Developmental Psychology

The influences of childhood development have long been a debated issue, including the common argument of nature versus nurture. Developmental psychologists have continued to research the underlining influences of an individual’s development, whether it’s suggesting development predominantly arises from a biological process or an environmental process. While studying developmental psychology a clear understanding of developmental theorist is required, however it can be beneficial to apply two developmental theories to aspects of a real adult life. The aim of this essay is to apply two developmental theories to a developmental event in an interviewee’s life through a questionnaire. The aim of this essay will be achieved by providing clear identification of the developmental event in the interviewee’s life that will be discussed throughout the essay, being their moving out of the family home for the first time. The essay will then outline how the questionnaire was developed and also how the questionnaire was administrated. The essay will then go on to introduce the first developmental theorist: Albert Bandura, who’s social learning theory, will be briefly discussed. A brief discussion around the second developmental theorist, Urie Bronfenbrenner, and his ecological theory will follow. The essay will continue with a detailed analysis of the interviewee’s responses, exploring how they relate to the two theorists, Bandura and Bronfenbrenner. Finally, this essay will aim to demonstrate the application of developmental theory to an interviewee’s own personal experience and the continued relevance of these developmental theories by reflecting and concluding on all the information discussed through out the essay. The interviewee of this case study is a 28 year old woman from Victoria, Australia. The developmental event, which she was questioned about for the purpose of this case study, is moving out of the family home for the first time. This was a developmental event that