Human psychological
development
Miss Domenica Caruso
Life span development

Psychologists use the term ‘life span development’
to refer to change that begins at conception and
continues through the entire life span.
Life span development

The traditional approach to development
emphasises extreme changes from birth to
adolescence, little or no change in adulthood,
and decline in old age.

The life span approach emphasises
developmental change occurs during adulthood
as well as during childhood.

Change must be relatively permanent to be
considered developmental.
Areas of human development

Psychologists have identified changes in
four main areas of development:.
Physical
 Social
 Cognitive
 Emotional

Physical (or biological) development

Involves changes in the body and its
various systems, such as development of
the brain and nervous system, bones and
muscles, motor skills, and hormonal
changes.
Social development

Involves changes in an individual’s
relationships with other people and their
skills in interacting with others, such as
the ability to cooperate with others, form
close relationships and function in group
situations.
Cognitive development

Involves changes in an individual’s mental
abilities, such as learning, memory,
perception, thinking, language, moral
reasoning, problem solving and decision
making.
Emotional development

Involves changes relating to an individual’s
experience of different feelings and the ways in
which they express these feelings.
Areas of human development

Social, cognitive and emotional development
are often referred to collectively as
psychological development.

These represent mental processes because
they are not directly observable.
Researchers make observations of behaviour
believed to be associated with thoughts and
feelings.
Areas of human development

Physical development is determined by biological
factors (genetic make-up, changes in brain and
nervous system, changes in hormonal system).

Many changes associated with physical development
can be directly observed (locomotion, height and
weight, changes in physical appearance).

Consequently, the two categories of development
can be referred to as psychological and physical
development.
Areas of human development
Psychological
development
Social
Cognitive
Emotional
Physical
development
Physical
(biological)
How development proceeds

A number of differing views about the way in
which psychological and physical development
proceed throughout the lifespan.

A general consensus that development occurs
in an orderly way and in different areas
simultaneously.

However, differing views still remain on whether
development is continuous or
discontinuous.
Continuous vs discontinuous
development

Think about your development, do you
think you gradually become the person
you are?

Or, did you experience sudden, distinct
changes in development to emerge as the
person you are?
Continuous development

Psychologists who support the continuous
view of development suggest that development
involves gradual and ongoing changes
throughout the life span, with behaviour in the
early stages of development providing the basis
of skills and abilities required for the next
stages.
Discontinuous development

Those who view development as a discontinuous
process believe development involves distinct and
separate stages with different kinds of behaviour
occurring at each stage.

This suggests that development of certain abilities
(e.g specific emotions, ways of thinking) have a
definite start and ending point. However there is no
exact time at which an ability suddenly appears or
disappears. Even though we may feel that a feeling or
behaviour appears out of nowhere, it is more than
likely been gradually developing for some time.

Refer to page 334 & 335 of your textbook
Sequential nature of development

Sequences of development usually begin with
simple thoughts, feelings and behaviour and
progress to more complex ones.

Infancy- crawling, walking, talking.
Quantitative and qualitative changes

Psychologists distinguish between
quantitative and qualitative changes in
development.
Quantitative changes

Variations in the quantity or amount of a
thought, feeling or behaviour. These changes are
usually expressed as numbers.

E.g increases in height and weight are
considered quantitative changes and can be
expressed in units of measurement, such as
centimetres or grams.
Qualitative changes

Those that vary in ‘quality’, ‘kind’ or ‘type’.
Qualitative changes are more difficult to
describe precisely and are not usually described
as a number.

E.g walking and abstract thinking.

Learning Activity 10.1, (q1a, q2) pg 336
Simultaneous changes in
development

The four areas of an individual’s development
(physical, cognitive, emotional and social) can take
place simultaneously.
Physical development
Cognitive
development
Emotional
development
Social
development
Simultaneous changes in
development
From a young age, the development of the
nervous system, bones and muscles influences the
onset of mobility (physical development)
 Mobility and perception influences the
development of thought (cognitive development)
 The way we think can influence the way we feel
(emotional development)
 The way we feel can influence the way we
interact with others (social development)

Individual differences in
development

While, for most people there
are similarities in patterns of
changes in different areas of
development, no two
individuals develop in exactly
the same way. Not even
biological twins.

Some individuals develop
more slowly or more quickly
than others- in some, most or
all areas of development.
Individual differences in
development

There are also differences within individuals in
their development.

An individual may be relatively short in height
during childhood then suddenly grow during
adolescence to become taller than most of
their peers.

Learning Activity 10.4, page 338 (1-3)
Nature vs nurture debate

Is your behaviour more influenced by genetics
or environmental influences?

Is your personality the result of traits you
inherited or has it been shaped by your life
experiences?
Read page 339 of textbook, Box 10.4
Nature vs nurture debate

An ongoing debate within the field of developmental
psychology is concerned with the extent to which
development is inherited (heredity) or acquired
(shaped by the environment).
Nature vs nurture debate

Heredity (Nature)

Biologically transmitted characteristics passed
from parents to offspring (genetic inheritance)

Those that believe in support of heredity
concept believe that development is physically
dependant on traits which we inherit (height,
intelligence, talent)
Nature vs nurture debate

Environment (Nurture)

Experiences, objects, events which we are
exposed to over our lifetime

Other psychologists believe the environment in
which we are raised (including our experiences)
is responsible for determining what individuals
will become.