📘 Notes
Subject: DEVP (DAY 1)
Name: Sunny B Regala
Class: 4 Y1-5
● Definition of Human Development
It’s the scientific study of how people change and stay the same over time.
● Life-Span Perspective
Human development is a lifelong journey—from the moment we’re in the womb until old age. Growth can be
positive (like learning new things) or negative (like getting sick).
● Goals of Studying Human Development
1. Describe what's normal at different ages
2. Explain why or how development happens or is delayed
3. Predict future outcomes, like if a kid might struggle later
4. Intervene when needed to improve someone's development
● Three Main Domains of Development
1. Physical – Changes in body, brain, motor skills, health
2. Cognitive – Thinking, memory, language, learning
3. Psychosocial – Emotions, personality, social life
● Periods of the Life Span
Life is split into 8 parts, and each one has its own needs and goals:
1. Prenatal – before birth
2. Infancy & Toddlerhood – 0 to 3 years
3. Early Childhood – 3 to 6
4. Middle Childhood – 6 to 11
5. Adolescence – 11 to around 20
6. Emerging/Young Adulthood – 20 to 40
7. Middle Adulthood – 40 to 65
8. Late Adulthood – 65+
● Note: These stages are a social construct, meaning society made these categories to help describe life
stages.
● Factors that Influence Development
1. Nature vs. Nurture
■ Heredity (Nature): Traits we’re born with, like eye color or genetic health conditions
■ Environment (Nurture): Things we learn or experience, like parenting or culture
■ Maturation: Natural unfolding of growth (e.g., puberty)
2. Context of Development
■ Family: Nuclear (parents + kids) vs. extended (with grandparents, aunts, etc.)
■ Socioeconomic Status (SES): Money, education, job status—can affect chances in life
■ Culture & Ethnicity: Shared beliefs or customs passed down through generations
■ Historical Context: Big events in time (like pandemics or wars) that shape how people
grow up
3. Normative vs. Nonnormative Influences
■ Normative: Happen to most people (e.g., starting school at 6)
■ Nonnormative: Unusual experiences (e.g., losing a parent young or being a teen parent)
● Normative vs. Nonnormative Influences
○ Normative age-graded: Common experiences based on age (e.g., starting school around 6)
○ Normative history-graded: Shared experiences by a generation (e.g., growing up during COVID)
○ Nonnormative: Unusual, personal events that change someone’s life path (e.g., losing a parent
young or moving countries unexpectedly)
● Timing of Influences
○ Critical Period: A short window when certain experiences have a huge impact (e.g., baby birds
imprinting on the first thing they see)
○ Sensitive Period: Longer timeframe when someone is especially open to learning or developing
(e.g., learning language easily as a toddler)
○ Plasticity: Our ability to change and adapt, even later in life
● Baltes’ Life-Span Development Principles
○ Development is lifelong – All stages of life matter
○ Multidimensional – A mix of bio, psych, and social growth
○ Multidirectional – Growth and decline can happen at the same time
○ Gain & Loss – Learning new things but possibly losing others (e.g., gaining wisdom but losing
speed)
○ Resource Allocation – How people use energy or time for growth, recovery, or coping
○ Plasticity – Skills can be improved with effort and practice
○ Influenced by History & Culture – Development depends on the time and place you live
● What is a Theory?
○ A theory is a set of connected ideas that explain something and can be tested
○ Theories help researchers make guesses (hypotheses) and guide further study
○ Good theories:
■ Spark more research
■ Can be proven right or wrong (falsifiable)
■ Help organize facts
■ Are simple but clear (parsimonious)
■ Offer useful insights for real-world problems
● Basic Developmental Issues/Debates
○ Active vs. Reactive
■ Mechanistic model: People react to things like machines (Locke's view)
■ Organismic model: People grow from within and control their own development
(Rousseau's view)
○ Continuous vs. Discontinuous
■ Continuous: Change happens gradually (e.g., growing taller)
■ Discontinuous: Happens in stages or big leaps (e.g., learning to talk suddenly)
■ Quantitative: More of something (height, vocab size)
■ Qualitative: A totally new skill or structure (like abstract thinking)
○ Stable vs. Changeable
■ Stable: Traits from early life stay the same
■ Changing: People can grow and change from experiences
● Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory
○ 3 Levels of the Mind:
■ Conscious: What you’re aware of
■ Preconscious: Info just below the surface
■ Unconscious: Deep desires, fears, memories that affect behavior
■ Repression: Pushing away painful memories
■ Phylogenetic Endowment: Inherited memories from ancestors (e.g., fear of
snakes)
○ 3 Parts of Personality:
■ Id: Wants instant pleasure (like a toddler grabbing candy)
■ Ego: Balances what’s real and what the id wants (like a mediator)
■ Superego: Moral compass — what’s right and wrong
■ Conscience: Punishes for bad behavior
■ Ego-ideal: Rewards for doing good
○ Anxiety: A warning signal from the ego when there’s conflict between the id and superego
Freud's Types of Anxiety
● Reality Anxiety: Fear of real-world danger (e.g., getting hurt)
● Neurotic Anxiety: Fear that your instincts (id) might be punished if expressed
● Moral Anxiety: Feeling guilty when you break moral or societal rules
Defense Mechanisms
Ways our ego protects us from anxiety. They’re automatic and mostly unconscious:
● Repression: Pushing painful memories deep down
● Denial: Refusing to accept something unpleasant
● Projection: Blaming others for your own feelings (e.g., accusing someone of being angry when you are)
● Reaction Formation: Acting the opposite of what you actually feel
● Regression: Going back to childish behaviors (e.g., throwing a tantrum)
● Rationalization: Making excuses to avoid feeling bad
● Identification: Copying someone to feel better about yourself
● Displacement: Taking your anger out on something else (e.g., slamming a door)
● Sublimation: Redirecting bad urges into something good (e.g., channeling aggression into sports)
Freud’s Psychosexual Stages of Development (OAPhLaGe)
Development centers on different body parts at each stage:
1. Oral (0–1 yr): Mouth is main focus (sucking, biting); can become overly dependent or sarcastic
2. Anal (1–3 yrs): Focus on control (toilet training); can lead to being super neat or super messy
3. Phallic (4–6 yrs): Focus on genitals; Oedipus/Electra complex develops
4. Latency (6–12 yrs): Sexual energy is quiet; focus shifts to learning & making friends
5. Genital (12+): Mature sexual interest develops, relationships become more serious
Erikson’s Concept of Ego
● Body Ego: How we see our physical self
● Ego Ideal: The version of ourselves we aim to be
● Ego Identity: Who we believe we are in our roles (e.g., student, friend)
Key Concepts in Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory
● Development follows the epigenetic principle (natural unfolding of stages)
● Each stage has a conflict between two forces (ex: trust vs. mistrust)
● Solving each stage gives us a basic strength (like hope or will)
● Failing to resolve a stage leads to core pathologies (like doubt or confusion)
● Identity is shaped by past, present, and expected future experiences
● Identity crisis is normal, especially during adolescence
Erikson’s Psychosocial Stages (Infancy to Adolescence)
1. Infancy (0–1 yr): Trust vs. Mistrust
○ Builds sense of trust with caregivers
○ Basic Strength: Hope
○ Core Pathology: Withdrawal
2. Early Childhood (2–3 yrs): Autonomy vs. Shame/Doubt
○ Learning to be independent (e.g., potty training, choosing clothes)
○ Strength: Will | Pathology: Compulsion
3. Play Age (3–5 yrs): Initiative vs. Guilt
○ Tries out roles and ideas through play
○ Strength: Purpose | Pathology: Inhibition
4. School Age (6–12 yrs): Industry vs. Inferiority
○ Learns skills, compares self to others
○ Strength: Competence | Pathology: Inertia
5. Adolescence (12–18 yrs): Identity vs. Role Confusion
○ Tries to find “Who am I?”
○ May face confusion, low self-esteem, and pressure
○ Strength: Fidelity (faith in your beliefs)
○ Pathology: Role-repudiation (rejecting social roles)
■ Includes diffidence (lack of confidence) or defiance (rebellion)
Erikson’s Last 3 Stages
6. Young Adulthood (18–30): Intimacy vs. Isolation
○ Building close relationships without losing your identity
○ Strength: Love | Pathology: Exclusivity
7. Adulthood (31–60): Generativity vs. Stagnation
○ Contributing to the next generation or feeling stuck
○ Strength: Care | Pathology: Rejection
8. Old Age (60+): Integrity vs. Despair
○ Reflecting on life with satisfaction or regret
○ Strength: Wisdom | Pathology: Disdain
Learning Perspective (Behaviorism)
● Focuses on observable behavior, not thoughts.
○ Mind = blank slate (tabula rasa)
○ Learning happens through experience and conditioning
Pavlov – Classical Conditioning
● Learning by association
○ NS (Neutral Stimulus) → no reaction
○ UCS (Unconditioned Stimulus) → triggers UCR (Unconditioned Response)
○ NS + UCS repeatedly = CS (Conditioned Stimulus) → CR (Conditioned Response)
Example: Bell (NS) + Food (UCS) = Salivation (CR)
Skinner – Operant Conditioning
● Learning by consequences (rewards/punishments)
Reinforcement = increases behavior
● Positive: Add reward (e.g., praise)
● Negative: Remove something bad (e.g., pain relief)
Punishment = decreases behavior
● Add negative or remove something positive
● Can lead to fear, resentment, or temporary change
Reinforcement Schedules:
1. Fixed-ratio: Reward every set # of times (e.g., FR5 = every 5 responses)
2. Variable-ratio: Reward after an average # of times (e.g., slot machines)
3. Fixed-interval: After a fixed time (e.g., salary every 15 days)
4. Variable-interval: After unpredictable time (e.g., random boss check-ins)
Extinction: Learned behavior fades when reinforcement stops
Bandura – Social Cognitive Theory
● Observational Learning: We learn by watching others
○ Modeling = copying behaviors
○ Depends on: the model, the observer, and consequences
● Enactive Learning: Learning through the results of your own actions
● Triadic Reciprocal Causation: Behavior is shaped by interaction between:
○ Person (mind), Environment, and Behavior
● Human Agency: We have control over our own development
Self-Efficacy:
Belief in your ability to succeed
● 4 Sources:
1. Mastery Experiences (past success)
2. Social Modeling (seeing others succeed)
3. Social Persuasion (encouragement)
4. Physical/Emotional State (low stress = higher confidence)
Proxy Agency: Relying on others (e.g., tutors, parents)
Collective Efficacy: Believing in the group's ability (e.g., teamwork)
Cognitive Perspective
Piaget’s Cognitive-Stage Theory
● Kids learn through interaction with their environment
● Growth happens through:
1. Organization: Grouping info
2. Adaptation: Fitting in new info
■ Assimilation: Fitting into what you already know
■ Accommodation: Changing your thinking
3. Equilibration: Finding mental balance
4 Stages of Cognitive Development
1. Sensorimotor (0–2): Learning through senses; object permanence
2. Pre-operational (2–7): Uses language; imagination; still egocentric
3. Concrete Operational (7–11): Understands logic & conservation; less egocentric
4. Formal Operational (11+): Abstract and logical thinking develops
Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory
● Learning happens through interaction with others
● Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD): What kids can do with help
● Scaffolding: Temporary help that’s removed once the child learns
Information-Processing Approach
● Compares the mind to a computer
○ Brain = hardware, thinking = software
○ Info comes in (input), is processed, and behavior comes out (output)
● Uses microgenetic methods to observe how kids learn over short periods
Notes (Summarized Details)
Bronfenbrenner’s Bioecological Theory
Development is influenced by systems around the child, like layers of an onion:
● Microsystem: Immediate environment (family, friends, school) — direct contact
● Mesosystem: How microsystems interact (e.g., parent-teacher relationships)
● Exosystem: Settings that affect the child indirectly (e.g., parent’s job)
● Macrosystem: Culture, customs, laws, and values
● Chronosystem: Time-based influences (e.g., life transitions, historical events)
Evolutionary/Sociobiological Perspective
Darwin’s Theory of Natural Selection
● “Survival of the fittest”
● Organisms compete for resources
● Traits that help survival are passed down (heritable)
Ethological Theory
● Focuses on biological and evolutionary reasons behind behavior
● Highlights critical/sensitive periods where certain behaviors are most likely to develop
Konrad Lorenz:
● Studied geese and imprinting (baby animals attach to the first thing they see)
John Bowlby:
● Applied this to humans: secure attachment = healthy development
● 3 stages of separation anxiety:
1. Protest
2. Despair
3. Detachment
Research Methods in Developmental Psychology
Quantitative Research
● Deals with numbers and objective data
● Follows the scientific method:
1. Identify a problem
2. Form hypothesis
3. Collect data
4. Analyze data
5. Conclude
6. Share results
Qualitative Research
● Focuses on why and how behavior happens (more descriptive)
Sampling
● Sample = smaller group representing the population
● Can be chosen through random selection (equal chance for everyone)
Methods of Data Collection
● Self-report: Diaries, interviews, questionnaires
● Naturalistic Observation: Observing in real settings, no interference
● Laboratory Observation: Observing in a controlled environment
● Behavioral/Performance Tests: Measures skills, abilities, or reactions
Basic Research Designs
● Case Study: In-depth study of one person
● Ethnographic Study: In-depth study of a group or culture
● Correlational Study: Checks for relationships between variables (not cause-and-effect)
● Experiment: Manipulates variables to find causes (lab or field)
Research Time Spans
● Cross-sectional: Study different ages at one time
● Longitudinal: Study the same person/group over time
● Sequential: Combines both (studies different groups across time)
Ethical Research Principles
1. Informed Consent: Participants must be fully informed
2. Confidentiality: Personal data must be private and secure
3. Debriefing: After the study, participants should know its purpose
4. Deception: Must not harm participants, and should be explained afterward
3 Core Ethical Principles:
● Beneficence: Maximize benefits, minimize harm
● Respect: Treat participants with dignity; protect the vulnerable
● Justice: Fair treatment and inclusion of diverse groups
