1.0 Vocab Flashcards
Human Development
The multidisciplinary study of how people change and how they remain the same over time.
Universal and Context-Specific Development
Whether there is just one path of development or several paths.
Human Developmental Theory
An organized set of ideas that is designed to explain development.
Psychodynamic Theory
A set of theories proposing that development is largely determined by how well people resolve conflicts they face at different ages.
Psychosocial Theory
Erikson’s proposal that personality development is determined by the interaction of an internal maturational plan and external societal demands.
Epigenetic Principle
Each psychosocial strength has its own special period of particular importance.
Learning Theory
How learning influences a person’s behavior.
Behaviorism
The theory that learning determines what people will become.
Operant Conditioning
Learning paradigm in which the consequences of behavior determine whether a behavior is repeated in the future.
What are the two types of consequences that are especially influential?
Reinforcement: A consequence that increases the future likelihood of the behavior that it follows.
Punishment: A consequence that decreases the future likelihood of the behavior that it follows by either withholding something pleasant or adding something aversive.
Imitation or Observational Learning
Learning that occurs by simply watching how others behave.
What is the difference between positive and negative reinforcement?
Positive Reinforcement is giving a reward for doing the desired behavior. i.e. You’ll get chocolate if you clean your room.
Negative Reinforcement is taking away something unpleasant for doing the desired behavior. I.e. don’t have to do dishes if you clean the room.
Social Learning Theory
Learning by simply watching those around them or imitation or observational learning.
Cognitive-Developmental Theory
This theory focuses on how people think and how thinking changes over time. There are three approaches:
- Thinking develops in a universal sequence of stages;
- People process information as computers do becoming more efficient over much of the lifespan.
- Emphasizes the contributions of culture on cognitive growth.
Information-Processing Theory
Theory proposing that human cognition consists of mental hardware and mental software.
Ecological Theory
Theory based on the idea that human development is insuperable from environmental contexts in which a person develops.
Microsystem
The people and objects in an individual’s immediate environment. i.e. parents, child, siblings.
Mesosystem
Provides connections across Microsystems. i.e. school, friends
Exosystem
Social settings that a person may not experience firsthand it that still influence development. i.e. parent’s place of employment, parent’s social network, government and social policy.
