Main Issues And Themes Of Piaget's Theory Of Child Development

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1. Developmental psychologi sts study development in order to understand human nature through out a life span. They research development in order to better learn abuout the mechanisms that produce human behavior such as: environemental influences, genetic influences and interactions with others. This information is viable for a wide range of people including: scholars, theorists, parents, educators, medical/ mental health professionals and for those who wish to better understand themselves and others. Developmental pyschologists study: physical and psychomotor development (sensory systems, control over body), cognitive development (perception, memory) and socioemotional development (self esteem, personality). These developments can occur either as qualitative
An example of a qualitative development is Piaget 's theory of cognitive development which details how humans develop through stages of understanding the world through their interactions with physical objects. Children younger than 6 months old lack object permanance, they believe that an object no longer exists when it is no longer in sight. However by the age of 8 months, the child understands an objects covered or no longer in sight, still exists. An example of quantitative development includes physical growth over time such as a child 's weight or height.
2. The four main issues and themes of developmental psychology that we discussed in class include: the stability and plasticity of human behavior, continuity vs discontinuity, normative vs ideographic approaches and nature vs nurture. The stability of human nature refers to the idea that things stay constant over time. For the majority of the 20th century, scientists believed that development remained constant over time- so much so that they believed experiences early in life played a critical and irreversible role in

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