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An Introduction to Developmental Psychology. Dr Hester Duffy. What is Developmental Psychology?. The Psychology of Change WHAT can we do? WHEN can we do it? HOW do we do it? WHY do we do it?. What is Developmental Psychology?. Old questions!
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An Introduction to Developmental Psychology Dr Hester Duffy
What is Developmental Psychology? The Psychology of Change WHAT can we do? WHEN can we do it? HOW do we do it? WHY do we do it?
What is Developmental Psychology? Old questions! Is the child born into the world a ‘blank slate’? Can a baby grow up to be anyone, or is it predetermined? How do children learn about the world?
What is Developmental Psychology? New questions! Which parts of the brain do what? How do our genes interact with our environment? How does our culture impact our development?
What is Developmental Psychology? A Science! Empirical methods Hypothesis testing Experiments Data collection Analysis
What is Developmental Psychology? Difficult! Adult studies – tasks, questionnaires, interviews Infant studies – different methods needed
How do we do Developmental Psychology? New-borns Natural abilities Eye-tracking Sucking
How do we do Developmental Psychology? Infants Eye tracking Reaching
How do we do Developmental Psychology? Young children Games & stories
How do we do Developmental Psychology? Older children and adolescents Adult-like tasks Neuro-imaging
Why do we do Developmental Psychology? To help in a-typical cases. To help in typical cases! To understand ourselves
The Development of Developmental Psychology Early Theories Evolution (Darwin) Learning (Watson) Maturation (Gesell & McGraw)
The Development of Developmental Psychology Piaget Stage Theory of development Stages are predetermined, universal, invariant Children are active agents
Piaget’s Stages 0 – 24 months – Sensori-motor stage 2 – 6 years – Pre-operational stage 6 – 12 years – Concrete operational stage 12 years up – Formal Operational stage
The Development of Developmental Psychology Vygotsky Social Learning theory Environment and culture play a role in development “Zone of proximal development”
The Development of Developmental Psychology Bowlby Attachment theory Worked with traumatised children Nature & Nurture
Attachment Theory Mother-child bond is vital Determines later relationships Attachment styles developed by Ainsworth & Bell
The Development of Developmental Psychology Modern Theories Smaller in scale – not trying to cover everything! More flexible and accommodating Domain specific rather than domain general More about how children learn rather than what they know
Modern Developmental Psychology Siegler Information processing Theory Children have many ways of thinking (Contrast to Piaget). The mind as computer – a machine for manipulating symbols. Change is constant, not in stages Allows the use of modelling
Modern Developmental Psychology Information Processing Theory
Different approaches Piaget Vygotsky Bowlby Siegler
Developmental Psychology Summary The Psychology of Change Covers many areas of psychology Needs a rigorous scientific approach Many different theories