"Developmental psychology is the scientific study of how and why humans grow, change, and adapt across the course of their lives."
This subfield focuses on the study of how biological and environmental factors together influence psychology and behavior from infancy to adulthood.
Prenatal Development: The study of the developmental process in the womb before birth.
Brain Development: The study of how the brain develops and changes over the lifespan.
Early Childhood Development: The study of the developmental process from infancy to early childhood (ages 0-6).
Cognitive Development: The study of the developmental process of thinking and perception.
Social Development: The study of how social interactions and relationships affect development.
Emotional Development: The study of the developmental process of emotions and feelings.
Language Development: The study of the developmental process of language acquisition.
Adolescence: The study of the developmental process during the transition period from childhood to adulthood.
Neuropsychology: The study of how the nervous system affects behavior, emotion, and cognition.
Attachment Theory: The study of how attachments formed in childhood influence mental health and development.
Brain Plasticity: The study of how the brain adapts and changes in response to experience.
Psychopathology: The study of abnormal behavior, emotional disturbance, and mental illness.
Cultural Differences: The study of how cultural beliefs, values, and practices influence human development.
Parenting Styles: The study of how different parenting approaches influence child development.
Socialization: The study of how society shapes individuals and their behaviors.
Genetics: The study of how genes influence physical and psychological development.
Object Permanence: The study of the concept that objects still exist even when they are not visible.
Sensorimotor Stage: The study of the first stage of cognitive development in children (ages 0-2).
Theory of Mind: The study of the understanding that others have different beliefs, knowledge, and perspectives.
Executive Function: The study of the cognitive processes that control goal-directed behavior.
Prenatal Development: This type of developmental psychology focuses on the steps, stages, and changes that occur during the nine months of gestation.
Infant Development: This field studies the cognitive, emotional, physical, and social development of infants.
Child Development: This is the period between infancy and adolescence. It studies the changes in cognitive ability, personality, social behavior, motor skills, and language acquisition.
Adolescent Development: This focuses on the changes that occur during teenage years. It studies the changes in identity formation, social relationships, and emotional regulation.
Adult Development: This covers a person's lifespan, from early adulthood to old age. It looks at the physical, cognitive, emotional, and social changes that occur over a lifespan.
Cognitive Development: This focuses on the development of memory, perception, attention, language, problem-solving, and reasoning.
Emotional Development: This field explores the changes in emotional awareness, regulation, and expression from infancy through adulthood.
Social Development: This examines how infants, children, and adults develop social relationships, empathy, moral reasoning, and their understanding of social norms.
Language Development: This field examines the cognitive and linguistic processes that underlie language acquisition and development.
Moral Development: This examines how people develop a sense of right and wrong and a moral conscience.
Personality Development: This field explores how people develop different personality characteristics, such as introversion, extroversion, and the Big Five personality traits.
Social and Cultural Perspectives: This field explores how social and cultural factors shape human development throughout the lifespan.
"The field has expanded to include adolescence, adult development, aging, and the entire lifespan."
"Developmental psychologists aim to explain how thinking, feeling, and behaviors change throughout life."
"The three major dimensions are physical development, cognitive development, and social-emotional development."
"Within these three dimensions are a broad range of topics including motor skills, executive functions, moral understanding, language acquisition, social change, personality, emotional development, self-concept, and identity formation."
"Developmental psychology examines the influences of nature and nurture on the process of human development, as well as processes of change in context across time."
"Many researchers are interested in the interactions among personal characteristics, the individual's behavior, and environmental factors."
"Ongoing debates in regards to developmental psychology include biological essentialism vs. neuroplasticity and stages of development vs. dynamic systems of development."
"At the moment, researchers are working to understand how transitioning through stages of life and biological factors may impact our behaviors and development."
"Developmental psychology involves a range of fields, such as educational psychology, child psychopathology, forensic developmental psychology, child development, cognitive psychology, ecological psychology, and cultural psychology."
"Influential developmental psychologists from the 20th century include Urie Bronfenbrenner, Erik Erikson, Sigmund Freud, Anna Freud, Jean Piaget, Barbara Rogoff, Esther Thelen, and Lev Vygotsky."