Introduction The study of development

Abstract

Traditionaily. psychologists have related developmental processes to age. For example, the reasoning ability of a typical fiveyear old is very different to that of a nine year old. A developmental psychologist may wish to investigate the processes involved in this progression. What experiences and interactions have influenced the child’s development? However, in 1980. Baltes, a German psychologist, wrote an influential paper emphasizing the lifespan nature of development and pointing out that factors other than age influence the developmental process (Baltes et al., 1980).