Developmental psychology

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'Developmental psychology', also known as human development, is the scientific study of systematic psychological changes that occur in human beings over the course of the life span. Originally concerned with infants and children, the field has expanded to include adolescence and adult development, aging, and the entire life span. This field examines change across a broad range of topics including motor skills and other psycho-physiological processes; cognitive development involving areas such as problem solving, moral understanding, and conceptual understanding; language acquisition; social, personality, and emotional development; and self-concept and identity formation.

Developmental psychology includes issues such as the extent to which development occurs through the gradual accumulation of knowledge versus stage-like development, or the extent to which children are born with innate mental structures versus learning through experience. Many researchers are interested in the interaction between personal characteristics, the individual's behavior, and environmental factors including social context, and their impact on development; others take a more narrowly focused approach.

Developmental psychology informs several applied fields, including: educational psychology, child psychopathology, and forensic developmental psychology. Developmental psychology complements several other basic research fields in psychology including social psychology, cognitive psychology, ecological psychology, and comparative psychology.

For more information about Developmental psychology, read the full article at Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.


News tagged with development

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Study strengthens link between sirtuins and life extension

Study strengthens link between sirtuins proteins and life extension

Medicine & Health / Research

created 10 hours ago | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- A new paper from MIT biology professor Leonard Guarente strengthens the link between longevity proteins called sirtuins and the lifespan-extending effects of calorie restriction.


Government overseas aid is no bar to individual giving

Other Sciences / Other

created Dec 13, 2009 | popularity 2 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Overseas development charities are highly dependent on donations from individuals. In this new study, researchers from the Universities of Southampton, Oxford and Cass Business School examined how the level of donations to ...


Scientists set their sights on hearing breakthrough for babies

Scientists set their sights on hearing breakthrough for babies

Medicine & Health / Research

created Dec 11, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- The first year to two years of life is a critical time for hearing impaired children and their language development. Whilst young babies with hearing difficulties can now be fitted with cochlear ...


Old math reveals new thinking in children's cognitive development

Biology / Other

created Dec 11, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (5) | comments 0

Five-year-olds can reason about the world from multiple perspectives simultaneously, according to a new theory by researchers in Japan and Australia. Using an established branch of mathematics called Category Theory, the ...


Anti-estrogens may offer protection against lung cancer mortality

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Dec 11, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Anti-estrogens as therapy for breast cancer may also reduce the risk of death from lung cancer, according to study results presented at the CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, held here Dec. 9-13, 2009.


Wind turbines off the coast of Spain

Clean energy to grow into 1.6 trillion euros industry: WWF

Space & Earth / Environment

created Dec 10, 2009 | popularity 3.4 / 5 (8) | comments 1

The clean energy technology sector will grow into a 1.6 trillion-euro (2.4 trillion-dollar) industry by 2020, becoming the third largest industrial sector after automobiles and electronics, WWF said Friday.


Study confirms association between tobacco smoke and behavioral problems in children

Medicine & Health / Health

created Dec 09, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 1

The scientists observed that the impact of tobacco smoke was especially detrimental during gestation. The results of the study have been published in the current online issue of the renowned journal Environmental Health Pe ...


Researchers prove key cancer theory

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Dec 07, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Mayo Clinic researchers have proven the longstanding theory that changes in the number of whole chromosomes -- called aneuploidy -- can cause cancer by eliminating tumor suppressor genes. Their findings, which appear in the ...


Researchers identify gene that spurs deadly brain cancer

Medicine & Health / Genetics

created Dec 03, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) researchers have identified a new factor that is necessary for the development of many forms of medulloblastoma, the most common type of malignant childhood brain cancer.


Hebrew University, US scientists find clue to mystery of biological clock

Scientists find clue to mystery of biological clock

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

created Nov 30, 2009 | popularity 3.5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

How does our biological system know that it is supposed to operate on a 24-hour cycle? Scientists at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have discovered that a tiny molecule holds the clue to the mystery.


Random DNA mix-ups not so random in cancer development

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Dec 03, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Researchers at the UC San Diego School of Medicine have pinpointed a mechanism that may help explain how chromosomal translocations - the supposedly random shuffling of large chunks of DNA that frequently lead to cancer - ...


Livestock lead to better health in developing nations, rising consumption poses challenge

Space & Earth / Environment

created Dec 11, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

In the face of reports about the ills livestock generate for the climate, environment and health, a new study published in the December issue of the journal Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability emphasizes that l ...


New source discovered for the generation of nerve cells in the brain

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

created Dec 01, 2009 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (6) | comments 0

The research group of Professor Magdalena Gotz of Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen and Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat Munich (Germany) has made a significant advance in understanding regeneration processes in the brain. The researchers ...


Samsung unveils new smartphone platform 'bada' to the world

Technology / Software

created Dec 10, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Samsung Electronics today unveils its new smartphone platform, Samsung bada. At this unveiling, Samsung showcases the bada SDK (Software Development Kit) for partners and presents the unique benefits and unprecedented opportunities ...


New international study targets rare cancer bringing hope for advanced thymic cancer patients

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Dec 08, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Dec. 8, 2009 — The Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) and Scottsdale Healthcare are testing a new drug specifically for thymic cancer based on early promising results at Scottsdale Healthcare.