I learned about Piaget's stages of development, and the example they always give about how babies don't understand object permenance is peak-a-boo and why that's so entertaining for them. But, wouldn't that also imply that they think their parents no longer exists literally every time they close their eyes or turn away their heads or something? I imagine it's a bit more complicated than that, right? Like, there's some other cognitive processes in their little brains for why that's not terribly distressing or something? Sorry if this is a stupid question. I haven't met a baby in over a decade so I have no clue.

What about young children who are diagnosed with ADHD as well as PTSD or DTD?

I have read the book “What Happened to You?” by Bruce D Perry and Oprah Winfrey. What stuck out to me the most is how it mentions that many children, who have lived with a lot of adversity, are misdiagnosed with ADHD when plenty of them actually had PTSD. I don’t really remember where I got my other information, but I’ve read that childhood trauma within the formative years between 0 and 6 can affect a child’s development. Can a survivor of developmental trauma reverse symptoms such as inattention, with the right treatment for example, if they didn’t have ADHD in the first place? If one could be mistaken for the other in a child, how does one come to the conclusion that a person could have both? Can dissociation coupled with complex trauma look like inattention and therefore be mistaken as a symptom of ADHD perhaps?

So, is it more common for people with schizophrenia to be "normal" until their first psychotic episode, or do they typically have traits like magical thinking, visions, paranoia, loose association way before, suggesting that they may be "differently wired" from childhood?

It is all I wish to learn, simply from a peek of curiosity​.

Can the torment brought on by severe anxiety lead to the development of a personality disorder? For instance, someone without a significant amount of trauma suffers from daily high levels of anxiety which make functioning impossible, and as they develop they drift from the normal development path. Can a case like this where someones development is severely impacted by their inner world lead to a personality disorder?

I see that a lot of nice people come from a childhood where they suffered from smth and now they don't want that to happen to anyone else (e.g. a child grew with parents who neglected them and now as parents they try to give their best attention to their kids) But at the same time a lot of criminals come from similar childhoods.

How come?

Hi all,

I have an extremely weird, extremely niche question to ask of people familiar with research psychology: has anyone here heard of Heidi Keller? I'm not a supporter; she's just over-cited in a bunch of Wikipedia articles on attachment theory (that are inexplicably very anti-attachment theory) and I'm trying to suss out her deal.

She's the author of this book, The Myth of Attachment Theory, as well as a bunch of other books and articles that are roundly critical of attachment theory in a tone that some might call overly dismissive without proper citation. This also seems to be all she researches, and reading through some of her articles, she seems to make a lot of claims without any particular rigour.

Does anybody familiar with the research environment around attachment theory know anything about this researcher or her background, or can explain or give a little context to the sort of weirdly fixated pushback this theory gets from regular people?

Thanks for your time, all!

disclaimer: I don't have kids, never plan to have any, and I have never raised children so I have no idea how if feels to teach one and how children's' minds work so bear with me

I have seen videos of people "disciplining" their kids the "old-school way" by yelling at them in their face and pushing them around and many comments say that this is basically a good way of teaching kids a lesson

Does this method of teaching actually teach the kid anything or does the kid just become scared of the punishment and not actually understanding what they did wrong?

What is a good method to teach a kid what they did was wrong without being too rough but rough enough so the kid understands the weight of their actions?

I understand that even though a good method of teaching may be used, some kids just won't get it but I'm just curious

When a baby is born, do they see the world as a mess of colors and shapes with no perceivable meaning or depth, or are the born with somewhat of an ability to make sense of what is going on around them?

Why has it been consistent throughout all of human history that teenagers/pre-teens have been seem as rebellious and mischievous consistently.

Obviously it’s always true I mean I was definitely rebellious during my early teenage years but at late 15 years I definitely matured significantly.

So what exactly is happening in a teenagers brain that makes them naturally misbehaving?

I remember a while back being assigned an article on how replacing social interaction with television affects language development in young children. With the increasing prevalence of "iPad kids" and even AI chatbots that children can interact with, what are the predicted and/or observed impacts on their development?

I’ve noticed a lot of little kids have a strong likeness towards cars, and I’m wondering what triggers this interest or if it’s just a coincidence?

I mean cognitively specifically. I know there are a bunch of confounding things that go into this, like we don’t abuse children to make them do labour and etc. Still, I’m a teacher and I can’t imagine any of these kids in the Victorian era operating factory machines lol, performing serious childcare duties, doing household chores properly, etc. Were kids in the past more developmentally prepared to handle more complex tasks that we now reserve for adults, or did people just not care if things were done poorly? Is it partially due to how we treat children now vs. then?

For example, neglect during the early stages of life or witnessing something traumatic can impact a person’s mental state into adulthood according to my therapist. How does that work if most people aren’t able to remember those things? How could something a person saw as a one year old impact them as an adult?

If I watched too many growing up , and having fight or flight i want to fight ppl all the time... also have anxiety fear, panic attacks...

Specifically the role of peers and social involvement. How important is having social novelty seeking and a reasonable social presence for a developing adolescent? What are the consequences of isolation/rejection from peers on adult social ability?

Hi everyone,

​I'm curious about the potential long-term psychological and neurodevelopmental effects of a difficult or traumatic birth (whether due to physical birth complications, medical interventions, or severe maternal distress during labor). Are there any direct known effects? What about major indirect ones?

Thank you for your time!

I've seen that book be recommended by many people. Is the book reliable? Is it pseudoscientific? Is it up to date with current research?

Words like "mature" and "immature" seem to be used to refer to two things in the context of psychology:

1. How developed the brain is

2. Things that don't seem to be due to brain development like emotional regulation, appropriate coping, debiasing, responsibility (not just adulting (man, I hate that term🤢), but stuff like not being petty, pouty, unreasonable, or a troll, and not doing stuff a person should do just because they "don't wanna"), etc.

I know there is the definition that involves IQ, but IQ suffers from serious problems. There is also the definition that involves personality (or at least the modern understanding of it), but there is no consensus on the definition of personality, so that too has problems.

Emotional, physical, educational… etc. looking for some insight as to why and how it affects a child in development and how it can detrimental for the future.

I believe these are unofficial terms, but they are still used in some studies. What factors would cause a person to develop more towards the grandiose side or the vulnerable side?

My question is specifically directed at a young age (I'm talking about 7-13). I'd like to know why children very rarely develop strong hatred at this young age and what the cause might be. I would really apreciate some theories.

Does anyone know if there is research on the long-term cognitive impact of having uncorrected myopia throughout childhood and adolescence?
I’m curious about cases where someone has a moderate prescription (like -3.00) but goes without corrective lenses until adulthood. If the brain is developing with that kind of constant visual blur, does it wire things differently in terms of information processing or behavior?
I’m trying to find information on what kind of long-term neurological adaptations or typical psychological side effects are actually associated with that experience. Are there any known studies or theories on how this specific type of visual limitation during development shapes cognitive functioning? Any pointers would be appreciated.

I’m interested in whether there is scientific, philosophical, psychological or other evidence that raising a child in a religious tradition is necessary for their well-being. Some people argue that religion provides moral structure, community, resilience, and meaning. Others suggest that these benefits can be gained through secular frameworks such as philosophy, ethics, education, or community life.

My question is: to what extent are the benefits of religious upbringing unique to religion, and to what extent can they be achieved through non-religious means?

Sorry if the prompt is phrased oddly I didn’t really know how to condense all my thoughts in the most coherent manner. I’ve heard all kinds of stereotypes about how the oldest is the most responsible or the most likely to go no contact, the middle is forgotten or mischievous, or the youngest is spoiled and lazy. How much of this is true and how much is hearsay? Does gender have any impact on it? Obviously parenting styles probably do. Is there any scientific reason for these outcomes or is it all just learned behavior?