DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY Presented by: Ayesha Athar (168) Huda Khan (169) Aneeza Arshad (170) Hina Shaheen (171) Hafsa Khan (172) Presented to: Ma’am Anum

DEFINITION  Developmental psychology is the scientific study of progressive psychological changes that occur in human beings as they age.  It is the scientific study of how and why human beings change over the course of their life i.e from conception till death.  This branch of psychology attempts to explain the development of humans overtime along with a focus on the psychological characteristics of different age groups.  It refers to the study of how humans develop,both as individuals and in terms of society as a whole.

OBJECTIVES Some major objectives of developmental psychologist:  1) To find out what are the common and characteristic age changes in appearance, in behaviour, in interests, and in goals from one development period to another.  2) To find out when these changes occur.  3) To find out what causes them.  4) To find out how they influence behaviour.  5) To find out whether they can or cannot be predicted.  6) To find out whether they are individual or universal. continued

OBJECTIVES  Developmental psychologists aim to explain how thinking, feeling, and behaviors change throughout life. This field examines change across three major dimensions: 1. physical development 2. cognitive development 3. socioemotional development

PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT  Physical development is the process that starts in human infancy and continues into late adolescent concentrating on gross and fine motor skills as well as puberty.  Physical development involves developing control over the body, particularly muscles and physical coordination. The peak of physical development happens in childhood and is therefore a crucial time for neurological brain development and body coordination to encourage specific activities such as grasping, writing, crawling, and walking.  As a child learns what their bodies can do, they gain self confidence, promoting social and emotional development.

COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT  Cognitive development refers to how a person perceives, thinks, and gains understanding of his or her world through the interaction of genetic and learned factors.  Among the areas of cognitive development are information processing, intelligence, reasoning, language development, and memory.  JEAN PIAGET in his theory of cognitive development described four stages of development: 1. Sensorimotor stage (infancy) 2. Pre-operational stage (toddlerhood and early childhood) 3. Concrete operational stage (elementary and early adolescence) 4. Formal operational stage (adolescence and adulthood)

SOCIOEMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT  Social-emotional development includes the child’s experience, expression, and management of emotions and the ability to establish positive and rewarding relationships with others. It encompasses both intra- and interpersonal processes.  The core features of emotional development include the ability to identify and understand one’s own feelings, to accurately read and comprehend emotional states in others, to manage strong emotions and their expression in a constructive manner, to regulate one’s own behavior, to develop empathy for others, and to establish and maintain relationships.

Goals of developmental psychology  Developmental psychologists study the changes that occur as development proceeds. They examine both the changes themselves, and what causes them. Thus, developmental psychology has two main goals: 1. The first is to describe the behavior at each point in the person's development— such as determining the age that babies begin to walk, the social skills of four year olds, and so forth. 2. The second is to identify the causal factors involved in producing changes in behavior— such as the importance of genetic or biological factors, the role of various experiences, and the influence of peers, parents, and others.

ROLE OF DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGIST  Developmental psychologists study human growth and development over the lifespan, including physical, cognitive, social, intellectual, perceptual, personality and emotional growth.  Developmental psychologists working in colleges and universities tend to focus primarily on research or teaching.  Others working in more applied settings like health care facilities or clinics help to assess, evaluate and treat people living with developmental disabilities.  Developmental psychologists may also work in assisted living homes for the elderly, hospitals, mental health clinics and centers for the homeless

DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGIST MAY WORK AS: CHILD CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST  Clinical psychologist may specialize in a particular age group, such as children and known as child clinical psychologist. Child clinical psychologist seek to help people with psychological problems. They work in variety of settings, including college and universities, clinics, medical college and private practice. Some only conduct psychotherapy, other do psychological assessment and psychotherapy and some also do research.

DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGIST MAY WORK AS: COUNSELING PSYCHOLOGIST:  They work in the same setting as clinical phsychologist and may do psychotherapy, teach or conduct research. A counseling psychologist might specialize in working with children, adolescents and families.

DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGIST MAY WORK AS: SCHOOL COUNSELOR  They help to identify students abilities and interests, guide students in developing academic plans, and explore career options with students.  They may help students cope with adjustment problems.  They often consult with parents, teachers and school administrators when trying to help students with their problems.

DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGIST MAY WORK AS: DRUG COUNSELOR  Drug counselor provides counseling to children and adults with drug abuse problems. They may work on an individual basics with a substance abuser or conduct group therapy sessions.

DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGIST MAY WORK AS: HEALTH CARE  Developmental psychologist also work in more applied settings lke health care facilities or clinics help to assess, evaluate and treat people living with developmental disabilities.

DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGIST MAY WORK AS: SHELTER HOMES  Developmental psychologist may also work in more in assisted living homes for the elderly, hospitals, mental health clinics and centers for the homeless.

OTHER DUTIES OF DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGISTS Developmental psychologist perform the following duties as well:  1) Marriage and family therapist.  2) Toy designer.  3) Infant assessement specialist.  4) Child care director.  5) Activity planner for special children.  6) Assist in park designing.  7) Director of old aged institute.

CONCLUSION  It's important to note that the processes you've been shown are only a few of the many processes that humans learn on the path to maturity. Not only are they amazing on their own, but they can all occur at the same time. So, while children are learning language, they learn gender, morality; they are affected by attachment and society. Human minds are incredible from birth, and somehow become even more so by the time they are fully developed.