A Level Psychology at Spalding Grammar School

Developmental Psychology is often thought to be a fancy name for "child psychology" but in fact it covers a lot more than that. At AS Level, you will look at 3 different areas of Developmental Psychology:

• Behaviourism is a psychological approach that looks at how we learn. Behaviourists usually argue it's enough to study behaviour (hence the name) and not bother with invisible things like cognitions. Behaviourism has a lot to do with Social Psychology (since we learn from social interactions) and Biopsychology (since it explains how changes happen in the brain - see Maguire et al.).
• The Psychodynamic Approach looks at instinctive behaviour and feelings going on at a subconscious level. This approach suggests that we don't learn very much in life, but most of our personality and behaviour is set out for us in early childhood. "Psychodynamic" means "changing mind" or "active mind", because according to this approach we have conflicts raging in our heads all the time.
• Cognitive Development is about how the way we think changes over time, going through different stages as we move from childhood to adulthood. As the name suggests, it has a lot in common with the Cognitive Approach.

The main assumption of Developmental Psychology is that studying children can tell us a lot about adults. As the poet William Wordsworth said: "The child is father of the man" - the secrets of our grown-up nature are hidden in our childhoods. This is certainly true to some extent, but some psychologists can take this too far, suggesting that everything about us is somehow explained by childhood experiences, as if nothing critical or formative ever happens to anyone over the age of ten!!! This sort of view is determinist and may be reductionist as well.

Another assumption is that it is possible to study children. If you think about it, children often misunderstand questions or instructions and it's very easy for adults to misunderstand their answers. Children also like to please adults and will often change their behaviour to do or say what they think the adult wants. Finally, there are ethical problems with using children in research, since they cannot give informed consent and find it difficult to withdraw from experiments they don't like.

• Download and view the Developmental Approach Slideshow
• Use the Lecture Handout to take notes
• Access the Developmental Approach handout
• Access the Developmental Studies handout

Transmission of aggression through imitation of aggressive models

Click the picture to view the Bandura page where you will find a summary of the study and a PowerPoint slideshow, note-taking sheets and a range of web links.

Analysis of a phobia in a five-year old boy

Click the picture to view the Freud page where you can view a summary of the study, a PowerPoint slideshow, note-taking sheets and web links to Freud-related fun on the Internet.

Asking only one question in the conservation experiment

Click the picture or the title above to view the Samuel & Bryant page. This contains resources for your Independent Study - a note-taking proforma, a PowerPoint slideshow and a summary of the study and web links to further your understanding. There is also an assessment page with questions for you to answer.

Click the image to see the end of unit assessment - mock exam questions for Paper G542 (Core Studies) Sections A, B and C