Human Development

The following aspects need to be explained -

Developmental psychology is the scientific study

development is multidimensional and

of how and why human beings change over the

interdisciplinary - includes biological, cognitive,

course of their life. Originally concerned

emotional and social development; development is

with infants and children, the field has expanded

continuous and cumulative; it is variable, reflecting

to include adolescence, adult development, aging,

individual variation

and the entire lifespan. This field examines change

Developmental psychologists focus on human

growth and changes across the lifespan, including
physical, cognitive, social, intellectual, perceptual,
personality and emotional growth.

across a broad range of topics including: motor

skills, cognitive development, executive
functions, moral understanding, language
acquisition, social change, personality, emotional
development, self-concept and identity formation.
Developmental psychology examines the influences

Understanding Developmental Psychology

of nature and nurture on the process of human

development, and processes of change in context

The study of developmental psychology is essential

and across time. Many researchers are interested

to understanding how humans learn, mature and

in the interaction between personal

adapt.

characteristics, the individual's behavior

Throughout their lives, humans go through various

stages of development. Developmental
psychologists study how people grow, develop and
adapt at different life stages. They conduct
research designed to help people reach their full
potential for example, studying the difference
between learning styles in babies and adults.

and environmental factors, including social

context and the built environment. Ongoing
debates include
biological essentialism vs. neuroplasticity and stage
s of development vs. dynamic systems of
development.[1]
Developmental psychology involves a range of
fields, such as, educational psychology, child
psychopathology, forensic developmental

Developmental Psychology Applied

Developmental psychologists study human growth
and development over the lifespan, including
physical, cognitive, social, intellectual, perceptual,
personality and emotional growth.
Developmental psychologists working in colleges
and universities tend to focus primarily on
research or teaching. Others working in more
applied settings like health care facilities or clinics
help to assess, evaluate and treat people living with
developmental disabilities. Developmental
psychologists may also work in assisted living
homes for the elderly, hospitals, mental health
clinics and centers for the homeless.

psychology, child development, cognitive

psychology, ecological psychology, andcultural
psychology. Several influential developmental
psychologists from the 20th century include Urie
Bronfenbrenner, Erik Erikson, Sigmund
Freud, Jean Piaget, Barbara Rogoff, Esther
Thelen, and Lev Vygotsky
Historical antecedents
John B. Watson and Jean-Jacques Rousseau are
typically cited as providing the foundations for
modern developmental psychology.[2] In the mid18th century Jean Jacques Rousseau described
three stages of
development: infans (infancy), puer (childhood)

andadolescence in Emile: Or, On Education.

the infant's indifference toward the caregiver.

Rousseau's ideas were taken up strongly by

Anxious-resistant is an insecure attachment

educators at the time.

between the infant and the caregiver

In the late 19th century, psychologists familiar

with the evolutionary theory of Darwin began
seeking an evolutionary description of psychological
development;[2] prominent here was the pioneering

characterized by distress from the infant when

separated and anger when reunited.[4] Disorganized
is an attachment style without a consistent pattern
of responses upon return of the parent.[3]

psychologist G. Stanley Hall,[2] who attempted to

A child can be hindered in its natural tendency to

correlate ages of childhood with previous ages of

form attachments. Some babies are raised without

mankind. James Mark Baldwin who wrote essays on

the stimulation and attention of a regular

topics that included Imitation: A Chapter in the

caregiver, or locked away under conditions of

Natural History of Consciousness and Mental

abuse or extreme neglect. The possible short-term

Development in the Child and the Race: Methods

effects of this deprivation are anger, despair,

and Processes. Baldwin was heavily involved in the

detachment, and temporary delay in intellectual

theory of developmental psychology.

[2]

Sigmund

development. Long-term effects include increased

Freud, whose concepts were developmental, had a

aggression, clinging behavior, detachment,

significant impact on public perceptions.[2]

psychosomatic disorders, and an increased risk of

Theories
Attachment theory

Main article: Attachment theory

depression as an adult.[5][6][7][8][9]
Attachment style can impact the relationships of
people. Attachment is established in early
childhood and attachment continues in adulthood.
An example of secure attachment continuing in

Attachment theory, originally developed by John

adulthood would be when the person feels

Bowlby, focuses on the importance of open,

confident and is able to meet their own needs. An

intimate, emotionally meaningful relationships.

example of anxious attachment during adulthood is

Attachment is described as a biological system or

when the adult chooses a partner with anxious-

powerful survival impulse that evolved to ensure

avoidant attachment.[10]

the survival of the infant. A child who is

threatened or stressed will move toward
caregivers who create a sense of physical,
emotional and psychological safety for the

Constructivism

Main article: Constructivism (psychological school)

individual. Attachment feeds on body contact and

Constructivism is a paradigm in psychology that

familiarity. Later Mary Ainsworth developed

characterizes learning as a process of actively

the Strange Situation protocol and the concept of

constructing knowledge. Individuals create meaning

the secure base.

for themselves or make sense of new information

There are four types of attachment styles:

[3]

secure, anxious-avoidant, anxious-resistant,

[4]

and disorganized.[3] Secure attachment is a

healthy attachment between the infant and the

caregiver. It is characterized by trust. Anxiousavoidant is an insecure attachment between an
infant and a caregiver. This is characterized by

by selecting, organizing, and integrating

information with other knowledge, often in the
context of social interactions. Constructivism can
occur in two ways: individual and social. Individual
constructivism is when a person constructs
knowledge through cognitive processes of their
own experiences rather than by memorizing facts
provided by others. Social constructivism is when

individuals construct knowledge through an

inferior for that reason). Lastly, the chronosystem

interaction between the knowledge they bring to a

refers to the chronological nature of life events

situation and social or cultural exchanges within

and how they interact and change the individual

that content.

[11]

Jean Piaget, a Swiss developmental psychologist,

proposed that learning is an active process because

and their circumstances through transition

(example: a mother losing her own mother to illness
and no longer having that support in her life).[11]

children learn through experience and make

Since its publication in 1979, Bronfenbrenner's

mistakes and solve problems. Piaget proposed that

major statement of this theory, The Ecology of

learning should be whole by helping students

Human Development[14] has had widespread

understand that meaning is constructed.[12]

influence on the way psychologists and others

Ecological systems theory

Main article: Ecological systems theory

approach the study of human beings and their

environments. As a result of this conceptualization
of development, these environmentsfrom the
family to economic and political structureshave

Ecological systems theory, originally formulated

come to be viewed as part of the life course from

by Urie Bronfenbrenner, specifies four types of

childhood through to adulthood.[15]

nested environmental systems, with bi-directional

influences within and between the systems. The
four systems are microsystem, mesosystem,
exosystem, and macrosystem. Each system

Psychosexual development

Main article: Psychosexual development

contains roles, norms and rules that can powerfully

Sigmund Freud believed that we all had a

shape development. Microsystem is the direct

conscious, preconscious, and unconscious level. In

environment in our lives such as our home and

the conscious we are aware of our mental process.

school. Mesosystem is how relationships connect to

The preconscious involves information that, though

the microsystem. Exosystem is a larger social

not currently in our thoughts, can be brought into

system where the child plays no role. Macrosystem

consciousness. Lastly, the unconscious includes

refers to the cultural values, customs and laws of

mental processes we are unaware of.

society.

[13]

He believed there is tension between the conscious

The microsystem is the immediate environment

and unconscious, because the conscious tries to

surrounding and influencing the individual (example:

hold back what the unconscious tries to express.

school or the home setting). The mesosystem is

To explain this he developed three personality

the combination of two microsystems and how they

structures: the id, ego, and superego. The id, the

influence each other (example: sibling relationships

most primitive of the three, functions according to

at home vs. peer relationships at school). The

the pleasure principle: seek pleasure and avoid

exosystem is the interaction among two or more

pain.[16] The superego plays the critical and

settings that are indirectly linked (example: a

moralizing role; and the ego is the organized,

father's job requiring more overtime ends up

realistic part that mediates between the desires

influencing his daughter's performance in school

of the id and the superego.[17]

because he can no longer help with her homework).

The macrosystem is broader taking into account
social economic status, culture, beliefs, customs
and morals (example: a child from a wealthier
family sees a peer from a less wealthy family as

Based on this, he proposed five universal stages of

development, that each are characterized by the
erogenous zone that is the source of the child's
psychosexual energy. The first is the oral stage,

which occurs from birth to 12 months of age.

involves Heinz's wife dying from cancer and Heinz

During the oral stage "the libido is centered in a

having the dilemma to save his wife by stealing a

baby's mouth." The baby is able to suck. The

drug. Preconventional morality, conventional

second is the anal stage, from one to three years

morality, and postconventional morality applies to

of age. During the anal stage, the child defecates

Heinz's situation.[21]

from the anus. The third is the phallic stage, which

occurs from three to five years of age (most of a
persons personality forms by this age). During the
phallic stage, the child is aware of their sexual
organs. The fourth is the latency stage, which

Stages of psychosocial development

Main article: Erikson's stages of psychosocial

development

occurs from age five until puberty. During the

Erik Erikson reinterpreted Freuds psychosexual

latency stage, the child's sexual interests are

stages by incorporating the social aspects of it. He

repressed. Stage five is the genital stage, which

came up with eight stages, each of which has two

takes place from puberty until adulthood. During

crisis (a positive and a negative). Stage one

the genital stage, puberty starts happening.[18]

is trust versus mistrust, which occurs during

infancy. Stage two isautonomy versus shame and

Stages of moral development

doubt, which occurs during early childhood. Stage

Main article: Lawrence Kohlberg's stages of moral

development

play age. Stage four is industry versus inferiority,

which occurs during school age. Stage five

Piaget claimed that logic and morality develop

through constructive stages.

three is initiative versus guilt, which occurs during

[19]

Expanding on

is identity versus identity diffusion, which occurs

during adolescence. Stage six is intimacy versus

Piaget's work, Lawrence Kohlberg determined that

isolation which occurs during young adulthood.

the process of moral development was principally

Stage seven is generativity versus self-

concerned with justice, and that it continued

absorption which occurs during adulthood. Lastly,

throughout the individual's lifetime.[20]

stage eight is integrity versus despair, which

He suggested three levels of moral reasoning;

occurs in old age.[16]

preconventional moral reasoning, conventional

Each stage builds upon the successful completion

moral reasoning, and postconventional moral

of earlier stages. The challenges of stages not

reasoning. Preconventional moral reasoning is

successfully completed may be expected to

typical of children and is characterized by

reappear as problems in the future. However,

reasoning that is based on rewards and

mastery of a stage is not required to advance to

punishments associated with different courses of

the next stage.[22]

action. Conventional moral reason occurs during

late childhood and early adolescence and is
characterized by reasoning based on rules and
conventions of society. Lastly, postconventional
moral reasoning is a stage during which the
individual sees societys rules and conventions as
relative and subjective, rather than as

Erik Erikson proposed his stages of psychosocial

development to discuss the psychological
development of the human lifespan. Sigmund
Freud's stages of development focused on
psychosexual development, while Erikson's theory
focused on psychosocial development. Erikson's

authoritative.[4]

theory claimed that humans develop throughout

Kohlberg used the Heinz Dilemma to apply to his

vs. Mistrust, Autonomy vs. Shame & Doubt,

stages of moral development. The Heinz Dilemma

Initiative vs. Guilt, Industry vs. Inferiority,

their lifespan and consists of eight stages: Trust

Identity vs. Role Confusion, Intimacy vs.

Main article: Piaget's theory of cognitive

Isolation,Generativity vs. Stagnation, and Integrity

development

vs. Despair.

Jean Piaget, a Swiss theorist, posited that children

Stages based on the model of hierarchical

learn by actively constructing knowledge through

complexity

hands-on experience.[24] He suggested that the

Main article: Model of hierarchical complexity

Michael Commons enhanced and simplified of
Inhelder and Piagets developmental and offers a
standard method of examining the universal
pattern of development. The Model of Hierarchical
Complexity (MHC) is not based on the assessment
of domain specific information, It divides the
Order of Hierarchical Complexity of tasks to be
address from the Stage performance on those
tasks. Stage is the order hierarchical complexity
of the tasks the participants successfully
addresses. He expanded Piagets original eight
stage (counting the half stages) to fifteen stages.
The stages are : 0 Calculatory; 1 Sensory & Motor;
2 Circular sensory-motor; 3 Sensory-motor; 4
Nominal; 5 Sentential; 6 Preoperational; 7 Primary;
8 Concrete; 9 Abstract; 10 Formal; 11 Systematic;
12 Metasystematic; 13 Paradigmatic; 14 Crossparadigmatic; 15 Meta-Cross-paradigmatic. The
order of hierarchical complexity of tasks predicts
how difficult the performance is with a R ranging

adult's role in helping the child learn was to

provide appropriate materials that the child can
interact with and use to construct. He
used Socratic questioning to get children to
reflect on what they were doing, and he tried to
get them to see contradictions in their
explanations.
Piaget believed that intellectual development takes
place through a series of stages, which he
described in his theory on cognitive development.
Each stage consists of steps the child must master
before moving to the next step. He believed that
these stages are not separate from one another,
but rather that each stage builds on the previous
one in a continuous learning process. He proposed
four stages: sensorimotor, pre-

operational, concrete operational, and formal

operational. Though he did not believe these stages
occurred at any given age, many studies have
determined when these cognitive abilities should
take place.

from 0.9 to 0.98.

Zone of proximal development

In the MHC, there are three main axioms for an

Main article: Zone of proximal development

order to meet in order for the higher order task

to coordinate the next lower order task. Axioms
are rules that are followed to determine how the
MHC orders actions to form a hierarchy. These
axioms are: a) defined in terms of tasks at the
next lower order of hierarchical complexity task
action; b) defined as the higher order task action
that organizes two or more less complex actions;
that is, the more complex action specifies the way
in which the less complex actions combine; c)
defined as the lower order task actions have to be

Lev Vygotsky was a Russian theorist from the

Soviet era, who posited that children learn through
hands-on experience and social interactions with
members of his/her culture.[25] Unlike Piaget, he
claimed that timely and sensitive intervention by
adults when a child is on the edge of learning a new
task (called the "zone of proximal development")
could help children learn new tasks. This adult role
is often referred to as the skilled "master,"
whereas the child is considered the learning

carried out non - arbitrarily.

apprentice through an educational process often

Theories of cognitive development

stated that "The world of reality does not apply to

termed "cognitive apprenticeship." Martin Hill

the mind of a child." This technique is called

language are specified genetically or can be

"scaffolding," because it builds upon knowledge

acquired through learning. The empiricist position

children already have with new knowledge that

on the issue of language acquisition suggests that

adults can help the child learn.

[26]

Vygotsky was

the language input provides the necessary

strongly focused on the role of culture in

information required for learning the structure of

determining the child's pattern of development,

language and that infants acquire language through

arguing that development moves from the social

a process of statistical learning. From this

level to the individual level.[26] In other words,

perspective, language can be acquired via general

Vygotsky claimed that psychology should focus on

learning methods that also apply to other aspects

the progress of human consciousness through the

of development, such as perceptual learning.

relationship of an individual and their environment.

[27]

He felt that if scholars continued to disregard

this connection, then this disregard would inhibit

the full comprehension of the human
consciousness.

[27]

Nature and nurture

Main article: Nature and nurture

A significant issue in developmental psychology is
the relationship between innateness and
environmental influence in regard to any particular
aspect of development. This is often referred to
as "nature and nurture"
or nativism versus empiricism. A nativist account of
development would argue that the processes in
question are innate, that is, they are specified by
the organism's genes.
An empiricist perspective would argue that those
processes are acquired in interaction with the
environment. Today developmental psychologists
rarely take such polarised positions with regard to
most aspects of development; rather they
investigate, among many other things, the
relationship between innate and environmental
influences. One of the ways this relationship has
been explored in recent years is through the
emerging field of evolutionary developmental
psychology.
One area where this innateness debate has been
prominently portrayed is in research on language
acquisition. A major question in this area is
whether or not certain properties of human

The nativist position argues that the input from

language is too impoverished for infants and
children to acquire the structure of language.
Linguist Noam Chomsky asserts that, evidenced by
the lack of sufficient information in the language
input, there is a universal grammar that applies to
all human languages and is pre-specified. This has
led to the idea that there is a special
cognitive module suited for learning language,
often called the language acquisition device.
Chomsky's critique of the behaviorist model of
language acquisition is regarded by many as a key
turning point in the decline in the prominence of
the theory of behaviorism generally.[28] But
Skinner's conception of "Verbal Behavior" has not
died, perhaps in part because it has generated
successful practical applications.[28]
Mechanisms of development
Developmental psychology is concerned not only
with describing the characteristics of
psychological change over time, but also seeks to
explain the principles and internal workings
underlying these changes. Psychologists have
attempted to better understand these factors by
using models. Developmental models are
sometimes computational, but they do not need to
be.
A model must simply account for the means by
which a process takes place. This is sometimes
done in reference to changes in the brain that may
correspond to changes in behavior over the course
of the development. Computational accounts of

development often use

[30]

either symbolic, connectionist (neural network),

cognitive development showed that the successive

or dynamical systems models to explain the

levels or stages of cognitive development are

mechanisms of development.

associated with increasing processing efficiency

Research areas
Cognitive development

Specifically, the neo-Piagetian theories of

and working memory capacity. These increases

explain differences between stages, progression to
higher stages, and individual differences of
children who are the same-age and of the same

Main articles: Cognitive development, Theory of

grade-level. However, other theories have moved

cognitive development and Neo-Piagetian theories

away from Piagetian stage theories, and are

of cognitive development

influenced by accounts of domain-

Cognitive development is primarily concerned with

the ways that infants and children acquire,
develop, and use internal mental capabilities such
as: problem solving, memory, and language. Major
topics in cognitive development are the study of
language acquisition and the development of
perceptual and motor skills. Piaget was one of the
influential early psychologists to study the
development of cognitive abilities. His theory
suggests that development proceeds through a set
of stages from infancy to adulthood and that there
is an end point or goal.
Other accounts, such as that of Lev Vygotsky,
have suggested that development does not
progress through stages, but rather that the
developmental process that begins at birth and
continues until death is too complex for such
structure and finality. Rather, from this viewpoint,
developmental processes proceed more
continuously. Thus, development should be
analyzed, instead of treated as a product to
obtain.
K. Warner Schaie has expanded the study of
cognitive development into adulthood. Rather than
being stable from adolescence, Schaie sees adults
as progressing in the application of their cognitive
abilities.[29]
Modern cognitive development has integrated the
considerations of cognitive psychology and the
psychology of individual differences into the
interpretation and modeling of development.

specific information processing, which posit that

development is guided by innate evolutionarilyspecified and content-specific information
processing mechanisms.
Social and emotional development

Main article: Social psychology

Developmental psychologists who are interested in
social development examine how individuals develop
social and emotional competencies. For example,
they study how children form friendships, how
they understand and deal with emotions, and how
identity develops. Research in this area may involve
study of the relationship between cognition or
cognitive development and social behavior.
Emotional regulation or ER refers to an individual's
ability to modulate emotional responses across a
variety of contexts. In young children, this
modulation is in part controlled externally, by
parents and other authority figures. As children
develop, they take on more and more responsibility
for their internal state. Studies have shown that
the development of ER is affected by the
emotional regulation children observe in parents
and caretakers, the emotional climate in the home,
and the reaction of parents and caretakers to the
child's emotions.[31]
Physical development[edit]
Physical development concerns the physical
maturation of an individual's body until it reaches

the adult stature. Although physical growth is a

psychology. However, infants and children cannot

highly regular process, all children differ

be tested in the same ways as adults, so different

tremendously in the timing of their growth spurts.

methods are often used to study their

[32]

development. Developmental psychologists have a

Studies are being done to analyze how the

differences in these timings affect and are

number of methods to study changes in individuals

related to other variables of developmental

over time. Common research methods

psychology such as information processing speed.

include systematic observation,

Traditional measures of physical maturity using x-

including naturalistic observation or structured

rays are less in practice nowadays, compared to

observation; self-reports, which could be clinical

simple measurements of body parts such as height,

interviews or structured interviews; clinical

weight, head circumference, and arm span.

[32]

A few other studies and practices with physical

developmental psychology are the phonological
abilities of mature 5- to 11-year-olds, and the
controversial hypotheses of left-handers being
maturationally delayed compared to right-handers.
A study by Eaton, Chipperfield, Ritchot, and
Kostiuk in 1996 found in three different samples
that there was no difference between right- and
left-handers.[32]

or case study method; and ethnography or

participant observation.[34]:3135These methods
differ in the extent of control researchers impose
on study conditions, and how they construct ideas
about which variables to study.[35] Every
developmental investigation can be characterized
in terms of whether its underlying strategy
involves the experimental, correlational, or case

study approach.[36][37] The experimental

method involves "actual manipulation of various
treatments, circumstances, or events to which the
participant or subject is exposed;

Memory development

[37]

the experimental design points to cause-and-

Researchers interested in memory development

effect relationships.[38] This method allows for

look at the way our memory develops from

strong inferences to be made of causal

childhood and onward. According to Fuzzy-trace

relationships between the manipulation of one or

theory, we have two separate memory processes:

more independent variables and subsequent

verbatim and gist. These two traces begin to

behavior, as measured by the dependent variable.

develop at different times as well as at a different

[37]

pace. Children as young as 4 years-old have

that it permits determination of cause-and-effect

verbatim memory, memory for surface information,

relationships among variables.[38] On the other

which increases up to early adulthood, at which

hand, the limitation is that data obtained in an

point it begins to decline. On the other hand, our

artificial environment may lack generalizability.

capacity for gist memory, memory for semantic

[38]

information, increases up to early adulthood, at

relationship between two or more events by

which point it is consistent through old age.

gathering information about these variables

Furthermore, our reliance on gist memory traces in

without researcher intervention.[37][38] The

reasoning increases as we age.

[33]

Research methods and designs

Main research methods
Developmental psychology employs many of
the research methods used in other areas of

The advantage of using this research method is

The correlational method explores the

advantage of using a correlational design is that it

estimates the strength and direction of
relationships among variables in the natural
environment;[38] however, the limitation is that it
does not permit determination of cause-and-effect
relationships among variables.[38] The case
study approach allows investigations to obtain an
in-depth understanding of an individual participant

by collecting data based on interviews, structured

In a cross-sectional study, a researcher observes

questionnaires, observations, and test scores.

differences between individuals of different ages

[38]

at the same time. This generally requires less

Each of these methods have its strengths and

weaknesses but the experimental method when

resources than the longitudinal method, and

appropriate is the preferred method of

because the individuals come from different

developmental scientists because it provides a

cohorts, shared historical events are not so much

controlled situation and conclusions to be drawn

of a confounding factor. By the same token,

about cause-and-effect relationships.[37]

however, cross-sectional research may not be the

Research designs
Most developmental studies, regardless of whether
they employ the experimental, correlational, or
case study method, can also be constructed using
research designs.[35] Research designs are logical
frameworks used to make key comparisons within
research studies such as:
cross-sectional design
longitudinal design
sequential design
microgenetic design
In a longitudinal study, a researcher observes
many individuals born at or around the same time
(a cohort) and carries out new observations as
members of the cohort age. This method can be
used to draw conclusions about which types of
development are universal (or normative) and occur
in most members of a cohort. As an example a
longitudinal study of early literacy development
examined in detail the early literacy experiences
of one child in each of 30 families.[39]
Researchers may also observe ways that
development varies between individuals, and
hypothesize about the causes of variation in their
data. Longitudinal studies often require large
amounts of time and funding, making them
unfeasible in some situations. Also, because
members of a cohort all experience historical
events unique to their generation, apparently
normative developmental trends may in fact be
universal only to their cohort.[34]:40

most effective way to study differences between

participants, as these differences may result not
from their different ages but from their exposure
to different historical events.[34]:41
A third study design, the sequential design,
combines both methodologies. Here, a researcher
observes members of different birth cohorts at
the same time, and then tracks all participants
over time, charting changes in the groups. While
much more resource-intensive, the format aids in a
clearer distinction between what changes can be
attributed to individual or historical environment
from those that are truly universal.[34]:42
Because every method has some weaknesses,
developmental psychologists rarely rely on one
study or even one method to reach conclusions by
finding consistent evidence from as many
converging sources as possible.[37]
Life stages of psychological development

See also: Child development stages

Pre-natal development

See also: Pre-natal development and Pre- and

perinatal psychology
Pre-natal development is of interest to
psychologists investigating the context of early
psychological development. The whole prenatal
development involves three main stages: germinal
stage, embryonic stage and fetal stage. Germinal
stage begins at conception until 2 weeks;
embryonic stage means the development from 2
weeks to 8 weeks; fetal stage represents 9 weeks
until birth of the baby.[40] The senses develop in

the womb itself: a fetus can both see and hear by

pre-natal development is of increasing interest to

the second trimester (13 to 24 weeks of age).

developmental psychology research.

Sense of touch develops in the embryonic stage (5

to 8 weeks).[34]:97 Most of the brain's billions of
neurons also are developed by the second
trimester.[34]:100 Babies are hence born with some
odor, taste and sound preferences, largely related
to the mother's environment.

[34]:101

Several environmental agentsteratogenscan

cause damage during the prenatal period. These
include prescription and nonprescription drugs,
illegal drugs, tobacco, alcohol, environmental
pollutants, infectious disease agents such as
the rubella virus and thetoxoplasmosis bacterium,

Some primitive reflexes too arise before birth and

maternal malnutrition, maternal emotional stress,

are still present in newborns. One hypothesis is

and Rh factor blood incompatibility between

that these reflexes are vestigial and have limited

mother and child.[34]:102115

use in early human life. Piaget's theory of cognitive

development suggested that some early reflexes
are building blocks for infant sensorimotor
development. For example the tonic neck
reflex may help development by bringing objects
into the infant's field of view.[41]
Other reflexes, such as the walking reflex appear
to be replaced by more sophisticated voluntary
control later in infancy. This may be because the
infant gains too much weight after birth to be
strong enough to use the reflex, or because the

Infancy

Main articles: Infant and child

psychology and Infant cognitive development
From birth until the first year, the child is
referred to as an infant.[34] Developmental
psychologists vary widely in their assessment of
infant psychology, and the influence the outside
world has upon it, but certain aspects are
relatively clear.

reflex and subsequent development are

The majority of a newborn infant's time is spent in

functionally different.[42] It has also been

sleep. At first this sleep is evenly spread

suggested that some reflexes (for example

throughout the day and night, but after a couple of

the moro and walking reflexes) are predominantly

months, infants generally become diurnal.

adaptations to life in the womb with little

connection to early infant development.[41] Primitive
reflexes reappear in adults under certain
conditions, such as neurological conditions
like dementia or traumatic lesions.
Ultrasound has shown that infants are capable of a
range of movements in the womb, many of which
appear to be more than simple reflexes.[42] By the
time they are born, infants can recognize and have
a preference for their mother's voice suggesting
some pre-natal development of auditory
perception.

[42]

Pre-natal development and birth

complications may also be connected to

neurodevelopmental disorders, for example
in schizophrenia. With the advent of cognitive
neuroscience, embryology and the neuroscience of

Infants can be seen to have six states, grouped

into pairs:
quiet sleep and active sleep (dreaming, when REM
sleep occurs)
quiet waking, and active waking
fussing and crying
Infant Perception: Infant perception is what a
newborn can see, hear, smell, taste, and touch.
These five features are better known as one's
five senses.[43] Infants respond to stimuli
differently in these different states.[42]
Vision is significantly worse in infants than in older
children. Infant sight tends to be blurry in early

stages but improves over time. Color perception

language, but not between similar phonemes in

similar to that seen in adults has been

another language. At this stage infants also start

demonstrated in infants as young as four months,

to babble, producing phonemes.

using habituation methods.

[41]

Infants get to adult-

like vision in about six months.[34]:191

Infant Cognition: The Piagetian Era An early

Hearing is well-developed prior to birth, unlike

the Sensorimotor stage of Piaget's Theory of

vision. Newborns prefer complex sounds to pure

cognitive development. Piaget suggested that an

tones, human speech to other sounds, mother's

infant's perception and understanding of the world

voice to other voices, and the native language to

depended on their motor development, which was

other languages. Scientist believe these features

required for the infant to link visual, tactile and

are probably learned in the womb.

[34]:151

theory of infant development was

Infants are

motor representations of objects. According to

fairly good at detecting the direction a sound

this view, it is through touching and handling

comes from, and by 18 months their hearing ability

objects that infants develop object permanence,

is approximately equal an adult's.

the understanding that objects are solid,

Smell and taste are present, with infants showing

permanent, and continue to exist when out of sight.

different expressions of disgust or pleasure when

presented with pleasant odors (honey, milk, etc.) or
unpleasant odors (rotten egg) and tastes (e.g. sour
taste). Newborns are born with odor and taste
preferences acquired in the womb from the smell
and taste of amniotic fluid, in turn influenced by
what the mother eats. Both breast- and bottle-fed
babies around 3 days old prefer the smell of human
milk to that of formula, indicating an innate
preference.[34]:150There is good evidence for older
infants preferring the smell of their mother to
that of others.

[41]

Touch and feel is one of the better-developed

senses at birth considering it's one of the first
senses to develop inside the womb.[44] This is
evidenced by the primitive reflexes described
above, and the relatively advanced development of
the somatosensory cortex.[45]
Pain: Infants feel pain similarly, if not more
strongly than older children but pain-relief in
infants has not received so much attention as an

Special methods are used in the psychological

study of infants.
Piaget's Sensorimotor Stage comprised six substages (see sensorimotor stages for more detail).
In the early stages, development arises out of
movements caused by primitive reflexes.
[47]

Discovery of new behaviors results

fromclassical and operant conditioning, and the

formation of habits.[47] From eight months the
infant is able to uncover a hidden object but will
persevere when the object is moved.
Piaget came to his conclusion that infants lacked a
complete understanding of object permanence
before 18 months after observing infants' failure
before this age to look for an object where it was
last seen. Instead infants continue to look for an
object where it was first seen, committing the "Anot-B error." Some researchers have suggested
that before the age of eight to nine months,

area of research.[46]

infants' inability to understand object permanence

Language: Babies are born with the ability to

this age do not cry when their mothers are gone

discriminate virtually all sounds of all human

("Out of sight, out of mind").

languages.

[34]:189

Infants of around six months can

differentiate between phonemes in their own

extends to people, which explains why infants at

Recent Finding in Infant Cognition In the 1980s

behavioral and emotional difficulties as compared

and 1990s, researchers have developed many new

to children with typical development (TD).

methods of assessing infants' understanding of

However, nearly all studies comparing

the world with far more precision and subtlety

psychopathology in youth with DD employ TD

than Piaget was able to do in his time. Since then,

control groups of the same chronological age

many studies based on these methods suggest that

(CA).This comorbidity of DD and a mental disorder

young infants understand far more about the world

is often referred to as dual diagnosis.

than first thought.

Epidemiological studies indicate that 3050% of

Based on recent findings, some researchers (such

as Elizabeth Spelke and Renee Baillargeon) have
proposed that an understanding of object
permanence is not learned at all, but rather
comprises part of the innate cognitive capacities
of our species.

youth with DD meet the clinical cutoff for

behavioral and emotional problems and/or
diagnosable mental disorder. Studies that include
comparison samples of children with typical
development (TD) highlight the considerable
difference in risk for psychopathology, with the
relative risk for youth with DD (to youth with TD)

Other research has suggested that young infants

in their first six months of life may possess an
understanding of numerous aspects of the world

ranging from 2.84.1 to 1.[52]

Toddlerhood

around them, including:

Main article: Toddler

- an early numerical cognition, that is, an ability to

Infants shift between ages of one and two to a

represent number and even compute the outcomes

developmental stage known as toddlerhood. In this

of addition and subtraction operations;

[48]

- an ability to infer the goals of people in their

environment;[49]

stage, an infants transition into toddlerhood is

highlighted through self-awareness, developing
maturity in language use, and presence of memory
and imagination.

- an ability to engage in simple causal reasoning. [50]

During toddlerhood, babies begin learning how

to walk, talk, and make decisions for themselves.

Critical periods of development

An important characteristic of this age period is

There are critical periods in infancy and childhood

the development of language, where children are

during which development of certain perceptual,

learning how to communicate and express their

sensorimotor, social and language systems depends

emotions and desires through the use of vocal

crucially on environmental stimulation.

[51]

Feral

sounds, babbling, and eventually words.[53] Self-

children such as Genie, deprived of adequate

control also begins to develop. At this age, children

stimulation, fail to acquire important skills and are

take initiative to explore, experiment, and learn

unable to learn in later childhood. The concept of

from making mistakes. Caretakers who encourage

critical periods is also well-established

toddlers to try new things and test their limits,

in neurophysiology, from the work

help the child become autonomous, self-reliant, and

of Hubel and Wiesel among others.

confident.[54] If the caretaker is overprotective or

Developmental Delays
Children with developmental delays (DD) are at
heightened risk for developing clinically significant

disapproving of independent actions, the toddler

may begin to doubt their abilities and feel ashamed
of the desire for independence. The child's
autonomic development is inhibited, leaving them
less prepared to deal with the world in the future.

Toddlers also begin to identify themselves

Children go through the transition from the world

in gender roles, acting according to their

at home to that of school and peers. Children learn

perception of what a man or woman should do.[55]

to make things, use tools, and acquire the skills to

Socially, the period of toddlerhood is commonly

called the "terrible twos".[56] Toddlers often use
their new-found language abilities to voice their

be a worker and a potential provider. Children can

now receive feedback from outsiders about their
accomplishments.

desires, but are often misunderstood by parents

If children can discover pleasure in their

due to their language skills just beginning to

activities, including their intellectual stimulation,

develop. A person at this stage testing their

most importantly in learning reading, writing, and

independence is another reason behind the stages

basic math, they will develop a sense of

infamous label. Tantrums in a fit of frustration are

competence. If they are not successful or cannot

also common.

discover pleasure in the process, they may develop

Early childhood
Also called "pre-school age," "exploratory age" and
"toy age."
When children attend preschool, they broaden
their social horizons and become more engaged
with those around them. Impulses are channeled

a sense of inferiority and feelings of inadequacy

that may haunt them throughout life.[citation
needed]

This is when children think of themselves as

industrious or as inferior.[citation needed]

Adolescence

Main article: Adolescent psychology

into fantasies, which leaves the task of the

Adolescence is the period of life between the

caretaker to balance eagerness for pursuing

onset of puberty and the full commitment to an

adventure, creativity and self-expression with the

adult social role, such as worker, parent, and/or

development of responsibility. If caretakers are

citizen. It is the period known for the formation of

properly encouraging and consistently disciplinary,

personal and social identity (see Erik Erikson) and

children are more likely to develop positive self-

the discovery of moral purpose (see William

esteem while becoming more responsible, and will

Damon). Intelligence is demonstrated through the

follow through on assigned activities.

logical use of symbols related to abstract concepts

As children grow their past experiences will shape

who they are, allow them to perceive the world in
their own way. It helps a person go through
everyday life.[57] If not allowed to decide which
activities to perform, children may begin to feel
guilt upon contemplating taking initiative. This
negative association with independence will lead

and formal reasoning. A return

to egocentric thought often occurs early in the
period. Only 35% develop the capacity to reason
formally during adolescence or adulthood. (Huitt,
W. and Hummel, J. January 1998)[58]
It is divided into three parts namely:

them to let others make decisions in place of them.

Early Adolescence: 9 to 13 years (preteen),

During a child's preschool and beginning school

Mid Adolescence: 13 to 15 years and

years, intelligence is demonstrated through logical

and systematic manipulation of symbols related to

Late Adolescence: 15 to 18 years

concrete objects. Operational thinking develops,

The adolescent unconsciously explores questions

which means actions are reversible, and egocentric

such as "Who am I? Who do I want to be?" Like

thought diminishes.

toddlers, adolescents must explore, test limits,

become autonomous, and commit to an identity,

Physically, the middle-aged experience a decline in

or sense of self. Different roles, behaviors

muscular strength, reaction time, sensory

and ideologies must be tried out to select an

keenness, and cardiac output. Also, women

identity. Role confusion and inability to choose

experience menopause and a sharp drop in the

vocation can result from a failure to achieve a

hormone estrogen. Men experience an equivalent

sense of identity through, for example, friends.

endocrine system event to

Early adulthood

Main article: Young adult (psychology)

menopause. Andropause in males is a hormone

fluctuation with physical and psychological effects
that can be similar to those seen in menopausal
females. As men age, lowered testosterone levels

Early adulthood, according to theorists such as

can contribute to mood swings and a decline

Erik Erikson, is a stage where development is

in sperm count. Sexual responsiveness can also be

mainly focused on maintaining relationships.

affected, including delays in erection and longer

[59]

periods of penile stimulation required to

Examples include creating bond of intimacy,

sustaining friendships, and ultimately making a

family. Some theorists state that development of
intimacy skills rely on the resolution of previous
developmental stages. A sense of identity gained in
the previous stages is also necessary for intimacy

achieve ejaculation.
Old age

Main article: Old age

to develop. If this skill is not learned the

This stage generally refers to those aged over 70 .

alternative is alienation, isolation, a fear of

[citation needed]

commitment, and the inability to depend on others.

Psychosocial Development, old age is the stage in

A related framework for studying this part of the

life span is that of emerging adulthood. Scholars
of emerging adulthood, such as Jeffrey Arnett,
are not necessarily interested in relationship
development. Instead, this concept suggests that
people transition after their teenage years into a

According to Erikson's Theory of

which individuals assess the quality of their lives.

In reflecting on their lives, people in this age group
develop a feeling of integrity if deciding that their
lives were successful or a feeling of despair if
evaluation of one's life indicates a failure to
achieve goals.[61]

period not characterized as relationship building

Physically, older people experience a decline in

and an overall sense of constancy with life, but

muscular strength, reaction time, stamina, hearing,

with years of living with parents, phases of self-

distance perception, and the sense of smell.

discovery, and experimentation.[60]

[62]

Middle adulthood

Main article: Middle age

Middle adulthood generally refers to the period
between ages 25 to 69. During this period, middleaged adults experience a conflict between
generativity and stagnation. They may either feel a
sense of contributing to society, the next
generation or their immediate community or a
sense of purposelessness.

They also are more susceptible to diseases such

as cancer and pneumonia due to a weakened immune

system .[citation needed] Programs aimed at balance,
muscle strength, and mobility have been shown to
reduce disability among mildly (but not more
severely) disabled elderly.[63]
Sexual expression depends in large part upon the
emotional and physical health of the individual.
Many older adults continue to be sexually active
and satisfied with their sexual activity.[64]

Mental disintegration may also occur, leading

studies show that speed declines .[citation

to dementia or ailments such as Alzheimer's

needed]

disease. It is generally believed that crystallized

intellect is stable.

intelligence increases up to old age, while fluid

intelligence decreases with age.[65] Whether or not
normal intelligence increases or decreases with age
depends on the measure and study. Longitudinal

Some cross-sectional studies suggest that