Human Growth and Development Across the Life Span

Developmental psychology is the scientific study of how and why human beings change over the course of their lives. Originally focused on the physical, motor, cognitive, intellectual, emotional, personality, social, and moral changes in infants and children, developmental psychology now includes adolescence, adult development, and aging, throughout all stages of the entire lifespan. Several developmental stage theories have been developed, emerging from a diverse set of assumptions and models of human behavior, that divide child development into distinct stages. These stages are characterized by quantitative and qualitative differences in behaviour. There are a number of different views about the way in which psychological and physical development might proceed throughout the life span. This course will present a survey of the most important theoretical models including models that emphasize spiritual development. With respect to spiritual developmental each developmental theory will be examined from the point of view of spiritual development and their attention to spirituality throughout the life span. Formal theories of human growth and development within the Buddhist, Muslim and Christian perspectives will be introduced. Methodological issues will also be discussed.