PSY 2105 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Developmental Psychology, Scientific Method, Social Learning Theory

• School: University of Ottawa
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSY 2105
• Professor: Brenda Baird

Document Summary

The scientific approach to understanding child psychology is little more than 100 years old. Scientific methods have allowed us to be meticulous in our approach so that our conclusions are based on proper evidence. The application of the scientific method to child development is an important contribution by psychologists. This method has elucidated many of the complex processes underlying what may seem to be simple behaviours. Learning objective 1. 1 distinguish child development from other branches of psychology by: explaining the difference between child development and developmental psychology, naming 5 reasons why developmental psychology focuses on childhood years. Identifying the 2 basic goals of developmental research. Child psychology: is the study of behavioural and ability changes occurring during infancy, childhood, and adolescence. Specifically, developmental psychology is the study of changes in behaviour and abilities over the course of development, which may include adulthood and old age.