Lecture
Topic 1. Subject and tasks of developmental psychology
1. Subject of developmental psychology.
2. Tasks of developmental psychology.
3. Structure of developmental psychology and its relation to other sciences.
4. Methods of developmental psychology.
5. Problems of the psychology of age-related development.
Developmental psychology – a branch of psychological science
concerned with studying the general laws of development throughout
a person's ontogeny, from birth to old age, and with establishing
age periods and the causes of the transition from one period to another.
The subject matter of developmental psychology – development. Development,
in the broad sense of the word, is understood as change over time.
Temporal distance. Depending on the length of the temporal
distance, four kinds of change are distinguished:
1) phylogeny;
2) anthropogenesis;
3) ontogeny;
4) microgenesis.
Types of change:
1. quantitative, qualitative
2. evolutionary; revolutionary
3. progress; regress
Psychic development – irreversible, directional, lawful changes in a person's psyche.
In terms of content, quantitative and qualitative characteristics are distinguished in psychic development.
Quantitative characteristics: rate of development (normal, accelerated, delayed)
Qualitative characteristics: a change in the structure of the relationship between different psychic functions, expressed in the existence of sensitive periods.
Factors of development:
The prerequisites for psychic development – biological features
of the organism.
The source of psychic development – the social environment.
The driving forces of development – the emergence and resolution
of contradictions.
Among developmental processes, two kinds are distinguished:
a) age-related development – the development of types of activity, relationships with others, the formation of a new level of reflection of reality, and of attitude toward oneself;
b) functional development – occurs in the acquisition of knowledge, skills and habits; it is the development of individual psychic processes and functions.
Age – a qualitatively distinct period of physical,
psychological and behavioral development, characterized by features
unique to it.
Norms of development are distinguished:
average-statistical;
sociocultural;
individual-personal;
combined
The mechanisms of development – a concept describing the concrete processes
of transformation of the object of development (V.I. Slobodchikov).
Examples of studied mechanisms:
internalization – as the appropriation of forms of social relations
(L.S. Vygotsky);
imitation of another's forms of behavior;
reflection as a mechanism of «splitting», of fixing a given form
of behavior as one's own (V.I. Slobodchikov).
Psychology describes the following regularities of psychic
development:
1. Unevenness;
2. Heterochrony;
3. Instability of development;
4. Sensitivity of development;
5. Cumulativeness of development;
6. Divergence-convergence of the course of development.
Areas of development:
1) Psychophysical – includes the external and internal changes of the human body;
2) Psychosocial – involves changes in the emotional and personal spheres.
3) Cognitive – includes all aspects of cognitive development.
Developmental psychology, like any other science, sets itself
a number of tasks, and by solving them it develops as a science.
One of the main theoretical tasks of developmental psychology
is the task of creating a true theoretical model of development.
Important applied tasks include the following:
building systems for diagnosing psychic development;
building systems for correcting psychic development;
solving the tasks of preventing possible disturbances in
the process of psychic development.
The scientific tasks of developmental psychology can be defined as
follows:
1. Description of development.
2. Explanation of development.
3. Prediction of development.
Developmental psychology, as an independent field of knowledge, has its own
structure. The structure of developmental psychology:
the psychology of the prenatal period,
child psychology,
adult psychology,
gerontopsychology.
The most developed branch of developmental psychology is
child psychology. Each of the structural branches has its own
important significance for the development of developmental psychology as a scientific and
practical discipline.
Developmental psychology occupies a definite place in the system
of general scientific knowledge. It is interconnected with a number of other sciences:
1. with non-psychological disciplines:
philosophy,
methodology,
engineering and mathematics,
general systems theory;
biology, genetics, developmental physiology,
ethology
cultural anthropology and ethnology,
sociology and the social disciplines;
2. with psychological disciplines:
general psychology,
educational psychology,
the psychology of personality,
clinical psychology,
social psychology,
psychodiagnostics.
The main research methods used within developmental psychology:
observation,
experiment,
Observation is carried out through the direct perception of the object under study and the direct recording of its specific properties.
Observation can be used as an independent method, but it is usually organically incorporated into other research methods, such as conversation, the study of products of activity, various types
of experiment, etc.
Types of observation:
1. internal (self-observation) / external observation,
2. unsystematic and systematic observation,
3. «continuous» and selective observation,
4. direct or indirect observation,
5. participant and non-participant observation
6. structured and unstructured observation
Specifics of using observation within developmental psychology.
The intervals at which children should be observed depend on their age:
from birth to 2–3 months, observation should preferably be conducted
daily;
from 2–3 months to 1 year – weekly;
in early childhood (from 1 to 3 years) – monthly;
at preschool age – once every six months;
at primary-school age – once a year.
An experiment presupposes the possibility of the researcher's active intervention in the subject's activity in order to create conditions that clearly reveal a psychological fact. In research work with children, the experiment is one of the main and most reliable
methods of obtaining reliable information.
The main types of experiment:
1. laboratory,
2. natural.
The main forms of conducting an experiment:
1. ascertaining,
2. formative.
Specifics of using the experiment within developmental psychology.
Placing the child in an experimental situation connected with the leading activity makes it possible to obtain the child's direct reactions to the stimuli applied and, on the basis of these reactions, to judge what is not manifested in the child's behavior during observation and what he is unable to verbalize when questioned.
Additional research methods.
The following are also used as additional methods:
testing,
survey,
comparative methods:
the twin method
the cross-cultural method
the comparison of norm and pathology
Testing, as a standardized method of psychological
research intended for precise quantitative and definite
qualitative assessments of a person's psychology and behavior, is also used
in developmental psychology alongside other methods.
Specifics of using tests within developmental psychology.
When using various tests in work with children, it is necessary
to take into account the child's interests and needs. For the psychodiagnostics of children,
tests specially adapted for working with children
of a certain age, similar to adult tests, are usually used.
A survey is a method of collecting data about psychological phenomena in the process
of the psychologist's communication with the subject.
The main types of survey:
1. written (questionnaire),
2. oral (interview).
Form of conducting the survey:
1. individual,
2. group
Specifics of using surveys when working with children.
When using this research method, difficulties can arise
related to the fact that the child does not always correctly understand
the questions addressed to him. This is because the system of concepts used by
children differs significantly from the one used by adults. When
surveying children, it is recommended first of all to make sure that
the child understands everything correctly, and only then to interpret and
discuss his answers.
Comparative methods
The twin method – studies the role of heredity, environment and
upbringing in a child's psychic development.
The comparison of norm and pathology – a comparison of the psychic development of
physically healthy children and children with certain deviations.
The cross-cultural method – involves comparing and identifying
the features of the psychic development of the rising generation in
different cultures.
The scientific method is used in conducting any study. Its
implementation includes 4 stages:
1) Formulating the research problem.
2) Formulating hypotheses about the phenomenon under study
3) Testing the hypothesis, which includes: a) data collection; b) statistical
processing of the data; c) substantive interpretation of the data.
4) Formulating conclusions.
In developmental psychology, three main strategies are distinguished
for conducting research aimed at studying changes occurring over
time:
1. The longitudinal method (longitudinal design)
2. The cross-sectional method.
3. The combined method.
In accordance with the subject areas of research in
developmental psychology, its key problem issues can be identified:
1. The problem of the biological and environmental conditioning of
human psychic development.
2. The influence of spontaneous and organized learning on the upbringing and
development of children.
3. The relationship between innate predispositions and abilities.
4. Determining what has a greater influence on development – evolutionary,
revolutionary, or situational changes.
5. The relationship between intellectual and personal changes in the overall
psychological development of the child.
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