[PSYC 2P12] - Midterm Exam Guide - Everything you need to know! (42 pages long)
5 Oct 2016
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Developmental psychology is the scientific study of age-related changes in behaviour, thinking, emotion and personality. Before the scientific study of development, people turned to philosophers for answers about development. Philosophers offered many explanations for differences they observed in people of different ages. Interested if a person was good" or bad". Three ideas about the interaction of internal (e. g. intelligence) and external factors (family environment) were important in human development: original sin, blank slate, tabula rasa, innate goodness. John locke (1632-1704) believed that the mind of a child is a black slate. Humans are not good or bad, they can learn to be anything through experience. Parents can mould a child into whatever they want him/her to be. Human differences are due to environmental circumstances, rather than inborn tendencies. A child is just the product of his/her environment. Philosophy provided only ideas to explain human development. By the 19th century, people wanted better explanations.
