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Understanding Human Development Psychology

Development, or Lifespan Development, is the scientific study of human change and stability from conception to death, encompassing various domains such as physical, cognitive, emotional, and social development. The field has evolved from focusing primarily on children to including adolescence and aging, recognizing that development continues throughout life. Developmental psychology addresses key questions about the nature of growth and its influences, while also intersecting with multiple applied and basic research fields.

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9 views2 pages

Understanding Human Development Psychology

Development, or Lifespan Development, is the scientific study of human change and stability from conception to death, encompassing various domains such as physical, cognitive, emotional, and social development. The field has evolved from focusing primarily on children to including adolescence and aging, recognizing that development continues throughout life. Developmental psychology addresses key questions about the nature of growth and its influences, while also intersecting with multiple applied and basic research fields.

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What is Development?

Human Development or Lifespan Development is the scientific study of the


ways in which people change, as well as remain the same, from conception
to death. You will discover that the field, known more broadly
as developmental science, examines changes and stability across multiple
domains of psychological and social functioning. These include physical and
neurophysiological processes, cognition, language, emotion, personality,
moral, and psychosocial development, including our relationships with
others.

Figure 1.1

Originally concerned with infants and children, the field has expanded to
include adolescence and more recently, aging and the entire life span.
Previously, the message was once you are 25, your development is
essentially completed. Our academic knowledge of the lifespan has changed,
and although there is still less research on adulthood than on childhood,
adulthood is gaining increasing attention. This is particularly true now that
the large cohort known as the “baby boomers” are beginning to enter late
adulthood. The assumption that early childhood experiences dictate our
future is also being called into question. Instead, we have come to appreciate
that growth and change continues throughout life and experience continues
to have an impact on who we are and how we relate to others. We now
recognize that adulthood is a dynamic period of life marked by continued
cognitive, social, and psychological development.

You will also discover that developmental psychologists investigate key


questions, such as whether children are qualitatively different from adults or
simply lack the experience that adults draw upon. Other issues they consider
include the question of whether development occurs through the gradual
accumulation of knowledge or through qualitative shifts from one stage of
thinking to another, or if children are born with innate knowledge or figure
things out through experience, and whether development is driven by the
social context or something inside each child. From these questions, you may
already be thinking that developmental psychology is related to other
applied fields. You are right. Developmental science informs many applied
fields, including, educational psychology, developmental psychopathology,
and intervention science. It also complements several other basic research
fields in psychology including social psychology, cognitive psychology, and
cross-cultural psychology. Lastly, it draws from the theories and research of
several scientific fields including biology, sociology, health care, nutrition,
and anthropology.

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