Attitudes towards children and adolescents have evolved. Before the 17th century, children were generally considered weaker, more insignificant versions of adults. They were assumed to be subject to the same needs and desires as adults and to have the same vices and virtues as adults. Therefore they dressed the same, were not warranted more privileges, and they worked the same hours and received the same punishments for misdeeds. If they stole, they were hanged. If they worked hard and did well, they could achieve prosperity. Children were considered adults as soon as they could live alone.

Society, and especially psychologists, now reject this medieval view; but how do we go about formulating contemporary theories of development? Our personal theories about development are based on experiences, folklore, stories in the media, or built haphazardly on unverified observation. However, the theories presented in this course are more formal. They are based on prior empirical evidence and observations by psychologists and other researchers and provide a framework through which we can draw conclusions and make predictions about human behavior. These theories are subject to rigorous testing through research and are based on a psychological approach. A psychological approach is a perspective, based on certain assumptions, about behavior. Each approach holds shared ideas about how to describe, predict, and explain behavior.

In this chapter, we will discuss the major psychological approaches that pertain to development. But first, we will briefly review some of the early founders of the field of developmental psychology. We will then examine the major characteristics of the contemporary approaches: psychodynamic, behavioral, humanistic, cognitive, contextual, biological, and evolutionary psychology.