S/PS/173. Discuss the role of environment, genetics, etc. in the development of childhood disorders. Discuss

The paper looks into the origins and causes of childhood psychopathology examining etiological models, i.e. biomedical, cognitive, socio-environmental and developmental, and applying them to the analysis of childhood depressive disorder.

S/P/299. Viewed from a Lacanian perspective, is self-help literature like Carter-Scott's really helpful?

The paper looks at the so-called self-help literature reviewing Freud's, Lacan's and Carter-Scott's ideas on the origin and development of the personality, the drivers of life, the perception of the image as the self, the search for pleasure, etc. evaluating their contribution to psychoanalysis and practical psychology.

S/PS/105. Individual Differences are the product of an interaction between biological and social influences. Discuss

The paper reports on the debate about whether it is genetic factors or environmental factors that play a key role in shaping personality and IQ. Research into twins' mentality, personality development, etc. is reviewed.

S/PS/76. Temperament in Context: Infant temperament moderates the relationship between perceived neighbourhood quality and behaviour problems

The paper offers a review of a study in developmental psychology on the role of the environment in shaping a child's temperament and behaviour focusing on positive affect and fear.

S/PS/72. Using Examples from Individual and Lifespan Psychology describe the range of explanations provided by psychology for the differences found amongst people

The paper examines the process of structuring personality in early childhood reviewing the theories of Sigmund Freud and John Bowlby and discussing the effects of the mother and baby relationship on adult behaviour. The issues of psychoanalysis, anxiety, attachment, etc. are discussed.

S/PS/65. Cognitive development in children

The paper examines the stages of children's development reviewing related psychological literature and discussing the impacts of Piaget's theory of cognitive development, conceptual shifts of the mind, discovery learning in children, etc.

S/PS/63. Children Obesity

The paper covers the following: Background Information; Definition; Prevalence of Obesity; Worry Grow over Child Obesity; Causes; Impact of Obesity; Taxation and Advertising Policy; Community Wide Efforts; School Based Initiatives in the UK; Built Environment; Treatment; Conclusion

C/PS/24. Autism Ï the Role of Developmental Psychology in Understanding and Supporting the Development of ChildrenÌs Cognitive and Social Abilities

In this short essay, we discuss the role of developmental psychology and the three theories of Theory of Mind Deficit, Executive Dysfunction and Weak drive for Central Coherence in providing insights into the nature of autism and associated problems in social and cognitive abilities. The broader role of developmental psychology has been discussed and the characteristics of autism have been identified considering the three theories that help to provide somewhat controversial explanations on cognitive and social abilities of autistic children.

P/PS/117. Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder in children

The paper examines the area of psychopathology known as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children reviewing its symptoms, demographics, possible treatments, etc. Developmental approach aimed to identify the causes of the divergence is described and evaluated.

S/PS/61. Describe and discuss VygotskyÌs theory of cognitive development in children

Vygotsky's main theories are described and discussed, along with some criticisms of his approach. Essay is fully referenced; four of the works cited are academic books and two are journal articles.

P/PS/106. Impacts of childhood experiences on our adult lives

The paper examines the importance of childhood experiences in adult behaviour discussing parents’ influences on children, their responsibility to children, the problems of adolescence, children’s experiences of independence, challenges of sexual development, etc.

P/PS/105. How does altruism evolve? Critical review of group selection theory

The paper looks at the evolutionary explanations of altruist behaviour reviewing the theory of group selection by Sober and Wilson, and examining the conditions needed for altruism to evolve in a population of groups. Definitions of ‘group’ are reviewed; the critique of the group selection theory is presented.

S/PS/57. Acquisition of verb inflections in the past tense in children

The paper examines the issues of English grammar acquisition in children focusing on the psychological mechanisms of acquiring the regular and irregular verb forms in the past tense. Academic literature is reviewed on the cognitive processing of the past tense inflection, associative memory, children developmental errors in verb usage, etc. arguing whether there is a single or a double route mechanism of past tense forms acquisition.

P/PS/82. Use of play in autistic children’s development

The paper examines the cognitive, clinical and social manifestations of autism focusing on the use of play in autistic children’s development. The author’s experience of working with autistic children is described reviewing the methods of Integrated Play Groups Model (IPGM); video modelling, pivotal response training (PRT), etc.

P/PS/67. Disclosure of sexual abuse in children

The paper offers a review of literature on the disclosure of sexual abuse in children examining the factors that influence disclosure of sexual abuse, psychological effects of disclosure, etc. Critical analysis of an article on the process and consequences of disclosure is conducted.

C/PS/18. Criticism of Piagets theory of cognitive development

This paper is a critical evaluation of Piagets theory of cognitive development. Initially, Piagets theory is described in detail, and then a description of the methods that Piaget used is given. Next, an evaluation of the main criticisms of Piagets theories is given, especially from habituation studies. Finally, Jean Piagets significance is outlined in the field of child development and cognitive psychology

C/PS/17. Evolutionary explanations of why we look after children.

This paper presents the main issues concerned with the looking after children and childrearing in general. It looks at childrearing through the three main theories that evolutionary psychology offers: Darwins theory of natural selection, Trivers theory of parental investment and also the theory reciprocal altruism. Then, the main issues concerning the motivation for childrearing are analysed.

S/PS/47. Compare and contrast two major approaches in cognitive development

This paper examines two major approaches to cognitive development - behaviourist and constructivist. Main points and comparisons between the two are made and psychologists covering these approaches are briefly mentioned. The paper also includes an observation of a young child and personal examples are used to demonstrate whether the theory is in fact true to reality. A brief summary of how the approaches view language development is included.

S/PS/43. An Evaluation of Child Observational Methods

This paper uses two examples of child observation techniques to illustrate the advantages and disadvantages of observational methods in general.

S/PS/34. What is the 'strange situation' and what can it tell us about early close relationships?

This essay outlines the experimental procedure of the strange situation, the significance of the results and the methodological concerns. It proposes that for all its usefulness, the strange situation cannot provide a comprehensive account of early relationships.

S/PS/32. Can Gilligan's claim that women have a distinctive moral voice be justified?

This essay examines the degree to which voices of moral development are gendered. It highlights Kohlberg's social cognitive theory and the challenges that Gilligan has made towards this universal theory. It examines the criticisms of Gilligan, including Sayers (1986) and MacDonald's (1988) sociobiological approach. It also explores available empirical evidence in order to conclude that it would be best to suggest that there is a masculine and feminine voice, rather than a male and female voice of moral development.

C/PS/14. The importance of exercise in modern lives through a psychological aspect

The current study deals with the issue of exercise and the importance of exercise and sport for the modern man. It begins by mentioning the reasons which have made exercise such an important factor of our everyday lives nowadays by contrasting the life of the modern man with the life of the working man in the past. Further on, the study mentions the benefits that exercise has on an individual and it mentions both the physical and the mental benefits as well. It goes on by examining the case of obesity and excess weight and states the ways in which exercise can help people fight these problems. The study then examines the reasons for which people might keep away from exercise and it states ways through which psychology can help them so as to undertake this activity on a regular basis.

S/PS/31. Development of Numerical Estimation: A Critique of Siegler and Booth

This paper performs a critical review of the work of Siegler and Booth in their study, "Development of numerical estimation in young children." If focuses on analysing correct procedure methods and the correct selection of age ranges when dealing with numerical estimation. Further research ideas are introduced with references to past studies as a means of providing opposing works against that of Siegler and Booth.

P/PS/37. Cognitive development between the ages 4 and 8: logical reasoning

The paper looks at the cognitive development of children between 4 and 8 assessed by their performance of logical reasoning tasks. The author performs a critical analysis of Piaget's research that claims that children are egocentric and unable to reason up to the standards of adults. The issues of deductive inference, compatibility and incompatibility are discussed. The paper analyses examples of children's erroneous reasoning, and concludes that children do think logically, especially in natural settings, though their reasoning is not as advanced as that of adults.

P/PS/36. Investigating child directed speech: ethical issues

The paper touches upon the issues of language acquisition in children focusing on adults speech to children, or child directed speech (CDS) that is short, well-constructed and fairly simple. The author discusses the ethical issues of the psychological investigation such as consent of the participants, withdrawal from the research, deception, protection of participants, debriefing and confidentiality. British Psychological Society (BPS) guidelines related to these issues are discussed. The requirements for ethically correct study are outlined.

P/PS/34. Universal stages in cognitive development

The paper examines the cross-cultural universalities of cognition claiming that the effects of nature may only predominate in early childhood. The author argues that the universal stages of cognitive development are 1) concept formation; 2) language acquisition and internalisation of grammatical rules (Chomsky); 3) perception and 4) problem-solving implying that a child can readily differentiate appearance from reality. Each stage of cognition is described, its universal character is supported by evidence.

P/PS/24. Discuss the impact of Darwin's work on natural selection for the development of psychology as a science.

This essay firstly is giving an overview what Darwin proposed in his theory of natural selection. It then considers the impact of his work on different aspects of science, religion, culture and particularly psychology as all are closely related. The essay further explores how Darwin changed the way that human beings are understood.

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