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Young & Old
Developmental psychology is one area undergraduate psychology programs emphasize and often require.
Developmental psychology is important because it studies how humans learn, grow, and change. People go through different stages of development in their lives, and developmental psychologists observe and analyze how individuals develop and change at different points in their lives. Scan the chapter on “Disorders in Childhood.”
This module discusses four theories and models related to human development. One theory is mostly about babies, and another is mostly about adolescents. One covers newborn children through teenagers, and one of them cover human development from infancy to old age.
Scan through the “Stages of Development” chapter. The chapter combines several important concepts like pre-natal development, attachment, and adolescence.
Understanding Developmental Psychology is helpful to many dozens of careers—even parenting. Teaching and parenting are two examples that benefit from understanding human development and life stages.
Good parenting doesn’t require a class in psychology, of course. But parents establish boundaries and rewards and punishments for their children (that’s behavioral psychology). Teachers use different techniques to help students learn (that’s cognitive psychology). Even when parents and teachers are just naturally helping children grow and learn, they are using forms of psychology—maybe without thinking about it.
But, coming back to how developmental psychology is helpful, it can help us understand ourselves, understand others, help us be better workers and bosses, and when someone becomes a parent they might be better prepared to help their children grow and learn. Plus, developmental psychology is interesting.
Research psychologists have studied how humans think and behave. They have different ideas, but they all have important ideas to share. This week, we will learn about developmental psychology, which is about how humans learn, grow, and change throughout their lives. We will learn about four theories and models that help us understand human development.
Developmental psychologists study human growth and development over the lifespan, including physical, cognitive, social, intellectual, perceptual, personality and emotional growth. This knowledge is useful for many careers, including teaching and parenting. Parents and teachers use psychology to help children learn and grow. Understanding developmental psychology helps us have better relationships and communication with others. And it’s also just interesting!
1. Why is developmental psychology important? How does it help us understand human behavior and growth?
2. Can you think of any examples in your own life where you have used principles of psychology to interact with others or achieve a goal?
3. Why do you think studying developmental psychology is helpful for a variety of careers, such as police work, and marketing? How might this knowledge benefit individuals in these professions?
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