Developmental Psychology

What is Developmental Psychology?

Developmental psychology, the study of how human beings grow, learn, develop and age throughout the course of a lifetime, is arguably one of the most important fields in psychology. Research developments in developmental psychology are of immediate interest to clinical psychologists, teachers, and especially parents. Because taking care of children is such a complex process with such enormous responsibilities attached to it, and because the skills and techniques necessary for effective childcare change rapidly as the child ages, nearly all parents are interested in learning as much as they can about what to expect as their child grows.

In addition to its many practical applications, developmental psychology has a significant influence on theoretical matters as well. Insights from developmental psychology can help to answer such perennial psychological questions as: how do childhood experiences affect our attitudes and behaviors as adults? What aspects of our personalities are genetically determined, and what aspects are learned (the so-called nature vs nurture debate)? What does it mean to be a moral being, and how do humans become – or fail to become – morally sentient?

Who Should Study Developmental Psychology?

All students, scholars, and practitioners of psychology will need some understanding of developmental psychology. It is particularly important for those interested in clinical psychology and school psychology, as the effects of human development on mental illness and educational issues cannot be overestimated. Of course, as we’ve already seen, the value of studying developmental psychology is not limited to psychologists. Students of many other fields—education, philosophy, sociology, political science, and business to name only a few—benefit from learning about developmental psychology, as do parents, teachers, and anyone interested in interacting with children.

Developmental psychology is also one of the fields of psychology that holds a strong personal interest for many who encounter it. Unlike, for example, biopsychology, which can seem remote to many who are unfamiliar with the subject, the theories and lessons drawn from developmental psychology have an immediacy that makes them popular reading among non-specialists. We all had childhoods, we are all in the continuous process of growth and development, and so we can all find something of value in a greater understanding of these universal human processes.

The History of Developmental Psychology

Developmental psychology, in its clinical application, was arguably the earliest form of modern psychology. Sigmund Freud, the father of psychology, was a doctor who treated patients with a wide range of neurological disorders, and he was acutely interested in the role of childhood experiences in shaping individual personalities. He also developed a complex theory of human “psychosexual” development, in which children develop their latent sexuality in a series of stages. Based in large part on classical mythology rather than experimentation, the psychosexual theory of developmental psychology has been largely discredited by subsequent research – and a good thing too, since many of Freud’s conclusions regarding child sexuality were somewhat disturbing. Regardless, it was Freud who first formulated a psychological theory of human development, and thus the discipline traces its roots to his smoke-filled office.

Unlike Freud, the psychologist Jean Piaget believed that psychological knowledge could only be explained through careful experimentation, not abstract theorizing. By observing children at various levels of development performing a variety of cognitive tasks, Piaget learned what mental skills enter a child’s repertoire at what ages. His theory of development was also based on a series of “stages” of cognitive and moral development but, unlike Freud’s theory, Piaget’s theory of stages has been largely confirmed by experiment.

Piaget was one of the most influential developmental psychologists in history, and he was particularly interested in an area that still fascinates psychologists and other theorists to this day: namely, empirical moral psychology. Piaget wanted to find out (in a laboratory, not from his armchair) how people make moral decisions and especially how they learn to make those decisions during childhood. Piaget discovered, for example, that even children who have not yet developed basic quantitative concepts have a sense of “fairness” and know when they are not being given an equal share of food. It is only much later, however, that the same children can recognize that “fairness” applies when others are treated unfairly as well. Parents and teachers are all too familiar with the cries of “no fair!” that echo across the playground – but how many times has a child shouted that phrase on a teacher’s behalf?