Developmental psychology

For the journal, see Developmental Psychology (journal).“Child psychology” redirects here. For the Black BoxRecorder song, see Child Psychology (song).

Developmental psychology is the scientific study ofchanges that occur in human beings over the course oftheir life. Originally concerned with infants and children,the field has expanded to include adolescence, adult de-velopment, aging, and the entire lifespan. This field ex-amines change across a broad range of topics includ-ingmotor skills and other psycho-physiological processes;cognitive development involving areas such as problemsolving, moral understanding, and conceptual under-standing; language acquisition; social, personality, andemotional development; and self-concept and identityformation. One influential developmental psychologistswas Erik Erikson.[1] Another famous developmental psy-chologist was Sigmund Freud, who studied psychosexualdevelopment.[2]

Developmental psychology examines issues such as de-velopment through gradual accumulation of knowledgeversus stage-like development, and the extent to whichchildren are born with innate mental structures, as op-posed to learning through experience. Many researchersare interested in the interaction between personal char-acteristics, the individual’s behavior, and environmentalfactors including social context, and their impact on de-velopment.Developmental psychology informs several applied fields,including: educational psychology, child psychopathol-ogy, and forensic developmental psychology. Devel-opmental psychology complements several other basicresearch fields in psychology including social psychol-ogy, cognitive psychology, ecological psychology, andcomparative psychology.

1 Historical antecedents

John B. Watson and Jean-Jacques Rousseau are typi-cally cited as providing the foundations for modern de-velopmental psychology.[3] In the mid-18th century JeanJacques Rousseau described three stages of childhood:infans (infancy), puer (childhood) and adolescence inEmile: Or, On Education. Rousseau’s ideas were takenup strongly by educators at the time.In the late 19th century, psychologists familiar with theevolutionary theory of Darwin began seeking an evo-

lutionary description of psychological development;[3]prominent here was the pioneering psychologist G. Stan-ley Hall,[3] who attempted to correlate ages of childhoodwith previous ages of mankind. James Mark Baldwinwho wrote essays on topics that included Imitation: AChapter in the Natural History of Consciousness andMen-tal Development in the Child and the Race: Methods andProcesses. Baldwin was heavily involved in the theoryof developmental psychology.[3] Sigmund Freud, whoseconcepts were developmental, had a significant impacton public perceptions.[3]

2 Theories

2.1 Attachment theory

Main article: Attachment theory

Attachment theory, originally developed by John Bowlby,focuses on the importance of open, intimate, emotion-ally meaningful relationships. Attachment is describedas a biological system or powerful survival impulse thatevolved to ensure the survival of the infant. A child whois threatened or stressed will move toward caregivers whocreate a sense of physical, emotional and psychologicalsafety for the individual. Attachment feeds on body con-tact and familiarity. Later Mary Ainsworth developed theStrange Situation protocol and the concept of the securebase.There are four types of attachment styles:[4] se-cure, anxious-avoidant, anxious-resistant,[5] anddisorganized.[4] Secure attachment is a healthy at-tachment between the infant and the caregiver. It ischaracterized by trust. Anxious-avoidant is an insecureattachment between an infant and a caregiver. This ischaracterized by the infant’s indifference toward thecaregiver. Anxious-resistant is an insecure attachmentbetween the infant and the caregiver characterized bydistress from the infant when separated and anger whenreunited.[5] Disorganized is an attachment style withouta consistent pattern of responses upon return of theparent.[4]

A child can be hindered in its natural tendency to formattachments. Some babies are raised without the stim-ulation and attention of a regular caregiver, or lockedaway under conditions of abuse or extreme neglect. Thepossible short-term effects of this deprivation are anger,

1

2 2 THEORIES

despair, detachment, and temporary delay in intellectualdevelopment. Long-term effects include increased ag-gression, clinging behavior, detachment, psychosomaticdisorders, and an increased risk of depression as anadult.[6][7][8][9][10]

Attachment style can impact the relationships of people.Attachment is established in early childhood and attach-ment continues in adulthood. An example of secure at-tachment continuing in adulthood would be when the per-son feels confident and is able to meet their own needs.An example of anxious attachment during adulthood iswhen the adult chooses a partner with anxious-avoidantattachment.[11]

2.2 Constructivism

Main article: Constructivism (psychological school)

Constructivism is a paradigm in psychology that char-acterizes learning as a process of actively constructingknowledge. Individuals create meaning for themselvesor make sense of new information by selecting, organiz-ing, and integrating information with other knowledge,often in the content of social interactions. Constructivismcan occur in two ways: individual and social. Individ-ual constructivism is when a person constructs knowl-edge through cognitive processes of their own experi-ences rather than by memorizing facts provided by oth-ers. Social constructivism is when individuals constructknowledge through an interaction between the knowledgethey bring to a situation and social or cultural exchangeswithin that content.[12]

Jean Piaget, a Swiss developmental psychologist, pro-posed that learning is an active process because chil-dren learn through experience and make mistakes andsolve problems. Piaget proposed that learning shouldbe whole by helping students understand that meaning isconstructed.[13]

2.3 Ecological systems theory

Main article: Ecological systems theory

Ecological systems theory, originally formulated by UrieBronfenbrenner, specifies four types of nested environ-mental systems, with bi-directional influences within andbetween the systems. The four systems are microsystem,mesosystem, exosystem, and macrosystem. Each systemcontains roles, norms and rules that can powerfully shapedevelopment. Microsystem is the direct environment inour lives such as our home and school. Mesosystem ishow relationships connect to the microsystem. Exosys-tem is a larger social system where the child plays no role.Macrosystem refers to the cultural values, customs andlaws of society.[14]

The microsystem is the immediate environment sur-rounding and influencing the individual (example: schoolor the home setting). The mesosystem is the combinationof two microsystems and how they influence each other(example: sibling relationships at home vs. peer relation-ships at school). The exosystem is the interaction amongtwo or more settings that are indirectly linked (example:a father’s job requiring more overtime ends up influenc-ing his daughter’s performance in school because he canno longer help with her homework). The macrosystem isbroader taking into account social economic status, cul-ture, beliefs, customs and morals (example: a child froma wealthier family sees a peer from a less wealthy fam-ily as inferior for that reason). Lastly, the chronosystemrefers to the chronological nature of life events and howthey interact and change the individual and their circum-stances through transition (example: a mother losing herown mother to illness and no longer having that supportin her life).[12]

Since its publication in 1979, Bronfenbrenner’s majorstatement of this theory, The Ecology of Human Devel-opment[15] has had widespread influence on the way psy-chologists and others approach the study of human beingsand their environments. As a result of this conceptualiza-tion of development, these environments—from the fam-ily to economic and political structures—have come to beviewed as part of the life course from childhood throughto adulthood.[16]

2.4 Psychosexual development

Main article: Psychosexual development

Sigmund Freud believed that we all had a conscious, pre-conscious, and unconscious level. In the conscious we areaware of our mental process. The preconscious involvesinformation that, though not currently in our thoughts,can be brought into consciousness. Lastly, the uncon-scious includes mental processes we are unaware of.He believed there is tension between the conscious andunconscious, because the conscious tries to hold backwhat the unconscious tries to express. To explain thishe developed three personality structures: the id, ego,and superego. The id, the most primitive of the three,functions according to the pleasure principle: seek plea-sure and avoid pain.[17] The superego plays the criticaland moralizing role; and the ego is the organized, realis-tic part that mediates between the desires of the id andthe superego.[18]

Based on this, he proposed five universal stages of de-velopment, that each are characterized by the erogenouszone that is the source of the child’s psychosexual energy.The first is the oral stage, which occurs from birth to 12months of age. During the oral stage “the libido is cen-tered in a baby’s mouth.” The baby is able to suck. Thesecond is the anal stage, from one to three years of age.

2.7 Stages based on the model of hierarchical complexity 3

During the anal stage, the child defecates from the anus.The third is the phallic stage, which occurs from three tofive years of age (most of a person’s personality forms bythis age). During the phallic stage, the child is aware oftheir sexual organs. The fourth is the latency stage, whichoccurs from age five until puberty. During the latencystage, the child’s sexual interests are repressed. Stagefive is the genital stage, which takes place from pubertyuntil adulthood. During the genital stage, puberty startshappening.[19]

2.5 Stages of moral development

Main article: Lawrence Kohlberg’s stages of moraldevelopment

Piaget claimed that logic and morality develop throughconstructive stages.[20] Expanding on Piaget’s work,Lawrence Kohlberg determined that the process of moraldevelopment was principally concerned with justice, andthat it continued throughout the individual’s lifetime.[21]

He suggested three levels of moral reasoning; precon-ventional moral reasoning, conventional moral reasoning,and postconventional moral reasoning. Preconventionalmoral reasoning is typical of children and is character-ized by reasoning that is based on rewards and punish-ments associated with different courses of action. Con-ventional moral reason occurs during late childhood andearly adolescence and is characterized by reasoning basedon rules and conventions of society. Lastly, postconven-tional moral reasoning is a stage during which the indi-vidual sees society’s rules and conventions as relative andsubjective, rather than as authoritative.[5]

Kohlberg used the Heinz Dilemma to apply to his stagesof moral development. The Heinz Dilemma involvesHeinz’s wife dying from cancer and Heinz having thedilemma to save his wife by stealing a drug to savehis wife. Preconventional morality, conventional moral-ity, ans postconventional morality applies to Heinz’ssituation.[22]

2.6 Stages of psychosocial development

Main article: Erikson’s stages of psychosocial develop-ment

Erik Erikson reinterpreted Freud’s psychosexual stagesby incorporating the social aspects of it. He came upwith eight stages, each of which has two crisis (a posi-tive and a negative). Stage one is trust versus mistrust,which occurs during infancy. Stage two is autonomy ver-sus shame and doubt, which occurs during early child-hood. Stage three is initiative versus guilt, which occursduring play age. Stage four is industry versus inferiority,which occurs during school age. Stage five is identity ver-

sus identity diffusion, which occurs during adolescence.Stage six is intimacy versus isolation which occurs dur-ing young adulthood. Stage seven is generativity versusself-absorption which occurs during adulthood. Lastly,stage eight is integrity versus despair, which occurs in oldage.[17]

Each stage builds upon the successful completion of ear-lier stages. The challenges of stages not successfully com-pleted may be expected to reappear as problems in thefuture. However, mastery of a stage is not required toadvance to the next stage.[23]

Erik Erikson proposed his stages of psychosocial devel-opment to discuss the psychological development of thehuman lifespan. Sigmund Freud’s stages of developmentfocused on psychosexual development, while Erikson’stheory focused on psychosocial development. Erikson’stheory claimed that humans develop throughout theirlifespan and consists of eight stages: Trust vs. Mistrust,Autonomy vs. Shame & Doubt, Initiative vs. Guilt, In-dustry vs. Inferiority, Identity vs. Role Confusion, Inti-macy vs. Isolation, Generativity vs. Stagnation, and In-tegrity vs. Despair.[24]

2.7 Stages based on the model of hierar-chical complexity

Main article: Model of hierarchical complexity

Michael Commons enhanced and simplified of Inhelderand Piaget’s developmental and offers a standard methodof examining the universal pattern of development. TheModel of Hierarchical Complexity (MHC) is not basedon the assessment of domain specific information, It di-vides the Order of Hierarchical Complexity of tasks tobe address from the Stage performance on those tasks.Stage is the order hierarchical complexity of the tasksthe participant’s successfully addresses. He expanded Pi-aget’s original eight stage (counting the half stages) tofifteen stages. The stages are : 0 Calculatory; 1 Sen-sory & Motor; 2 Circular sensory-motor; 3 Sensory-motor; 4 Nominal; 5 Sentential; 6 Preoperational; 7 Pri-mary; 8 Concrete; 9 Abstract; 10 Formal; 11 System-atic; 12 Metasystematic; 13 Paradigmatic; 14 Cross-paradigmatic; 15 Meta-Cross-paradigmatic. The orderof hierarchical complexity of tasks predicts how difficultthe performance is with a R ranging from 0.9 to 0.98.In the MHC, there are three main axioms for an orderto meet in order for the higher order task to coordinatethe next lower order task. Axioms are rules that are fol-lowed to determine how the MHC orders actions to forma hierarchy. These axioms are: a) defined in terms oftasks at the next lower order of hierarchical complexitytask action; b) defined as the higher order task action thatorganizes two or more less complex actions; that is, themore complex action specifies the way in which the lesscomplex actions combine; c) defined as the lower order

4 4 MECHANISMS OF DEVELOPMENT

task actions have to be carried out non - arbitrarily.

2.8 Theories of cognitive development

Main article: Piaget’s theory of cognitive development

Jean Piaget, a Swiss theorist, posited that children learnby actively constructing knowledge through hands-onexperience.[25] He suggested that the adult’s role in help-ing the child learn was to provide appropriate materi-als that the child can interact with and use to construct.He used Socratic questioning to get children to reflect onwhat they were doing, and he tried to get them to see con-tradictions in their explanations.Piaget believed that intellectual development takes placethrough a series of stages, which he described in his the-ory on cognitive development. Each stage consists ofsteps the child must master before moving to the nextstep. He believed that these stages are not separate fromone another, but rather that each stage builds on the pre-vious one in a continuous learning process. He proposedfour stages: sensorimotor, pre-operational, concrete oper-ational, and formal operational. Though he did not be-lieve these stages occurred at any given age, many stud-ies have determined when these cognitive abilities shouldtake place.[12]

2.9 Zone of proximal development

Main article: Zone of proximal development

Lev Vygotsky was a Russian theorist from the Soviet era,who posited that children learn through hands-on expe-rience and social interactions with members of his/herculture.[26] Unlike Piaget, he claimed that timely and sen-sitive intervention by adults when a child is on the edge oflearning a new task (called the “zone of proximal devel-opment”) could help children learn new tasks. This adultrole is often referred to as the skilled “master,” whereasthe child is considered the learning apprentice through aneducational process often termed “cognitive apprentice-ship.” Martin Hill stated that “The world of reality doesnot apply to the mind of a child.” This technique is called“scaffolding,” because it builds upon knowledge childrenalready have with new knowledge that adults can help thechild learn.[27] Vygotsky was strongly focused on the roleof culture in determining the child’s pattern of develop-ment, arguing that development moves from the sociallevel to the individual level.[27] In other words, Vygotskyclaimed that psychology should focus on the progress ofhuman consciousness through the relationship of an indi-vidual and their environment.[28] He felt that if scholarscontinued to disregard this connection, then this disre-gard would inhibit the full comprehension of the humanconsciousness.[28]

3 Nature and nurture

Main article: Nature and nurture

A significant issue in developmental psychology is therelationship between innateness and environmental in-fluence in regard to any particular aspect of develop-ment. This is often referred to as "nature and nurture"or nativism versus empiricism. A nativist account of de-velopment would argue that the processes in question areinnate, that is, they are specified by the organism’s genes.An empiricist perspective would argue that those pro-cesses are acquired in interaction with the environment.Today developmental psychologists rarely take such po-larised positions with regard to most aspects of develop-ment; rather they investigate, among many other things,the relationship between innate and environmental influ-ences. One of the ways this relationship has been ex-plored in recent years is through the emerging field ofevolutionary developmental psychology.One area where this innateness debate has been promi-nently portrayed is in research on language acquisition.A major question in this area is whether or not certainproperties of human language are specified genetically orcan be acquired through learning. The empiricist positionon the issue of language acquisition suggests that the lan-guage input provides the necessary information requiredfor learning the structure of language and that infants ac-quire language through a process of statistical learning.From this perspective, language can be acquired via gen-eral learning methods that also apply to other aspects ofdevelopment, such as perceptual learning.The nativist position argues that the input from languageis too impoverished for infants and children to acquire thestructure of language. Linguist Noam Chomsky assertsthat, evidenced by the lack of sufficient information in thelanguage input, there is a universal grammar that appliesto all human languages and is pre-specified. This has ledto the idea that there is a special cognitive module suitedfor learning language, often called the language acquisi-tion device. Chomsky’s critique of the behaviorist modelof language acquisition is regarded by many as a key turn-ing point in the decline in the prominence of the theoryof behaviorism generally.[29] But Skinner’s conception of“Verbal Behavior” has not died, perhaps in part becauseit has generated successful practical applications.[29]

4 Mechanisms of development

Developmental psychology is concerned not only withdescribing the characteristics of psychological changeover time, but also seeks to explain the principles andinternal workings underlying these changes. Psycholo-gists have attempted to better understand these factorsby using models. Developmental models are sometimes

5.2 Social and emotional development 5

computational, but they do not need to be.A model must simply account for the means by whicha process takes place. This is sometimes done in ref-erence to changes in the brain that may correspond tochanges in behavior over the course of the development.Computational accounts of development often use eithersymbolic, connectionist (neural network), or dynamicalsystems models to explain the mechanisms of develop-ment.

5 Research areas

5.1 Cognitive development

Main articles: Cognitive development, Theory ofcognitive development and Neo-Piagetian theories ofcognitive development

Cognitive development is primarily concerned with theways that infants and children acquire, develop, and useinternal mental capabilities such as: problem solving,memory, and language. Major topics in cognitive devel-opment are the study of language acquisition and the de-velopment of perceptual and motor skills. Piaget was oneof the influential early psychologists to study the develop-ment of cognitive abilities. His theory suggests that de-velopment proceeds through a set of stages from infancyto adulthood and that there is an end point or goal.Other accounts, such as that of Lev Vygotsky, have sug-gested that development does not progress through stages,but rather that the developmental process that begins atbirth and continues until death is too complex for suchstructure and finality. Rather, from this viewpoint, de-velopmental processes proceed more continuously. Thus,development should be analyzed, instead of treated as aproduct to obtain.K.Warner Schaie has expanded the study of cognitive de-velopment into adulthood. Rather than being stable fromadolescence, Schaie sees adults as progressing in the ap-plication of their cognitive abilities.[30]

Modern cognitive development has integrated the con-siderations of cognitive psychology and the psychologyof individual differences into the interpretation and mod-eling of development.[31] Specifically, the neo-Piagetiantheories of cognitive development showed that the suc-cessive levels or stages of cognitive development are asso-ciated with increasing processing efficiency and workingmemory capacity. These increases explain differencesbetween stages, progression to higher stages, and indi-vidual differences of children who are the same-age andof the same grade-level. However, other theories havemoved away from Piagetian stage theories, and are influ-enced by accounts of domain-specific information pro-cessing, which posit that development is guided by innate

evolutionarily-specified and content-specific informationprocessing mechanisms.

5.2 Social and emotional development

Main article: Social psychology

Developmental psychologists who are interested in socialdevelopment examine how individuals develop social andemotional competencies. For example, they study howchildren form friendships, how they understand and dealwith emotions, and how identity develops. Research inthis area may involve study of the relationship betweencognition or cognitive development and social behavior.Emotional regulation or ER refers to an individual’s abil-ity to modulate emotional responses across a variety ofcontexts. In young children, this modulation is in partcontrolled externally, by parents and other authority fig-ures. As children develop, they take on more and moreresponsibility for their internal state. Studies have shownthat the development of ER is affected by the emotionalregulation children observe in parents and caretakers, theemotional climate in the home, and the reaction of par-ents and caretakers to the child’s emotions.[32]

5.3 Physical development

Physical development concerns the physical maturationof an individual’s body until it reaches the adult stature.Although physical growth is a highly regular process, allchildren differ tremendously in the timing of their growthspurts.[33] Studies are being done to analyze how the dif-ferences in these timings affect and are related to othervariables of developmental psychology such as informa-tion processing speed. Traditional measures of physi-cal maturity using x-rays are less in practice nowadays,compared to simple measurements of body parts such asheight, weight, head circumference, and arm span.[33]

A few other studies and practices with physical develop-mental psychology are the phonological abilities of ma-ture 5- to 11-year-olds, and the controversial hypothe-ses of left-handers being maturationally delayed com-pared to right-handers. A study by Eaton, Chipperfield,Ritchot, and Kostiuk in 1996 found in three differentsamples that there was no difference between right- andleft-handers.[33]

5.4 Memory development

Researchers interested in memory development look atthe way our memory develops from childhood and on-ward. According to Fuzzy-trace theory, we have two sep-arate memory processes: verbatim and gist. These twotraces begin to develop at different times as well as at a

6 6 RESEARCH METHODS AND DESIGNS

different pace. Children as young as 4 years-old have ver-batim memory, memory for surface information, whichincreases up to early adulthood, at which point it beginsto decline. On the other hand, our capacity for gist mem-ory, memory for semantic information, increases up toearly adulthood, at which point it is consistent throughold age. Furthermore, our reliance on gist memory tracesin reasoning increases as we age.[34]

6 Research methods and designs

6.1 Main research methods

Developmental psychology employs many of the researchmethods used in other areas of psychology. How-ever, infants and children cannot be tested in the sameways as adults, so different methods are often used tostudy their development. Developmental psychologistshave a number of methods to study changes in indi-viduals over time. Common research methods includesystematic observation, including naturalistic observa-tion or structured observation; self-reports, which couldbe clinical interviews or structured interviews; clinicalor case study method; and ethnography or participantobservation.[35]:31–35These methods differ in the extent ofcontrol researchers impose on study conditions, and howthey construct ideas about which variables to study.[36]Every developmental investigation can be characterizedin terms of whether its underlying strategy involves theexperimental, correlational, or case study approach.[37][38]The experimental method involves “actual manipulationof various treatments, circumstances, or events to whichthe participant or subject is exposed;[38] the experimen-tal design points to cause-and-effect relationships.[39] Thismethod allows for strong inferences to be made of causalrelationships between the manipulation of one or moreindependent variables and subsequent behavior, as mea-sured by the dependent variable.[38] The advantage of us-ing this research method is that it permits determinationof cause-and-effect relationships among variables.[39] Onthe other hand, the limitation is that data obtained in anartificial environment may lack generalizability.[39] Thecorrelational method explores the relationship betweentwo or more events by gathering information about thesevariables without researcher intervention.[38][39] The ad-vantage of using a correlational design is that it estimatesthe strength and direction of relationships among vari-ables in the natural environment;[39] however, the limita-tion is that it does not permit determination of cause-and-effect relationships among variables.[39] The case studyapproach allows investigations to obtain an in-depth un-derstanding of an individual participant by collecting databased on interviews, structured questionnaires, observa-tions, and test scores.[39] Each of these methods have itsstrengths and weaknesses but the experimental methodwhen appropriate is the preferred method of develop-

mental scientists because it provides a controlled situa-tion and conclusions to be drawn about cause-and-effectrelationships.[38]

6.2 Research designs

Most developmental studies, regardless of whetherthey employ the experimental, correlational, or casestudy method, can also be constructed using researchdesigns.[36] Research designs are logical frameworks usedto 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 indi-viduals born at or around the same time (a cohort) andcarries out new observations as members of the cohortage. This method can be used to draw conclusions aboutwhich types of development are universal (or normative)and occur in most members of a cohort. As an examplea longitudinal study of early literacy development exam-ined in detail the early literacy experiences of one childin each of 30 families.[40]

Researchers may also observe ways that developmentvaries between individuals, and hypothesize about thecauses of variation in their data. Longitudinal studies of-ten require large amounts of time and funding, makingthem unfeasible in some situations. Also, because mem-bers of a cohort all experience historical events uniqueto their generation, apparently normative developmentaltrends may in fact be universal only to their cohort.[35]:40

In a cross-sectional study, a researcher observes differ-ences between individuals of different ages at the sametime. This generally requires less resources than the lon-gitudinal method, and because the individuals come fromdifferent cohorts, shared historical events are not so muchof a confounding factor. By the same token, however,cross-sectional research may not be the most effectiveway to study differences between participants, as thesedifferences may result not from their different ages butfrom their exposure to different historical events.[35]:41

A third study design, the sequential design, combinesboth methodologies. Here, a researcher observes mem-bers of different birth cohorts at the same time, and thentracks all participants over time, charting changes in thegroups. While much more resource-intensive, the for-mat aids in a clearer distinction between what changescan be attributed to individual or historical environmentfrom those that are truly universal.[35]:42

Because every method has some weaknesses, develop-mental psychologists rarely rely on one study or even one

7.2 Infancy 7

method to reach conclusions by finding consistent evi-dence from as many converging sources as possible.[38]

7 Life stages of psychological de-velopment

See also: Child development stages

7.1 Pre-natal development

See also: Pre-natal development and Pre- and perinatalpsychology

Pre-natal development is of interest to psychologists in-vestigating the context of early psychological develop-ment. The whole prenatal development involves threemain stages: germinal stage, embryonic stage and fetalstage. Germinal stage begins at conception until 2 weeks;embryonic stage means the development from 2 weeksto 8 weeks; fetal stage represents 9 weeks until birthof the baby.[41] The senses develop in the womb itself:a fetus can both see and hear by the second trimester(13 to 24 weeks of age). Sense of touch develops inthe embryonic stage (5 to 8 weeks).[35]:97 Most of thebrain’s billions of neurons also are developed by the sec-ond trimester.[35]:100 Babies are hence born with someodor, taste and sound preferences, largely related to themother’s environment.[35]:101

Some primitive reflexes too arise before birth and are stillpresent in newborns. One hypothesis is that these reflexesare vestigial and have limited use in early human life.Piaget’s theory of cognitive development suggested thatsome early reflexes are building blocks for infant senso-rimotor development. For example the tonic neck reflexmay help development by bringing objects into the in-fant’s field of view.[42]

Other reflexes, such as the walking reflex appear to bereplaced by more sophisticated voluntary control later ininfancy. This may be because the infant gains too muchweight after birth to be strong enough to use the reflex, orbecause the reflex and subsequent development are func-tionally different.[43] It has also been suggested that somereflexes (for example the moro and walking reflexes) arepredominantly adaptations to life in the womb with lit-tle connection to early infant development.[42] Primitivereflexes reappear in adults under certain conditions, suchas neurological conditions like dementia or traumatic le-sions.Ultrasound has shown that infants are capable of a rangeof movements in the womb, many of which appear tobe more than simple reflexes.[43] By the time they areborn, infants can recognize and have a preference fortheir mother’s voice suggesting some pre-natal develop-

ment of auditory perception.[43] Pre-natal developmentand birth complications may also be connected to neu-rodevelopmental disorders, for example in schizophrenia.With the advent of cognitive neuroscience, embryologyand the neuroscience of pre-natal development is of in-creasing interest to developmental psychology research.Several environmental agents—teratogens—can causedamage during the prenatal period. These include pre-scription and nonprescription drugs, illegal drugs, to-bacco, alcohol, environmental pollutants, infectious dis-ease agents such as the rubella virus and the toxoplasmosisbacterium, maternal malnutrition, maternal emotionalstress, and Rh factor blood incompatibility betweenmother and child.[35]:102–115

7.2 Infancy

Main articles: Infant and child psychology and Infantcognitive development

From birth until the first year, the child is referred to asan infant.[35] Developmental psychologists vary widely intheir assessment of infant psychology, and the influencethe outside world has upon it, but certain aspects are rel-atively clear.The majority of a newborn infant’s time is spent in sleep.At first this sleep is evenly spread throughout the day andnight, but after a couple of months, infants generally be-come diurnal.Infants can be seen to have six states, grouped into pairs:

• quiet sleep and active sleep (dreaming, when REMsleep occurs)

• quiet waking, and active waking

• fussing and crying

Infant Perception: Infant perception is what a newborncan see, hear, smell, taste, and touch. These five featuresare better known as one’s “five senses”.[44] Infants respondto stimuli differently in these different states.[43]

• Vision is significantly worse in infants than in olderchildren. Infant sight tends to be blurry in earlystages but improves over time. Color perceptionsimilar to that seen in adults has been demonstratedin infants as young as four months, using habituationmethods.[42] Infants get to adult-like vision in aboutsix months.[35]:191

• Hearing is well-developed prior to birth, unlike vi-sion. Newborns prefer complex sounds to puretones, human speech to other sounds, mother’s voiceto other voices, and the native language to other lan-guages. Scientist believe these features are probably

8 7 LIFE STAGES OF PSYCHOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT

learned in the womb.[35]:151 Infants are fairly goodat detecting the direction a sound comes from, andby 18 months their hearing ability is approximatelyequal an adult’s.

• Smell and taste are present, with infants showingdifferent expressions of disgust or pleasure whenpresented with pleasant odors (honey, milk, etc.)or unpleasant odors (rotten egg) and tastes (e.g.sour taste). Newborns are born with odor and tastepreferences acquired in the womb from the smelland taste of amniotic fluid, in turn influenced bywhat the mother eats. Both breast- and bottle-fedbabies around 3 days old prefer the smell of hu-man milk to that of formula, indicating an innatepreference.[35]:150 There is good evidence for olderinfants preferring the smell of their mother to thatof others.[42]

• Touch and feel is one of the better-developed sensesat birth considering it’s one of the first senses todevelop inside the womb.[45] This is evidenced bythe primitive reflexes described above, and the rela-tively advanced development of the somatosensorycortex.[46]

• Pain: Infants feel pain similarly, if not more stronglythan older children but pain-relief in infants has notreceived somuch attention as an area of research.[47]

Language: Babies are born with the ability to discrim-inate virtually all sounds of all human languages.[35]:189Infants of around six months can differentiate betweenphonemes in their own language, but not between similarphonemes in another language. At this stage infants alsostart to babble, producing phonemes.Infant Cognition: The Piagetian Era An early the-ory of infant development was the Sensorimotor stage ofPiaget's Theory of cognitive development. Piaget sug-gested that an infant’s perception and understanding ofthe world depended on their motor development, whichwas required for the infant to link visual, tactile and mo-tor representations of objects. According to this view, itis through touching and handling objects that infants de-velop object permanence, the understanding that objectsare solid, permanent, and continue to exist when out ofsight.[43]

Piaget’s Sensorimotor Stage comprised six sub-stages(see sensorimotor stages for more detail). In the earlystages, development arises out of movements caused byprimitive reflexes.[48] Discovery of new behaviors resultsfrom classical and operant conditioning, and the forma-tion of habits.[48] From eight months the infant is able touncover a hidden object but will persevere when the ob-ject is moved.Piaget came to his conclusion that infants lacked a com-plete understanding of object permanence before 18

Special methods are used in the psychological study of infants.

months after observing infants’ failure before this age tolook for an object where it was last seen. Instead infantscontinue to look for an object where it was first seen,committing the "A-not-B error.” Some researchers havesuggested that before the age of eight to nine months, in-fants’ inability to understand object permanence extendsto people, which explains why infants at this age do notcry when their mothers are gone (“Out of sight, out ofmind”).Recent Finding in Infant Cognition In the 1980s and1990s, researchers have developed many new methodsof assessing infants’ understanding of the world with farmore precision and subtlety than Piaget was able to do inhis time. Since then, many studies based on these meth-ods suggest that young infants understand far more aboutthe world than first thought.Based on recent findings, some researchers (such asElizabeth Spelke and Renee Baillargeon) have proposedthat an understanding of object permanence is not learnedat all, but rather comprises part of the innate cognitive ca-pacities of our species.Other research has suggested that young infants in theirfirst six months of life may possess an understanding ofnumerous aspects of the world around them, including:- an early numerical cognition, that is, an ability to repre-sent number and even compute the outcomes of additionand subtraction operations;[49]

- an ability to infer the goals of people in theirenvironment;[50]

- an ability to engage in simple causal reasoning.[51]

7.3 Toddlerhood

Main article: Toddler

Infants shift between ages of one and two to a develop-mental stage known as toddlerhood. In this stage, an in-fant’s transition into toddlerhood is highlighted throughself-awareness, developing maturity in language use, and

7.5 Adolescence 9

presence of memory and imagination.During toddlerhood, babies begin learning how to walk,talk, and make decisions for themselves. An importantcharacteristic of this age period is the development of lan-guage, where children are learning how to communicateand express their emotions and desires through the useof vocal sounds, babbling, and eventually words.[52] Self-control also begins to develop. At this age, children takeinitiative to explore, experiment, and learn from mak-ing mistakes. Caretakers who encourage toddlers to trynew things and test their limits, help the child becomeautonomous, self-reliant, and confident.[53] If the care-taker is overprotective or disapproving of independent ac-tions, the toddler may begin to doubt their abilities andfeel ashamed of the desire for independence. The child’sautonomic development is inhibited, leaving them lessprepared to deal with the world in the future. Toddlersalso begin to identify themselves in gender roles, actingaccording to their perception of what a man or womanshould do.[54]

Socially, the period of toddlerhood is commonly calledthe “terrible twos”.[55] Toddlers often use their new-foundlanguage abilities to voice their desires, but are often mis-understood by parents due to their language skills just be-ginning to develop. A person at this stage testing their in-dependence is another reason behind the stage’s infamouslabel. Tantrums in a fit of frustration are also common.

7.4 Early childhood

Also called “pre-school age,” “exploratory age” and “toyage.”When children attend preschool, they broaden their socialhorizons and become more engaged with those aroundthem. Impulses are channeled into fantasies, which leavesthe task of the caretaker to balance eagerness for pur-suing adventure, creativity and self-expression with thedevelopment of responsibility. If caretakers are prop-erly encouraging and consistently disciplinary, childrenare more likely to develop positive self-esteem while be-coming more responsible, and will follow through on as-signed activities.As children grow their past experiences will shape whothey are, allow them to perceive the world in their ownway. It helps a person go through everyday life.[56] Ifnot allowed to decide which activities to perform, chil-dren may begin to feel guilt upon contemplating takinginitiative. This negative association with independencewill lead them to let others make decisions in place ofthem.During a child’s preschool and beginning school years,intelligence is demonstrated through logical and system-atic manipulation of symbols related to concrete objects.Operational thinking develops, which means actions arereversible, and egocentric thought diminishes.

Children go through the transition from the world at hometo that of school and peers. Children learn tomake things,use tools, and acquire the skills to be a worker and a po-tential provider. Children can now receive feedback fromoutsiders about their accomplishments.If children can discover pleasure in their activities, in-cluding their intellectual stimulation, most importantly inlearning reading, writing, and basic math, they will de-velop a sense of competence. If they are not successful orcannot discover pleasure in the process, they may developa sense of inferiority and feelings of inadequacy that mayhaunt them throughout life. This is when children thinkof themselves as industrious or as inferior.

7.5 Adolescence

Main article: Adolescent psychology

Adolescence is the period of life between the onset of pu-berty and the full commitment to an adult social role, suchas worker, parent, and/or citizen. It is the period knownfor the formation of personal and social identity (seeErik Erikson) and the discovery of moral purpose (seeWilliam Damon). Intelligence is demonstrated throughthe logical use of symbols related to abstract concepts andformal reasoning. A return to egocentric thought oftenoccurs early in the period. Only 35% develop the capac-ity to reason formally during adolescence or adulthood.(Huitt, W. and Hummel, J. January 1998)[57]

It is divided into three parts namely:

1. Early Adolescence: 9 to 13 years (preteen),

2. Mid Adolescence: 13 to 15 years and

3. Late Adolescence: 15 to 18 years

The adolescent unconsciously explores questions such as“Who am I?Who do I want to be?" Like toddlers, adoles-cents must explore, test limits, become autonomous, andcommit to an identity, or sense of self. Different roles,behaviors and ideologies must be tried out to select anidentity. Role confusion and inability to choose vocationcan result from a failure to achieve a sense of identitythrough, for example, friends.

7.6 Early adulthood

Main article: Young adult (psychology)

Early adulthood, according to theorists such as Erik Erik-son, is a stage where development is mainly focused onmaintaining relationships.[58] Examples include creatingbond of intimacy, sustaining friendships, and ultimatelymaking a family. Some theorists state that development

10 8 PARENTING

of intimacy skills rely on the resolution of previous de-velopmental stages. A sense of identity gained in the pre-vious stages is also necessary for intimacy to develop. Ifthis skill is not learned the alternative is alienation, iso-lation, a fear of commitment, and the inability to dependon others.A related framework for studying this part of the lifespan is that of emerging adulthood. Scholars of emerg-ing adulthood, such as Jeffrey Arnett, are not necessar-ily interested in relationship development. Instead, thisconcept suggests that people transition after their teenageyears into a period not characterized as relationship build-ing and an overall sense of constancy with life, but withyears of living with parents, phases of self-discovery, andexperimentation.[59]

7.7 Middle adulthood

Main article: Middle age

Middle adulthood generally refers to the period betweenages 25 to 69. During this period, middle-aged adultsexperience a conflict between generativity and stagnation.Theymay either feel a sense of contributing to society, thenext generation or their immediate community or a senseof purposelessness.Physically, the middle-aged experience a decline in mus-cular strength, reaction time, sensory keenness, and car-diac output. Also, women experience menopause anda sharp drop in the hormone estrogen. Men experi-ence an equivalent endocrine system event to menopause.Andropause in males is a hormone fluctuation with phys-ical and psychological effects that can be similar to thoseseen in menopausal females. As men age, lowered testos-terone levels can contribute to mood swings and a declinein sperm count. Sexual responsiveness can also be af-fected, including delays in erection and longer periods ofpenile stimulation required to achieve ejaculation.

7.8 Old age

Main article: Old age

This stage generally refers to those aged over 70 . Accord-ing to Erikson’s Theory of Psychosocial Development,old age is the stage in which individuals assess the qualityof their lives. In reflecting on their lives, people in this agegroup develop a feeling of integrity if deciding that theirlives were successful or a feeling of despair if evaluationof one’s life indicates a failure to achieve goals.[60]

Physically, older people experience a decline in muscularstrength, reaction time, stamina, hearing, distance per-ception, and the sense of smell.[61] They also are moresusceptible to diseases such as cancer and pneumonia due

to a weakened immune system . Programs aimed at bal-ance, muscle strength, and mobility have been shown toreduce disability among mildly (but not more severely)disabled elderly.[62]

Sexual expression depends in large part upon the emo-tional and physical health of the individual. Many olderadults continue to be sexually active and satisfied withtheir sexual activity.[63]

Mental disintegrationmay also occur, leading to dementiaor ailments such as Alzheimer’s disease. It is gener-ally believed that crystallized intelligence increases up toold age, while fluid intelligence decreases with age.[64]Whether or not normal intelligence increases or decreaseswith age depends on the measure and study. Longitudinalstudies show that speed declines . Some cross-sectionalstudies suggest that intellect is stable .

7.9 Critical periods of development

There are critical periods in infancy and childhood duringwhich development of certain perceptual, sensorimotor,social and language systems depends crucially on envi-ronmental stimulation.[65] Feral children such as Genie,deprived of adequate stimulation, fail to acquire impor-tant skills and are unable to learn in later childhood.The concept of critical periods is also well-establishedin neurophysiology, from the work of Hubel and Wieselamong others.

7.10 Developmental Delays

Children with developmental delays (DD) are at height-ened risk for developing clinically significant behav-ioral and emotional difficulties as compared to childrenwith typical development (TD). However, nearly all stud-ies comparing psychopathology in youth with DD em-ploy TD control groups of the same chronological age(CA).This comorbidity of DD and a mental disorder isoften referred to as dual diagnosis. Epidemiological stud-ies indicate that 30–50% of youth with DDmeet the clin-ical cutoff for behavioral and emotional problems and/ordiagnosable mental disorder. Studies that include com-parison samples of children with typical development(TD) highlight the considerable difference in risk for psy-chopathology, with the relative risk for youth with DD (toyouth with TD) ranging from 2.8–4.1 to 1.[66]

8 Parenting

Parenting variables alone have typically accounted for 20to 50 percent of the variance in child outcomes.[67]

All parents have their own parenting styles. Parentingstyles, according to Kimberly Kopoko, are “based upon

8.2 Mother and father factors 11

two aspects of parenting behavior; control and warmth.Parental control refers to the degree to which parentsmanage their children’s behavior. Parental warmth refersto the degree to which parents are accepting and respon-sive of their children’s behavior.”[68]

8.1 Parenting styles

The following parenting styles have been described in thechild development literature:

• Authoritative Parenting is characterized as parentswho have high parental warmth, responsiveness,and demandingness, but rate low in negativity andconflict.[69] These parents are assertive but not in-trusive or overly restrictive.[70] This method of par-enting is associated with more positive social andacademic outcomes. Interestingly, the beneficialoutcomes of authoritative parenting are not neces-sarily universal. Among African American ado-lescents, authoritative parenting is not associatedwith academic achievement without peer support forachievement.[69]

Children who are raised by authoritative parents are“more likely to become independent, self-reliant, sociallyaccepted, academically successful, and well-behaved.They are less likely to report depression and anxiety, andless likely to engage in antisocial behavior like delin-quency and drug use.”[71]

Children raised by authoritative parents are self-sufficient, academically successful, and well-behaved andare unlikely to have depression and anxiety and are un-likely to engage in antisocial behavior.- See more at: http://www.parentingscience.com/authoritative-parenting-style.html#sthash.E3yuVdDo.dpuf

• Authoritarian parenting is characterized by low lev-els of warmth and responsiveness with high levelsof demandingness and firm control.[69] These par-ents focus on obedience and they monitor their chil-dren regularly.[70] In general, this style of parent-ing is associated with maladaptive outcomes. Inter-estingly, the outcomes are more harmful for mid-dle class boys than girls, preschool white girls thanpreschool black girls, and for white boys than His-panic boys.[70] Furthermore, the negative effects ofauthoritarian parenting among Asian Americans canbe offset by positive peer support.[69] Finally, amongAfrican Americans, some elements of authoritarianparenting such as firm control and physical disci-pline do not serve as predictive factors for negativeoutcomes.[69]

Here is a video example of authoritarian parenting[72]

• Permissive parenting is characterized by high lev-els of responsiveness combined with low levels ofdemandingness.[70] These parents are lenient and donot necessarily require mature behavior.[70] They al-low for a high degree of self-regulation and typicallyavoid confrontation.[70] Compared to children raisedusing the authoritative style, preschool girls raised inpermissive families are less assertive.[70] Addition-ally, preschool children of both sexes are less cog-nitively competent than those children raised underauthoritative parenting styles.[70]

• Rejecting or neglectful parenting is the final cat-egory. This is characterized by low levels ofdemandingness and responsiveness. These par-ents are typically disengaged in their child’s lives,lacking structure in their parenting styles and areunsupportive.[70] Children in this category are typ-ically the least competent of all the categories.[70]

8.2 Mother and father factors

Parenting roles in child development have typically fo-cused on the role of the mother. Recent literature, how-ever, has looked toward the father as having an impor-tant role in child development. Affirming a role for fa-thers, studies have shown that children as young as 15months benefit significantly from substantial engagementwith their father.[73][74] In particular, a study in the U.S.and New Zealand found the presence of the natural fatherwas the most significant factor in reducing rates of earlysexual activity and rates of teenage pregnancy in girls.[75]Furthermore, another argument is that neither a mothernor a father is actually essential in successful parenting,and that single parents as well as homosexual couples cansupport positive child outcomes.[76] According to this setof research, children need at least one consistently re-sponsible adult with whom the child can have a positiveemotional connection. Having more than one of thesefigures contributes to a higher likelihood of positive childoutcomes.[76]

8.3 Divorce

Another parental factor often debated in terms of its ef-fects on child development is divorce. Divorce in itself isnot a determining factor of negative child outcomes. Infact, the majority of children from divorcing families fallinto the normal range on measures of psychological andcognitive functioning.[77] A number of mediating factorsplay a role in determining the effects divorce has on achild, for example, divorcing families with young chil-dren often face harsher consequences in terms of demo-graphic, social, and economic changes than do familieswith older children.[77] Positive coparenting after divorceis part of a pattern associated with positive child cop-ing, while hostile parenting behaviors lead to a destruc-

12 10 REFERENCES

tive pattern leaving children at risk.[77] Additionally, di-rect parental relationship with the child also affects thedevelopment of a child after a divorce. Overall, protec-tive factors facilitating positive child development after adivorce are maternal warmth, positive father-child rela-tionship, and cooperation between parents.[77]

9 See also• Adult

• Behavioral cusp

• Child development

• Educational Psychology

• Developmental psychobiology

• Developmental psychopathology

• Developmental Science (peer-reviewed journal)

• Evolutionary developmental psychopathology

• Ethnic identity development

• Group Development

• Fuzzy-trace theory

• Microgenetic design

• Ontogenetic parade

• Outline of psychology

• Perceptual narrowing

• Pre- and perinatal psychology

• Scale error

• Sociometric status

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[34] Brainerd, C.J.; Reyna, V.F. (1998). “Fuzzy-tracetheory and children’s false memories”. Journal ofExperimental Child Psychology 71 (2): 81–129.doi:10.1006/jcep.1998.2464.

[35] Laura E. Berk (2012). Infants and children: Prenatalthrough middle childhood (7 ed.). Allyn & Bacon.

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[37] Achenbach, Thomas M. (1978). Research in developmentpsychology. New York [usw.]: Free Pr. [usw.] pp. 74–104. ISBN 0-02-900180-3.

[38] Marmor, Robert M. Liebert, Rita Wicks Poulos, GloriaStrauss (1977). Developmental psychology (2d ed. ed.).Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall. pp. 20–37. ISBN0-13-208231-4.

[39] Shaffer, David R. (2009). Social and personality develop-ment (6th ed. ed.). Australia: Wadsworth. pp. 21–36.ISBN 0-495-60038-5.

[40] A Longitudinal Study of Early Literacy Development andthe Changing Perceptions of Parents and Teachers, DrJohn Worthington, 2001

[41] K. Cherry,“Stages of Prenatal Development”, “AboutPsychology”

[42] Butterworth, G.; Harris, M. (1994). Principles of De-velopmental Psychology. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.ISBN 0-86377-280-3.

[43] Bremner, J.G. (1994). Infancy (2 ed.). Blackwell. ISBN0-631-18466-X.

[44] Bee, Denise Boyd, Helen. The developing child. (13th ed.ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Education. p.36. ISBN 9780205256020.

[45] Feldman, Diane E. Papalia, Ruth Duskin (2010). A child’sworld : infancy through adolescence (12th ed. ed.). NewYork: McGraw-Hill. p. 57. ISBN 9780073532042.

[46] Slater, A.; Lewis, M. (2006). Introduction to Infant De-velopment. Oxford: OUP. ISBN 0-19-928305-2.

[47] Mathew, P.J.; Mathew, J.L. (2003). “Assessment andmanagement of pain in infants”. Postgraduate MedicalJournal 79 (934): 438–43. doi:10.1136/pmj.79.934.438.PMC 1742785. PMID 12954954.

[48] Piaget, J. (1977). Gruber, H.E.; Voneche, J.J., eds. Theessential Piaget. New York: Basic Books. ISBN 0-7100-8778-0.

[49] Wynn, Karen (1992). “Addition and subtractionby human infants”. Nature 358 (6389): 749–750.doi:10.1038/358749a0. Retrieved September 28, 2013.

[50] Infants selectively encode the goal object of anactor’s reach” Cognition 1998, doi:10.1016/S0010-0277(98)00058-4

[51] Leslie, A. & Keeble, S. (1987)" Cognition 25, 265-288.doi:10.1016/S0010-0277(87)80006-9

[52] Upton, Penney (2011). Developmental Psychology: Criti-cal Thinking in Psychology. Exeter: Learning Matters. p.62. ISBN 0857252763.

[53] Massi, Wendy S. (2001). Toddler Play. Creative Pub.international. ISBN 0865734356.

[54] Upton, Penney (2011). Developmental Psychology: Criti-cal Thinking in Psychology. Exeter: Learning Matters. p.84. ISBN 0857252763.

[55] Newman, Barbara M.; Newman, P. R. (2011). Develop-ment Through Life : A Psychosocial Approach. Belmont,CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. pp. 215–217. ISBN111134468X.

[56] Psychology: The Science of Behaviour, Fourth CanadianEdition by Neil R. Carlson, William Buskist, C. DonaldHeth, and Rod Schmaltz.

[57] Developmental Theory

[58] Kastenbaum, Robert (1993). Encyclopedia of Adult De-velopment. Oryx Press. p. 14. ISBN 0897746694.

[59] Twenge, Jean M. (2008). “Review of emerging adult-hood: The winding road from the late teens through thetwenties”. American Journal of Psychology 121 (4): 682–687.

[60] Julia R. Miller (2003). Encyclopedia of Human Ecology:I-Z. ABC-CLIO. pp. 242–. ISBN 978-1-57607-852-5.Retrieved 4 December 2012.

14 11 FURTHER READING

[61] I. J. Deary, W. Johnson, A. J. Gow, A. Pattie, C. E. Brett,T. C. Bates and J. M. Starr. (2011). Losing One’s Grip: ABivariate Growth CurveModel of Grip Strength and Non-verbal Reasoning From Age 79 to 87 Years in the LothianBirth Cohort 1921. The journals of gerontology. Series B,Psychological sciences and social sciencesdoi

[62] Gill, T. M.; Baker, D. I.; Gottschalk, M.; Peduzzi, P.N.; Allore, H.; Byers, A. (2002). “A program to pre-vent functional decline in physically frail, elderly per-sons who live at home”. N Engl J Med 347: 1068–74.doi:10.1056/NEJMoa020423.

[63] Blanchard-Fields, John C. Cavanaugh, Fredda (2009).Adult development and aging (6th ed. ed.). Australia:Wadsworth/Cengage Learning. pp. 89–90. ISBN9780495601746.

[64] Woolf, Linda M. “Theoretical Perspectives Rele-vant to Developmental Psychology”, Webster, 1998.'http://www.webster.edu/~{}woolflm/cognitions.html'Retrieved on 2012-03-16.

[65] Siegler, Robert (2006). How Children Develop, Explor-ing Child Development Student Media Tool Kit & ScientificAmerican Reader to Accompany How Children Develop.New York: Worth Publishers. ISBN 0-7167-6113-0.

[66] http://ejournals.ebsco.com/Direct.asp?AccessToken=6V2V9LC89KHKFXMOOMIJIOHCIJOJ8CFCVX&Show=Object

[67] Flaherty, Serena Cherry; Sadler, Lois S. (1 March 2011).“A Review of Attachment Theory in the Context of Ado-lescent Parenting”. Journal of Pediatric Health Care 25(2): 114–121. doi:10.1016/j.pedhc.2010.02.005.

[68] Kopoko, Kimberly (2007). “Parenting Styles and Ado-lescents”. Cornell University Cooperative Extension: 1–8.Retrieved 20 November 2014.

[69] Taylor, Lorraine C.; Clayton, Jennifer D.; Rowley,Stephanie J. (1 January 2004). “Academic Socialization:Understanding Parental Influences on Children’s School-Related Development in the Early Years.”. Review ofGeneral Psychology 8 (3): 163–178. doi:10.1037/1089-2680.8.3.163.

[70] Baumrind, D. (1 February 1991). “The Influence of Par-enting Style on Adolescent Competence and SubstanceUse”. The Journal of Early Adolescence 11 (1): 56–95.doi:10.1177/0272431691111004.

[71] Dewar PHD, Gwen. “The authoritative parenting style:Warmth, rationality, and high standards.” A guide for thescience-minded parent”. Parenting Science. Retrieved 20November 2014.

[72] “Parenting Style Authoritarian Parenting”. YouTube.

[73] Fathers’ Role in Children’s Academic Achievement andEarly Literacy. ERIC Digest

[74] “Children with active, involved fathers have better so-cial skills, are healthier, and do better in school”, ac-cording to Duane Wilson, the Proud Fathers, Proud Par-ents program coordinator for the Michigan Departmentof Human Services (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=$-$2125328669291708941 2:57)

[75] Bruce J. Ellis, Child Development May/June 2003, 74:3,pp. 801–21

[76] Silverstein, Louise; Carl Auerbach (1999). “Deconstruct-ing the Essential Father”. American Psychologist 54: 397–407. doi:10.1037/0003-066x.54.6.397.

[77] Whiteside, Mary F.; Becker, Betsy Jane (1 January 2000).“Parental factors and the young child’s postdivorce adjust-ment: A meta-analysis with implications for parenting ar-rangements.”. Journal of Family Psychology 14 (1): 5–26.doi:10.1037//0893-3200.14.1.5.

11 Further reading

• Bjorklund, D.F.; Pellegrini, A.D. (2000).“Child Development and Evolutionary Psy-chology”. Child Development 71 (6): 1687–1708.doi:10.1111/1467-8624.00258. PMID 11194266.

• Bornstein, M.H. & Lamb, M.E. (2005). Develop-mental science: An advanced textbook. Mahwah,NJ: Erlbaum, 2005.

• Johnson-Pynn, J.; Fragaszy, D.M. & Cummins-Sebree, S. (2003). “Common territories in compar-ative and developmental psychology: The quest forshared means and meaning in behavioral investiga-tions.”. International Journal of Comparative Psy-chology 16: 1–27.

• Lerner, R.M. Concepts and theories of human devel-opment. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum, 2002.

• Reid, V.; Striano, T. & Koops, W. Social CognitionDuring infancy. Psychology Press. 2007

Among 20 most prominent journals in developmentalpsychology are:

• Journal of the American Academy of Child andAdolescent Psychiatry

• Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry

• Development and Psychopathology

• Child Development

• Autism Research

• Kindheit und Entwicklung

• Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders

• European Child & Adolescent Psychology

• Developmental Science

• Developmental Review

• Psychology and Aging

15

• Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology

• Developmental Psychology

• Journal of Adolescent Health

• Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders

• Developmental Neuropsychology

• Journal of Research on Adolescence

• Journal of Youth and Adolescence

• Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychol-ogy

• Journal of Pediatric Psychology

12 External links• The Society for Research in Child Development

• The British Psychological Society, DevelopmentalPsychology Section

• Developmental Psychology: lessons for teaching andlearning developmental psychology

• GMU’s On-Line Resources for Developmental Psy-chology: a web directory of developmental psychol-ogy organizations

• Home Economics Archive: Research, Tradition,History (HEARTH)An e-book collection of over 1,000 books spanning1850 to 1950, created by Cornell University’s MannLibrary. Includes several hundred works on humandevelopment, child raising, and family studies item-ized in a specific bibliography.

• Infants can do more than we think. Research fromUppsala university 2010.

• It’s the Parenting, Dodo | Living Hero Radio Showand Podcast special. With Arun Gandhi telling 4stories of growing up with Mahatma Gandhi’s non-violent parenting and childhood development prac-tices and Dr. Marcy Axness, author of Parenting forPeace giving parenting guidelines and information.Jan 2013

16 13 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

13 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

13.1 Text• Developmental psychology Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Developmental%20psychology?oldid=649793536 Contributors: BryanDerksen, SimonP, Edward, Michael Hardy, Vaughan, Kku, Zanimum, Skysmith, TUF-KAT, Timwi, Dcoetzee, Reddi, Topbanana, Rob-bot, Tomchiukc, Ly, Goethean, Altenmann, Sam Spade, Khg, Emyth, BenFrantzDale, Marcika, Peruvianllama, Everyking, Skagedal, Pas-cal666, Neilc, Andycjp, Quadell, OverlordQ, Karol Langner, APH, Bodnotbod, Tyler McHenry, Darksun, Neutrality, Robin klein, MikeRosoft, Freakofnurture, DanielCD, Rich Farmbrough, Guanabot, Vsmith, Florian Blaschke, LindsayH, Bender235, El C, Marcok, SietseSnel, Orlady, Johnkarp, John Vandenberg, Dzou, La goutte de pluie, Jmiak, Jumbuck, Alansohn, Gary, Niki K, Mrholybrain, Wtmitchell,Brookie, Woohookitty, Palica, Graham87, BD2412, Whicky1978, Melesse, Rjwilmsi, Missmarple, MarnetteD, Cmouse, Rangek, FlaBot,Vclaw, Nihiltres, Paul foord, RexNL, Ewlyahoocom, Spencerk, Chobot, YurikBot, Wavelength, Borgx, RobotE, RussBot, FunkyJazzMon-key, Hede2000, David Woodward, Gaius Cornelius, Dialectric, Autodidact, Badagnani, ONEder Boy, JTBurman, Wknight94, Avraham,2over0, Shinhan, Robotico, Pb30, Tevildo, Emc2, Wizofaus, Sardanaphalus, Crystallina, SmackBot, Unschool, Reedy, Pschelden, Vald,Fvguy72, Blue520, KocjoBot, Jagged 85, Jab843, Commander Keane bot, Gilliam, Frédérick Lacasse, Tyciol, Chris the speller, Kurykh,MartinPoulter, MalafayaBot, PureRED, DoctorW, Grandmasterka, Darth Panda, Jdhammer, Stevenmitchell, EPM, Dreadstar, Hgilbert,FlyHigh, SashatoBot, Dane Sorensen, Tim bates, Mgiganteus1, Commons@tiac.net, Tasc, Frigo, Anonymous anonymous, Zeligf, Jack M.,Iridescent, Fjbex, Aeternus, Az1568, ChrisCork, Cabria, CmdrObot, Erik Kennedy, Neelix, Penbat, Funnyfarmofdoom, AndrewHowse,Biblbroks, Ward3001, Daven200520, Iss246, Risingconcern, PKT, Mattisse, Thijs!bot, Epbr123, Barticus88, Dogaroon, N5iln, Sopra-nosmob781, Marek69, DPeterson, Second Quantization, Dmitri Lytov, Philippe, AntiVandalBot, Gioto, Luna Santin, Seaphoto, Sum-merPhD, Osubuckeyeguy, SlipperyN, Figma, D99figge, Inks.LWC, GurchBot, Boab, Geniac, Shumdw, Magioladitis, Dp76764, VoABotII, Clarky92au, Arno Matthias, TARBOT, Elsiemobbs, Tristan Horn, WhatamIdoing, Cgingold, Nposs, User A1, JaGa, Keith D, R'n'B,Nono64, Lordmanannan, Captain panda, The dark lord trombonator, ArrowStomper, Eliz81, Clerks, Longouyang, Grosscha, Mikael Häg-gström, Tychoish, Potatoswatter, Ilikeliljon, Vimesman, Uhai, Fainites, Vranak, Lilyv129, Barneca, DoorsAjar, TXiKiBoT, SHP3513,WatchAndObserve, Tameeria, Starrymessenger, Jsarmi, LeaveSleaves, Noformation, Lova Falk, Doc James, SieBot, Rambo’s Revenge, Ps-bsub, Hertz1888, Gerakibot, Dawn Bard, Yintan, Flyer22, TomWorthington, ScAvenger lv, Faradayplank, G ambrus, Lightmouse, Sanya3,Correogsk, Hank52, Denisarona, Faithlessthewonderboy, ClueBot, The Thing That Should Not Be, Vacio, Wyenath, Ajoykt, Excirial,Muhandes, Jotterbot, Iohannes Animosus, Chininazu12, Mikaey, Thingg, DumZiBoT, Jcautilli2003, XLinkBot, Dantel50, Clover345,Vianello, Wyatt915, Zefryl, Kongr43gpen, Flaresi, Cognatus, MrOllie, Download, LemmeyBOT, Devadatta, Aardnavark, Tassedethe,TreyBuchanan, Tide rolls, ForesticPig, Teles, Jarble, Samwass, Macdgarrett, Legobot, Luckas-bot, Yobot, Rhazs, OWise 1, Ira Silva, THENWHO WAS PHONE?, Empireheart, Finereach, AnomieBOT, Dillypickle, RandomAct, Materialscientist, Jpc4031, Citation bot, Arthur-Bot, Xqbot, Smueldoggydogg, S h i v a (Visnu), Romanfall, Erikj09, Vicloic, Couchspudsrock, 100sbo10, Backpackadam, Prunesqualer,RibotBOT, Ignoranteconomist, X lamurf x, Zaokski, Touchatou, Aaron Kauppi, FrescoBot, Tobby72, D'ohBot, E.shakir, Age Happens,Pinethicket, Tinton5, Darigan, Melara..., Gmandler, Pamdfitz, Rixs, Komipfeiffer, Abdabs, RjwilmsiBot, OfriRaviv, DASHBot, Jocce,GoingBatty, Chaitra313, Wikipelli, Doncorto, Heygeorgie, AvicBot, John Cline, WeijiBaikeBianji, Factmaven, Becky03, Thine AntiquePen, Jacobisq, Donner60, Golfcourseairhorn, Grammar Prof, ClueBot NG, Yue4, Cingulate, Widr, Helpful Pixie Bot, Catacomb007,BG19bot, Jluvmour, Desmore13, Lowercase Sigma, Mmustikka, Lhong1, Dzforman, Vanpsyc, Kayrae1101, Meg22s, Momotaro219,Num1star, Sheena08, TahreemM, BattyBot, Jedo17, Ayoung10, Teammm, Dianeblack, Mediran, Khazar2, Tow, A.jeacoma, Sae Harsh-berger, Mogism, Djfrost711, Lindy.williams, GeneralConstruction, Greatuser, Epicgenius, HY1416, Hokiegem, I am One of Many, Eye-snore, Koryna22, Serdna25, Wiki nik00, Weddy01, Softmancho, Mekhail333, Wyan1990, DavidLeighEllis, NewBeginning111, Jinsol,Ugog Nizdast, Riorsf, Jveckler, Shulingjuliechen, Monkbot, Cshanesimpson, LawrencePrincipe, Eddiagnostician, Chesivoirzr, Gervasija,Wszzp, DonPsycho99, Ppalmer19 and Anonymous: 411

13.2 Images• File:Baby.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2e/Baby.jpg License: Copyrighted free use Contributors:Stock.xchng #197853 Original artist: Carin Araujo, http://www.prtc.net/~{}carin

• File:Psi2.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6c/Psi2.svg License: Public domain Contributors: ? Originalartist: ?

13.3 Content license• Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0