Developmental Psychology Research Topics

Are you looking for a topic for a psychology paper, experiment, or science fair project? Developmental psychology is a fascinating area and one of the most popular topics in psychology. It can also be a very broad subject that can include anything from prenatal development to health during the final stages of life.

The following are just a few different topics that might help inspire you. Remember, these are just ideas to help you get started. You might opt to explore one of these areas, or you might think of a related question that interests you as well.

Developmental Psychology Topics

Here are some sample ideas to consider for a Developmental Psychology topic on different age groups.

Children

• Could packaging nutritious foods in visually appealing ways encourage children to make healthier food choices?
• Do children who listen to music while studying perform better or worse on exams?
• Do students who eat breakfast perform better in school than those who do not eat breakfast?
• Does birth order have an impact on procrastination? Are first-borns less likely to procrastinate? Are last-borns more likely to put off tasks until the last minute?
• Does teaching infants sign language help or hinder the language acquisition process?
• How do parenting styles impact a child's level of physical activity? Are children raised by parents with permissive or uninvolved parents less active than those raised by parents with authoritative or authoritarian styles?
• How does bullying impact student achievement? Are bullied students more likely to have worse grades than their non-bullied peers?
• Which type of reinforcement works best for getting students to complete their homework: a tangible reward (such as a piece of candy) or social reinforcement (such as offering praise when homework is completed on time)?

Older Adults

• Are older adults who rate high in self-efficacy more likely to have a better memory than those with low self-efficacy?
• Do the limits of short-term memory change as we age? How do the limits of short-term memory compare at ages, 15, 25, 45, and 65?
• Do mental games such as word searches, Sudoku, and word matching help elderly adults keep their cognitive skills sharp?
• How do explanations for the behavior of others change as we age? Are younger adults more likely to blame internal factors for events and older adults more likely to blame external variables?

What to Consider Before Choosing a Topic

Before you start working on any paper, experiment, or science project, the first thing you need to do is understand the rules your instructor has established for the assignment. Be sure to check the official guidelines given by your teacher. If you are not sure about these guidelines, ask your instructor if there are any specific requirements before you get started on your research.

Research Tips

After you have gotten to move forward with your chosen topic, the next step is to do some background research. This step is essential! If you are writing a paper, the information you find will make up your literature review.

If you are performing an experiment, it will provide background information for the introduction of your lab report. For a psychology science project, this research will help you in your presentation and can help you decide how to best approach your own experiment.