Developmental Psychology Course: Lifespan Growth and Human Development | Study Online

• Self-paced, remote learning course | Start anytime | No cut off date.
• Learn about theories and concepts of developmental psychology | Early childhood | Middle childhood | Challenges of adolescence | Stages of development | Adulthood | Ageing | Loss And More.
• 10 lessons + 10 assignments | Written questions | Practical exercises | Self-assessment quizzes.
• Tutor feedback and support online or by phone | Tutors are highly experienced and well-qualified | Decades of experience.
• Professional training to work with children and adults who need support | Study for personal interest.

Lesson Structure

There are 10 lessons in this course:

1. Introduction
   • Theoretical approaches and key concepts
   • Lifelong growth, nature/nurture; theories – psychodynamic, behavioural, social cognitive, cognitive, lifespan;
2. Early childhood
   • cognitive and social development in the first 6 years
   • Genetics, personality, cognition, recognition, memory, social relationships;
3. Middle childhood
   • cognitive, moral and social development in the school years
   • Motor skills, cognitive and language development, relationships with family and peers, moral development;
4. Challenges of middle childhood
   • School and learning, sense of self, achievement, peer pressure, family breakup, grief and trauma
5. Adolescence ... cognitive, moral and social development
   • Cognitive development, moral development, identity, relationships with family and peers;
6. Challenges of adolescence
   • Sexuality, peer groups, identity vs role confusion, trauma, depression, values and meaning;
7. Adulthood - cognitive and psychosocial development in early and middle adulthood
   • Sexuality, parenthood. work and achievement, moral reasoning, gender roles, cultural perspectives, adult thinking;
8. Challenges of adulthood
   • Marriage and divorce, grief, depression, parenting, dealing with change;
9. Late adulthood - cognitive and psychosocial changes in older people
   • Intelligence, learning and age, physiological influences, cognitive abilities, personality changes, relationships;
10. Challenges of late adulthood
    • Loss, mourning, depression and suicide in older people, the ageing brain - dementia etc, integrity vs despair, loss of independence.

What You Will Do

• Learn key theories and concepts in the study of developmental psychology;
• List major ethical concerns when studying development, and one step a researcher can take to reduce each;
• Identify cognitive and social aspects of a small child’s development and some key inherent and external influences;
• Describe the phases of language acquisition in infants, and what can adversely affect it;
• Describe major cognitive, moral and social developments in middle childhood and how they influence behaviour
• Compare short term memory with long term memory in middle childhood, and discuss how this affects the child’s ability to learn;
• Identify common psychological challenges faced by children from ages 6 to puberty;
• Reflect on your own success and failure experiences, and your own sense of competence in middle childhood. Consider how they affected your perceptions of yourself as you matured;
• Identify areas of change that will affect adolescent behaviour and thinking;
• Explain post formal thought, and consider how it can contribute to an adolescent’s ability or willingness to make moral choices;
• Identify challenges common to adolescence, and ways to deal with them;
• Explain individuation. Discuss its importance, and how it can both challenge and complement group identity;
• Identify changes that can occur in early and middle adulthood and influence behaviour;
• Explain K. Warner Schaie’s ‘stages of adult thinking’ and explain why Schaie’s model might be more relevant to understanding adult cognition than Piaget’s cognitive model;
• Identify some key challenges faced in adulthood and ways of coping with them;
• List some changes that are typically associated with ‘midlife crisis’. Discuss both negative and positive aspects of ‘midlife crisis’;
• Identify effects of physiological changes and life experience on the aged person’s cognitive and psychosocial experiences;
• Explain how ‘cognitive plasticity’ can affect an older person’s ability to learn despite brain cell loss;
• Research depression and suicide among older people;
• Research ways that an older person can be made to feel more independent and autonomous. Consider in your response what family members can do to respect the older person’s need for autonomous.

How Do Children Develop Socially?

Experts have often emphasised that  the first years of life being are crucial to later development.

For Bowlby, the first five years were seen as the most influential. For Freud, problems in the first year of life could have repercussions throughout one's life. Recent research has found that some 80% of the brain's neural pathways are formed by the age of three, and 92% by age four. This would suggest early experiences in terms of stimulation, education, and play are extremely important. Most British schools now have a pre-school attached where children from the age of 3 can attend for up to 15 hours per week.  

Whilst some would argue that early difficulties and deficits can be overcome, at least to some degree, it does seem that early experiences play a pivotal role in later development. It is useful to consider some of the ways in which children can be adversely affected by not getting a balance in their lives.

Who is this course suitable for?

This course is intended to be of value to psychology students and others interested in learning about humans and how they develop through their lives. For example:

• Psychotherapists
• Teachers
• Carers
• Counsellors
• Social workers
• Support workers
• Youth workers
• Community workers

Any Questions?

Please click here to contact a tutor or Request a course handbook here.