axioms,

postulates, hypothetical constructs, laws and testable hypotheses, which describe unobservable

structures, mechanisms or processes and relate them to observable events. Complete theories of

development are rare in contemporary psychology, according to Miller. Rather, developmental

theories serve as frames of reference for examining change in specific aspects of mind or

behaviour, such as cognition or emotional functioning. In this way, they are perhaps better viewed

as models of development – that is, informal theories of more limited scope.

However, developmental psychologists usually have a particular theoretical perspective. Their

view of development is usually based on a general set of assumptions about how change occurs

and the factors they believe to be most significant in producing developmental change. You may

well have come across some of these theoretical perspectives in other areas of psychology. While

there are many approaches in psychology, the most significant from a developmental standpoint

include the psychodynamic, learning, constructivist and social constructivist perspectives, which

are described briefly here. We will return to these theories later in the chapter when we look at

some key figures in development on pages 10–19.

Psychodynamic theories

Proponents of the psychodynamic perspective believe that behaviour is motivated by inner forces,

memories and conflicts, of which a person has little awareness or control. These inner forces

usually result from childhood experiences and continue to influence behaviour across the lifespan.

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The best-known theorists in this perspective are Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) and Erik Erikson

(1902–94).

Learning theories

This perspective suggests that the key to understanding development lies in observable

behaviour and an individual’s response to environmental stimuli. The assumption here is that

behaviour is a learned response to reinforcement provided by the environment. The learning and

Developmental Psychology

conditioning principles described in the behavioural theories of BF Skinner (1936) and John B

Watson (1913, 1924) account for human development.

One area that behaviourist theories do not explain is the type of learning that takes place when

someone learns by observing a model. Called social learning by Albert Bandura (1963), this is the

process by which someone imitates the behaviour observed in another person when it appears

to have reinforcing consequences, and inhibits such behaviour when the observed consequence

is punishment.

Constructivist and social constructivist theories

Constructivism argues that learning and development occur when an individual interacts with the

environment around them. Individuals are seen as active learners who construct their own
understanding and knowledge of the world from their actions upon the environment. Development
is

suggested to take place in sequential stages and children’s thinking is proposed to be different

from that of adults. The most well-known theorist in this perspective is Jean Piaget (1896–1980),

who developed an important theory of cognitive development.

Social constructivist theories are a variant of this perspective and emphasise the influence of the

social and cultural environment on development. The social context of development and an

individual’s interactions with other people are seen as playing an important role in development.

The most significant theorists to take account of social and cultural factors in development are

Lev Vygotsky (1930/1978) and Urie Bronfenbrenner (1977).

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How has developmental psychology evolved as a discipline?

There are two key areas to be aware of with regard to the progress of developmental psychology

as a discipline. First, there has been a change in the focus of interest from development in

childhood, to development across the lifespan. Second, there has been a gradual change in the

way that this development has been studied.

From child development to lifespan development

The scientific study of children began in the second half of the nineteenth century, when Charles

Darwin (1809–82) first put forward his theory of evolution. In his book On the Origin of Species

(1859), Darwin focused attention on the significance of the immaturity of human infants. In

particular, he proposed that ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny. According to this recapitulation

theory, individual development replicates the evolution of the species. For example, in the very

early stages of development the human embryo looks like a fish, even having gill slits. This fits well

with the evolutionary idea that humans evolved from other vertebrates. Darwin also kept a

detailed record of his infant son’s development, which he later reported in the journal Mind (1877).

Baby biographies such as this one were popular during the late nineteenth century and are often

credited with being some of the first studies in human development. While not scientifically

sound, these single case studies made human development a legitimate topic for study.

A number of other scientists of the time were influenced by these baby biographies and

Darwin’s theories, most notably Granville Stanley Hall (1846–1924), the founder of the American

Psychological Association. Well aware of the shortcomings of the baby biographies, Hall became

a strong advocate of the need to base child-rearing on scientific principles. His own studies used

questionnaires in an attempt to collect more objective data and to explore the contents of children’s

minds(Hall, 1891). At around the same time in England, James Sully (1842–1923) established a new

subject at London University called ‘Child Psychology’.

Initially, developmental psychology focused on the changes that take place in childhood. It was

only in the early twentieth century that adolescence began to be studied as a distinct life stage.

One of the first psychologists to study and write about adolescence was Hall (1904), who

suggested that this was an important period of change, typified by intense emotional turmoil,

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which he called ‘storm and stress’. The importance of psychological development as a process that

continues throughout adulthood as well as childhood and adolescence was not fully recognised

until much later in the twentieth century. Hall himself wrote about changes in adulthood in 1922;

however, one of the most important theories to suggest that psychological development

continues across the lifespan was that of Erik Erikson (1950).

Although some early theorists such as Hall saw all phases of the lifespan as worthy of investigation,

for much of the twentieth century the study of human development was divided into age-related

specialities. Some researchers focused on infancy and childhood, others specialised in adolescence
and some focused on gerontology, the study of ageing and old age. So while many areas of

the lifespan were being studied, this was being done in quite separate, self-contained disciplines.

In this traditional approach to studying development the emphasis is on the idea that most

developmental change occurs in childhood and adolescence. This is followed by adulthood, a

period of relative stability. Finally, old age is believed to be characterised by decline. This is quite

different from the lifespan perspective, which began to emerge as a distinct discipline in the 1960s

and 1970s. According to this perspective, developmental change occurs throughout the lifespan

and changes in adulthood are as important as those in childhood. No age period dominates

development. Changes that occur as we age may also be positive; ageing is not defined by decline.

Development is therefore multidirectional. This means that, as some capacities or behaviours

decrease, others expand. Furthermore, development includes both gain and loss throughout the

lifespan and these may even occur together. Development is also believed to be multidimensional;
that is, it consists of biological, social, emotional and cognitive changes, all of which

are interrelated. The study of development should therefore be seen as multidisciplinary;

neuroscientists, psychologists, sociologists and medical researchers have different but

complementary perspectives on age-related change, making multidisciplinary research an important

goal. It is also recognised that development can be influenced by the environment in which an

individual lives. Thus, the socio-cultural context of development is seen as highly relevant to

developmental change. Finally, the plasticity of human development – the idea that we retain

capacity for change in response to environmental factors right across the lifespan – is emphasised.

This lifespan approach to development has become increasingly popular in recent years, perhaps

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in response to increases in life expectancy. This is undoubtedly because of the optimistic view it

gives of ageing. Rather than being seen as the endpoint of development as it is in the traditional

view, adulthood is seen as an important time of growth and change. Furthermore, adulthood and

ageing are no longer portrayed as a period of decline; positive change is seen to take place even

for older adults. As we shall see in Chapter 7, there is a lot of evidence that supports this positive

view of ageing.

From the traditional to a new research paradigm

In the late nineteenth century, the new study of child development used a systematic approach

to investigating age-related changes. The methods used were based on those used in the natural

sciences and involved evaluating theories of development by generating and testing hypotheses.

This is known as the hypothetico-deductive method. When following this scientific experimental

method, the aim is to collect objective data and carry out a quantitative analysis in order to

provide accurate descriptions and explanations of how and why change occurs. It is also common

to carry out data collection under controlled conditions in a laboratory.

An underlying assumption in this traditional scientific approach is that there is an objective reality

in the world that can be observed, measured and categorised. This is sometimes referred to as a

positivist approach and has been used widely in developmental psychology since the study of

human development began. This approach has produced much of the theoretical work and

research described in this book. However, in the last 20 to 30 years, there has been increasing

debate about whether the approach taken in traditional science is appropriate for the study of

human development. One important objection that we will encounter throughout this book is

that, in traditional lab-based research, development is being studied outside a meaningful social

context. The findings may therefore lack ecological validity, which means that they may no

longer hold true when people are behaving naturally in their everyday settings. It is also argued

that people’s behaviour during a research study may also be changed because of other factors,

such as the uneven power relationship between the researcher and the participant. It has also

been suggested that researchers may impose on participants their own ideas of what is being

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measured, by the research tools that they use and the way they design the study. Thus a
participant’s behaviour during the study may not be completely natural but may, in part, be an
artifact of participating in the research. The problem of the uneven power relationship has been
suggested as a particular issue when working with children and is something we will return to in
later chapters.

These objections to the positivist approach have resulted in a different emphasis in the way that

some developmental psychologists conduct their research. They may do this while still following

the core principles of the traditional scientific approach. For example, studies have been carried out

to investigate the influence of context on people’s behaviour, but using traditional experimental

methods. A good example of this is the work of Margaret Donaldson (1978), which looked at how

children’s cognitive performance changed according to the language used and the meaningfulness

of the situation. More studies have been carried out to research people’s behaviour in everyday

situations using observations and quasi-experimental methods. The collection of more qualitative

data, using open-ended questions in questionnaires and interviews that allow participants to raise

ideas that the researcher had not included, has also become more common.

Other psychologists have shown a more radical reaction to the debate about the traditional

scientific approach. They reject the idea that human thought and behaviour can ever be studied

objectively. This is because they argue that there is no single objective reality; rather, each one of

us constructs our own understandings and interpretations of ‘reality’, which are embedded in the

context of our interactions with others. ‘Reality’ is therefore highly individualised and subjective.

These psychologists argue that it is the interactions between people that should be the focus for

psychological research. The aim is to describe the subjective experience of participants and

understand individuality in order to build ‘local theories’ that apply to the specific social context

of an event. Unlike ‘scientific’theories, they are not concerned with generating predictions as much

as making sense of phenomena. These are some of the key features of what is referred to as a

qualitative approach, and sometimes called ‘new paradigm’research. The difference between this

and the traditional approach is illustrated by Grieg and Taylor’s (1999) suggestion that, in the

positivist approach, children are determined, knowable, objective and measurable, whereas in the

qualitative approach they are subjective, contextual, self-determining and dynamic. It is important

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to recognise that there is some overlap between these differing approaches. Many researchers use

a variety of methods and seek to gain both quantitative and qualitative data.

Key figures in developmental psychology

There are a number of key figures in developmental psychology. These are the theorists whose

ideas and research have changed the way we think about human development. The aforementioned
Granville Stanley Hall (1904, 1912, 1922), for example, is often called the ‘father’ of

developmental psychology, as he carried out some of the first systematic studies of children. He

also taught one of the first courses in child development and established scientific journals for the

publication of child development research. His belief that children’s development recapitulates

the evolution of the species has long since been discredited. However, he retains importance as a

historical figure as he inspired a great deal of the work on human development upon which this

book is based. The theories of those who followed in Hall’s footsteps have also not always stood

up to close scrutiny. However, there are some theorists whose work remains critical to our

understanding of human development.

John B Watson (1878–1958)

Watson created the behaviourist approach to psychology at the beginning of the twentieth

century (Watson, 1913). He believed that human behaviour can be understood in terms of

experiences and learning. He rejected the introspective approach of late nineteenth-century

theorists, which attempted to understand internal mental experiences based on self-reports. He

called instead for the objective study of observable, measurable behaviours. In 1928, in his book

Psychological Care of the Infant and Child, he presented his view that all behaviour is the product

of environment and experience. Biological factors had no role, according to Watson. His theory

was that all learning takes place through a process of association.

Watson believed that learning occurs through operant conditioning, when an association is

made between a behaviour and the consequence of that behaviour. Consequences will either

reinforce a behaviour, thus making it more likely to reoccur, or will be aversive, thus decreasing the

likelihood of the behaviour reoccurring. A reinforcer is therefore any event that strengthens or

increases the behaviour that it follows. There are two kinds of reinforcers.

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• Positive reinforcers are favourable outcomes presented after the behaviour. In positive
reinforcement, a response or behaviour is strengthened by the addition of something such as

praise or a direct reward.

• Negative reinforcers involve the removal of an unfavourable outcome after the display of a

behaviour. In negative reinforcement a response is strengthened by the removal of something

considered unpleasant.

Conversely, punishment occurs when an adverse outcome causes a decrease in the behaviour it

follows. There are two kinds of punishment.

• Positive punishment involves the presentation of an unfavourable outcome in order to weaken

the response it follows.

• Negative punishment occurs when a favourable outcome is removed after a behaviour occurs.

Although we now believe development to be far more complex than behaviourism allows,

modern application of many of the ideas presented in Watson’s learning theory can still be found,

most especially in Applied Behavioural Analysis (ABA) – an intervention programme often used

with children with behavioural or learning difficulties.

Albert Bandura (1925–)

Bandura believes that behavioural learning theories are inadequate as a framework for
understanding human development. He suggests that many human behaviours are learned from

observing others. According to Bandura’s social learning theory (1963), people learn through

observing others’behaviour and attitudes, using this as a model for their own behaviour. However,

there are certain conditions that are necessary if modelling is to be effective.

• Attention: in order for the behaviour to be learned, the observer must see the modelled

behaviour.

• Retention: the observer must be able to remember the modelled behaviour.

• Reproduction: the observer must have the skills to reproduce the action.

• Motivation: the observer must be motivated to carry out the action they have observed and

remembered, and must have the opportunity to do so. Motivation may include seeing the

model’s behaviour reinforced, while punishment may discourage repetition of the behaviour.
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According to Bandura, the observer will imitate the model’s behaviour only if the model possesses

characteristics that the observer finds attractive or desirable. Therefore, we do not always imitate

others’actions. We choose who to imitate – learning is not an automatic response but depends on

internal processes as well as environmental ones. This is very different from Watson’s view of

learning, and social learning theory has sometimes been called a bridge between behaviourist and

cognitive learning theories because it encompasses attention, memory and motivation.

Sigmund Freud (1856–1939)

Sigmund Freud is best known in developmental psychology for his model of psychosexual

development (1905). This theory is in sharp contrast to the objective approach advocated by

Watson. His is one of the best known, but also one of the most controversial theories of
development. It was based on his own and his patients’ recollections of their childhood. According to

Freud, personality develops through a series of stages, during which the psychosexual energies of

the id become focused on different areas of the body as the child grows to adulthood. This

psychosexual energy, or libido, was described as the driving force behind behaviour. Freud

proposed five stages of development (see Table 1.1). If each psychosexual stage is completed

successfully, the result is a healthy personality. However, if certain issues are not resolved at the

appropriate stage, fixation occurs. Until this issue or conflict is resolved, the individual remains

stuck in this stage. For example, a person who is fixated at the oral stage may be overdependent

on others and may seek oral stimulation through smoking, drinking or eating.

Freud’s model is an interactionist one, in which development is determined by both biology and

the environment. Thus, the sequence and timing of the stages are biologically determined;

however, successful personality development depends on the environmental experiences of the

child at each stage. The details of Freud’s developmental theory have been widely criticised, and

few psychologists today accept his theory of development as accurate. One problem with his

theory is that concepts such as the libido are impossible to measure, and therefore cannot be

tested scientifically. Furthermore, Freud’s theory is based on case studies and not empirical

research. Freud based his theory on the recollections of his adult patients, not on actual

observation and the study of children.

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Stage Age Characteristics

Oral Birth to 1 year An infant’s primary interaction with the world is through the mouth.

The mouth is vital for eating, and the infant derives pleasure from oral

stimulation through gratifying activities such as tasting and sucking. If

this need is not met, the child may develop an oral fixation later in life,

examples of which include thumb-sucking, smoking, fingernail biting

and overeating.

Anal 1 to 3 years Freud believed that the primary focus of the libido was on controlling

bladder and bowel movements. Toilet training is a primary issue with

children and parents. Too much pressure can result in an excessive need

for order or cleanliness later in life, while too little pressure from parents

can lead to messy or destructive behaviour later in life.

Phallic 3 to 6 years Freud suggested that the primary focus of the id’s energy is on the

genitals. According to Freud, boys experience an Oedipal complex and

girls experience and Electra complex, both of which are an attraction

to the opposite sex parent. To cope with this conflict, children adopt the

values and characteristics of the same-sex parent, thus forming the

superego.

Latent 6 to 11 years During this stage, the superego continues to develop, while the id’s

energies are suppressed. Children develop social skills, values and

relationships with peers and adults outside the family.

Genital 11 to 18 years The onset of puberty causes the libido to become active once again.

During this stage, people develop a strong interest in the opposite sex.

If development has been successful to this point, the individual will

continue to develop into a well-balanced person.

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