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Developmental Foundations

Developmental psychology studies human growth and changes throughout the lifespan, focusing on physical, cognitive, social, and emotional development from infancy to old age. It aims to describe, explain, and optimize development while exploring concepts like continuity vs. discontinuity, stability vs. change, and nature vs. nurture. Key biological foundations include chromosomes and DNA, which carry hereditary information essential for development.

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3 views

Developmental Foundations

Developmental psychology studies human growth and changes throughout the lifespan, focusing on physical, cognitive, social, and emotional development from infancy to old age. It aims to describe, explain, and optimize development while exploring concepts like continuity vs. discontinuity, stability vs. change, and nature vs. nurture. Key biological foundations include chromosomes and DNA, which carry hereditary information essential for development.

Uploaded by

pratisthaacharya58
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© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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DEVELOPMENTAL

PSYCHOLOGY
UNIT I
•Biological foundations, Pre-natal development and birth
•Infancy
•Physical Development across the lifespan

1. Infancy

2. Childhood

3. Adolescence

4. Adulthood
WHAT IS DEVELOPMENT?
DEVELOPMENT
 The process of developing or being developed.
 A process that creates growth, progress, positive change or the addition of
physical, economic, environmental, social and demographic components.
 A positive change in quality. Development: Development means a qualitative
change that is always value positive. This means that development cannot
take place unless there is an increment or addition to the existing conditions.
 Development (in context of human) systematic continuities and changes in
the individual that occur between conception (when the father’s sperm
penetrates the mother’s ovum, creating a new organism) and death.
IS THERE ANY DIFFERENCE
BETWEEN GROWTH AND
DEVELOPMENT?
“growth”
as “the physical change that a particular

individual undergoes.”
 “development” as “the overall growth of humans

throughout their lifespan.”


 Growth is the progressive increase in the size of a

child and development is the progressive acquisition

of various skills.
Developmental Psychology
 The American Psychological Association describes developmental psychology as the
study of human growth and changes across the lifespan, including: physical, cognitive,
social, intellectual, perceptual, personality, and emotional growth. The study of
developmental psychology is of great importance in understanding how we learn and
adapt.
 Developmental psychology was originally concerned mainly with child psychology,
but the scope of this field has broadened over the years. Today, it focuses on every
stage in human growth, from infancy to old age. Developmental psychology examines
how babies develop the ability to function in the world, the changes that occur during
adolescence and adulthood, and the reason why the human body and mind often
decline in old age.
GOALS?
 The three goals of developmental psychology are
to describe, explain, and optimize development
(Baltes, Reese, & Lipsitt, 1980).
 Continuous Vs Discontinuous in human
development
 Stability Vs Change in human development

 Nature Vs Nurture in human development


Continuity Vs
Discontinuity
 The continuity view says that development is a smooth and gradual accumulation of
abilities, with one stage flowing seamlessly into the next.
 Children become more skillful in thinking, talking, or acting much the same way as
they get taller.
 The discontinuity view sees development as a more abrupt-a succession of changes
that produce different behaviors in different age-specific life periods called stages.
Biological changes provide the potential for these changes.
 These stages are believed to be qualitatively different, each bringing a dramatic shift
in abilities or behaviors.
Stability Vs Change
 Stability implies personality traits present during infancy endure throughout the lifespan. It emphasizes the

importance of early experiences on future development, suggesting that early childhood experiences play a

significant role in determining adult personality traits and behaviors.

 For example, a child who is cheerful and outgoing will likely grow into an adult with similar personality

traits. Stability theorists believe that change is relatively difficult once initial personality traits have been

established.

 In contrast, change theorists argue that family interactions, school experiences, and acculturation modify

personalities.

 It implies that our behaviors, thoughts, and emotions are malleable and can be influenced by experiences

and environments over time. This perspective suggests that it is equally likely for an introverted child to

become an extroverted adult, depending on various factors such as life experiences, education, or trauma.
Nature Vs Nurture

 Nature refers to the process of biological maturation, inheritance,

and maturation. One of the reasons why the development of

human beings is so similar is because our common specifies

heredity (DNA) guides all of us through many of the same

developmental changes at about the same points in our lives.

 Nurture refers to the impact of the environment, which involves

the process of learning through experiences.


Biological Foundations

CHROMOSOMES?
 Chromosome, the microscopic thread like part of the cell that carries hereditary
information in the form of genes.
 thread-like structure made up of DNA.
 Chromosomes were first discovered by Strasburger in 1815 and the term
‘chromosome’ was first used by Waldeyer in 1888.
 Human beings have 46 chromosomes in their body. These are arranged into 23
pairs.
 Chromosomes store and transmit genetic information- 23 matching pairs( an
exception is the XY pair in males)
DNA?
 Genetic code- Chromosomes are made up of
chemical substance called deoxyribonucleic acid, or
DNA ( long, double- stranded molecule that looks
like a twisted ladder)
References
 https://www.simplypsychology.org/develo
pmental-psychology.html

https://www.javatpoint.com/growth-v
s-development

https://www.toppr.com/guides/molec
ular-genetics/chromosome/

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