7/14/2021

PSY 1206
DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY

Instructor: Aloysius Rukundo (PhD)

Room 312, Level 3,

Faculty of Science Building

Introduction Developmental Ψ: Introduction

• Is a branch of psychology that studies all changes in physical, • Quantitative change Three Important questions
mental, moral, social and emotional functioning during (growth): are normally asked in
one’s lifespan involves changes in amount connection with human
such as a change in height, development
• A scientific approach which aims to explain growth, change
and consistency throughout the lifespan weight vocabulary etc; and is
fairly easy to measure • The nature- nurture
• Developmental psychology looks at how thinking, feeling,
• Qualitative change question
and behavior change throughout a person’s life (development) • The continuity –stage
• From the moment of conception each individual more complex because it question.
experiences changes involves changes in kind e.g. • The stability –change
the changing nature of question.
• These changes are mainly due to the interplay of certain intelligence, decision making,
biological processes and environmental factors making judgment, and
acquisition of wisdom etc.
• Scientific study of the quantitative and qualitative ways in
which people change over time

1
 7/14/2021

Developmental Ψ:The continuity-stage question

Developmental Ψ:The nature-nurture question
• Is development ASSIGNMENT ONE
explained wholly in • Is development a gradual process that comes in
 Explain how nature stages?
terms of nature or and nurture determine
genetics? human growth and • Do children go through gradual changes or they
• Alternatively, is it development undergo abrupt changes?
determined by nurture
i.e. learning and • Although many skills show continuity throughout
experiences? Instructions: development, there is evidence of stages in
• The appropriate answer Font 12; Times New development.
to those questions is Romans; Line spacing • To describe development, it is necessary to focus
that both nature and 1.5; hand-in in 2 weeks’ both on typical patterns of change (normative
nurture determine time. development) and on individual variations in
human development patterns of change (i.e. idiographic development)

Developmental Ψ: Stability-change Question KEY CONCEPTS IN HUMAN GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT

• Growth: quantitative increase

• Nature: biological factors
in body size e.g. long legs, etc responsible for growth and
development
• Development: qualitative
• Do people maintain their personal increase in nature e.g. maturity
• Heredity: inheritance of traits from
ancestral linage
characteristics as they mature from infants to in reasoning, making good • Nurture: environmental factors
adults (stability)? decisions, creative thinking responsible for growth and
development
• Alternatively do people acquire new • Maturation: unfolding of • Maturity: Ability to handle issues in
characteristics (changes)? biologically determined a logical, rational, and calm way
while considering all other factors in
patterns of behavior their different proportions
• Although there are some traits that could be programmed by genes. • That is, an individual’s ability to
stable overtime human beings have a competently cope with the changing
tremendous capacity for change • For example, when a child aspects of adult life -must be able to
begins to walk, it is because the adapt and cope with adult life
experiences and events
• Question: Think about traits/characteristics that genes have specified that the
stay stable and those that change over time. muscles, bones and co-
ordination will mature at that
age

2
 7/14/2021

Types of Development
Question: Physical development: Personality development:
• Changes in physical, observable
characteristics of a particular  development of certain
person E.g. ? characteristic patterns of
• All these exert an influence on behavior, which
both personality and intellect
 Discuss the relevance of human growth and Intellectual development:
progressively become
development psychology to a teacher trainee • Unfolding of cognitive
resistant to change
capabilities such as learning, Social development:
memory, reasoning, and thinking
• All these change overtime and  It is the development of
are closely related to awareness of other people
psychomotor and emotional
aspects around an individual
Emotional development:
Moral development: refers
• It deals with how an individual
learns to express their feelings, to the ways we distinguish
desires, and sensations in right from wrong as we
appropriate ways
grow and mature. It is
related to the people obey
societal norms and customs

PERIODS OF THE LIFE SPAN

1. Prenatal stage • Consumption of certain PERIODS OF THE LIFE SPAN…
substances like alcohol,
• From conception to birth cigarettes, caffeine, large doses 2. Infancy and Toddlerhood (0- 3. Early childhood (3- 6 yrs)
of aspirin, tranquilizers, etc. may 3yrs)
• Period of greatest physical growth, be very dangerous to the health • While newly born babies are  Period is spent in nursery or
when humans grow from a tinny of the unborn child dependent on adults, they have day care centers where
single cell to a structure composed children are trained to
of billions of cells • Diseases such as HIV/AIDS, all their senses and they are
syphilis, genital herpes, German capable of simple learning socialize with other children
• It is a period of extreme measles etc. can also cause harm • They form attachment to their
to the unborn baby • At this stage, children are
vulnerability: parents, immediate family capable of learning any
• Certain parts may not develop
• Stress, excessive noise, members and care givers
malnutrition or improper diet can language and can
properly, leading to disability retard growth of the baby • During toddlerhood (from about communicate better with
18 months to 3years), children
• Imbalances in nutrients, hormones, • Hereditary defects (e.g. Sickle cell become highly skilled in language fellow children, playmates
and exposure to toxic material for anemia, Rhesus factor and motor abilities as well as their parents
example the mutagens and incompatibility) can cause
problems that may retard • Although still dependent on • In total, they are ready for a
teratogens can course certain parts adults, they show a lot of interest pre-school program
not to develop properly leading to
development e.g.
in other children but are a little
disability Q. Which other hereditary defects jealousy of the people they are
can you think of? attached to - “Survival Instinct.”
??What is a) a mutagen? B) teratogen?

3
 7/14/2021

Lifespan Lifespan…
Middle Childhood Adolescence
. Infancy and Toddlerhood Early Childhood

PERIODS OF THE LIFE SPAN

4. Middle childhood. (6 to 12 yrs)

5. Adolescence (about 12 to 20 years) Lifespan…
• This is the most prominent and promising
 Children at this stage are stage in one’s life
Young Adulthood Midlife
normally in school and make • The search for identity is the most
important theme at this stage of life
a tremendous progress in • Questions such as “who am I?” and “what
their ability to think logically do I want to be” are very relevant
 They gain a great deal from • It is a period full of high and sometimes
formal education and very unrealistic hopes and expectations
consolidate their abilities at • The onset of adolescence considerably
influences young people’s lives
this stage
• It is a very “fertile” period in one’s life and
 They now begin to keep a if properly handled can yield can yield a
rich harvest
few things of their own
• At this stage,
 If a high self-esteem and  There is increased involvement in peers in
confidence is built at this an effort to escape parental influence.
stage, a child may become  Also inevitable rebellion - young people
very productive in feature simply rebel especially against what they
conceive as conservative, strict and
uncompromising parents or adults

4
 7/14/2021

PERIODS OF THE LIFE SPAN … Lifespan

6.Young adulthood (20to40) 7. Mild life (40-60) years
years. • people are either at the peak of their earning
powers and have achieved the peak of their
• Work and career choices success in their chosen career, or are on a down Late Adulthood/Old Age
are more pronounced at ward movement
this stage • Usually people are stressed out due to the
• Young adults also seek following reasons:
more intimate and lasting  Increased responsibilities
relationships  Admiration of their peers who have made it
• The career options  Having many children especially when they are
available normally shape teenagers
the person’s future life  Financial problems
 Establishment problems
 Advent of old age i.e. they begin to think of their
lives more in terms of the time left they have to live
rather than the time lived since birth --- This usually
brings about stress or depression, sometimes
leading to family disintegration How people think about
 The stress and depression is referred to as mid- life death, approach death,
crisis and cope with death vary
depending on many factors

Late/Old Age (60 yrs to death)

Think about your own development
• This period is critical in one’s life
• Either one accepts the losses of earlier life or
degenerates into nostalgia of a once good life and  Which period or stage of development are you in
ruins oneself right now? Are you dealing with similar issues and
• Problems such as impairment of learning, vision, experiencing comparable physical, cognitive, and
physical strength and stamina, loneliness and in psychosocial development as described in the
some cases regression can mark this period of life stages above? If not, why not? Are important
aspects of development missing and if so, are they
common for most of your cohort (age mates)or
NOSTALGIA: feeling of sadness mixed with pleasure unique to you?
and affection when one thinks of happy times in the
past

5
 7/14/2021

PERSPECTIVES OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

1. Humanistic Perspective 2. Psychoanalytic Perspective
Trial Question1: Describe the basic periods of human  According to this
development. perspective, human beings  Emphasizes childhood
have enormous potential experiences and
Trial Question 2: Andrea's brain has recently reached its for personal growth
adult size, though it continues to develop; her body's unconscious motivations
 A person uses this potential
growth has slowed down for now, and her motor skills to develop their particular  During childhood, one
are more coordinated. She is busy with learning and characteristics experiences a vast number
testing in school; her friendships with other girls are  Concerned with human of things such as “toilet
especially important. Considering all of this information, experiences, problems, training” which influence
Andrea is probably in what period of human potentials, and ideals in and motivate one’s future
development? Explain your answer one’s personal growth development
Trial #3: Baltes’ lifespan perspective emphasizes that  The humanists stress that
human development is lifelong, multidimensional, past experiences stimulate  One’s behavior is
multidirectional, plastic, contextual, and interest in psychological influenced by vast areas of
multidisciplinary. Describe the meaning of Balte’s needs of love, self-esteem, unconscious thoughts,
perspective in terms of each of the underlined terms belonging, self-expression, impulses, and desires which
creativity and spirituality
cannot be known directly

FUNDEMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

PERSPECTIVES OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
1. 2.
3. Socio-cognitive
Perspective 4. Trait Perspective  Human growth and
development is as a  Rates of growth and
 Observational learning  According to this
perspective, personality result of the interaction development differ from
and the contribution of should be described in between an individual
one individual to another
cognitive factors are terms of specific and stable and the environment in
paramount in this personal characteristic which he finds himself but follow an orderly
perspective such as shyness and  The interplay between sequence and show a
aggressiveness hereditary forces high degree of similarity
 E.g. A child who  The trait approach would acquired from the in almost all individuals
observes and hence try to determine whether parents and the
imitates his or her for example a child’s environment forces in
mother or father or any cleanliness is related to which an individual is
other role model may other traits such as brought up helps to a
have his / her behavior punctuality, being strict, greater extent to shape
etc. subsequent growth and
shaped in that line development of an
individual

6
 7/14/2021

FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

3. 4. 5. 6.
 Human growth and  Various aspects of human  Growth and development  Growth and development
development is growth and development begins from general to
continuous process, are interrelated and are cumulative, with one specific aspects e.g.
which begins at affect each other change leading to (Some examples?)
conception till death,  Retardation in one another
aspect leads to
 However it is not smooth underdevelopment in  maturity of one part 7. Development is
and gradual across another and vice versa usually leads to changes Predictable:
children e.g. early locomotion in other aspects
affects positively difference in physiological
 There are growth spurts intellectual development  other parts only develop and psychological
and other milestones after maturity of some potentialities can ‘ be
which differ from child to predicated by observation
specifics parts e.g.? Can and psychological tests
child and from female to
male you think of some
example(s)

FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

8.

 Development follows an orderly, ii) Proximal-distal trend

gradual sequence • Here development starts from the
center lines of the body to outer parts
 Although individuals may differ in more distant from it e.g. a baby learns to
their rate of growth and control movement of a shoulder before
development, the development the arms and fingers
process follows and orderly iii) Locomotion
sequence in all humans e.g.
• This develops in sequence in all
Language development… infants of different cultures starting with
 Dev’t shows a high degree of creeping, crowling then walking, the
similarity in the order in which timing may vary but every infant passes
through those stages
various aspects occur across all
children. Various trends that have iv) Bilateral- unilateral trend
been observed are • At the early stages of infancy unto the 2.5
i) Cephalo-caudal trend. yrs., the infant displays functional
symmetry, particularly in respect to motor
• Here development from development
the head and extends towards • The use of any part on the body for
example the hands, and the legs to express
the heel dissatisfaction is a characteristic at this
stage