Learning in different phases: What teachers should know
Research in developmental psychology has a tradition of just over 100 years. The first work on the subject was "The soul of a child" written by the German physiologist William Preyer (Ruoppila 1995). Children's intelligence and cognitive development were initially studied mainly through questionnaires. The aim was to correct and prevent developmental delays. Big names in developmental psychology include Sigmund Freud, Carl Gustav Jung, Jean Piaget, Lev S. Vygotski and Erik. H. Erikson. Key concepts in developmental psychology include biological maturation theories, environmental learning theory, constructivist theories, and cultural development theories (Cole & Cole 1993). Essential research questions include the continuity or discontinuity of development, the question of what makes a person develop, how much the environment affects, how much genes affect, and how individual differences are formed. A related discipline is Social Psychology (Korkiakangas 1995). It typ...