section_path: Themes/Development psychology
section_name: Development psychology
paragraph_text: Development psychology
  
  Developmental psychology is the scientific study of how and why the thought processes, emotions, and behaviors of humans change over the course of their lives. Some credit Charles Darwin with conducting the first systematic study within the rubric of developmental psychology, having published in 1877 a short paper detailing the development of innate forms of communication based on his observations of his infant son. The main origins of the discipline, however, are found in the work of Jean Piaget. Like Piaget, developmental psychologists originally focused primarily on the development of cognition from infancy to adolescence. Later, developmental psychology extended itself to the study cognition over the life span. In addition to studying cognition, developmental psychologists have also come to focus on affective, behavioral, moral, social, and neural development.
  
  Developmental psychologists who study children use a number of research methods. For example, they make observations of children in natural settings such as preschools and engage them in experimental tasks. Such tasks often resemble specially designed games and activities that are both enjoyable for the child and scientifically useful. Developmental researchers have even devised clever methods to study the mental processes of infants. In addition to studying children, developmental psychologists also study aging and processes throughout the life span, including old age. These psychologists draw on the full range of psychological theories to inform their research.