Introduction to Developmental Psychology Lecture
Chapter 1: Overview of Human Development
- Focus on how people change over time.
- Changes related to physiological, psychological, social, and cognitive aspects.
Three Themes in Development
- Nature vs Nurture
- Influence of genetics vs environment.
- Example: IQ influenced by genes and educational environment.
- Continuity vs Discontinuity
- Smooth development vs distinct stages.
- Example: Erickson's stages (discontinuity) vs physical growth (continuity).
- Universal vs Context-Specific Development
- Single path vs varied paths based on context.
- Example: Learning to count money different in U.S. vs other cultures.
Four Forces of Human Development
- Biological Forces: Genetics and health.
- Psychological Forces: Cognitive processes.
- Sociocultural Forces: Influence of society, culture, and interpersonal relationships.
- Life Cycle Forces: Timing of life events and their impact.
Theory in Psychology
- Definition: Organized ideas to explain development through scientific study.
- Distinguished from hypotheses (initial guesses).
Major Theories in Psychology
Psychoanalytic Theory
- Freud: Brought psychology to the mainstream.
- Concepts: Ego, id, and superego.
- Focus on unconscious mind and development of personality.
- Erickson: Developed stages of psychosocial development.
- Importance of culture.
- Eight stages with specific conflicts (trust vs mistrust, identity vs role confusion, etc.).
Behavioral and Cognitive Theories
- Skinner: Operant conditioning (positive/negative reinforcement, punishment).
- Bandura: Social learning, observational learning, and imitation.
Cognitive Development
- Piaget: Stages of cognitive development (sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, formal operational).
- Vygotsky: Sociocultural theory, more knowledgeable others, and zone of proximal development.
Ecological Systems
- Bronfenbrenner (Yuri): Development as an interaction of systems (microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem).
Research in Developmental Psychology
Types of Research
- Longitudinal Studies: Study over time, expensive, and prone to dropout.
- Cross-Sectional Studies: Different groups compared at one time.
- Sequential Studies: Combines both longitudinal and cross-sectional methods.
- Meta-Analysis: Combines data from multiple studies.
Research Methods
- Observation: Naturalistic and structured.
- Self-reporting: Surveys and questionnaires.
- Physiological Measures: Brain activity, pupil dilation.
Evaluating Research
- Reliability: Consistency of results.
- Validity: Accuracy in measuring what is intended.
- Population vs Sample: Generalizing from a sample to a larger population.
Communicating Research
- Peer-Review Process: Ensures scientific accuracy before publication.
This concludes the overview of Chapter 1 for developmental psychology. Future chapters will delve into more specific ages and development stages.