Introduction to LifeSpan Development: Introduction. Importance of life span development, Historical perspective. Characteristics of life span perspective. Nature of development. Cross sectional and longitudinal approaches in developmental study .Theories by Freud – Erickson Piaget- Vygotsky. Information processing Behavioural -Social cognitive- eclectic orientation

Prenatal Development: Fertilization - Germinal period- embryonic period- Fetal period. Prenatal diagnostic tests. Effects of teratogens. Neonatal health and responsiveness. Consequences of low birth weight.

Physical Development: Newborn- reflexes- perception (vision, hearing, other senses, inter modal perception). Height and weight in infancy and childhood. Gross and fine motor skills. Handedness. Physical development in puberty. Changes in early, middle and late adulthood. Theories of aging.

Stages of cognitive development- sensory motor stage- object permanence Pre operational stage intuitive thought. Concrete operations-semantics- pragmatics Language development - How language develops- babbling- two-word utterance. Advances in early, middle and late childhood metalinguistic awareness.

Emotional Development: Introduction- Development of emotion through infancy, childhood, adolescence and adulthood. Describing and classifying temperament- Chess and Thomas, Kagan, Rothberg and Bates. Theories of attachment- care giving and attachment. Moral development Piaget’s and Kohlberg’s theory- stages. Social conventional reasoning- basic processes- Resistance to temptation- self-control- Empathy- Moral characters.