PSYC 2450 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1: Individual Psychology, Child Development, Mental Age

• School: University of Guelph
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 2450
• Professor: Carol Anne Hendry

Document Summary

Introduction to developmental psychology 1. 1 and its research strategies. Development: systematic continuities and changes in the individual over the course of life. Development continuities: ways in which we remain stable over time or continue to reflect our past. Developmental psychology: branch of psychology devoted to identifying and explaining the continuities and changes that individuals display over time. Developmentalist: any scholar, regardless of discipline (e. g psychologist, biologist, sociologist, etc) who seek to understand the developmental process. Maturation: developmental changes in the body or behavior that results from the aging process rather than from learning, injury, life experience. Learning: (cid:396)elati(cid:448)el(cid:455) pe(cid:396)(cid:373)a(cid:374)e(cid:374)t (cid:272)ha(cid:374)ge i(cid:374) (cid:271)eha(cid:448)io(cid:396) (cid:894)o(cid:396) (cid:271)eha(cid:448)io(cid:396)al pote(cid:374)tial(cid:895) that (cid:396)esults f(cid:396)o(cid:373) o(cid:374)e"s e(cid:454)pe(cid:396)ie(cid:374)(cid:272)es o(cid:396) p(cid:396)a(cid:272)ti(cid:272)e: we change in response to our environments, most developmental changes are the product of maturation and learning. 3 major goals of the developmental sciences are to describe, explain & optimize development to describe development focus on: