Developmental psychology and child psychology

 

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Developmental psychology and child psychology

Intro

Developmental psychology is the study field that explores the lifespan changes in human beings. It delves into the physical, cognitive, social, emotional, and moral development that individuals experience from conception to death. Child psychology is a specialized field within developmental psychology that focuses specifically on the mental, emotional, social, and cognitive development of children from prenatal development through adolescence.

   

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What is developmental psychology?

What is developmental psychology?

Developmental psychology is a fascinating field that explores the lifespan changes in human beings. It delves into the physical, cognitive, social, emotional, and moral development that individuals experience from conception to death.

What are the main features of developmental psychology?

  • Lifespan Approach: It examines development across all stages of life, from prenatal development to old age.
  • Multidimensional Focus: Developmental psychology recognizes that growth occurs in various domains – physical, cognitive, social, emotional, and moral.
  • Nature vs. Nurture: This field explores the complex interplay between biological (genetic) predispositions and environmental influences on development.
  • Continuity vs. Discontinuity: Developmental psychologists debate whether development is a gradual, continuous process or punctuated by distinct stages.

What are important sub-areas in developmental psychology?

  • Prenatal Development: Examines the growth and development of the fetus from conception to birth.
  • Infancy and Childhood: Focuses on rapid physical, cognitive, social, and emotional development during the early years.
  • Adolescence: Studies the physical, cognitive, and social changes experienced during puberty and teenage years.
  • Emerging Adulthood: Explores the development of identity, relationships, and career paths in young adulthood.
  • Middle Adulthood: Examines changes in physical health, cognitive abilities, and family dynamics during middle age.
  • Late Adulthood: Studies the physical, cognitive, and social changes associated with aging.

What are key concepts in developmental psychology?

  • Critical Period: A specific time window when an organism is highly susceptible to environmental influences impacting development.
  • Maturation: The biological unfolding of genetic potential, leading to physical growth and development.
  • Attachment Theory: Explores the importance of early emotional bonds with caregivers for healthy emotional and social development.
  • Cognitive Development: The process of acquiring knowledge, skills, and thinking abilities throughout life.
  • Social Development: The process by which individuals learn to interact with others and form relationships.
  • Moral Development: The development of an understanding of right and wrong, and a sense of ethical principles.

Who are influential figures in developmental psychology?

  • Jean Piaget (Psychologist): Pioneered the theory of cognitive development, proposing stages of cognitive growth in children.
  • Lev Vygotsky (Psychologist): Emphasized the role of social interaction and culture in cognitive development, introducing the concept of the Zone of Proximal Development.
  • Erik Erikson (Psychologist): Developed the theory of psychosocial development, proposing eight stages of psychosocial challenges individuals face throughout life.
  • John Bowlby (Psychoanalyst): Pioneered attachment theory, highlighting the significance of early emotional bonds with caregivers for healthy development.
  • Mary Ainsworth (Psychologist): Expanded upon attachment theory, identifying different attachment styles (secure, anxious, avoidant) formed in early childhood.

Why is developmental psychology important?

  • Understanding Human Development: Provides a deeper understanding of how humans grow and change throughout life.
  • Early Childhood Intervention: Helps design programs and interventions to support healthy development in children, especially those facing challenges.
  • Education: Developmental psychology informs educational practices by tailoring teaching methods to different age groups and developmental stages.
  • Parenting and Family Support: Offers insights into child development stages, fostering positive and supportive parenting practices.
  • Aging Well: Helps us understand the aging process and develop strategies to promote healthy aging physically, cognitively, and socially.

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What is child psychology?

What is child psychology?

Child psychology is a specialized field within developmental psychology that focuses specifically on the mental, emotional, social, and cognitive development of children from prenatal development through adolescence.

What are the main features of child psychology?

  • Focus on Childhood: It delves into the unique aspects of development during the early years of life.
  • Multifaceted Approach: Examines a variety of domains, including emotional well-being, cognitive abilities, social skills, and moral development.
  • Developmental Stages: Child psychology acknowledges that children progress through distinct stages with specific challenges and milestones.
  • Play and Exploration: Recognizes the importance of play and exploration in learning and development.

What are important sub-areas in child psychology?

  • Prenatal Development: Examines how experiences in the womb can impact a child's physical and mental development.
  • Infant Development: Focuses on rapid physical, cognitive, and social-emotional development during the first year of life.
  • Early Childhood Development: Studies the cognitive, social, and emotional growth that occurs between the ages of 2 and 6.
  • Middle Childhood Development: Examines the physical, cognitive, and social changes experienced during the school years (ages 6-12).
  • Adolescence: Studies the physical, cognitive, and social changes experienced during puberty and the teenage years.

What are key concepts in child psychology?

  • Attachment Theory: The importance of early emotional bonds with caregivers for healthy emotional and social development.
  • Developmental Milestones: The expected skills and abilities children acquire at different ages.
  • Cognitive Development: The process of acquiring knowledge, skills, and thinking abilities throughout childhood.
  • Social Development: The process by which children learn to interact with others and form relationships.
  • Play Therapy: A therapeutic approach using play to help children express themselves, process emotions, and develop coping mechanisms.
  • Temperament: Inborn behavioral styles and characteristics influencing children's responses to their environment.

Who are influential figures in child psychology?

  • Jean Piaget (Psychologist): Pioneered the theory of cognitive development, proposing stages of cognitive growth in children.
  • Lev Vygotsky (Psychologist): Emphasized the role of social interaction and culture in cognitive development, introducing the Zone of Proximal Development.
  • Erik Erikson (Psychologist): Developed the theory of psychosocial development, proposing eight stages of psychosocial challenges individuals face throughout life, including challenges specific to childhood.
  • John Bowlby (Psychoanalyst): Pioneered attachment theory, highlighting the significance of early emotional bonds with caregivers for healthy development.
  • Mary Ainsworth (Psychologist): Expanded upon attachment theory, identifying different attachment styles (secure, anxious, avoidant) formed in early childhood.

Why is child psychology important?

  • Promoting Healthy Development: Provides insights for optimizing a child's physical, cognitive, social, and emotional well-being.
  • Early Intervention: Helps identify developmental delays or challenges early on, allowing for timely intervention and support.
  • Understanding Behavior: Provides a framework for understanding children's behavior and responding appropriately.
  • Positive Parenting: Offers guidance on effective parenting practices that foster healthy development and nurturing relationships.
  • Educational Practices: Informs the development of age-appropriate curriculum and teaching methods in schools.

How is child psychology applied in practice?

  • Early Childhood Education: Provides the foundation for designing effective preschool and kindergarten programs.
  • Parenting Education and Support: Offers guidance on child development stages and
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Developmental psychology and child psychology: The best textbooks summarized

Developmental psychology and child psychology: The best textbooks summarized

Summaries and Study Assistance with Developmental psychology and child psychology

Table of content

  • Summary with the book: A Critical Introduction to Sport Psychology by Moran and Toner - 3rd edition
  • Summary with the book: Abnormal Child and Adolescent Psychology by Wicks-Nelson and Israel - 8th edition
  • Summary with the book: Adolescence by Steinberg - 12th edition
  • Summary with the book: An Introduction to Developmental Psychology by Slater and Bremner - 3rd edition
  • Summary with the book: Child and Adolescent Therapy: Cognitive-Behavioral Procedures by Kendall - 4th edition
  • Summary with the book: Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for Children and Families by Graham and Reynolds - 3rd edition
  • Summary with the book: How Children Develop by Siegler a.o. - 6th edition
  • Summary with the book: Life-Span Human Development by Sigelman and Rider - 9th edition
  • Summary with the book: The boy who was raised as a dog by Perry

About developmental psychology and child psychology

  • Developmental psychology is the scientific study of how people change and grow throughout their lifespan. Child psychology is a subfield of developmental psychology that focuses specifically on the cognitive, social, and emotional development of children.
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Developmental psychology: the best scientific articles summarized

Developmental psychology: the best scientific articles summarized

Study guide with articles for Developmental psychology

Summaries and study assistance with articles for Developmental psychology

  • for 60+ summaries with articles for Developmental psychology, see the supporting content of this study guide

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Developmental psychology: The best concepts summarized

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Latest blogs, jobs, projects, organizations, and tips tagged with: Developmental psychology and child psychology

Youth Intervention: Theory, Research, and Practice – Lecture 7 (UNIVERSITY OF AMSTERDAM)

For a personality disorder to be diagnosed in adolescence, the problems have to be present for a year. There are four main areas of deficit:

  • Affective dysregulation
  • Impulsivity
  • Instable relationships
  • Identity problems

There are several symptoms of borderline personality disorder (BPD):

  • Chronic feelings of emptiness.
  • Emotional instability in reaction to-day events (e.g. intense episodic sadness) usually lasting a few hours and only rarely more than a few days.
  • Frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment.
  • Identity disturbance with markedly or persistently unstable self-image or sense of self.
  • Impulsive behaviour in at least to areas that are self-damaging (e.g. spending; sex; substance abuse; reckless driving; binge eating).
  • Inappropriate or intense anger or difficulty controlling anger.
  • Pattern of unstable and intense interpersonal relationships characterized by extremes between idealization and devaluation.
  • Recurrent suicidal behaviour,
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Youth Intervention: Theory, Research, and Practice – Lecture 6 (UNIVERSITY OF AMSTERDAM)

Traditionally, a specific learning disability (SLD) referred to a discrepancy of one to two standard deviations between intellectual functioning and academic functioning. However, the amount of discrepancy was arbitrary (1), older children were favoured (2), higher IQs were favoured (3) and it was failure-based (4). Currently, the definition holds that achievement in key academic areas is substantially below the age norm and in excess of sensory deficits, linguistic processes, attention and memory. The prevalence is 2 to 10%.

Response to intervention (RTI) refers to a tiered system in which a failure to respond to an intervention is the criterium for identification of specific learning disabilities. This indicates the need for more specific and intensive intervention. First, there is screening for risk (e.g. simple tests of basic pre-reading skills) and assessment of family history of reading and language difficulties. After this, there are several tiers:

  1. Tier
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Adolescence and emerging adulthood: A cultural approach by Jeffrey Arnett and Malcolm Hughes (sixth edition) – Chapter 13 summary

Adolescents with externalizing problems tend to come from families where parental monitoring and control is lacking (i.e. under controlled). Externalizing problems are more common among males than females. Risk behaviour refers to behaviours that involve the risk of negative outcomes (e.g. substance use). Problem behaviour refers to behaviour that is viewed as a source of problems (e.g. unprotected sex).

People with externalizing problems often do not experience distress. Externalizing behaviours may be a manifestation of problems with family, friends or school but this need not be the case. It is often not motivated by unhappiness or psychopathology but by desire for excitement and intense experiences.

Driving is the number one source of death in adolescence and emerging adulthood in developed countries. Accidents are especially high in the first few months of driving but fall after having a license for more than a year. This

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Adolescence and emerging adulthood: A cultural approach by Jeffrey Arnett and Malcolm Hughes (sixth edition) – Chapter 10 summary

Adolescents’ academic performance is related in crucial ways to their family relationships (1), friendships (2), work patterns (3) and leisure patterns (4). Cultural beliefs are important in determining what is required from adolescents academically.

Adolescents in developed countries started going to secondary school about a century ago. Schooling became the normative experience for adolescence. The same pattern is observed in developing countries but at a delayed rate. Adolescents being in school is a direct consequence of economic development.

The content of secondary school has changed over time as well. There was no specific economic purpose of the curriculum in the 19th century but this changed as more adolescents started attending school. Schools started to focus more on training for work and citizenship. The comprehensive high school includes classes in general education, college preparation and vocational training. Many European countries have three types of secondary

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Adolescence and emerging adulthood: A cultural approach by Jeffrey Arnett and Malcolm Hughes (sixth edition) – Chapter 8 summary

During adolescence and emerging adulthood, the emotional centre of people’s lives shift from their immediate families to people outside of the family (i.e. friends). Friends provide a bridge between the close attachment to family members and the close attachments of a romantic partner.

Peers refer to people who have certain aspects of their status in common (e.g. both playing the same sport; both approximately the same age). Peers become more important during adolescence across cultures, although gender differences in adolescent relationships are more pronounced in traditional cultures. However, compared to Western culture, more time is spent with the family.

In adolescence, time spent with same-sex friends remains stable and time with other-sex friends increases. The relationships with family and friends during adolescence change in both quantity and quality. Adolescents start to depend more on friends than on parents or siblings for companionship and intimacy. Parents

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Adolescence and emerging adulthood: A cultural approach by Jeffrey Arnett and Malcolm Hughes (sixth edition) – Chapter 6 summary

Self-conception refers to the notion of what kind of person one is. Self-esteem refers to the capacity to evaluate one’s fundamental worth as a person. Identity refers to one’s perception of their capacity and characteristics and how this fit into the opportunities available to them. Self-reflection increases in adolescence as a result of normal cognitive development but culture has a profound influence on how people experience this change.

People’s self-conceptions change with age. Self-conceptions become more abstract and more complex in adolescence. Self-conceptions become more trait-focused and the traits become more abstract (e.g. being outgoing).

There is a cultural difference between collectivistic (i.e. interdependent self) and individualistic (i.e. independent self) cultures with regard to self-conception. In collectivistic cultures, the self is defined by social relationships.

The ideal self refers to the person the adolescent would like to be. The feared self refers

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Adolescence and emerging adulthood: A cultural approach by Jeffrey Arnett and Malcolm Hughes (sixth edition) – Chapter 3 summary

PET (positron emission tomography) scans and fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) are useful for studying the brain.

A lot of the thickening of synaptic connections occurs around the time puberty begins. Overproduction (i.e. exuberance) refers to the thickening of synaptic connection and this mainly occurs around the time puberty begins. It peaks around the age of 11 or 12. It also occurs during prenatal development. Exuberance during puberty is focused in the frontal lobes. The frontal lobes are associated with the higher functions of the brain (e.g. planning; problem solving; moral judgement).

Synaptic pruning refers to the selective ‘death’ of synapses. This occurs after exuberance and occurs between the ages of 12 and 20. The synapses that are used remain while the ones that are not used disappear (i.e. “use it or lose it”). Synaptic pruning is especially rapid among adolescents with high intelligence.

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Adolescence and emerging adulthood: A cultural approach by Jeffrey Arnett and Malcolm Hughes (sixth edition) – Chapter 1 summary

Puberty refers to the set of biological changes involved in reaching physical and sexual maturity and is universal. Adolescence refers to a life stage between the time puberty begins and the time adult status is approached. This is typically between the age of 10 to 18. In this stage, young people are preparing to take on the roles and responsibilities of adulthood in their culture. It is culturally constructed. The length (1), content (2) and daily experiences of adolescence (3) differ among cultures.

Plato and Aristotle believed that people develop reason in adolescence. In the middle ages, adolescence was seen as a time of innocence. Life-cycle service refers to a period late adolescence and early 20s in which young people would engage in domestic service, farm service or apprenticeships in various trades and crafts. This involved moving out of the family household and into the household

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Moffitt (2018). Male antisocial behaviour in adolescence and beyond.” – Article summary

Male antisocial behaviour is heavily concentrated in adolescence. There may be two types of male antisocial behaviour:

  1. Life-course persistent antisocial behaviour (LCP)
    This refers to antisocial behaviour that has its origins in neurodevelopmental processes and family adversity. Here, antisocial behaviour begins in childhood, builds persistently and continues into midlife.
  2. Adolescence limited antisocial behaviour (AL)
    This refers to antisocial behaviour that occurs due to age-graded social processes that begin with a maturity gap in adolescence and end when social adulthood is attained. Here, antisocial begins in adolescence and ends when social adulthood is attained.

Life-course persistent antisocial behaviour is rare, persistent, pervasive and pathological whereas adolescence-limited antisocial behaviour is normative. For LCP, there first is a neurodevelopmental vulnerability (e.g. cognitive deficit; hyperactivity; difficult temperament) and this is exacerbated by environmental risk factors (e.g. inadequate parenting; maltreatment; poverty). The environmental risk factors includes

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Lazowski & Hulleman (2016). Motivation interventions in education: A meta-analytic review.” – Article summary

Intervention studies facilitate our understanding about which interventions are most effective in improving educational outcomes.

Theories of motivation regard the energization and direction of behaviour. Social-cognitive theories of motivation include theories focusing on achievement motives and needs (1), perceived ability and self-concept (2), perceived value for and interest in an activity (3), goals (4), attributions about success and failure (5), emotions (6) and potential future identities (7). Motivation refers to processes that are affective, behavioural and/or cognitive and energize and direct behaviour.

Student motivation is essential for learning. Motivated students learn more (1), persist longer (2), produce higher quality work (3) and score higher on tests (4). This is especially the case if they are motivated by relatively intrinsic as compared with extrinsic motivation. Declines in student motivation are a common problem and threaten educational equity. Schools do not seem to be enhancing or

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What can I find on this page? On this page, you can find a summary for all the study materials you need for the developmental specialization of the Psychology bachelor's programme at the University of Amsterdam. There is a link for all the separate courses. The courses have been organized into ...

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  • On this page we discuss questions students have with the 2022/2023 course "Developmental Psychology" at the University of Amsterdam
  • You have the opportunity to ask any questions you might have and I will try and answer them
  • On 30/1/2023 you can ask questions!

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