Three classic evolutionary topics

Abstract

As with other realities of life and science, Developmental Psychology itself is subject to constant modification, to an evolutionary process. For this reason, its content, far from being immutable, undergoes transformations resulting from new empirical data uncovered by research and the new theoretical reflections articulated around such data. The issues addressed in these pages clearly illustrate the process of change occurring in Developmental Psychology as the study of change itself, and they do so in a particularly important area: the very conceptualization of what the evolutionary process entails, including its scope and dimensions. To this end, we will critically reflect on three well-established topics throughout much of the history of Developmental Psychology that are now widely reconsidered: the irreversibility of early experience, psychological stability during adulthood, and the inevitable behavioral deterioration consequent to aging.