Developmental psychology is the study of changes in behavior, thinking, and feeling over a lifetime. Many developmental psychologists study only part of the life span. For example, some focus on infancy, childhood, or adolescence. In addition, most developmental psychologists only investigate certain aspects of growth and development, such as emotion, thinking, motor skills, or social relationships. Developmental psychologists may also examine the interaction among different areas of development. For example, they may study how social relationships affect children’s thinking. Or, they may explore how the emotional tendencies of infants affect their relationships with their parents.
Developmental theories
Today, three main theories guide most research in developmental psychology. They are (1) learning theory, (2) constructivist theory, and (3) sociocultural theory.
Learning theory.
According to learning theory, development is shaped by experiences with reward and punishment within the environment. Much of modern learning theory draws upon work done by the Canadian psychologist Albert Bandura during the late 1900’s. His research shows that people often imitate what they see other people do. For example, a child may watch television shows about astronauts. The child may then imitate an astronaut’s behavior. This imitation may influence the child in other ways. For example, the child may show an increased interest in science, because astronauts need training in scientific fields.
According to learning theory, when other people reinforce a person’s behaviors, these behaviors usually increase. For example, a child may raise his or her hand in class more often when the teacher praises the child’s answers. When other people punish or avoid rewarding behaviors, these behaviors usually decrease. A toddler whose toys are removed when she throws them may stop throwing those toys, for example.
Constructivist theory
holds that a person is an active solver of problems. According to constructivist theory, people construct their own theories through exploration of the world around them. People test these theories against their own experiences.
Many modern constructivists derive their ideas from the work of the Swiss scientist Jean Piaget. Piaget described how growing children change their ideas about number, cause, time, space, and morality during development. Young children understand the world in terms of their own activities. They later move to a limited set of generalizations based on their knowledge of specific cases. Finally, they gain the ability to make valid and abstract generalizations about the world.
Other constructivists emphasize the importance of motivation in development. They hold that desires can drive people to construct new personal theories about the world. Such desires include the desire to satisfy curiosity, to master challenging tasks, and to reduce the inconsistencies and ambiguities one finds in the world.
Some constructivists suggest that humans are born with certain basic types of knowledge. These include concepts of space and quantity. The inborn knowledge serves as a foundation for constructing an understanding of the world.
Sociocultural theory.
According to sociocultural theory, people develop with the help of more experienced members of their communities. Parents, teachers, siblings, and others guide children’s attempts at writing, understanding space, doing chores, playing, and many other behaviors. Tools are also involved in this process. Our behavior and thinking is shaped by writing systems, maps, computers, and other invented tools.
The Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky originated many key parts of sociocultural theory in the early 1900’s. He showed that children learn complex mental skills, such as problem solving, by using those skills with other people.
Developmental psychologists at work
Many developmental psychologists conduct research. They try to better understand how behavior and thinking change over a lifetime. They use this research to help others involved in child development and learning. This group includes parents, teachers, museum exhibit creators, toy designers, TV producers, and many others. Other professionals teach classes on developmental psychology at colleges and universities.
