Autism, Family Life and Short Breaks. An investigation into the experience of family life and short breaks of families that have children on the autism spectrum in an English county

Special fields of psychology

Much emphasis i psychology has bee give o he child a d o he devia perso ali y. Developme al psychology is par icularly sig ifica , he , i ha i provides for formal s udy of childre a d adul s a every s age of developme hrough he life spa . Developme al psychology reflec s he view ha huma developme a d behavior hroughou he life spa is a fu c io of he i erac io be wee biologically de ermi ed fac ors, such as heigh or emperame , a d e viro me al i flue ces, such as family, schooli g, religio , a d cul ure. S udies of hese i erac io s focus o heir co seque ces for people a differe age levels. For example, developme al psychologis s are i eres ed i how childre who were physically abused by heir pare s behave whe hey hemselves become pare s. S udies, al hough i co clusive, sugges ha abused childre of e become abusive pare s. O her rece s udies have focused o he rela io ship be wee he agi g process a d i ellec ual compe e ce; co rary o he radi io al o io ha a perso ’s i ellec ual skills decli e rapidly af er he age of 55, research i dica es ha he decli e is gradual.