Developmental psychology

217 Pages·2008·1.952 MB·English

by  Carol Brown

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Developmental
Psychology
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SSAAGGEE CCOOUURRSSEE CCOOMMPPAANNIIOONNSS
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Developmental
Psychology
Carol Brown

Los Angeles • London • New Delhi • Singapore
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© Carol Brown 2008
First published 2008
Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research
or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted
under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, this
publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in
any form, or by any means, only with the prior
permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of
reprographic reproduction, in accordance with the terms
of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency.
Enquiries concerning reproduction outside those terms
should be sent to the publishers.
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Library of Congress Control Number: 2007929488

British Library Cataloguing in Publication data
A catalogue record for this book is available from
the British Library
ISBN 978-1-4129-3465-7
ISBN 978-1-4129-3466-4 (pbk)
Typeset by C&M Digitals (P) Ltd., Chennai, India
Printed in India at Replika Press Pvt Ltd
Printed on paper from sustainable resources
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To Matt whom I will always love
and
for Paul and Tim, the two most special sons who have really taught me
about developmental psychology. I love you both.
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contents
Introduction: Why use this course companion
to developmental psychology? 1
Part One The Basics of Developmental Psychology 5
1.1 Definition 6
1.2 Developmental psychology and related disciplines/theories 6
1.3 History of developmental psychology 8
1.4 Founding figures and their core ideas 9
1.5 Thinking like a developmental psychologist 10
1.6 Learning outcomes and assessment 13
1.7 Running themes 15
Part Two Course Companion to the Curriculum 19
2.1 Research methods in developmental psychology 20
2.2 Perceptual development 38
2.3 Cognitive development 46
2.4 Language development 57
2.5 Physical/motor development 65
2.6 Biological/hereditary influences on development 73
2.7 Social influences on development 83
2.8 Development of self and identity 93

2.9 Gender development 101
2.10 Emotional development, deprivation and enrichment 108
Part Three Study, Writing and Revision Skills 121
(in collaboration with David McIlroy)
3.1 Introduction 122
3.2 How to get the most out of your lectures 123
3.3 How to make the most of seminars 128
3.4 Essay-writing tips 133
3.5 Revision hints and tips 143
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viii DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY
3.6 Exam tips 153
3.7 Tips on interpreting essay and exam questions 163
3.8 Summary 173
Glossary 175
References 202
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introduction
Why use this course companion to developmental psychology?
This book is designed to help you succeed on your degree level psychol-
ogy course. The aim is to provide you with a course companion that
gives you a short cut to understanding the basics behind developmen-
tal psychology. It is about helping you gain the most from your degree
level course, passing your examinations in psychology and helping you
to achieve success in your assignments.
It has been designed and written to provide you, the reader, with an
easy-to-navigate guide to the commonly taught curriculum in develop-
mental psychology, and the ways of thinking and writing that your
examiners will be looking for when they start to grade your work.
This companion is not to be used instead of a textbook or wider read-
ing, but rather as a means of memorising content and familiarising
yourself with the basics of the discipline when preparing for an exami-
nation or planning an assessed essay. The book will help you to struc-
ture and organise your thoughts, and will enable you to get the most
from your textbooks and the other reading that you will do as part of
your course. This companion is designed to point you in the direction
of key thinkers and key ideas, and to give you the briefest of introduc-
tions to their work and how to put their work in context. It will point
you in the direction of the most important readings and thinkers, and
will encourage you to widen your reading and research so as to improve

your attainment.
The guide therefore provides you with ways of applying the informa-
tion you are familiar with in a practical manner and is aimed at ensur-
ing you gain the skills necessary to convey your theoretical/academic
material successfully.
As you are still relatively new to the study of psychology you may
assume that simply learning the material presented in lectures secures
high achievement, but actually the learning and rewriting of informa-
tion will not in fact gain you top marks. Instead you need to go beyond
simply understanding the material and think critically about the