Development Psychology A global and integrative definition

The Development Psychology It is the psychological discipline that aims to study the change in behavior that takes place in the human being in relation to age, due to the influence of factors related to inheritance, environment and interaction between them.

Content

• Development Psychology: A global and integrative definition
  • Development psychology as a discipline
    • Descriptive studies
    • Explanatory studies
    • Intervention studies
  • Development psychology as a study of "change"
  • Development and behavior
  • Age and evolutionary development
  • Development psychology and hereditary and environmental factors
  • References

Development Psychology: A global and integrative definition

Next, we will develop the definition previously proposed, to specify more its main elements.

Development psychology as a discipline

In the Development Psychology There are different types of studies aimed at covering the basic objectives of the discipline.

• On the one hand, Describe behavior of individuals at each stage of development
• For the other, Identify the causes and processes that produce changes in behavior during life

Besides, the Development Psychology intends to apply the theoretical knowledge that is accumulating. Based on such objectives there are various types of studies:

Descriptive studies

A first type are descriptive, whose purpose is discover and describe the changes that occur in individuals in relation to age. They are normative studies based on the observation or measurement of a certain variable, attribute or psychological characteristic and its representation throughout a temporary parameter.

Explanatory studies

A second type are explanatory studies, which are oriented to Search for cause-effect relationships between different variables o Committed factors in the development process.

In this case, they are not limited to describing the development process, but also try to identify the causes by which such changes occur.

Intervention studies

Finally, there are intervention studies, whose objective is the application of the knowledge acquired for the improvement of the individual. Normally it is preventive intervention studies.

Thus, studies on the early stimulation. Also, on the adequacy of the contents of the curricula to the psychological characteristics of the students; on the effects of certain mother's habits on the child's development, on the improvement of intelligence, etc.

Development psychology as a study of "change"

A second term to be specified is the "change". About the change you can make the following points.

First, the Development Psychology He has been interested in two fundamental aspects of change:

• On the one hand, Study the common and universal aspects of human development. That is, those who experience all people predictably at some time (p.eg., start crawling)
• For the other, The study of individual differences that occur among people (p.eg., the fact that some children gateen and others not)

In the history of discipline there are theoretical orientations that are more interested in universal changes (P.eg., psychoanalysis, ethology). While there are others that are fundamentally advocated by the study of individual differences (P.eg., behaviorism).

Second, development psychology also analyzes both quantitative changes (P.eg., number of words that the child understands), as the qualitative ones (p.eg., changes in the semantic organization of words).

Again there are theoretical perspectives that address qualitative change (P.eg.,. Piagetian theory), while others consider that the object of study must be quantitative changes (P.eg., behaviorism).

Development and behavior

Another term to be delimited is "behavior". With him reference is made to both internal and external behavior. That is, both observable behavior and implicit mental processes.

In short, the Development Psychology He is interested in all the phenomena studied by the various areas of psychology. That is, those encompassed by the term conduct Used in its broadest sense, including muscle movements, motivation, effective aspects, thought, etc.

However, there are some behaviors that do not fall directly within the field of development psychology. Behaviors that show changes consistent with age only in individuals who are subject to specific experiences, or other answers acquired through a directed teaching, differential reinforcement or individual exercise, would not be classified as evolutionary.

Nor are those behaviors that represent dimensions more related to individual differences, and whose Appearance is sporadic or discontinuous, that with evolutionary directional change. It would be the case of variables such as aggression, the search for attention and other.

Age and evolutionary development

Age is not considered by itself as a cause of change, but an indicator status is attributed. In the first descriptive studies of the history of the discipline, the relationship of the behaviors observed with the age was considered so important that when the authors worked with descriptive data of this science, it was enough with the term age to categorize the results as evolutionary.

However, when studies are of an explanatory nature, the importance of age goes to second term. Age is not a "causative" variable, but a dimension throughout which the causative variables act in the sense properly act. In fact, the age variable itself is not an explanatory reason for anything.

Obtaining results dependent on age is only a first stage of evolutionary research. Then you have to deepen, not by correlational but experimental studies, in environmental, organic variables, etc., What are the authentic Evolutionary change engines and determine that behaviors are changing with age.

Development psychology and hereditary and environmental factors

Regarding the last part of the definition, reference was made to the influence on the development of "hereditary, environmental factors and its interaction in development", we must resume ideas related to Inheritance controversy.

While in the beginning of the discipline, innatist exclusive positions were maintained against environmentalists, currently all researchers assume an interactionist position.

So, It is assumed that both behavior and human development are influenced by genetic (inheritance) and environmental factors. Therefore, it is important to know the qualitative contribution of each factor and, above all, the explanatory mechanisms of the interactions between inheritance and environment in the different psychological processes.

References

• Kohlberg, l. (1992). Moral Development Psychology (Vol. 2). Bilbao: Bruwer's Def.
• Maturana, h. R., & Garcia, J. L. (2013). Inheritance and environment. From biology to psychology, 54-59.
• Papalia, d. AND., Olds, s. W., Feldman, r. D., & Lozano, and. W. M. (1998). Development Psychology (Vol. eleven). McGraw-Hill.