developmental psychology

n. A subfield of psychology that draws upon the knowledge base and expertise of many different disciplines (e.g., psychology, sociology, biology, chemistry, genetics, anthropology, and economics) to help explain how and why people stay the same and how and why people change as they develop throughout the life span. Within the field of developmental psychology there are subfields that focus on specific aspects (e.g., social/emotional development, language development, physical development, cognitive development) and diverse age ranges (i.e., prenatal development, infancy, early childhood, school age, adolescence, young adulthood, middle age, and older adulthood). Thus, the theories and research that constitute this field are from many and diverse individuals, who have varied interests but have the common goal of understanding human development.

- SRB