Developmental Psychology

Overview

Key facts

Understand how physiological and psychological changes over the lifespan affect human behaviour. Parents and carers will gain greater insight into issues that present particular challenges at different stages of the life span, especially from adolescence to old age. This course also sets the theoretical framework complementing the Child Psychology course.

Developmental Psychology considers the psychology of the human being as they develop, from childhood through adolescence to adulthood and finally to old age. Friendship is one of the topics we cover in the course:

Friendships are one of the most valuable resources a young adult can have. Having good friendships can make the difference between feeling full and whole verses feeling depressed and worthless. Research has shown that an open, accessible friend serves as a protective factor for late adolescents and young adults, insolating them against various risk factors such as drug abuse or criminal behaviour. The transitions and changes of young adulthood pose many challenges to adult friendships. This is particularly true for young men, who must learn to relate to other men in an entirely new manner: behaviours that were learned on the playground are often not helpful in forming adult relationships.

Friendships change in many ways during young adulthood. Young men and women who move away from home find themselves geographically distant from childhood friends. They have finished high school and they start a life of work find that work. Often family responsibilities prevent them from seeing their friends as often as they would like or as much as they did when they were younger. Not only does the amount of time that a young person can dedicate to their friendships change, but also the very nature of friendships begin to alter in response to developmental changes. (taken from the Developmental Psychology course)

Some of the activities that you will do in this Developmental Psychology course from Warnborough College are:

• Learn key theories and concepts in the study of developmental psychology;

• List major ethical concerns when studying development, and one step a researcher can take to reduce each;

• Identify cognitive and social aspects of a small child’s development and some key inherent and external influences;

• Describe the phases of language acquisition in infants, and what can adversely affect it;

• Describe major cognitive, moral and social developments in middle childhood and how they influence behaviour

• Compare short term memory with long term memory in middle childhood, and discuss how this affects the child’s ability to learn;

• Identify common psychological challenges faced by children from ages 6 to puberty;

• Reflect on your own success and failure experiences, and your own sense of competence in middle childhood. Consider how they affected your perceptions of yourself as you matured;

• Identify areas of change that will affect adolescent behaviour and thinking;

• Explain post formal thought, and consider how it can contribute to an adolescent’s ability or willingness to make moral choices;

• Identify challenges common to adolescence, and ways to deal with them;

• Explain individuation. Discuss its importance, and how it can both challenge and complement group identity;

• Identify changes that can occur in early and middle adulthood and influence behaviour;

• Explain K. Warner Schaie’s ‘stages of adult thinking’ and explain why Schaie’s model might be more relevant to understanding adult cognition than Piaget’s cognitive model;