1. History of Developmental Psychology
Introduction    
Why study developmental psychology?
What is development?
Human development in historical perspective
Childhood in Medieval Times
Childhood in the Reformation
Philosophies of the Enlightenment
John Locke ( ) and the British Empiricists
John-Jacques Rousseau ( )
Scientific roots of development
Charles Darwin’s ( ) evolutionary theory
G. Stanley Hall’s ( ) recapitulationist theory
Lewis Terman and Arnold Gesell
Mid-20th century theories

2. Development and the Developmental Sciences
What is development?
Development involves the systematic changes that occur in individuals between the moment of conception and the moment of death.
What is the science of development?
Developmental science versus developmental sciences
Interdisciplinary nature of the study of development

3. Child Development in Historical Perspective
Childhood in Medieval Times (6th - 15th centuries)
The view of children
The contradictory nature of childhood
Childhood in the Reformation (16th – century)
The influence of the Puritans
The idea of “original sin”

4. Philosophical roots of human development
John Locke and the British Empiricists
Rejected concept of innate ideas
Mind of infant as a Tabula Rasa
Knowledge gained through experiences
Two important conceptual points
Idea of continuous development
Importance of “nurture”

5. Philosophical roots of human development
John-Jacques Rousseau
Child born with innate ideas and knowledge that unfolds naturally with age
Development proceeds through series of stages guided by inborn timetable
Innate knowledge includes principles of justice, fairness, conscience
Child as a “noble savage”
Important conceptual ideas
Concept of stages
Idea of “maturation”

6. Scientific roots of human development
Charles Darwin
Natural selection
Environment where animal exists places demands on animal
Thus, natural environment “selects” organism for survival
Survival of the fittest
Organisms possessing characteristics that fit the requirements of the environment will survive

7. Scientific roots of human development
G. Stanley Hall
Adopted at “nature” viewpoint, translating Darwinian principles into human development
Proposed the Recapitulationist theory, in which life cycle changes are a repetition of evolutionary changes
Students of Hall
Lewis Terman
Arnold Gesell