Theoretical Perspectives Relevant to Developmental Psychology

For example, if one were examining the basis of a computer output, one would study the initial program. One would look at each line of input data separately to determine the effect on the whole. Thus, the mechanistic world view maintains that through the study of the individual parts, the individual as a whole can be understood.

The influence of the mechanistic world view on the conceptualization of the individual in relation to developmental psychology can be described as follows: First, the individual can be conceptualized and understood only by understanding the parts which make up the whole. For example, a developmental psychologist would study a behavior or emotional response by reducing it to its most simple elements. Second the individual is described principally as a passive-reactive entity. Development does not occur from within the individual but rather is in response to external forces. Essentially, the individual is as Newton describes, a "tabula rasa"; "nothing is in the intellect which is not first in the senses" (cited in Reese & Overton, 1970). Third, change is quantitative. Changes in behavior are viewed as differences in degree as opposed to differences in kind and as such can be operationally defined and measured. Last, as individuals are reactive, passive beings, there is no overall purpose to human activity - no teleology. Thus, development and change are not directed towards some end