EDUC 101

1. Issues in
Developmental
Psychology

2. VISION
A Catholic Ignacian Marian
Institution of diverse culture
that empowers learners toward
service for the common good
thereby contribute to the
transformation of the world.

3. MISSION
NDRVMCC commits itself to:
1. To develop Ignacian Marian leaders who are
witnesses of faith, excellence and
service.
2. Intensify instructions by pursuing
innovative programs that employ relevant
strategies for technological advancement
and stewardship of creation.
3. Enhance linkages and build up resources to
facilitate instruction, research and
community involvement for quality life.

4. There are a number of important issues that have
been debated throughout the history of
developmental psychology. The major questions
include the following:
 Is development due more to genetics or
environment?
 Does development occur slowly or smoothly, or
do so changes happen in stages?
 Do personality traits that are present at
birth remain stable or do they change
throughout the lifespan?

5. Here are some of the
important questions in
developmental psychology,
as well as what many
psychologists believe about
them right now.

6. NATURE VS. NURTURE
• The debate over the relative contributions
of inheritance and the environment usually
referred to as the nature versus nurture
debate is one of the oldest issues in both
philosophy and psychology.
• Today most psychologists believe that it
is an interaction between these two forces
that causes development.

7. NURTURE
 Refers to the environmental experiences.
 John Locke, a philosopher disagree in the idea of
Plato and Descartes because he believed in the
concept of “Tabula Rasa” meaning a belief that
our mind is a blank slate at birth which
experience determining our knowledge.
 Our unique experiences in the environment
influence whether and how our specific
characteristics are expressed.

8. CONTINUITY VS. DISCONTINUITY

9. CONTINUITY VS. DISCONTINUITY
 One of the major issue in developmental
psychology is that of continuity. Does change
occur smoothly over time, or through a series of
predetermined steps?
 Some theories of development argue that changes
are simply a matter of quantity; children
display more of certain skills as they grow
older.
 Other theories outline a series of sequential
stages in which skills emerge at certain points
of development. Most theories of development
fall under three broad areas.

10. CONTINUITY VS. DISCONTINUITY
 Psychoanalytic theories are those influenced by the
work of Sigmund Freud, who believed in the importance
of the unconscious mind and childhood experiences.
Freud's contribution to developmental theory was his
proposal that development occurs through a series of
psychosexual stages.
 Theorist Erik Erikson expanded upon Freud's ideas by
proposing a stage theory of psychosocial development.
Erikson's theory focused on conflicts that arise at
different stages of development and, unlike Freud's
theory, Erikson described development throughout the
lifespan.

11. CONTINUITY VS. DISCONTINUITY

12. CONTINUITY VS. DISCONTINUITY

13. CONTINUITY VS. DISCONTINUITY
 Cognitive theories focus on the
development of mental processes,
skills, and abilities. Examples
of cognitive theories include
Piaget's theory of cognitive
development

14. CONTINUITY VS. DISCONTINUITY
 Cognitive theories focus on the
development of mental processes,
skills, and abilities. Examples of
cognitive theories include
Piaget's theory of cognitive
development

15. STABILITY VS. CHANGE
 Do personality traits that are present at
birth remains stable or do they change
throughout the lifespan?
 In this debate theorists contend that a
person’s personality is stable and
continuous. They believe that the
personality or temperament that a child
has at birth will remain throughout that
child’s development.

16. STABILITY VS. CHANGE
 CHANGE
 Freud was one of the first psychologist to
emphasize the critical nature of our early
experiences for our later development. He believed
that how we resolve our sexual and aggressive
urges is strongly tied to the nature of our
personality as adults.
 Change theorists argue that personalities are
modified by interactions with family, experiences
at school, and acculturation.

17. STABILITY VS. CHANGE
 Developmental psychologists research which
characteristics are most likely to remain stable
and consistent, and which are likely to be more
flexible and subject to change.
 Studies of children have often revealed impressive
stability over time in aspects of development such
as the attachment to their parents or in
personality.
 Some aspects of temperament, such as energy level
and outgoingness, seem relatively stable, whereas
social attitudes are more likely to change.

18. STABILITY VS. CHANGE
 Developmental psychologists research which
characteristics are most likely to remain stable
and consistent, and which are likely to be more
flexible and subject to change.
 Studies of children have often revealed impressive
stability over time in aspects of development such
as the attachment to their parents or in
personality.
 Some aspects of temperament, such as energy level
and outgoingness, seem relatively stable, whereas
social attitudes are more likely to change.

19. STABILITY VS. CHANGE
 Developmental psychologists research which
characteristics are most likely to remain stable
and consistent, and which are likely to be more
flexible and subject to change.
 Studies of children have often revealed impressive
stability over time in aspects of development such
as the attachment to their parents or in
personality.
 Some aspects of temperament, such as energy level
and outgoingness, seem relatively stable, whereas
social attitudes are more likely to change.