3.1 Themes and Methods in Developmental Psychology

Explain how enduring themes inform developmental psychology.

• Developmental psychology is concerned with both chronological order of development and/ or thematic issues in development across the lifespan. Thematic issues of interest to developmental psychologists include stability and change, nature and nurture, and continuous and discontinuous stages of development.

Describe ways crosssectional and longitudinal research design methods used in developmental psychology inform understanding about behavior and mental processes.