Developmental Psychology : Psychology And Psychology

Developmental psychology is the study of how human beings age and transform throughout the eight major stages of life. This paper will focus on the physical, cognitive, social, moral, and personality development of individuals found in stage two, (early childhood 1-6 year olds). Through exploring, and examining the countless influences that affect their growth development.

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).

Psychology is a broad field that includes a wide variety of career opportunities. Some of these careers include health psychology, clinical psychology, sport psychology, and school psychology, only to mention a few. In this expansive field with much to offer, developmental psychology consists of just one of the many options available to psychologists. Developmental psychologists study the “social, cognitive, and physiological development during any of the following life stages: infancy, childhood, adolescence, and adulthood” (PsychologyCareerCenter). They also study the various landmarks associated in that particular age range (American Psychological Foundation). For example, a developmental psychologist who works with children might focus on developmental disabilities or behavioral problems in young children. One who works with aging adults might concentrate on the effects of Alzheimer’s or dementia on the mind (American Psychological Foundation).

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.

The first two years after birth, through the developing person has to do with three domains biosocial, cognitive and psychosocial. There are many different theories regarding the first two years. The three most influential works on growth and development was done by Piaget, Freud and Erikson. Piaget’s theory was called cognitive development or the sensorimotor stage. This is when the child interacts with his surroundings through physical action such as pushing, sucking, grabbing, etc. Freud’s theory of development is psychosexual. He proposed three stages in psychosexual development: oral, anal, phallic. Erikson’s theory is psychosocial. From birth until about one and a

Prior to the early 20th century little interest was paid to how a child developed; indeed most early research appears to be based on abnormal childhood behaviour (Oates et al. 2005). However, over time researchers began to acknowledge that both genetics and environment factors impacted on the way a child developed. Although there are many theories of child development, in particular constructivism, behaviourism, social constructivism and social learning have influenced developmental psychology enormously (Oates et al. 2005).

Many factors influence children’s development as well as that massive amount of development theories that elaborate on why children do certain things, why children have developmental disorders, or even why some children have developmental delays. Although there are many theories regarding children development and how they are influences, theorist make some great points in the child development but with any theory come flaws such as developmental issues. Famous theorists Freud, Erikson, and Piaget all have different ideas on this topic. Freud was a psychiatrist who believed in unconscious activity of the mind. Erikson was a developmental psychologist who believed that the mind developed in a series of stages, and Piaget was a clinical psychologist who believed in cognitive development. Theorists such as Sigmund Freud, Jean Piaget, and Erik Erikson discusses how their individual theory influences the make-up of the development of children.

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

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)

Today I called a previous staff member at my High school to perform an interview for a project in developmental psychology that is coming up. Before we started the interview she asked how everything was going, and when my alarm went off to go check my laundry she then stated “please tell me you were not just waking up and I responded by saying NO I have an 8:30 class I have been up for a few hours now”. This conversation and interview made my day and has also brought up some reflecting time for me afterwards. I have begun to see how much God has done not just for my family, but what has been done in my life. To think just last year, the thought of God moving our family to Dallas, Georgia was still something that none of our family or friends

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.

Phinney & Ong’s (2007) article discusses both the social and developmental perspectives of psychology in relation to the various components and measurements that are commonly used to identify ethnic identity within groups. To aid in their discussion, the researchers start by analyzing the available studies whose research effectually laid the groundwork for the development of both theoretical models and applicable assessments concerning individual and group ethnic identification, such as the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure (MEIM) and the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure – Revised (MEIM-R). The purpose of this research was for the researchers to be able to draw their own conclusions regarding modern theories of ethnic identity so that

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.

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.