PSYC 2110 Chapter Notes -Dishabituation, Habituation, Ethology
5 Oct 2013
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Document Summary
Child psychology, as a science, is only a little more than 100 years old. What is developmental psychology: changes in behaviour and abilities that occur as development proceeds, has two basic goals: Description: identify the child"s behaviour at each point in development. Explanation: determining causes and processes that produce changes in behaviour from one point to the next. Why study children: period of rapid development. Makes sense to focus on the period where rapid change occurs. More changes occur during this period than any other period. Physical growth, social interaction, acquisition of language, memory abilities, etc: long-term influences. Experiences during childhood strongly affect later development. I. e. , we are who we are because of our childhood: insight into complex adult processes. Useful to study complex processes during the stage where it is not so complex. E. g. , language development: real world applications. Products of research benefit children in real life problems. Policy makers often look to psychologists for help.
