1: The People and the Field

Question 1

the principle that our genetic temperamental tendencies cause us to choose to put ourselves into specific environments

Answer 1

active forces

Question 2

nations defined by their wealth, or high median incomes - better education, life expectancy

Answer 2

developed world

Question 3

societies that prize social harmony, obedience, close family relationships over individual achievement

Answer 3

collectivist cultures

Question 4

a measurement strategy that involves directly watching and coding behaviors

Answer 4

naturalistic observations

Question 5

original behavioral worldview that focused only on “objective”, observable behaviors

Answer 5

traditional behaviorism

Question 6

father of child development who created cognitive developmental theory

Answer 6

Jean Piaget

Question 7

the biological limit of human life (about age 105)

Answer 7

maximum lifespan

Question 8

in Erik Erikson’s theory, each challenge that we face as we travel through the eight stages of the lifespan

Answer 8

Erikson’s psychosocial tasks

Question 9

the extent to which the environment is tailored to our biological tendencies and talents

Answer 9

person-environment fit

Question 10

behavioral genetic research strategy, compares identical twin pairs adopted into different families

Answer 10

twin/adoption study

Question 11

psychological perspective emphasizing inborn, species-specific biological forces and behaviors (nature)

Answer 11

evolutionary psychology

Question 12

large age group born between 1946-1964, at the center of radical transformations in society

Answer 12

baby boom cohort

Question 13

John Bowlby’s theory that being closely connected to a caregiver in childhood and attached to a significant other later in life is crucial to human survival

Answer 13

attachment theory

Question 14

the most impoverished nations of the world - less education, lower life expectancy

Answer 14

developing world

Question 15

changing our thinking to fit input from the wider world (Piaget)

Answer 15

accommodation

Question 16

the scientific study of the aging process and older adults

Answer 16

gerontology

Question 17

a measurement that asks people to report on their feelings and activities through questionnaires

Answer 17

self-report strategy

Question 18

communicable illnesses that are carried by microbes - highly contagious, appear quickly, either abate or cause death

Answer 18

infectious diseases

Question 19

Jean Piaget’s principle that, from infancy to adolescence, children progress through four qualitatively different stages of intellectual growth

Answer 19

cognitive developmental theory

Question 20

research field exploring how early life events alter the outer cover of our DNA, producing lifelong changes in health and behavior

Answer 20

epigenetics

Question 21

the gap between the rich and the poor in a nation; very few affluent residents and a mass of disadvantaged citizens

Answer 21

income inequality

Question 22

the principle that people affect one another, or that interpersonal influences flow in both directions

Answer 22

bidirectionality

Question 23

in Piaget’s theory, the first step promoting mental growth, involving fitting environmental input to our existing mental capacities

Answer 23

assimilation

Question 24

research technique involving collapsing the results of every study on an important topic into one overall measure, to prove that a finding is generally true of all people

Answer 24

meta-analysis

Question 25

unpredictable or atypical life changes that occur during development (losing a loved one)

Answer 25

non-normative transitions

Question 26

behavioral term for rewarding behavior

Answer 26

reinforcement

Question 27

a research strategy that involves relating two or more variables

Answer 27

correlational study

Question 28

people in their eighties and beyond who are more likely to have physical and mental disabilities

Answer 28

old-old

Question 29

predictable life changes that occur during development (becoming a parent, beginning college)

Answer 29

normative transitions

Question 30

field devoted to scientifically determining the role hereditary forces play in determining individual differences in behavior

Answer 30

behavioral genetics

Question 31

a person’s 50/50 chance at birth of living to a given age

Answer 31

average life expectancy

Question 32

learning by watching and imitating others

Answer 32

modeling

Question 33

AKA social learning theory - behavioral perspective emphasizing that people learn by watching others and our thoughts about the reinforcers determine our behavior - started by Albert Bandura

Answer 33

cognitive behaviorism

Question 34

the scientific study of human development throughout all of life

Answer 34

lifespan development

Question 35

the phase of life that begins after high school, lasts through the late twenties and is devoted to constructing an adult life

Answer 35

emerging adulthood

Question 36

developmental research strategy that involves testing the same age group repeatedly over many years

Answer 36

longitudinal study

Question 37

rising in social class / economic status from that of your parents/childhood

Answer 37

upward mobility

Question 38

the dramatic increase in average life expectancy that occurred in affluent nations during the first half of the 20th century

Answer 38

twentieth-century life expectancy revolution

Question 39

the only research method that can determine real causation; involves randomly assigning people to different treatments and examining the outcome

Answer 39

true experiment

Question 40

behavioral genetic research strategy, compares identical twins with fraternal twins (or other people)

Answer 40

twin study

Question 41

pioneering scientist who established first U.S. institute for researching child development

Answer 41

G. Stanley Hall

Question 42

people in their sixties and seventies who remain relatively healthy, stable

Answer 42

young-old

Question 43

developmental research strategy involving testing different age groups at the same time

Answer 43

cross-sectional study

Question 44

our birth group / age group with whom we travel through life

Answer 44

cohort

Question 45

the scientific study of adult life

Answer 45

adult development

Question 46

fatal illnesses (heart disease, cancer) tied to the aging process itself

Answer 46

chronic diseases

Question 47

behavioral genetic research strategy, compares adopted children with their biological and adoptive parents

Answer 47

adoption study

Question 48

the principle that our inborn talents and temperamental tendencies produce certain responses from the world

Answer 48

evocative forces

Question 49

societies that prize independence, competition and personal success

Answer 49

individualistic cultures

Question 50

an all-encompassing outlook on development that embraces variety of approaches, reality that many influences affect development

Answer 50

developmental systems approach

Question 51

broad general influences (cohort, culture, status, gender) that shape our development throughout the lifespan

Answer 51

contexts of development

Question 52

father of lifespan development who defined psychosocial stages and emphasized emotional growth throughout life

Answer 52

Erik Erikson

Question 53

researchers and practitioners whose professional interest lies in studying the human lifespan

Answer 53

developmentalists (developmental scientists)

Question 54

our belief in our own competence and ability to be successful - predicts our goals, whether we initiate activities, persist past failures

Answer 54

self-efficacy

Question 55

the scientific study of human development from birth through adolescence

Answer 55

child development

Question 56

according to traditional behaviorists, the law of learning that determines any voluntary action/response

Answer 56

operant conditioning