Introduction to child psychology

Childhood is a time of rapid growth and development, and studying these changes is endlessly stimulating. In this free course, Introduction to child psychology, you will be introduced to the discipline of child psychology and some of the key questions that guide the understanding of childhood. These questions include 'What influences children's development?' and 'How do psychologists study the physical and cognitive changes that occur during childhood?' As you work through this material, you will also gain a deeper understanding concerning how psychologists work with young children across a range of applied settings through activities and audio-visual materials.

• Introduction
• Learning outcomes
• 1 What is child psychology?
• 1 What is child psychology?
• 2 Using theories to understand development
• 2 Using theories to understand development
• 2.1 Development is primarily internal: Piaget
• 2.2 Development is determined by environmental factors: Vygotsky
• 3 Asking questions about children’s development
• 3 Asking questions about children’s development
• 3.1 How does socio-cultural context influence development?
• 3.2 How do children shape their own development?
• 4 Child psychologists in applied settings
• 4 Child psychologists in applied settings
• Conclusion
• References
• Acknowledgements