The field of psychology that studies the ways in which people
develop physically, emotionally, intellectually and socially
over the course of their lives. Developmental psychologists are
concerned primarily with how the human mind/personality changes
over the course of a lifetime, from its conception and
intrauterine development through childhood, adolescence,
adulthood, and old age. The field envelops nearly all aspects of
life and seeks to understand the factors that influence
personality, intelligence, and behavior. Initially,
developmental psychologists focused primarily on childhood
development, believing that with adulthood came a kind of
personality stasis. One of the first to question this notion was
Erik Erikson (1902-1979) in his landmark 1950 book Eight Ages of
Man, laying out a schema whereby human personality continues to
change and evolve throughout the life-cycle. It was chiefly due
to Erikson's work that developmental psychology expanded its
view, taking on what is referred to within the field