Developmental Psychology

There are three main theories of development that I shall discuss in this assignment, 'Cognitive', the main theorist being, 'Piaget', (1896 - 1980), The, 'Psychosocial Theory', 'Erikson', (1902 - 1994), and, The 'Psychosexual', of, 'Freud', (1856 - 1939).

There are numerous debates in regards to developmental psychology. One of the main debates to begin with is nature vs nurture; some individuals believe that we are products of our environment while others regards us while others believe that we are products of our genetics. John Locke believes that when we are born we are a “tabula rasa” a blank slate

Psychology is diverse, and there are many diverse specialty areas available to individuals seeking a career in the field of psychology. Most Psychologists choose to specialize in subfields that focus on specific subjects. Obtaining a profession in any of the specialty areas would require graduate study in that area of interest. Some professionals have a broad general knowledge, are skilled in several areas, and work with a range of clients. Some are specialist in treating a specific type of psychological disorder, or work with a specific age group. For those interested in specializing in a psychology career, developmental Psychology is one of the many fields available.

There are many theories of child development largely because many different people have studied the field for many years. Each theory has their different factors; biology, sociology, genetics, environment, and relationships are just a few of them. “Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous -- and how well I know it. ”! (Psalms 139:14).  One might ask the question: "If theories are so useful, why do we need so many?"  Having a multitude of theories allow us to see how children develop from a variety of

1. According to Robert Sternberg, love goes through 3 stages of love he calls “The three dimension of love; passion, intimacy, and commitment. Sternberg believes when you go through the three dimension of love, there are also seven different type of love. The seven different type of love is liking, infatuation, empty love, romantic love, fatuous love, companionate love, and consummate love. The first dimension of love is passion; it is the process where we first start falling in love with a partner. Passion is what I call the “getting to know each other” stage of a relationship. The second part of the three dimension of love is intimacy. Intimacy is when you feel close to a person whether it’s emotionally or physically. It is also a stage where you share your deepest secret about you to the person who you feel that you’re in love with. Intimacy is where you feel the closest in your relationship. The third and final stage of the three dimension of love is commitment. Commitment is the phase where people decide that being with that one person is enough and they would spend the rest of their life being together that leads to marriage and children. I feel that Sternberg’s dimension of love is associated to Erikson’s intimacy vs. isolation. “Adults seek someone with whom to share their lives in an enduring and self-sacrificing commitment. Without such commitment, they risk profound aloneness and isolation.” (Berger, p.525) I believe

B) our ability to modify our behavior based on the prospect of rewards or punishment.

Developmental psychology is viewed as different approaches which aims to look at how children and adults develop. Theories such as Bowlby 's attachment theory can explain how a child 's development can be altered by their attachment, thus leading to the ideology of the nature vs nurture debate, nature referring to the process of biological maturation while nurture is referring to the impact of the environment or surroundings, which involves the idea that a person learns through experiences. (McLeod, S. A, 2012)

Developmental psychology recognizes three main models of psychosocial and cognitive development. The first theory, presented by developmental psychologist and philosopher Jean Piaget, addresses cognitive development. The second theory, presented by psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg, focuses on the development of morality. The third theory, proposed by developmental psychologist and psychoanalyst Erik Erikson, outlines psychosocial development. All three theories are applicable from birth to death.

Developmental psychology is the scientific study of changes that occur in human beings over the course of their life. Initially focused on infants and children, the life stages of developmental psychology is ranged to include infancy, adolescence, adult development, and the entire lifespan. This field looks at change across a wide range of topics that includes motor skills and other psychological processes such as cognitive development involving areas like problem solving, moral understanding, conceptual understanding, language acquisition, social personality, emotional development, and self-concept and identity formation.

There are many theories of child development because we have been studying the field for so many years. Each theory has their different factors; biology, sociology, genetics, environment, relationships are just a few of them. “Thank you for making me so wonderful and complex”! (Psalms139:14). When one theory is formulated and used for awhile someone else may come behind that particular theorist and add some new points to expand the theory and then create a new one. That’s why I feel so many different theories exist.

Development psychology refers to the scientific study of the systematic psychological changes that normally occur to human beings throughout their growth period from birth to old age. It was originally concerned with children and infants, but it has since expanded to include the entire life span of mankind including adolescence and adulthood. Development psychology covers the extent to which human development occurs through gradual accumulation of knowledge, and the extent to which children born with inmate mental structures learn through experience. Several psychological theories and approaches like the behavioral, humanistic, psychoanalytic, biological, and cognitive approaches have been developed to explain the

Developmental Psychology has widened my perspective and knowledge of the nature of development from humans’ infancy to adolescence and emerging adulthood. Although I have learned about biological, cognitive, and socioemotional processes and periods of development, I am especially interested in socioemotional development in infancy because it is the foundation for a child’s future development. That is to say, if children have a healthy socioemotional development from infancy, they will have a healthy life later on. By understanding the developmental process in infancy, I will be fully prepared when I have children or when my family’s members do.

There are many theories on how a human develops. Most babies follow a certain pattern of development but the controversy is which person 's developmental pattern of development is correct? Erik Erickson, Sigmund Freud and Jean Piaget 's developmental theories are similar. Each of the theories goes through a human 's development chronologically, giving a guideline of when certain developments happen. For example when a child is supposed to walk or when a child is going to speak. It is only a guideline and these theories are not supposed to be held too strictly.

Leading up into the class I was both bit nervous and excited, since this was the first time in years that I haven’t taken a class outside of my particular major. As I was going through the course schedule, I had in my mind that I did not just want to take any old class just because I need it to graduate. So I came across developmental psychology and thought to myself that this would be a good fit because I enjoy learning about other people. Once class started, I was a little confused about how it the class was going to be, since I already had the thought in my head that I was going to be learning about people older in age. After understanding more about what I was going to learn from this class, I became much more excited because this is actually affecting me in my personal life now, as my wife is pregnant and due in December. I thought this was a great pre baby learning experience for myself, since each week I had the ability to learn everything from development, prenatal development, physical development, intelligence, temperament and attachment, gender role development, and development of the family.

There are many events from my childhood that have impacted the person that I am today. One that sticks out in my mind is moving to a different city and school in my first year of junior high. I remember being terrified to make new friends, and to make it worse it was middle school. My mother said that the fear would go away once I started. She said that I would see that it isn't as bad as I was anticipating it to be, and like most situations, she was right. I learned that by facing my biggest fear it would never truly be as scary as I may think it would be. I believe that the experience taught me to dive in even though I may be scared and to know that it will all eventually work out. I believe this relates to developmental psychology in many