Is Development Psychology based on Science?



Is Development Psychology based on Science?

Introduction

Psychology is vast diverse field of science that is generally concerned with people; their thoughts, behavior and feelings. Development psychology is however more concerned about exploring or investigation the changes and the development of an individual's behavior and their feelings throughout the course of their life. Subsequently, many psychologists tend to lay a greater emphasis on the early years of an individual's life span since the changes undergone by children in their early years tend to have a massive impact on their later development. Hence as quoted by Plato (428-348 B.C), “And the ?rst step, as you know, is always what matters most, particularly when we are dealing with those who are young and tender.” (Sagepub, 2009)

Discussion

The development psychology can be explained as the scientific study of the various age related changes that occur throughout the span of our lives. It recognizes and acknowledges that humans belonging to all the different cultures and societies as individuals who are constantly in the process of evolving, growing and in turn changing. Thus it identifies the biological, social and psychological aspects that interrelate thus influencing the growing human life-span process

Hence it is the study of our mental capabilities such as language, logic and problem solving and how it progresses and moulds as a result of exposure to the external environment as we age. Thus it aims to gauge the human development of emotions, identity, morals and culture. (degree directory, 2012)

Initially, the focus of early development psychologists such as Sigmund Freud and Jean Piaget was confined to child development or maturation however, within the last twenty five years or so, many development psychologists have indeed expanded their area of study, focusing also on the physical, emotional, cognitive, social, intellectual, motor, personality and moral changes which takes place throughout their different stages of life.

When we talk about development, we refer to the development; we usually refer to the patterns of change over time. This typically begins at conception and tends to prolong throughout the span of our life. Consequently, this development tends to take place within the various different domains of our life. Some of these include the biological changes that take place within our physical being, the emotional changes that deals with our emotional understanding and experiences, the social changes in our social relationships and finally the cognitive changes that occur in our thought processes. (Sagepub, 2009)

Many developmental psychologists tend to restrict the idea of development only to changes which as a result, lead to qualitative reorganizations in the structure of a typical set of behavior, ability or skill. For instance, Heinz Werner in one of his studies argued that development is restricted only to modifications and the changes which increase the organization of functioning in a domain. He considered the fact that development is a two staged process, consisting of two fundamental practices: integration and differentiation. (Sagepub, 2009)

According to Werner, integration is the idea that development typically consists of the integration of ...