Developmental Psychology 101
What I'm learning before parenthood.
For this series, I want to share everything I am learning (re-learning) about Developmental Psychology. I had briefly learned many of the following theories back in college and so it feels natural for me to review all this as if I were taking the class again. Good-ole ChatGPT gave me the list of “main childhood development psychologists and recommended readings,” which I am using now to guide this self-made course.
My future posts will be my own notes on theories and methods.
The Goal:
To lead in wisdom, knowledge, and patience within my role as a nurturer by understanding what to expect in each phase of my future child’s life so that my best becomes their baseline. In other words, I will do my best to limit my own ignorance from getting in the way of my child’s development.
The Breakdown:
Milestones
Founding Fathers (and Mothers): Theories
This article will simply be a layout of everything I’ll be covering in future posts, where I’ll go into theory and application for each person and phase.
Milestones
Prenatal Stage: conception - birth.
Infancy: 0 - 12 months.
Toddlerhood: 1 - 3 years.
Early Childhood: 3 - 6 years.
Middle Childhood: 6 - 12 years.
Adolescence: 12 - 18 years.
Founding Fathers and Mothers
Jean Piaget: Cognitive Development.
Lev Vygotsky: Sociocultural Development.
Erik Erikson: Psychosocial Development.
John B Watson: Behaviorism.
B F Skinner: Operant Conditioning.
Albert Bandura: Social Learning Theory.
John Bowlby & Mary Ainsworth: Attachment Theory.
Daniel J Siegel: Interpersonal Neurobiology.
Carol Dweck: Mindset Theory.
Maria Montessori: Montessori Method.
Margaret Mahler: Separation-Individuation.
Eleanor Maccoby: Gender Development & Parent-Child Relationships.
Honorable mentions from me: Carl Rogers and Carl Jung. While their work isn’t focused on child development, I resonate with their psychological perspectives.
I hope this becomes a helpful tool for you whether you’re in a pre-parenthood season like me, you’re wanting/needing clarity on your past, or prepping for your child’s next milestone.
Next up: Milestones!