1. Developmental Psychology 428 Dr. Mohsen Lotfy Ahmed dr. Mohsen Lotfy Ahmed 1

2. Introduction Developmental Psychology dr. Mohsen Lotfy Ahmed 2

3. Why Study Life-Span Development?  You can gain insight to your own life as a child, adolescent, and young adult.  You will learn about life through the adult years — middle age, and old age.  You may be a parent or a teacher or doctor some day.  Life-span development is linked with many different areas of psychology. Developmental Psychology dr. Mohsen Lotfy Ahmed 3

4. Development is Studied by a Number of Disciplines  Psychologists  Sociologists  Anthropologists  Neuroscientists  Medical Researchers Developmental Psychology dr. Mohsen Lotfy Ahmed 4

5. Developmental Psychology  Focuses on development across life span – a field of psychology that focuses on development across the life span.  Development More-or-less predictable changes in behavior associated with increasing age Developmental Psychology dr. Mohsen Lotfy Ahmed 5

6. The Nature-Nurture Issue  Involves the debate about whether development is primarily influenced by nature or nurture: Nature: An organism’s biological inheritance. الإرث البيولوجي للكائن. Nurture: An organism’s environmental experiences. الخبرة البيئية للكائن. Developmental Psychology dr. Mohsen Lotfy Ahmed 6

7. Developmental Psychology Nature view dr. Mohsen Lotfy Ahmed 7

8. Developmental Psychology What do they see? Developmental Psychology dr. Mohsen Lotfy Ahmed 8

9. Laws of Development  Human development goes in stages.  There are individual differences in growth rates.  Human development continuous and connected process.  All the individuals going through the same stages of development.  The growth rate varies from one stage to another.  There are specific pathways of human development.  Discontinuities in development are the rule.  Parents make important decisions about raising children that impacts on development. Developmental Psychology dr. Mohsen Lotfy Ahmed 9

10. Factors affecting on development  Heredity: Transmission of genetic traits from parents to children.  Glands: The effect of hormones on the development and functions of the body.  Environment: External influence on development.  Food: Building the body's cells, energy, disease prevention.  Maturation: Biological process of systematic physical growth.  Experience: The big role in development. Developmental Psychology dr. Mohsen Lotfy Ahmed 10