In this page, we hope to answer reflections on our applied assignment.

1. How are the developmental themes interconnected within the age group you studied? Use specific examples from your observations/interviews.

Early childhood is a crucial time when children are developing in many areas, including cognitive, social, and emotional domains. While interviewing my mom, she explained that, while she believes genetics plays a part in development, environment is a crucial factor in shaping a child’s success. The theories that I’ve learned this semester help me understand how one developmental change paves the way for another. 

Some similarities we observed across both interviews are that, for children to resolve the challenges in their age group and acquire these skills, they all need proper guidance. This is a commonality from our theme three, continuity vs. discontinuity, where we realize that for children to develop emotional regulation skills, they need either comfort from parents or to refer to their parents’ coping styles in conflicts. For theme 6, individual differences, we see real-life examples of Alex and Johnny that show how the teachers are attentive to their unique needs and help them develop socially. 

2. What was the most surprising or impactful insight your group gained from applying theory to real-life situations?

The most impactful insight we gained is the importance of being detail-oriented for parenting children aged 3–7. Throughout our studies, we were continually surprised by how unique every child is. We often thought back to how our parents used to tell us that parenting is confusing and complex. When we were little, we never truly understood what they meant. Through this assignment, we’ve realized that parenting is confusing because it isn’t something that can be fully understood by reading books or searching the internet. Parenting is personal. It is adapted to what works best for each child. In real-life situations, this means that parents who invest time in understanding their child’s unique developmental needs are doing something incredibly valuable. This also highlights the importance of applied/developmental psychology. By providing parents with professional strategies tailored to each child’s needs,  we help create more supportive environments for the next generation. 

3. What challenges did you encounter in conducting observations or interviews, and how did you address them?

One challenge we encountered was prompting our interviewees to focus on the general population of children rather than on us (the researchers). Because we were interviewing our own parents or former teachers, they were more likely to recall memories of our time together than to speak more broadly about the children they had known. We often had to remind them gently to stay on track. Still, it was very heart-warming to see how vividly they remembered those details about us.

Another challenge we faced was finding ways to introduce developmental psychology theories in our infographics in a way that was easy for the general public to understand. To address this issue, we created multiple versions of each infographic and revised them collaboratively to fix diction and grammar. We also considered the website’s creativity and aesthetics by using a consistent color palette and a consistent tone of voice, aiming to provide our viewers with an enjoyable reading experience.

4. How did this hands-on experience deepen your understanding of developmental psychology beyond the textbook?

This experience of working on this project deepened my understanding by putting myself in the shoes of an educator to an audience. Because we faced some challenges with interviews, we had the opportunity to determine whether the interviews were biased and to consider the sample sizes of children the interviewees had in mind, which enhanced our critical thinking about developmental psychology. Throughout the process of completing the individual assignments in the projects, I actively applied the theorists’ perspectives to real-life scenarios. Also, while interviewing my mom and putting together infographics for the project, I thought about my own childhood and how it differs from others’. This led me to think about children who grew up in different cultures or countries and may have had experiences different from mine. This project was an excellent opportunity for me to apply developmental psychology to real-life situations and connect it to various other theories.