Developmental psychology studies age-based behavioral changes in people of all ages, observing behavior from before birth until after death. Researchers gather evidence through observation and study emotional, intellectual, moral, physical, and social development. The study is critical to understanding how humans mature and identifying problems with maturation. Research in this field can also explore developmental differences between different populations and help allocate funding for social and educational issues.
Developmental psychology is a subfield within psychology that focuses on the study of age-based behavioral changes. Historically, the term has been used specifically to refer to the behavioral development of children, but developmental psychologists actually study people of all ages, observing behavior from before birth until after they die. Researchers can apply their expertise to treating children with psychological disorders, analyzing psychological problems related to criminal cases, education, elder care, and a variety of other situations.
People who study developmental psychology primarily gather evidence through observation, with each study adding to the overall body of material. Some researchers may use experimentation under controlled circumstances, but most focus on observing humans in natural settings and learning about the ways development can be affected or altered. Because many experiments involving environmental manipulation might involve unethical methods, such as subjecting infants to sensory deprivation or malnourished infants to determine the role of diet in infant development, observation is often the only way to gather data.
Developmental psychologists are interested in people’s emotional, intellectual, and moral development throughout their lives, looking at everything from the age that children first respond to specific stimuli to the behavioral changes that occur in older adults. This field also addresses physical and social development, such as the age at which boys and girls begin to differentiate from each other, or the dynamics of midlife adults. Psychologists also study humans in the womb, especially in the later stages of pregnancy when the fetus appears to be engaged in conscious action.
The study of developmental psychology is critical to understanding how humans mature and to identifying problems with maturation. Developmental psychologists can set basic milestones that can be used to determine whether or not a child is developing normally, for example. Delay in normal development or failing to meet developmental goals by a specific age can be an early sign that a child is experiencing issues that need to be addressed.
Research in this field can also be used to explore developmental differences between different populations and the reasons why some groups appear to develop more rapidly than others. This research can be invaluable when people are deciding how to allocate funding and which social and educational issues need more attention, as this type of psychology has shown that people need solid developmental building blocks to grow into healthy, well-adjusted adults.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
