Area of Study 2

Key Knowledge and skills:

The complexity of psychological development

• the interactive nature of hereditary and environmental factors on a person’s psychological development, illustrated through twin and adoption studies

• the role of critical and sensitive periods in a person’s psychological development

• the importance of attachment on an individual’s emotional development: genetics; temperament and early life experiences (with reference to the work of Harlow & Ainsworth)

• the development of cognitive abilities from concrete to symbolic thinking (with reference to the work of Piaget)

• psychosocial development across the lifespan as an influence on the development of an individual’s personality (with reference to the work of Erikson).

Atypical psychological development

• the conceptualisation of normality including typical and atypical behaviours; adaptive and maladaptive behaviours; and mental health and mental disorder as a continuum

• mental health as a product of internal and external factors which assist individuals to cope with change and challenge

• major categories of psychological disorder: addiction disorders; anxiety disorders; mood disorders; personality disorders; and psychotic disorders

• the ‘two-hit’ hypothesis as an explanation for the development of particular psychological disorders, illustrated by schizophrenia.