Psychology
Issues and Debates in Developmental Psychology
Issues and debates in developmental psychology encompass a range of topics such as nature vs. nurture, continuity vs. discontinuity, and the role of culture in development. These discussions explore the influences on human development and the ways in which individuals grow and change over time. They also consider the impact of social, environmental, and biological factors on developmental processes.
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4 Key excerpts on "Issues and Debates in Developmental Psychology"
eBook - ePub- Patricia Heindel(Author)
- 2016(Publication Date)
- Research & Education Association(Publisher)
CHAPTER 2 Theories of Development Chapter 2 Theories of DevelopmentThere are several theories that have been offered by psychologists to describe and explain human development. Before examining these theories, it is helpful to understand some of the basic issues on which they agree and disagree.CONTROVERSIAL ISSUES REGARDING DEVELOPMENTNature versus nurtureThe nature versus nurture controversy is an old argument in philosophy and psychology. The question posed in this debate is whether our development is influenced more by the experiences we have (the nurture position) or by the genetic endowment we inherit from our biological parents (the nature position). According to the nurture side, at birth the human mind is like a blank slate, or tabula rasa , that experience writes upon. It is argued that we are shaped by the nurturing, care and environmental influences that impact us. According to the nature view, development is an unfolding process guided by preprogrammed, genetic information. Development is seen as a predictable, predetermined unfolding of inherited traits and abilities. Theories of human development tend to emphasize one or the other of these influences on development, but most theorists agree that it is implausible for nature or nurture to be the sole influence on our growth and development. Both nature and nurture interact from conception forward. The goal of research in development today is to understand the relative influence of each factor in the development of particular traits or abilities like intelligence or personality. In other words, what proportion of mature level of intelligence is the product of experience and what proportion is controlled by genes?Patterns of developmentTheories differ in how they describe development. Discontinuity or stage theories argue that development progresses through a series of stages. Each stage is seen as involving a specific task. Once the task is accomplished, the child moves on to the next stage. The developing person is seen as not changing quantitatively, but qualitatively. Continuity theories
eBook - PDFIndividual Development and Social Change
Explanatory Analysis
- John R. Nesselroade, Alexander Von Eye, John R. Nesselroade, Alexander Von Eye(Authors)
- 2013(Publication Date)
- Academic Press(Publisher)
II. Key Questions of Human Development The most fundamental issues in the study of human development pertain to the nature-nurture controversy (Lerner, 1976, 1978; Overton, 1973); that is, an inquiry into where the souce of development lies. There is a clear relationship between a theorist's stance on these issues and his or her re- sponse to questions such as "what is development?" and "what are the processes by which development occurs?" Historically, there have been 6. INDIVIDUAL AND CONTEXT IN DEVELOPMENT 159 instances wherein theorists have emphasized the independent, isolated ac- tion of either hereditary mechanisms (e.g., Sheldon, 1940,1942) or environ- mental mechanisms (e.g., Skinner, 1938; Watson, 1913, 1918) for some selected subset of an organism's behavioral repertoire (see Gould, 1981). However, due to the impact of essays by Anastasi (1958), Lehrman (1953), and Schneirla ( 1956,1957), today most developmentalists acknowledge that processes or variables from both nature and nurture sources contribute to development. Thus, questions are raised about modes of contribution among variables derived from each of these sources. Significant issues concerning the meaning and constitution of the contributing sources also exist. Finally, the concept of "interaction" is invoked, in that many theor- ists believe that variables from the two sources act in other than additive ways to bring about development. However, the concept of interaction itself proves to be highly controversial. A. WHAT DEVELOPS? WHAT ARE THE PROCESSES OF DEVELOPMENT? The key features of organismic, mechanistic, and contextual developmen- tal paradigms have been described in several essays (e.g., Lerner, 1976,1978; Looft, 1973; Overton& Reese, 1973,1981; Reese &0verton, 1970). These features will only be summarized here. 1. THE ORGANISMIC PARADIGM From the organismic perspective, development of a given process (e.g., cognition) is an idealized, normative, intraorganismic phenomenon.
No longer available |Learn more- (Author)
- 2014(Publication Date)
- College Publishing House(Publisher)
______________________________ WORLD TECHNOLOGIES ______________________________ Chapter 7 Developmental Psychology Developmental psychology , also known as human development , is the scientific study of systematic psychological changes that occur in human beings over the course of their life span. Originally concerned with infants and children, the field has expanded to include adolescence, adult development, aging, and the entire life span. This field examines change across a broad range of topics including motor skills and other psycho-physiological processes; cognitive development involving areas such as problem solving, moral understanding, and conceptual understanding; language acquisition; social, personality, and emotional development; and self-concept and identity formation. Developmental psychology includes issues such as the extent to which development occurs through the gradual accumulation of knowledge versus stage-like development, or the extent to which children are born with innate mental structures versus learning through experience. Many researchers are interested in the interaction between personal characteristics, the individual's behavior, and environmental factors including social context, and their impact on development; others take a more narrowly focused approach. Developmental psychology informs several applied fields, including: educational psychology, child psychopathology, and forensic developmental psychology. Developmental psychology complements several other basic research fields in psychology including social psychology, cognitive psychology, ecological psychology, and comparative psychology.
No longer available |Learn more- (Author)
- 2014(Publication Date)
- The English Press(Publisher)
________________________ WORLD TECHNOLOGIES ________________________ Chapter-1 Developmental Psychology Developmental psychology , also known as human development , is the scientific study of systematic psychological changes that occur in human beings over the course of their life span. Originally concerned with infants and children, the field has expanded to include adolescence, adult development, aging, and the entire life span. This field exa-mines change across a broad range of topics including motor skills and other psycho-physiological processes; cognitive development involving areas such as problem solving, moral understanding, and conceptual understanding; language acquisition; social, personality, and emotional development; and self-concept and identity formation. Developmental psychology includes issues such as the extent to which development occurs through the gradual accumulation of knowledge versus stage-like development, or the extent to which children are born with innate mental structures versus learning through experience. Many researchers are interested in the interaction between personal characteristics, the individual's behavior, and environmental factors including social context, and their impact on development; others take a more narrowly focused approach. Developmental psychology informs several applied fields, including: educational psychology, child psychopathology, and forensic developmental psychology. Develop-mental psychology complements several other basic research fields in psychology including social psychology, cognitive psychology, ecological psychology, and compara-tive psychology.
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