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A BRIEF LOOK AT DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY
The study of developmental psychology is rich in diversity. The theories within it are constantly being built upon as psychologists strive to understand the intricate design of this psychological perspective. Developmental psychology does not ignore other psychological perspectives, instead it incorporates biological, cognitive, evolutionary and social psychology to name but a few. This is due to the fact that there are many different influences that contribute to human development.
At first, developmental psychology only addressed the changes that occurred during childhood leading some to assume that no further positive change would take place during adulthood. The idea here is that by the time we are adults our personalities, our style of interacting with others and our mental abilities would all be fixed. Later research into development brought forward the idea that change was continual and the opportunity for further development in adult years was not impossible.
One approach that concurs with development in adult years is developmental contextualism. The theory here is that development ‘is affected by the context of a person’s life’ (Challenging Psy. Issues, Lifespan Development, P54), that is, internal influences plus external influences equals human development. This approach was illustrated by Urie Bronfenbrenner in his ‘ecological’ theory of development in which he puts forward the idea that development results from an individual interacting with their own environment. There are any number of influences within our environment, starting in childhood with school and the influence of teachers and classmates. As we mature into adulthood and find employment there is the influence of colleagues and superiors. Within the family itself there is the influence of parents, siblings and other relations. Put all this together and enclose it with the community within the society and culture in which we live and you have an immense number of continual influences within which the individual is embedded.
A reoccurring factor with the environmental influences mentioned above is the idea of vertical and horizontal relationships. The first time that these relationships are encountered is during childhood with the family. They are the horizontal relationship between siblings and the vertical relationship between parent and child. Schaffer (1996) regards both types of relationship important for early development. The child is provided with protection, security and knowledge and is introduced to new skills through the vertical relationship. Observational studies by Abramovitch, Corter, Pepler and Stanthorpe (1986) and Dunn (1988) complement Schaffer’s notes on the horizontal relationship between siblings. They found evidence of sharing, support, negotiation and cooperation. This kind of relationship has the potential of great influence because it is both reciprocal and complementary in nature. Observation of pretend play shows that children are given an opportunity to explore the rules of social interaction by bringing the real world down to their level of understanding (Vygotsky, reported by Damon 1983). Vygotsky argues that children do not act their age during pretend play, they act older. The exploration of different relationships through role playing at this level enables children to acquire social skills that are much more advanced than their actual abilities. Fein (1991) also believes that this is a time for children to ‘explore their sense of self’ to become aware of the similarities and differences between themselves and other people and in doing so find ‘their own unique distinctive identity’ (Challenging Psy. Issues, Lifespan Development, P14). This can sound very persuasive in promoting interaction between young children, unfortunately it neglects to tells us what type of adult this will produce. Another important fact to remember is not to over generalize observations that took place in a particular society using a particular method at that particular time. Cultures are different the world over and we should not use one or two theories as a blueprint of how things are.
Regardless of what the viewpoint is, those researching human development are looking for continuities or at least some connection of how early life experiences influences our behaviour as adults. One theory that does offer some explanation of how early relationships can affect those in later life is the attachment theory. Attachment can be described as ‘relationships that are ongoing and involve emotional bonds’ (Challenging Psy. Issues, Lifespan Development, P22). The idea behind the theory is that the vertical relationships that we have as children, especially that with our caregiver, can have a significant impact on our development into adults. Although it is impossible to say with certainty that a particular experience will lead to a particular type of behaviour, attachment theorists are able to point to likely outcomes. One approach that was used with the attachment theory was a categorical one. Two attachment researchers, Hazan and Shaver, put together a love quiz that appeared in a US newspaper. Through this quiz they wanted to gather data on the different styles of attachment in relationships of a romantic nature. Over 1200 people replied to the quiz. After classifying the respondents into three categories (secure, insecure – anxious avoidant and insecure – anxious ambivalent) they correlated them with other aspects of their relationships. It is interesting to note that one of the highest correlations was ‘the quality of their relationships with their parents’ (Challenging Psy. Issues, Lifespan Development, P25). Another approach is an interview that was developed by Mary Main, which had a predetermined structure. She used the interview to explore how adults described the experiences they had as children with their parents. The interview was recorded and then coded. Mary was much more concerned with how the interviewee talked about experiences rather than what they talked about. From this she points out three basic positions; secure, insecure – dismissing, and insecure – preoccupied. It is interesting to note that not all those who appeared in the ‘secure’ category were there because of a happy childhood. It was recognized that there were some who had experienced difficult childhoods but had managed to accept this as part of life and move on. Here we have an acknowledgment that positive development can occur during adulthood. There are noticeable similarities between Main’s classifications and those produced by Hazan and Shaver (dismissing/avoidant and preoccupied/ambivalent) giving more weight to the attachment theory. This being said, it would be wise to consider that although the findings of the love quiz were significant in confirming the attachment theory, measures made on self-reports may be misleading. It is possible, and indeed likely, that some people may produce answers of how they would like to see themselves rather than the true reflection of how they really are. This may simply be due to the fact that the ideal situation is to feel secure. Attachment theory does seem to suggest this as an idealized goal.
The organismic approach also promotes the idea that there is a goal, or end point, to reach in human development. This idea was influenced early on by Sigmund Freud and more recently by Jean Piaget. Piaget studied the development of intelligence by observing how children adapted to their environment from birth to early teens. He believed that by the age of fifteen intellectual maturity has been achieved and suggests that there is no growth of reasoning during adulthood. Unfortunately Piaget only seems to contradict himself. The very fact that he produced a theory of cognitive development proves that reasoning is being continually tested as new theories are being explored. Someone else who was interested in stage theories was Erik Erikson. By the end of adolescence when Piaget’s children had achieved intelligence, Erikson’s children had achieved identity. Erikson also seemed to see a bigger picture. He promoted the idea of eight stages of psychosocial development, which begins at birth and ends at death, taking us a bit further than Piaget’s theory. Although there are eight stages, it is during the first six that most of the development takes place. By the time a person is forty, stability has set in and all we have to think about is mortality and death. So when that birthday comes along and you’re told that ‘life begins at forty’ you’ll know that it is just a myth to help us get through the twilight years.
It is obvious from all the ideas mentioned above that the study of human development is indeed diverse and it has by no means been concluded. Our intelligence certainly is not determined solely by what we learn in our early years. Reasoning is constantly being challenged as we try to make sense of the world and our place in it. Identity continues to unfold as external influences provide us with new situations. Growth does not stop when we reach adulthood. If it were true that there is no further positive development during adulthood then all relationships at this stage should be horizontal. But are we not right in thinking that within the context of employment there is a vertical relationship with our superiors if indeed the definition of such is ‘a relationship which involves one person who has more knowledge or power than the other’ (Challenging Psy. Issues, Lifespan Development, P8). Contextualism definitely offers a more positive approach to development and it is encouraging to believe that each of us have a free will available to us. If there was no room for growth and change and adults could only ever be the product of their childhood then we take away the hope of a better future for those who had a painful and difficult upbringing. Contextualism gives us that hope and areas of attachment theory have shown that a person can become secure regardless of childhood experiences. It is clear that early influences do have a certain bearing on our adult life but it is clearer that they alone do not determine who we are.
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