"Developmental psychology is the scientific study of how and why humans grow, change, and adapt across the course of their lives."
The study of how humans develop physically, emotionally, and cognitively from infancy to adulthood, including social and cultural influences on development.
Nature vs Nurture: This debate focuses on whether a person's genetics or environment has a greater impact on their development.
Biological Development: This includes the physical changes that occur in a person's body during development, such as puberty and brain maturation.
Cognitive Development: This field explores how children's thought processes change and develop over time, including how they learn and understand concepts such as language.
Social Development: This topic examines how children develop social skills and relationships, including how they interact with others and how they understand and manage their own emotions.
Emotional Development: This area examines how emotions develop and change over time and how they affect a person's behavior.
Language Development: This field looks at how children learn and acquire language, including when and how they first start talking and how they develop reading and writing skills.
Moral Development: This topic explores how individuals develop their sense of right and wrong and how this changes over time.
Gender Development: This area examines how gender identity develops and how it affects a person's sense of self.
Parenting Styles: This topic examines how different parenting techniques can affect a child's development, including how they learn and how they interact with others.
Educational Psychology: This field looks at how learning takes place and how to improve the teaching and learning environment.
Early Childhood Development: This field focuses on the cognitive, emotional, and social development of children from birth through age 8.
Adolescent Development: This field examines the physical, cognitive, and social changes that occur during adolescence, typically from ages 12 to 18.
Language Development: This field explores how children acquire and use language, from their first words to the development of complex language skills.
Cognitive Development: This field examines the ways in which children learn, process information, and think about the world around them.
Social Development: This field looks at how children develop social skills, form relationships, and learn to interact with their peers and other adults.
Personality Development: This field focuses on how children develop their unique personalities, including their traits, attitudes, and behaviors.
Moral Development: This field examines the ways in which children learn about moral and ethical standards, and how they develop their own sense of right and wrong.
Neuropsychology Development: This field explores the relationship between brain development and the development of behavior, emotions, and cognition.
Psychopathology Development: This field examines the development of mental health conditions in children and adolescents, including diagnostic criteria and treatment approaches.
Environmental Psychology: This field focuses on the impact of the physical and social environments on child development, including the role of family, community, and culture.
"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."