Lecture 6
Development over the lifespan
HP 1000
Dr. QU Li
Outline
General issues:
n What is development in psychology?
n How do we study development in psychology?
Development in the following aspects:
n Physical development
n Cognitive development
n Moral development
n Psychosocial development
Special stages:
n infancy, childhood, adolescence, adulthood
What is development?
n Development in psychology is changes over
time in structure and processes;
n Development is bidirectional;
n Developmental psychology studies the
changes that occur in people as they age,
from conception until death.
http://www.dls.ym.edu.tw/neuroscience/dev.html
http://nmhm.washingtondc.museum/exhibits/imgs/conception2.jpg
How do we study development?
n Longitudinal research
q Study the same participants over a long period of time
q Problems: expensive and possible drop-outs
n Cross-sectional research
q Groups of participants, of different ages, studied at same
time
q Problem: cohort peculiarities
n Cross-sequential design
q Different groups of participants also followed and assessed for a
period of no more than six years
Longitudinal Design
Tested at 1 year
(Time 1)
Again at 4 years
(Time 2)
Again at 7 years
(Time 3)
Same Participants
Different Times Different Times Different Times
Compare Compare
Cross-Sectional Design
1-year-olds 4-year-olds 7-year-olds
Compare Compare
Same Time
Different Participants Different Participants Different Participants
Same Time
Cross-sequential design
http://www.web.uvic.ca/psyc/lalonde/psyc335/notes/images/sequential.gif
The Nature–Nurture Issue
n Nature- Nurture Controversy
• Long-standing discussion over relative
importance of nature (heredity) and nurture
(environment) in their influence on behavior
and mental processes
What develops?
A. Prenatal development
B. Physical development
C. Language development
D. Cognitive development: theories
E. Moral development: theory
F. Psychosocial development: theory
Stages of Prenatal Development
Stage Duration
Germinal Conception to 2 weeks
Embryonic 2 to 8 weeks
Fetal 8 weeks to birth
3
A. Prenatal development:
4
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Inc. All rights reserved.
Prenatal Development
Teratology and Hazards to Prenatal Development
Embryonic Stage Characteristics
• Organs and major body
systems develop rapidly
! Respiratory
! Digestive
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