Developmental psychology

For the journal, see Developmental Psychology (journal). lutionary description of psychological development;[3]
Child psychology redirects here. For the Black Box prominent here was the pioneering psychologist G. StanRecorder song, see Child Psychology (song).
ley Hall,[3] who attempted to correlate ages of childhood
with previous ages of mankind. James Mark Baldwin
who wrote essays on topics that included Imitation: A
Developmental psychology is the scientic study of
changes that occur in human beings over the course of Chapter in the Natural History of Consciousness and Mental Development in the Child and the Race: Methods and
their life. Originally concerned with infants and children,
involved in the theory
the eld has expanded to include adolescence, adult de- Processes. Baldwin was heavily
[3]
of
developmental
psychology.
Sigmund
Freud, whose
velopment, aging, and the entire lifespan. This eld exconcepts
were
developmental,
had
a
signicant
impact
amines change across a broad range of topics includ[3]
on
public
perceptions.
ing motor skills and other psycho-physiological processes;
cognitive development involving areas such as problem
solving, moral understanding, and conceptual understanding; language acquisition; social, personality, and 2 Theories
emotional development; and self-concept and identity
formation. One inuential developmental psychologists
was Erik Erikson.[1] Another famous developmental psy- 2.1 Attachment theory
chologist was Sigmund Freud, who studied psychosexual
Main article: Attachment theory
development.[2]
Developmental psychology examines issues such as development through gradual accumulation of knowledge
versus stage-like development, and the extent to which
children are born with innate mental structures, as opposed to learning through experience. Many researchers
are interested in the interaction between personal characteristics, the individuals behavior, and environmental
factors including social context, and their impact on development.

Attachment theory, originally developed by John Bowlby,

focuses on the importance of open, intimate, emotionally meaningful relationships. Attachment is described
as a biological system or powerful survival impulse that
evolved to ensure the survival of the infant. A child who
is threatened or stressed will move toward caregivers who
create a sense of physical, emotional and psychological
safety for the individual. Attachment feeds on body contact and familiarity. Later Mary Ainsworth developed the
Developmental psychology informs several applied elds,
Strange Situation protocol and the concept of the secure
including: educational psychology, child psychopatholbase.
ogy, and forensic developmental psychology. Devel[4]
seopmental psychology complements several other basic There are four types of attachment styles:
[5]
and
research elds in psychology including social psychol- cure, anxious-avoidant, anxious-resistant,
[4]
Secure attachment is a healthy atogy, cognitive psychology, ecological psychology, and disorganized.
tachment between the infant and the caregiver. It is
comparative psychology.
characterized by trust. Anxious-avoidant is an insecure
attachment between an infant and a caregiver. This is
characterized by the infants indierence toward the
1 Historical antecedents
caregiver. Anxious-resistant is an insecure attachment
between the infant and the caregiver characterized by
John B. Watson and Jean-Jacques Rousseau are typi- distress from the infant when separated and anger when
cally cited as providing the foundations for modern de- reunited.[5] Disorganized is an attachment style without
velopmental psychology.[3] In the mid-18th century Jean a consistent pattern of responses upon return of the
Jacques Rousseau described three stages of childhood: parent.[4]
infans (infancy), puer (childhood) and adolescence in A child can be hindered in its natural tendency to form
Emile: Or, On Education. Rousseaus ideas were taken attachments. Some babies are raised without the stimup strongly by educators at the time.
ulation and attention of a regular caregiver, or locked
In the late 19th century, psychologists familiar with the away under conditions of abuse or extreme neglect. The
evolutionary theory of Darwin began seeking an evo- possible short-term eects of this deprivation are anger,
1

despair, detachment, and temporary delay in intellectual

development. Long-term eects include increased aggression, clinging behavior, detachment, psychosomatic
disorders, and an increased risk of depression as an
adult.[6][7][8][9][10]
Attachment style can impact the relationships of people.
Attachment is established in early childhood and attachment continues in adulthood. An example of secure attachment continuing in adulthood would be when the person feels condent and is able to meet their own needs.
An example of anxious attachment during adulthood is
when the adult chooses a partner with anxious-avoidant
attachment.[11]

2.2

Constructivism

Main article: Constructivism (psychological school)

Constructivism is a paradigm in psychology that characterizes learning as a process of actively constructing
knowledge. Individuals create meaning for themselves
or make sense of new information by selecting, organizing, and integrating information with other knowledge,
often in the content of social interactions. Constructivism
can occur in two ways: individual and social. Individual constructivism is when a person constructs knowledge through cognitive processes of their own experiences rather than by memorizing facts provided by others. Social constructivism is when individuals construct
knowledge through an interaction between the knowledge
they bring to a situation and social or cultural exchanges
within that content.[12]
Jean Piaget, a Swiss developmental psychologist, proposed that learning is an active process because children learn through experience and make mistakes and
solve problems. Piaget proposed that learning should
be whole by helping students understand that meaning is
constructed.[13]

2.3

Ecological systems theory

Main article: Ecological systems theory

Ecological systems theory, originally formulated by Urie
Bronfenbrenner, species four types of nested environmental systems, with bi-directional inuences within and
between the systems. The four systems are microsystem,
mesosystem, exosystem, and macrosystem. Each system
contains roles, norms and rules that can powerfully shape
development. Microsystem is the direct environment in
our lives such as our home and school. Mesosystem is
how relationships connect to the microsystem. Exosystem is a larger social system where the child plays no role.
Macrosystem refers to the cultural values, customs and
laws of society.[14]

THEORIES

The microsystem is the immediate environment surrounding and inuencing the individual (example: school
or the home setting). The mesosystem is the combination
of two microsystems and how they inuence each other
(example: sibling relationships at home vs. peer relationships at school). The exosystem is the interaction among
two or more settings that are indirectly linked (example:
a fathers job requiring more overtime ends up inuencing his daughters performance in school because he can
no longer help with her homework). The macrosystem is
broader taking into account social economic status, culture, beliefs, customs and morals (example: a child from
a wealthier family sees a peer from a less wealthy family as inferior for that reason). Lastly, the chronosystem
refers to the chronological nature of life events and how
they interact and change the individual and their circumstances through transition (example: a mother losing her
own mother to illness and no longer having that support
in her life).[12]
Since its publication in 1979, Bronfenbrenners major
statement of this theory, The Ecology of Human Development [15] has had widespread inuence on the way psychologists and others approach the study of human beings
and their environments. As a result of this conceptualization of development, these environmentsfrom the family to economic and political structureshave come to be
viewed as part of the life course from childhood through
to adulthood.[16]

2.4 Psychosexual development

Main article: Psychosexual development
Sigmund Freud believed that we all had a conscious, preconscious, and unconscious level. In the conscious we are
aware of our mental process. The preconscious involves
information that, though not currently in our thoughts,
can be brought into consciousness. Lastly, the unconscious includes mental processes we are unaware of.
He believed there is tension between the conscious and
unconscious, because the conscious tries to hold back
what the unconscious tries to express. To explain this
he developed three personality structures: the id, ego,
and superego. The id, the most primitive of the three,
functions according to the pleasure principle: seek pleasure and avoid pain.[17] The superego plays the critical
and moralizing role; and the ego is the organized, realistic part that mediates between the desires of the id and
the superego.[18]
Based on this, he proposed ve universal stages of development, that each are characterized by the erogenous
zone that is the source of the childs psychosexual energy.
The rst is the oral stage, which occurs from birth to 12
months of age. During the oral stage the libido is centered in a babys mouth. The baby is able to suck. The
second is the anal stage, from one to three years of age.

2.7

Stages based on the model of hierarchical complexity

During the anal stage, the child defecates from the anus.
The third is the phallic stage, which occurs from three to
ve years of age (most of a persons personality forms by
this age). During the phallic stage, the child is aware of
their sexual organs. The fourth is the latency stage, which
occurs from age ve until puberty. During the latency
stage, the childs sexual interests are repressed. Stage
ve is the genital stage, which takes place from puberty
until adulthood. During the genital stage, puberty starts
happening.[19]

sus identity diusion, which occurs during adolescence.

Stage six is intimacy versus isolation which occurs during young adulthood. Stage seven is generativity versus
self-absorption which occurs during adulthood. Lastly,
stage eight is integrity versus despair, which occurs in old
age.[17]

2.5

Erik Erikson proposed his stages of psychosocial development to discuss the psychological development of the
human lifespan. Sigmund Freuds stages of development
focused on psychosexual development, while Eriksons
theory focused on psychosocial development. Eriksons
theory claimed that humans develop throughout their
lifespan and consists of eight stages: Trust vs. Mistrust,
Autonomy vs. Shame & Doubt, Initiative vs. Guilt, Industry vs. Inferiority, Identity vs. Role Confusion, Intimacy vs. Isolation, Generativity vs. Stagnation, and Integrity vs. Despair.[24]

Stages of moral development

Main article: Lawrence Kohlbergs stages of moral

development
Piaget claimed that logic and morality develop through
constructive stages.[20] Expanding on Piagets work,
Lawrence Kohlberg determined that the process of moral
development was principally concerned with justice, and
that it continued throughout the individuals lifetime.[21]
He suggested three levels of moral reasoning; preconventional moral reasoning, conventional moral reasoning,
and postconventional moral reasoning. Preconventional
moral reasoning is typical of children and is characterized by reasoning that is based on rewards and punishments associated with dierent courses of action. Conventional moral reason occurs during late childhood and
early adolescence and is characterized by reasoning based
on rules and conventions of society. Lastly, postconventional moral reasoning is a stage during which the individual sees societys rules and conventions as relative and
subjective, rather than as authoritative.[5]

Each stage builds upon the successful completion of earlier stages. The challenges of stages not successfully completed may be expected to reappear as problems in the
future. However, mastery of a stage is not required to
advance to the next stage.[23]

2.7 Stages based on the model of hierarchical complexity

Main article: Model of hierarchical complexity

Main article: Eriksons stages of psychosocial development

Michael Commons enhanced and simplied of Inhelder

and Piagets developmental and oers a standard method
of examining the universal pattern of development. The
Model of Hierarchical Complexity (MHC) is not based
on the assessment of domain specic information, It divides the Order of Hierarchical Complexity of tasks to
be address from the Stage performance on those tasks.
Stage is the order hierarchical complexity of the tasks
the participants successfully addresses. He expanded Piagets original eight stage (counting the half stages) to
fteen stages. The stages are : 0 Calculatory; 1 Sensory & Motor; 2 Circular sensory-motor; 3 Sensorymotor; 4 Nominal; 5 Sentential; 6 Preoperational; 7 Primary; 8 Concrete; 9 Abstract; 10 Formal; 11 Systematic; 12 Metasystematic; 13 Paradigmatic; 14 Crossparadigmatic; 15 Meta-Cross-paradigmatic. The order
of hierarchical complexity of tasks predicts how dicult
the performance is with a R ranging from 0.9 to 0.98.

Erik Erikson reinterpreted Freuds psychosexual stages

by incorporating the social aspects of it. He came up
with eight stages, each of which has two crisis (a positive and a negative). Stage one is trust versus mistrust,
which occurs during infancy. Stage two is autonomy versus shame and doubt, which occurs during early childhood. Stage three is initiative versus guilt, which occurs
during play age. Stage four is industry versus inferiority,
which occurs during school age. Stage ve is identity ver-

In the MHC, there are three main axioms for an order

to meet in order for the higher order task to coordinate
the next lower order task. Axioms are rules that are followed to determine how the MHC orders actions to form
a hierarchy. These axioms are: a) dened in terms of
tasks at the next lower order of hierarchical complexity
task action; b) dened as the higher order task action that
organizes two or more less complex actions; that is, the
more complex action species the way in which the less
complex actions combine; c) dened as the lower order

Kohlberg used the Heinz Dilemma to apply to his stages

of moral development. The Heinz Dilemma involves
Heinzs wife dying from cancer and Heinz having the
dilemma to save his wife by stealing a drug to save
his wife. Preconventional morality, conventional morality, ans postconventional morality applies to Heinzs
situation.[22]

2.6

Stages of psychosocial development

task actions have to be carried out non - arbitrarily.

2.8

Theories of cognitive development

Main article: Piagets theory of cognitive development

MECHANISMS OF DEVELOPMENT

3 Nature and nurture

Main article: Nature and nurture
A signicant issue in developmental psychology is the
relationship between innateness and environmental inuence in regard to any particular aspect of development. This is often referred to as "nature and nurture"
or nativism versus empiricism. A nativist account of development would argue that the processes in question are
innate, that is, they are specied by the organisms genes.

Jean Piaget, a Swiss theorist, posited that children learn

by actively constructing knowledge through hands-on
experience.[25] He suggested that the adults role in helping the child learn was to provide appropriate materials that the child can interact with and use to construct.
An empiricist perspective would argue that those proHe used Socratic questioning to get children to reect on
cesses are acquired in interaction with the environment.
what they were doing, and he tried to get them to see conToday developmental psychologists rarely take such potradictions in their explanations.
larised positions with regard to most aspects of developPiaget believed that intellectual development takes place ment; rather they investigate, among many other things,
through a series of stages, which he described in his the- the relationship between innate and environmental inuory on cognitive development. Each stage consists of ences. One of the ways this relationship has been exsteps the child must master before moving to the next plored in recent years is through the emerging eld of
step. He believed that these stages are not separate from evolutionary developmental psychology.
one another, but rather that each stage builds on the preOne area where this innateness debate has been promivious one in a continuous learning process. He proposed
nently portrayed is in research on language acquisition.
four stages: sensorimotor, pre-operational, concrete operA major question in this area is whether or not certain
ational, and formal operational. Though he did not beproperties of human language are specied genetically or
lieve these stages occurred at any given age, many studcan be acquired through learning. The empiricist position
ies have determined when these cognitive abilities should
on the issue of language acquisition suggests that the lantake place.[12]
guage input provides the necessary information required
for learning the structure of language and that infants acquire language through a process of statistical learning.
2.9 Zone of proximal development
From this perspective, language can be acquired via general learning methods that also apply to other aspects of
Main article: Zone of proximal development
development, such as perceptual learning.
Lev Vygotsky was a Russian theorist from the Soviet era,
who posited that children learn through hands-on experience and social interactions with members of his/her
culture.[26] Unlike Piaget, he claimed that timely and sensitive intervention by adults when a child is on the edge of
learning a new task (called the zone of proximal development) could help children learn new tasks. This adult
role is often referred to as the skilled master, whereas
the child is considered the learning apprentice through an
educational process often termed cognitive apprenticeship. Martin Hill stated that The world of reality does
not apply to the mind of a child. This technique is called
scaolding, because it builds upon knowledge children
already have with new knowledge that adults can help the
child learn.[27] Vygotsky was strongly focused on the role
of culture in determining the childs pattern of development, arguing that development moves from the social
level to the individual level.[27] In other words, Vygotsky
claimed that psychology should focus on the progress of
human consciousness through the relationship of an individual and their environment.[28] He felt that if scholars
continued to disregard this connection, then this disregard would inhibit the full comprehension of the human
consciousness.[28]

The nativist position argues that the input from language

is too impoverished for infants and children to acquire the
structure of language. Linguist Noam Chomsky asserts
that, evidenced by the lack of sucient information in the
language input, there is a universal grammar that applies
to all human languages and is pre-specied. This has led
to the idea that there is a special cognitive module suited
for learning language, often called the language acquisition device. Chomskys critique of the behaviorist model
of language acquisition is regarded by many as a key turning point in the decline in the prominence of the theory
of behaviorism generally.[29] But Skinners conception of
Verbal Behavior has not died, perhaps in part because
it has generated successful practical applications.[29]

4 Mechanisms of development
Developmental psychology is concerned not only with
describing the characteristics of psychological change
over time, but also seeks to explain the principles and
internal workings underlying these changes. Psychologists have attempted to better understand these factors
by using models. Developmental models are sometimes

5.2

Social and emotional development

computational, but they do not need to be.

evolutionarily-specied and content-specic information

A model must simply account for the means by which processing mechanisms.
a process takes place. This is sometimes done in reference to changes in the brain that may correspond to
changes in behavior over the course of the development. 5.2 Social and emotional development
Computational accounts of development often use either
symbolic, connectionist (neural network), or dynamical Main article: Social psychology
systems models to explain the mechanisms of development.
Developmental psychologists who are interested in social
development examine how individuals develop social and
emotional competencies. For example, they study how
children form friendships, how they understand and deal
5 Research areas
with emotions, and how identity develops. Research in
this area may involve study of the relationship between
cognition or cognitive development and social behavior.
5.1 Cognitive development
Emotional regulation or ER refers to an individuals abilMain articles: Cognitive development, Theory of ity to modulate emotional responses across a variety of
cognitive development and Neo-Piagetian theories of contexts. In young children, this modulation is in part
cognitive development
controlled externally, by parents and other authority gures. As children develop, they take on more and more
Cognitive development is primarily concerned with the responsibility for their internal state. Studies have shown
ways that infants and children acquire, develop, and use that the development of ER is aected by the emotional
internal mental capabilities such as: problem solving, regulation children observe in parents and caretakers, the
of parmemory, and language. Major topics in cognitive devel- emotional climate in the home, and the reaction
[32]
ents
and
caretakers
to
the
childs
emotions.
opment are the study of language acquisition and the development of perceptual and motor skills. Piaget was one
of the inuential early psychologists to study the development of cognitive abilities. His theory suggests that de- 5.3 Physical development
velopment proceeds through a set of stages from infancy
Physical development concerns the physical maturation
to adulthood and that there is an end point or goal.
of an individuals body until it reaches the adult stature.
Other accounts, such as that of Lev Vygotsky, have sug- Although physical growth is a highly regular process, all
gested that development does not progress through stages, children dier tremendously in the timing of their growth
but rather that the developmental process that begins at spurts.[33] Studies are being done to analyze how the difbirth and continues until death is too complex for such ferences in these timings aect and are related to other
structure and nality. Rather, from this viewpoint, de- variables of developmental psychology such as informavelopmental processes proceed more continuously. Thus, tion processing speed. Traditional measures of physidevelopment should be analyzed, instead of treated as a cal maturity using x-rays are less in practice nowadays,
product to obtain.
compared to simple measurements of body parts such as
K. Warner Schaie has expanded the study of cognitive de- height, weight, head circumference, and arm span.[33]
velopment into adulthood. Rather than being stable from A few other studies and practices with physical developadolescence, Schaie sees adults as progressing in the ap- mental psychology are the phonological abilities of maplication of their cognitive abilities.[30]
ture 5- to 11-year-olds, and the controversial hypotheModern cognitive development has integrated the considerations of cognitive psychology and the psychology
of individual dierences into the interpretation and modeling of development.[31] Specically, the neo-Piagetian
theories of cognitive development showed that the successive levels or stages of cognitive development are associated with increasing processing eciency and working
memory capacity. These increases explain dierences
between stages, progression to higher stages, and individual dierences of children who are the same-age and
of the same grade-level. However, other theories have
moved away from Piagetian stage theories, and are inuenced by accounts of domain-specic information processing, which posit that development is guided by innate

ses of left-handers being maturationally delayed compared to right-handers. A study by Eaton, Chippereld,
Ritchot, and Kostiuk in 1996 found in three dierent
samples that there was no dierence between right- and
left-handers.[33]

5.4 Memory development

Researchers interested in memory development look at
the way our memory develops from childhood and onward. According to Fuzzy-trace theory, we have two separate memory processes: verbatim and gist. These two
traces begin to develop at dierent times as well as at a

6 RESEARCH METHODS AND DESIGNS

dierent pace. Children as young as 4 years-old have verbatim memory, memory for surface information, which
increases up to early adulthood, at which point it begins
to decline. On the other hand, our capacity for gist memory, memory for semantic information, increases up to
early adulthood, at which point it is consistent through
old age. Furthermore, our reliance on gist memory traces
in reasoning increases as we age.[34]

6
6.1

Research methods and designs

Main research methods

mental scientists because it provides a controlled situation and conclusions to be drawn about cause-and-eect
relationships.[38]

6.2 Research designs

Most developmental studies, regardless of whether
they employ the experimental, correlational, or case
study method, can also be constructed using research
designs.[36] Research designs are logical frameworks used
to make key comparisons within research studies such as:
cross-sectional design
longitudinal design

Developmental psychology employs many of the research

methods used in other areas of psychology. However, infants and children cannot be tested in the same
ways as adults, so dierent methods are often used to
study their development. Developmental psychologists
have a number of methods to study changes in individuals over time. Common research methods include
systematic observation, including naturalistic observation or structured observation; self-reports, which could
be clinical interviews or structured interviews; clinical
or case study method; and ethnography or participant
observation.[35]:3135 These methods dier in the extent of
control researchers impose on study conditions, and how
they construct ideas about which variables to study.[36]
Every developmental investigation can be characterized
in terms of whether its underlying strategy involves the
experimental, correlational, or case study approach.[37][38]
The experimental method involves actual manipulation
of various treatments, circumstances, or events to which
the participant or subject is exposed;[38] the experimental design points to cause-and-eect relationships.[39] This
method allows for strong inferences to be made of causal
relationships between the manipulation of one or more
independent variables and subsequent behavior, as measured by the dependent variable.[38] The advantage of using this research method is that it permits determination
of cause-and-eect relationships among variables.[39] On
the other hand, the limitation is that data obtained in an
articial environment may lack generalizability.[39] The
correlational method explores the relationship between
two or more events by gathering information about these
variables without researcher intervention.[38][39] The advantage of using a correlational design is that it estimates
the strength and direction of relationships among variables in the natural environment;[39] however, the limitation is that it does not permit determination of cause-andeect relationships among variables.[39] The case study
approach allows investigations to obtain an in-depth understanding of an individual participant by collecting data
based on interviews, structured questionnaires, observations, and test scores.[39] Each of these methods have its
strengths and weaknesses but the experimental method
when appropriate is the preferred method of develop-

sequential design
microgenetic design
In a longitudinal study, a researcher observes many individuals born at or around the same time (a cohort) and
carries out new observations as members of the cohort
age. This method can be used to draw conclusions about
which types of development are universal (or normative)
and occur in most members of a cohort. As an example
a longitudinal study of early literacy development examined in detail the early literacy experiences of one child
in each of 30 families.[40]
Researchers may also observe ways that development
varies between individuals, and hypothesize about the
causes of variation in their data. Longitudinal studies often require large amounts of time and funding, making
them unfeasible in some situations. Also, because members of a cohort all experience historical events unique
to their generation, apparently normative developmental
trends may in fact be universal only to their cohort.[35]:40
In a cross-sectional study, a researcher observes dierences between individuals of dierent ages at the same
time. This generally requires less resources than the longitudinal method, and because the individuals come from
dierent cohorts, shared historical events are not so much
of a confounding factor. By the same token, however,
cross-sectional research may not be the most eective
way to study dierences between participants, as these
dierences may result not from their dierent ages but
from their exposure to dierent historical events.[35]:41
A third study design, the sequential design, combines
both methodologies. Here, a researcher observes members of dierent birth cohorts at the same time, and then
tracks all participants over time, charting changes in the
groups. While much more resource-intensive, the format aids in a clearer distinction between what changes
can be attributed to individual or historical environment
from those that are truly universal.[35]:42
Because every method has some weaknesses, developmental psychologists rarely rely on one study or even one

7.2

Infancy

method to reach conclusions by nding consistent evi- ment of auditory perception.[43] Pre-natal development
dence from as many converging sources as possible.[38]
and birth complications may also be connected to neurodevelopmental disorders, for example in schizophrenia.
With the advent of cognitive neuroscience, embryology
7 Life stages of psychological de- and the neuroscience of pre-natal development is of increasing interest to developmental psychology research.

velopment

See also: Child development stages

7.1

Pre-natal development

See also: Pre-natal development and Pre- and perinatal

psychology

Several environmental agentsteratogenscan cause

damage during the prenatal period. These include prescription and nonprescription drugs, illegal drugs, tobacco, alcohol, environmental pollutants, infectious disease agents such as the rubella virus and the toxoplasmosis
bacterium, maternal malnutrition, maternal emotional
stress, and Rh factor blood incompatibility between
mother and child.[35]:102115

7.2 Infancy
Pre-natal development is of interest to psychologists investigating the context of early psychological development. The whole prenatal development involves three
main stages: germinal stage, embryonic stage and fetal
stage. Germinal stage begins at conception until 2 weeks;
embryonic stage means the development from 2 weeks
to 8 weeks; fetal stage represents 9 weeks until birth
of the baby.[41] The senses develop in the womb itself:
a fetus can both see and hear by the second trimester
(13 to 24 weeks of age). Sense of touch develops in
the embryonic stage (5 to 8 weeks).[35]:97 Most of the
brains billions of neurons also are developed by the second trimester.[35]:100 Babies are hence born with some
odor, taste and sound preferences, largely related to the
mothers environment.[35]:101
Some primitive reexes too arise before birth and are still
present in newborns. One hypothesis is that these reexes
are vestigial and have limited use in early human life.
Piagets theory of cognitive development suggested that
some early reexes are building blocks for infant sensorimotor development. For example the tonic neck reex
may help development by bringing objects into the infants eld of view.[42]

Main articles: Infant and child psychology and Infant

cognitive development
From birth until the rst year, the child is referred to as
an infant.[35] Developmental psychologists vary widely in
their assessment of infant psychology, and the inuence
the outside world has upon it, but certain aspects are relatively clear.
The majority of a newborn infants time is spent in sleep.
At rst this sleep is evenly spread throughout the day and
night, but after a couple of months, infants generally become diurnal.
Infants can be seen to have six states, grouped into pairs:
quiet sleep and active sleep (dreaming, when REM
sleep occurs)
quiet waking, and active waking
fussing and crying

Infant Perception: Infant perception is what a newborn

Other reexes, such as the walking reex appear to be can see, hear, smell, taste, and touch. These ve features
replaced by more sophisticated voluntary control later in are better known as ones ve senses.[44] Infants respond
infancy. This may be because the infant gains too much to stimuli dierently in these dierent states.[43]
weight after birth to be strong enough to use the reex, or
because the reex and subsequent development are func Vision is signicantly worse in infants than in older
tionally dierent.[43] It has also been suggested that some
children. Infant sight tends to be blurry in early
reexes (for example the moro and walking reexes) are
stages but improves over time. Color perception
predominantly adaptations to life in the womb with litsimilar to that seen in adults has been demonstrated
tle connection to early infant development.[42] Primitive
in infants as young as four months, using habituation
reexes reappear in adults under certain conditions, such
methods.[42] Infants get to adult-like vision in about
as neurological conditions like dementia or traumatic lesix months.[35]:191
sions.
Ultrasound has shown that infants are capable of a range
of movements in the womb, many of which appear to
be more than simple reexes.[43] By the time they are
born, infants can recognize and have a preference for
their mothers voice suggesting some pre-natal develop-

Hearing is well-developed prior to birth, unlike vision. Newborns prefer complex sounds to pure
tones, human speech to other sounds, mothers voice
to other voices, and the native language to other languages. Scientist believe these features are probably

7 LIFE STAGES OF PSYCHOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT

learned in the womb.[35]:151 Infants are fairly good
at detecting the direction a sound comes from, and
by 18 months their hearing ability is approximately
equal an adults.
Smell and taste are present, with infants showing
dierent expressions of disgust or pleasure when
presented with pleasant odors (honey, milk, etc.)
or unpleasant odors (rotten egg) and tastes (e.g.
sour taste). Newborns are born with odor and taste
preferences acquired in the womb from the smell
and taste of amniotic uid, in turn inuenced by
what the mother eats. Both breast- and bottle-fed
babies around 3 days old prefer the smell of human milk to that of formula, indicating an innate
preference.[35]:150 There is good evidence for older
infants preferring the smell of their mother to that
of others.[42]
Touch and feel is one of the better-developed senses
at birth considering its one of the rst senses to
develop inside the womb.[45] This is evidenced by
the primitive reexes described above, and the relatively advanced development of the somatosensory
cortex.[46]

Special methods are used in the psychological study of infants.

months after observing infants failure before this age to

look for an object where it was last seen. Instead infants
continue to look for an object where it was rst seen,
committing the "A-not-B error. Some researchers have
suggested that before the age of eight to nine months, infants inability to understand object permanence extends
to people, which explains why infants at this age do not
cry when their mothers are gone (Out of sight, out of
mind).

Recent Finding in Infant Cognition In the 1980s and

Pain: Infants feel pain similarly, if not more strongly 1990s, researchers have developed many new methods
than older children but pain-relief in infants has not of assessing infants understanding of the world with far
received so much attention as an area of research.[47] more precision and subtlety than Piaget was able to do in
his time. Since then, many studies based on these methods suggest that young infants understand far more about
Language: Babies are born with the ability to discrimthe world than rst thought.
inate virtually all sounds of all human languages.[35]:189
Infants of around six months can dierentiate between Based on recent ndings, some researchers (such as
phonemes in their own language, but not between similar Elizabeth Spelke and Renee Baillargeon) have proposed
phonemes in another language. At this stage infants also that an understanding of object permanence is not learned
at all, but rather comprises part of the innate cognitive castart to babble, producing phonemes.
pacities of our species.
Infant Cognition: The Piagetian Era An early theory of infant development was the Sensorimotor stage of Other research has suggested that young infants in their
Piaget's Theory of cognitive development. Piaget sug- rst six months of life may possess an understanding of
gested that an infants perception and understanding of numerous aspects of the world around them, including:
the world depended on their motor development, which - an early numerical cognition, that is, an ability to reprewas required for the infant to link visual, tactile and mo- sent number and even compute the outcomes of addition
tor representations of objects. According to this view, it and subtraction operations;[49]
is through touching and handling objects that infants develop object permanence, the understanding that objects - an ability to infer the goals of people in their
[50]
are solid, permanent, and continue to exist when out of environment;
sight.[43]
- an ability to engage in simple causal reasoning.[51]
Piagets Sensorimotor Stage comprised six sub-stages
(see sensorimotor stages for more detail). In the early
stages, development arises out of movements caused by 7.3 Toddlerhood
primitive reexes.[48] Discovery of new behaviors results
from classical and operant conditioning, and the forma- Main article: Toddler
tion of habits.[48] From eight months the infant is able to
uncover a hidden object but will persevere when the ob- Infants shift between ages of one and two to a developject is moved.
mental stage known as toddlerhood. In this stage, an inPiaget came to his conclusion that infants lacked a com- fants transition into toddlerhood is highlighted through
plete understanding of object permanence before 18 self-awareness, developing maturity in language use, and

7.5

Adolescence

presence of memory and imagination.

Children go through the transition from the world at home

During toddlerhood, babies begin learning how to walk, to that of school and peers. Children learn to make things,
talk, and make decisions for themselves. An important use tools, and acquire the skills to be a worker and a pocharacteristic of this age period is the development of lan- tential provider. Children can now receive feedback from
guage, where children are learning how to communicate outsiders about their accomplishments.
and express their emotions and desires through the use If children can discover pleasure in their activities, inof vocal sounds, babbling, and eventually words.[52] Self- cluding their intellectual stimulation, most importantly in
control also begins to develop. At this age, children take learning reading, writing, and basic math, they will deinitiative to explore, experiment, and learn from mak- velop a sense of competence. If they are not successful or
ing mistakes. Caretakers who encourage toddlers to try cannot discover pleasure in the process, they may develop
new things and test their limits, help the child become a sense of inferiority and feelings of inadequacy that may
autonomous, self-reliant, and condent.[53] If the care- haunt them throughout life. This is when children think
taker is overprotective or disapproving of independent ac- of themselves as industrious or as inferior.
tions, the toddler may begin to doubt their abilities and
feel ashamed of the desire for independence. The childs
autonomic development is inhibited, leaving them less 7.5 Adolescence
prepared to deal with the world in the future. Toddlers
also begin to identify themselves in gender roles, acting Main article: Adolescent psychology
according to their perception of what a man or woman
should do.[54]
Adolescence is the period of life between the onset of puSocially, the period of toddlerhood is commonly called
the terrible twos.[55] Toddlers often use their new-found
language abilities to voice their desires, but are often misunderstood by parents due to their language skills just beginning to develop. A person at this stage testing their independence is another reason behind the stages infamous
label. Tantrums in a t of frustration are also common.

7.4

Early childhood

berty and the full commitment to an adult social role, such

as worker, parent, and/or citizen. It is the period known
for the formation of personal and social identity (see
Erik Erikson) and the discovery of moral purpose (see
William Damon). Intelligence is demonstrated through
the logical use of symbols related to abstract concepts and
formal reasoning. A return to egocentric thought often
occurs early in the period. Only 35% develop the capacity to reason formally during adolescence or adulthood.
(Huitt, W. and Hummel, J. January 1998)[57]
It is divided into three parts namely:

Also called pre-school age, exploratory age and toy

age.
When children attend preschool, they broaden their social
horizons and become more engaged with those around
them. Impulses are channeled into fantasies, which leaves
the task of the caretaker to balance eagerness for pursuing adventure, creativity and self-expression with the
development of responsibility. If caretakers are properly encouraging and consistently disciplinary, children
are more likely to develop positive self-esteem while becoming more responsible, and will follow through on assigned activities.

1. Early Adolescence: 9 to 13 years (preteen),

2. Mid Adolescence: 13 to 15 years and
3. Late Adolescence: 15 to 18 years

The adolescent unconsciously explores questions such as

Who am I? Who do I want to be?" Like toddlers, adolescents must explore, test limits, become autonomous, and
commit to an identity, or sense of self. Dierent roles,
behaviors and ideologies must be tried out to select an
identity. Role confusion and inability to choose vocation
As children grow their past experiences will shape who can result from a failure to achieve a sense of identity
they are, allow them to perceive the world in their own through, for example, friends.
way. It helps a person go through everyday life.[56] If
not allowed to decide which activities to perform, children may begin to feel guilt upon contemplating taking 7.6 Early adulthood
initiative. This negative association with independence
will lead them to let others make decisions in place of Main article: Young adult (psychology)
them.
During a childs preschool and beginning school years,
intelligence is demonstrated through logical and systematic manipulation of symbols related to concrete objects.
Operational thinking develops, which means actions are
reversible, and egocentric thought diminishes.

Early adulthood, according to theorists such as Erik Erikson, is a stage where development is mainly focused on
maintaining relationships.[58] Examples include creating
bond of intimacy, sustaining friendships, and ultimately
making a family. Some theorists state that development

10

of intimacy skills rely on the resolution of previous developmental stages. A sense of identity gained in the previous stages is also necessary for intimacy to develop. If
this skill is not learned the alternative is alienation, isolation, a fear of commitment, and the inability to depend
on others.

PARENTING

to a weakened immune system . Programs aimed at balance, muscle strength, and mobility have been shown to
reduce disability among mildly (but not more severely)
disabled elderly.[62]

Sexual expression depends in large part upon the emotional and physical health of the individual. Many older
A related framework for studying this part of the life adults continue to be sexually active and satised with
span is that of emerging adulthood. Scholars of emerg- their sexual activity.[63]
ing adulthood, such as Jerey Arnett, are not necessar- Mental disintegration may also occur, leading to dementia
ily interested in relationship development. Instead, this or ailments such as Alzheimers disease. It is generconcept suggests that people transition after their teenage ally believed that crystallized intelligence increases up to
years into a period not characterized as relationship build- old age, while uid intelligence decreases with age.[64]
ing and an overall sense of constancy with life, but with Whether or not normal intelligence increases or decreases
years of living with parents, phases of self-discovery, and with age depends on the measure and study. Longitudinal
experimentation.[59]
studies show that speed declines . Some cross-sectional
studies suggest that intellect is stable .

7.7

Middle adulthood

7.9 Critical periods of development

Main article: Middle age

Middle adulthood generally refers to the period between
ages 25 to 69. During this period, middle-aged adults
experience a conict between generativity and stagnation.
They may either feel a sense of contributing to society, the
next generation or their immediate community or a sense
of purposelessness.
Physically, the middle-aged experience a decline in muscular strength, reaction time, sensory keenness, and cardiac output. Also, women experience menopause and
a sharp drop in the hormone estrogen. Men experience an equivalent endocrine system event to menopause.
Andropause in males is a hormone uctuation with physical and psychological eects that can be similar to those
seen in menopausal females. As men age, lowered testosterone levels can contribute to mood swings and a decline
in sperm count. Sexual responsiveness can also be affected, including delays in erection and longer periods of
penile stimulation required to achieve ejaculation.

There are critical periods in infancy and childhood during

which development of certain perceptual, sensorimotor,
social and language systems depends crucially on environmental stimulation.[65] Feral children such as Genie,
deprived of adequate stimulation, fail to acquire important skills and are unable to learn in later childhood.
The concept of critical periods is also well-established
in neurophysiology, from the work of Hubel and Wiesel
among others.

7.10 Developmental Delays

Children with developmental delays (DD) are at heightened risk for developing clinically signicant behavioral and emotional diculties as compared to children
with typical development (TD). However, nearly all studies comparing psychopathology in youth with DD employ TD control groups of the same chronological age
(CA).This comorbidity of DD and a mental disorder is
often referred to as dual diagnosis. Epidemiological studies indicate that 3050% of youth with DD meet the clinical cuto for behavioral and emotional problems and/or
7.8 Old age
diagnosable mental disorder. Studies that include comparison samples of children with typical development
Main article: Old age
(TD) highlight the considerable dierence in risk for psychopathology, with the relative risk for youth with DD (to
This stage generally refers to those aged over 70 . Accord- youth with TD) ranging from 2.84.1 to 1.
ing to Eriksons Theory of Psychosocial Development, [66]
old age is the stage in which individuals assess the quality
of their lives. In reecting on their lives, people in this age
group develop a feeling of integrity if deciding that their
lives were successful or a feeling of despair if evaluation 8 Parenting
of ones life indicates a failure to achieve goals.[60]
for 20
Physically, older people experience a decline in muscular Parenting variables alone have typically accounted
[67]
to
50
percent
of
the
variance
in
child
outcomes.
strength, reaction time, stamina, hearing, distance perception, and the sense of smell.[61] They also are more All parents have their own parenting styles. Parenting
susceptible to diseases such as cancer and pneumonia due styles, according to Kimberly Kopoko, are based upon

8.2

Mother and father factors

two aspects of parenting behavior; control and warmth.

Parental control refers to the degree to which parents
manage their childrens behavior. Parental warmth refers
to the degree to which parents are accepting and responsive of their childrens behavior.[68]

8.1

Parenting styles

The following parenting styles have been described in the

child development literature:

11
Permissive parenting is characterized by high levels of responsiveness combined with low levels of
demandingness.[70] These parents are lenient and do
not necessarily require mature behavior.[70] They allow for a high degree of self-regulation and typically
avoid confrontation.[70] Compared to children raised
using the authoritative style, preschool girls raised in
permissive families are less assertive.[70] Additionally, preschool children of both sexes are less cognitively competent than those children raised under
authoritative parenting styles.[70]

Authoritative Parenting is characterized as parents

Rejecting or neglectful parenting is the nal catwho have high parental warmth, responsiveness,
egory. This is characterized by low levels of
and demandingness, but rate low in negativity and
demandingness and responsiveness. These parconict.[69] These parents are assertive but not inents are typically disengaged in their childs lives,
trusive or overly restrictive.[70] This method of parlacking structure in their parenting styles and are
enting is associated with more positive social and
unsupportive.[70] Children in this category are typacademic outcomes. Interestingly, the benecial
ically the least competent of all the categories.[70]
outcomes of authoritative parenting are not necessarily universal. Among African American adolescents, authoritative parenting is not associated 8.2 Mother and father factors
with academic achievement without peer support for
Parenting roles in child development have typically foachievement.[69]
cused on the role of the mother. Recent literature, however, has looked toward the father as having an imporChildren who are raised by authoritative parents are
tant role in child development. Arming a role for famore likely to become independent, self-reliant, socially
thers, studies have shown that children as young as 15
accepted, academically successful, and well-behaved.
months benet signicantly from substantial engagement
They are less likely to report depression and anxiety, and
with their father.[73][74] In particular, a study in the U.S.
less likely to engage in antisocial behavior like delinand New Zealand found the presence of the natural father
quency and drug use.[71]
was the most signicant factor in reducing rates of early
Children raised by authoritative parents are self- sexual activity and rates of teenage pregnancy in girls.[75]
sucient, academically successful, and well-behaved and Furthermore, another argument is that neither a mother
are unlikely to have depression and anxiety and are un- nor a father is actually essential in successful parenting,
likely to engage in antisocial behavior.
and that single parents as well as homosexual couples can
[76]
- See more at: http://www.parentingscience.com/ support positive child outcomes. According to this set
of research, children need at least one consistently reauthoritative-parenting-style.html#sthash.E3yuVdDo.
sponsible adult with whom the child can have a positive
dpuf
emotional connection. Having more than one of these
gures contributes to a higher likelihood of positive child
Authoritarian parenting is characterized by low levoutcomes.[76]
els of warmth and responsiveness with high levels
of demandingness and rm control.[69] These parents focus on obedience and they monitor their chil- 8.3 Divorce
dren regularly.[70] In general, this style of parenting is associated with maladaptive outcomes. Inter- Another parental factor often debated in terms of its efestingly, the outcomes are more harmful for mid- fects on child development is divorce. Divorce in itself is
dle class boys than girls, preschool white girls than not a determining factor of negative child outcomes. In
preschool black girls, and for white boys than His- fact, the majority of children from divorcing families fall
panic boys.[70] Furthermore, the negative eects of into the normal range on measures of psychological and
authoritarian parenting among Asian Americans can cognitive functioning.[77] A number of mediating factors
be oset by positive peer support.[69] Finally, among play a role in determining the eects divorce has on a
African Americans, some elements of authoritarian child, for example, divorcing families with young chilparenting such as rm control and physical disci- dren often face harsher consequences in terms of demopline do not serve as predictive factors for negative graphic, social, and economic changes than do families
outcomes.[69]
with older children.[77] Positive coparenting after divorce
is part of a pattern associated with positive child copHere is a video example of authoritarian parenting[72]
ing, while hostile parenting behaviors lead to a destruc-

12

10

tive pattern leaving children at risk.[77] Additionally, direct parental relationship with the child also aects the
development of a child after a divorce. Overall, protective factors facilitating positive child development after a
divorce are maternal warmth, positive father-child relationship, and cooperation between parents.[77]

REFERENCES

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See also
Adult
Behavioral cusp
Child development
Educational Psychology
Developmental psychobiology
Developmental psychopathology
Developmental Science (peer-reviewed journal)
Evolutionary developmental psychopathology
Ethnic identity development
Group Development
Fuzzy-trace theory
Microgenetic design
Ontogenetic parade
Outline of psychology
Perceptual narrowing
Pre- and perinatal psychology
Scale error
Sociometric status

10

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14

11 FURTHER READING

[61] I. J. Deary, W. Johnson, A. J. Gow, A. Pattie, C. E. Brett,

T. C. Bates and J. M. Starr. (2011). Losing Ones Grip: A
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[75] Bruce J. Ellis, Child Development May/June 2003, 74:3,

pp. 80121

[62] Gill, T. M.; Baker, D. I.; Gottschalk, M.; Peduzzi, P.

N.; Allore, H.; Byers, A. (2002). A program to prevent functional decline in physically frail, elderly persons who live at home. N Engl J Med 347: 106874.
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[77] Whiteside, Mary F.; Becker, Betsy Jane (1 January 2000).

Parental factors and the young childs postdivorce adjustment: A meta-analysis with implications for parenting arrangements.. Journal of Family Psychology 14 (1): 526.
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[63] Blanchard-Fields, John C. Cavanaugh, Fredda (2009).

Adult development and aging (6th ed. ed.). Australia:
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9780495601746.

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[76] Silverstein, Louise; Carl Auerbach (1999). Deconstructing the Essential Father. American Psychologist 54: 397
407. doi:10.1037/0003-066x.54.6.397.

[64] Woolf, Linda M. Theoretical Perspectives Relevant to Developmental Psychology, Webster, 1998.
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Bjorklund, D.F.; Pellegrini, A.D. (2000).

Child Development and Evolutionary Psychology. Child Development 71 (6): 16871708.
doi:10.1111/1467-8624.00258. PMID 11194266.

[65] Siegler, Robert (2006). How Children Develop, Exploring Child Development Student Media Tool Kit & Scientic
American Reader to Accompany How Children Develop.
New York: Worth Publishers. ISBN 0-7167-6113-0.

Bornstein, M.H. & Lamb, M.E. (2005). Developmental science: An advanced textbook. Mahwah,
NJ: Erlbaum, 2005.

[66] http://ejournals.ebsco.com/Direct.asp?AccessToken=
6V2V9LC89KHKFXMOOMIJIOHCIJOJ8CFCVX&
Show=Object
[67] Flaherty, Serena Cherry; Sadler, Lois S. (1 March 2011).
A Review of Attachment Theory in the Context of Adolescent Parenting. Journal of Pediatric Health Care 25
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[68] Kopoko, Kimberly (2007). Parenting Styles and Adolescents. Cornell University Cooperative Extension: 18.
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[69] Taylor, Lorraine C.; Clayton, Jennifer D.; Rowley,
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[71] Dewar PHD, Gwen. The authoritative parenting style:
Warmth, rationality, and high standards. A guide for the
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Johnson-Pynn, J.; Fragaszy, D.M. & CumminsSebree, S. (2003). Common territories in comparative and developmental psychology: The quest for
shared means and meaning in behavioral investigations.. International Journal of Comparative Psychology 16: 127.
Lerner, R.M. Concepts and theories of human development. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum, 2002.
Reid, V.; Striano, T. & Koops, W. Social Cognition
During infancy. Psychology Press. 2007
Among 20 most prominent journals in developmental
psychology are:
Journal of the American Academy of Child and
Adolescent Psychiatry
Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry
Development and Psychopathology
Child Development
Autism Research

[72] Parenting Style Authoritarian Parenting. YouTube.

Kindheit und Entwicklung

[73] Fathers Role in Childrens Academic Achievement and

Early Literacy. ERIC Digest

Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders

[74] Children with active, involved fathers have better social skills, are healthier, and do better in school, according to Duane Wilson, the Proud Fathers, Proud Parents program coordinator for the Michigan Department
of Human Services (http://video.google.com/videoplay?
docid=$-$2125328669291708941 2:57)

European Child & Adolescent Psychology

Developmental Science
Developmental Review
Psychology and Aging

15
Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology
Developmental Psychology
Journal of Adolescent Health
Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders
Developmental Neuropsychology
Journal of Research on Adolescence
Journal of Youth and Adolescence
Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology
Journal of Pediatric Psychology

12

External links

The Society for Research in Child Development

The British Psychological Society, Developmental
Psychology Section
Developmental Psychology: lessons for teaching and
learning developmental psychology
GMUs On-Line Resources for Developmental Psychology: a web directory of developmental psychology organizations
Home Economics Archive: Research, Tradition,
History (HEARTH)
An e-book collection of over 1,000 books spanning
1850 to 1950, created by Cornell Universitys Mann
Library. Includes several hundred works on human
development, child raising, and family studies itemized in a specic bibliography.
Infants can do more than we think. Research from
Uppsala university 2010.
Its the Parenting, Dodo | Living Hero Radio Show
and Podcast special. With Arun Gandhi telling 4
stories of growing up with Mahatma Gandhis nonviolent parenting and childhood development practices and Dr. Marcy Axness, author of Parenting for
Peace giving parenting guidelines and information.
Jan 2013

16

13

13
13.1

TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

Text

Developmental psychology Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Developmental%20psychology?oldid=649793536 Contributors: Bryan

Derksen, SimonP, Edward, Michael Hardy, Vaughan, Kku, Zanimum, Skysmith, TUF-KAT, Timwi, Dcoetzee, Reddi, Topbanana, Robbot, Tomchiukc, Ly, Goethean, Altenmann, Sam Spade, Khg, Emyth, BenFrantzDale, Marcika, Peruvianllama, Everyking, Skagedal, Pascal666, Neilc, Andycjp, Quadell, OverlordQ, Karol Langner, APH, Bodnotbod, Tyler McHenry, Darksun, Neutrality, Robin klein, Mike
Rosoft, Freakofnurture, DanielCD, Rich Farmbrough, Guanabot, Vsmith, Florian Blaschke, LindsayH, Bender235, El C, Marcok, Sietse
Snel, Orlady, Johnkarp, John Vandenberg, Dzou, La goutte de pluie, Jmiak, Jumbuck, Alansohn, Gary, Niki K, Mrholybrain, Wtmitchell,
Brookie, Woohookitty, Palica, Graham87, BD2412, Whicky1978, Melesse, Rjwilmsi, Missmarple, MarnetteD, Cmouse, Rangek, FlaBot,
Vclaw, Nihiltres, Paul foord, RexNL, Ewlyahoocom, Spencerk, Chobot, YurikBot, Wavelength, Borgx, RobotE, RussBot, FunkyJazzMonkey, Hede2000, David Woodward, Gaius Cornelius, Dialectric, Autodidact, Badagnani, ONEder Boy, JTBurman, Wknight94, Avraham,
2over0, Shinhan, Robotico, Pb30, Tevildo, Emc2, Wizofaus, Sardanaphalus, Crystallina, SmackBot, Unschool, Reedy, Pschelden, Vald,
Fvguy72, Blue520, KocjoBot, Jagged 85, Jab843, Commander Keane bot, Gilliam, Frdrick Lacasse, Tyciol, Chris the speller, Kurykh,
MartinPoulter, MalafayaBot, PureRED, DoctorW, Grandmasterka, Darth Panda, Jdhammer, Stevenmitchell, EPM, Dreadstar, Hgilbert,
FlyHigh, SashatoBot, Dane Sorensen, Tim bates, Mgiganteus1, Commons@tiac.net, Tasc, Frigo, Anonymous anonymous, Zeligf, Jack M.,
Iridescent, Fjbex, Aeternus, Az1568, ChrisCork, Cabria, CmdrObot, Erik Kennedy, Neelix, Penbat, Funnyfarmofdoom, AndrewHowse,
Biblbroks, Ward3001, Daven200520, Iss246, Risingconcern, PKT, Mattisse, Thijs!bot, Epbr123, Barticus88, Dogaroon, N5iln, Sopranosmob781, Marek69, DPeterson, Second Quantization, Dmitri Lytov, Philippe, AntiVandalBot, Gioto, Luna Santin, Seaphoto, SummerPhD, Osubuckeyeguy, SlipperyN, Figma, D99gge, Inks.LWC, GurchBot, Boab, Geniac, Shumdw, Magioladitis, Dp76764, VoABot
II, Clarky92au, Arno Matthias, TARBOT, Elsiemobbs, Tristan Horn, WhatamIdoing, Cgingold, Nposs, User A1, JaGa, Keith D, R'n'B,
Nono64, Lordmanannan, Captain panda, The dark lord trombonator, ArrowStomper, Eliz81, Clerks, Longouyang, Grosscha, Mikael Hggstrm, Tychoish, Potatoswatter, Ilikeliljon, Vimesman, Uhai, Fainites, Vranak, Lilyv129, Barneca, DoorsAjar, TXiKiBoT, SHP3513,
WatchAndObserve, Tameeria, Starrymessenger, Jsarmi, LeaveSleaves, Noformation, Lova Falk, Doc James, SieBot, Rambos Revenge, Psbsub, Hertz1888, Gerakibot, Dawn Bard, Yintan, Flyer22, Tom Worthington, ScAvenger lv, Faradayplank, G ambrus, Lightmouse, Sanya3,
Correogsk, Hank52, Denisarona, Faithlessthewonderboy, ClueBot, The Thing That Should Not Be, Vacio, Wyenath, Ajoykt, Excirial,
Muhandes, Jotterbot, Iohannes Animosus, Chininazu12, Mikaey, Thingg, DumZiBoT, Jcautilli2003, XLinkBot, Dantel50, Clover345,
Vianello, Wyatt915, Zefryl, Kongr43gpen, Flaresi, Cognatus, MrOllie, Download, LemmeyBOT, Devadatta, Aardnavark, Tassedethe,
TreyBuchanan, Tide rolls, ForesticPig, Teles, Jarble, Samwass, Macdgarrett, Legobot, Luckas-bot, Yobot, Rhazs, O Wise 1, Ira Silva, THEN
WHO WAS PHONE?, Empireheart, Finereach, AnomieBOT, Dillypickle, RandomAct, Materialscientist, Jpc4031, Citation bot, ArthurBot, Xqbot, Smueldoggydogg, S h i v a (Visnu), Romanfall, Erikj09, Vicloic, Couchspudsrock, 100sbo10, Backpackadam, Prunesqualer,
RibotBOT, Ignoranteconomist, X lamurf x, Zaokski, Touchatou, Aaron Kauppi, FrescoBot, Tobby72, D'ohBot, E.shakir, Age Happens,
Pinethicket, Tinton5, Darigan, Melara..., Gmandler, Pamdtz, Rixs, Komipfeier, Abdabs, RjwilmsiBot, OfriRaviv, DASHBot, Jocce,
GoingBatty, Chaitra313, Wikipelli, Doncorto, Heygeorgie, AvicBot, John Cline, WeijiBaikeBianji, Factmaven, Becky03, Thine Antique
Pen, Jacobisq, Donner60, Golfcourseairhorn, Grammar Prof, ClueBot NG, Yue4, Cingulate, Widr, Helpful Pixie Bot, Catacomb007,
BG19bot, Jluvmour, Desmore13, Lowercase Sigma, Mmustikka, Lhong1, Dzforman, Vanpsyc, Kayrae1101, Meg22s, Momotaro219,
Num1star, Sheena08, TahreemM, BattyBot, Jedo17, Ayoung10, Teammm, Dianeblack, Mediran, Khazar2, Tow, A.jeacoma, Sae Harshberger, Mogism, Djfrost711, Lindy.williams, GeneralConstruction, Greatuser, Epicgenius, HY1416, Hokiegem, I am One of Many, Eyesnore, Koryna22, Serdna25, Wiki nik00, Weddy01, Softmancho, Mekhail333, Wyan1990, DavidLeighEllis, NewBeginning111, Jinsol,
Ugog Nizdast, Riorsf, Jveckler, Shulingjuliechen, Monkbot, Cshanesimpson, LawrencePrincipe, Eddiagnostician, Chesivoirzr, Gervasija,
Wszzp, DonPsycho99, Ppalmer19 and Anonymous: 411

13.2

Images

File:Baby.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2e/Baby.jpg License: Copyrighted free use Contributors:

Stock.xchng #197853 Original artist: Carin Araujo, http://www.prtc.net/~{}carin
File:Psi2.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6c/Psi2.svg License: Public domain Contributors: ? Original
artist: ?

13.3

Content license

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