1. Dev. Psy.

2. Why Study Developmental Psychology? : Choosing Social Policies
Knowledge of child development permits informed decisions about social-policy questions that affect children
For example, psychological research on children’s responses to leading interview questions can help courts obtain more accurate testimonies from preschool children

3. Historical Foundations: Plato vs. Aristotle
Plato emphasized self-control and discipline
Aristotle was concerned with fitting child rearing to the needs of the individual child
Plato believed that children are born with innate knowledge
Aristotle believed that knowledge comes from experience

4. Themes in Developmental Psychology
Nature and Nurture
The Active Child
Continuity/Discontinuity
Mechanisms of Developmental Change
The Sociocultural Context
Individual Differences
Research and Children’s Welfare

5. Basic Questions about Child Development
How do nature and nurture together shape development?
How do children shape their own development?
In what ways is development continuous, and in what ways is it discontinuous?
How does change occur?
How does the sociocultural context influence development?
How do children become so different from each other?
How can research promote children’s well-being?

6. How can research promote a child’s well-being?
Child-development research yields practical benefits in diagnosing children’s problems and in helping children to overcome them
A child-development research method known as preferential looking has enabled the diagnosis of the effects of cataracts in infants as young as two months of age
The principle of successive approximation has been used to develop training programs to foster speech comprehension among young children with specific language impairments

7. Key Theories in Developmental Psychology
Cognitive-Developmental Theories
Piaget, Information-processing theories
Psychodynamic Theories
Freud, Erikson
Behaviourist Theories
Watson
Social Cognitive Learning Theories
Bandura