Developmental Psychology

Developmental Psychology is concerned with the changes in behavior and experience that occur across the lifespan of an individual. Examples of researched questions are: How do our mental capabilities develop in early infancy? Does the mental world of children and adolescents differ from that of adults, and if so, how and why? What is the impact of ageing on psychological processes; does ageing always imply decrease, or do we also see stagnation or even increase? To answer these questions, different approaches are used, such as interviews, observation of behavior, or experimental studies.

Main research interests of the group are:

• empirical studies on cognitive development in early infancy (e.g., processes of attention; learning and memory; control and understanding of intentional action; imitation; social cognition).
• Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience: investigations on the neural correlates of cognitive development; combination of behavioral and physiological parameters (e.g., EEG, heart rate).
• development in adolescence and in emerging adulthood (e.g., pubertal timing and development, critical life events).
• relations of learning and development (e.g., psychological and linguistic therapy in geriatrics).
• use of video technology for purposes of behavior analyses.

BabyLab of the University of Potsdam