Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

PSYC 2040 > Ch 01 Lifespan Psychology and Developmental Theories > Flashcards

Ch 01 Lifespan Psychology and Developmental Theories Flashcards

1
Q

application

A

process of translating evidence-based research and ideas into practical solutions to influence and improve human life

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

associative learning

A

learning process in which the repeated presentation of two stimuli results in the linking of the two stimuli, making the meanings synonymous

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

attachment

A

enduring, emotionally significant bond that forms between two individuals, often in a caregiving context

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

attrition

A

gradual loss or dropout of participants from your original pool

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

behavioral genetics

A

field of inquiry most directly concerned with exploring the intersection between nature and nurture, with an aim toward determining the degree to which behavior and development are driven by genetic influences

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

behaviorist perspective

A

perspective, also known as learning theory, that focuses on the role the environment plays in influencing behavior and behavioral change.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

case study

A

investigation where a great amount of detail is gathered about one or more individuals of interest with the aim of gaining a thorough understanding of each person

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

child study movement

A

social and historical consensus that combined several interests to focus the scientific community’s interest on child development

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

chronosystem

A

idea that all other contexts within the ecological systems model are moving and changing through historical time

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

classical conditioning

A

learning process whereby a previously neutral or meaningless stimulus, via accidental or intentional pairing with a natural stimulus takes on the same meaning for the learner as the natural stimulus

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

cohort effect

A

idea that people live, interact and develop within a similar time period

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

conditioned stimulus

A

previously neutral or meaningless stimulus (an environmental trigger)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

continuous development

A

gradual day-by-day or week-over-week progression of change

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

correlation

A

statistical technique used to determine degree of relation or association among two or more variables

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

critical period

A

developmental age range in which certain experiences are required for the development of a psychological or physical ability

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

culture

A

set of adaptations to the physical and social world that have shared meaning for a group and are transmitted across generations

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

cross-sectional design

A

type of developmental research where groups of participants composed of different ages are studied at a single point in time

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

cross-sequential design

A

type of developmental research that combines the benefits of both cross-sectional and longitudinal designs

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

dependent variable

A

resulting outcome behavior that is measured in an experiment; depends on another variable

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

discontinuous development

A

changes in kind, form or degree that do not directly follow from what came before

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

ecological systems model

A

proposes that a person’s development is shaped by different layers of their environment, from their immediate family and friends to their broader culture and society

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

epigenetics

A

process by which environmental influences can modify an individual’s genetic expression

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
22
Q

ethnicity

A

one’s cultural and/or national heritage

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
23
Q

ethnoracial

A

term combining the elements of race and ethnicity

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
24
Q

ethology

A

study of animal behavior

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
25
Q

evolutionary psychology

A

looks to the theory of natural selection to explain the emergence, development and persistence of various psychological characteristics in humans

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
26
Q

exosystem

A

social and physical settings (contexts) in the ecological systems model that indirectly impact the developing individual and are even further removed from the immediate experience or even knowledge of the individual

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
27
Q

experimental method

A

research design used to determine cause-and-effect relationships including specific design requirements

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
28
Q

external validity

A

degree to which an experiment’s results and reality match

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
29
Q

gender

A

ideas society has about the roles, attitudes and behaviors associated with one’s sex assignment

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
30
Q

gender identity

A

an individual’s psychological sense of their gender, including ideas about masculinity, femininity, non-binary and other dimensions

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
31
Q

gene-environment correlation

A

the complex interplay between our genes and the environments we experience in contributing to development

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
32
Q

generalizability

A

the extent to which findings from a specific study or context can be applied to other populations or settings

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
33
Q

heritability estimate

A

extent to which a genetic component explains difference

34
Q

human development

A

scientific perspective that incorporates a multidisciplinary approach to understanding the development process

35
Q

hypothesis

A

testable prediction about how the world will behave if our idea is correct; often worded as an if-then statement

36
Q

independent variable

A

variable that is altered in an experiment and is expected or implied to be the cause of or influence some outcome behavior

37
Q

informed consent

A

process whereby study participants are fully informed of the purpose of the study, what will be required of their participation, potential risks, including any harms, and what the benefits to science and themselves are anticipated to be

38
Q

kinship study

A

method of studying naturally-occurring variation in genetic similarities of individuals and comparing that information with what we know about the degree of similarity or dissimilarity in the environments of these same individuals

39
Q

lifespan development

A

scientific study of growth, change and stability in humans from conception until death

40
Q

longitudinal design

A

type of developmental research where a group of participants are followed over a period of time, and reassessed at various points

41
Q

macrosystem

A

set of contexts in the ecological systems model that contain all the beliefs and ideologies of one’s culture

42
Q

maturation

A

growth and change in an individual based on underlying biological processes

43
Q

mesosystem

A

interactions in the ecological systems model between the microsystem contexts that do not directly involve the developing individual

44
Q

microsystem

A

distinct contexts (environmental settings) in the ecological systems model wherein individual development occurs via direct interaction

45
Q

naturalistic observation

A

observation of research participants in real-life settings

46
Q

nature and nurture

A

psychologists’ way of recognizing that most development has both genetic (nature) and environmental (nurture) sources of influence

47
Q

normative

A

identification of typical or expected developments across the lifespan

48
Q

observational learning

A

set of principles that outline the way in which learning can occur through the social act of observing others who are themselves undergoing learning

49
Q

operant conditioning

A

learning process whereby feedback from the environment shapes an individual’s behavior

50
Q

private speech

A

self-talk, in particular to guide progress on a difficult task

51
Q

psychology

A

scientific study of the mind and all the behavior it produces

52
Q

psychosocial crisis

A

age-based developmental challenge posed by society

53
Q

psychosocial theory of development

A

theory that views human development occurring in stepwise fashion as a result of resolving age-graded challenges posed by the social environment

54
Q

punishment

A

process of applying a consequence that has as its effect the decreased frequency of that behavior

55
Q

quasi-experimental design

A

research method that seeks to determine the relationship between independent and dependent variables by studying conditions as they arise through the natural course of life

56
Q

race

A

socially constructed concept that is a highly variable mix of physical characteristics, heritage, culture of origin, and self and other identification

57
Q

random assignment

A

process whereby each participant has an equal chance of being placed in each condition

58
Q

reaction range

A

idea that for many of our characteristics, our genes likely set parameters such as minimal and maximum levels of particular traits, behaviors or abilities, as well as how sensitive the development of these are to environmental forces

59
Q

regression

A

process of moving backward to an early stage or lower capability

60
Q

reinforcement

A

process of applying a consequence that has as its effect the increased frequency of that behavior

61
Q

reliability

A

consistency and reproducibility of a given result

62
Q

religion

A

formal system of beliefs, values, and practices organized around the worship of a higher being or power

63
Q

religiosity

A

religious behaviors, such as praying, giving money to a place of worship or religious organization, and being active within a religious community

64
Q

resilience

A

an individual’s capacity for and “process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats or even significant sources of stress” (APA, 2014)

65
Q

scaffolding

A

helping learners achieve beyond their current level, with a gradual withdrawing of such support

66
Q

sensitive period

A

age range when the development of a characteristic is particularly open to inputs and influences from the environment

67
Q

sex

A

one’s assignment as male, female, or intersex based on one’s biological anatomy and physiology

68
Q

sexual orientation

A

includes sexual identity, sexual behavior, and sexual attraction, or to whom someone is sexually attracted

69
Q

shaping

A

learning process where successive approximations of a desired target behavior are reinforced thereby producing progressively more complex behavior

70
Q

society

A

recognized group of people who live within a formal system of rules and institutions

71
Q

sociocultural theory of cognitive development

A

view of cognitive development that emphasizes the embeddedness of the development of thinking abilities within the social and cultural context of the individual

72
Q

spirituality

A

individual’s personal search for the sacred

73
Q

socioeconomic status (SES)

A

measure of one’s position in society and level of access to resources

74
Q

stability

A

state in which characteristics and abilities remain the same or function similarly across broad portions of the lifespan

75
Q

stage theory

A

explanation for brief periods of rapid development following longer stretches of stability

76
Q

stage theory of cognitive development

A

theory that children’s thinking skills change in distinct steps or stages as they grow, with each stage building on the previous one

77
Q

structured observation

A

type of observation where people are observed while engaging in set, specific tasks

78
Q

theory

A

well-developed set of ideas that propose an explanation for observed phenomena

79
Q

third variable problem

A

idea that another variable, one you did not measure, is what is actually independently influencing the two variables you did study

80
Q

twin study

A

type of kinship study in which the correspondence between the genetic relatedness of twins specifically (both identical and fraternal) and resulting psychological characteristics are examined

81
Q

unconditioned stimulus

A

environmental trigger that has inherent meaning that does not have to be learned

82
Q

validity

A

accuracy of a given result in measuring what it is designed to measure

83
Q

zone of proximal development (ZPD)

A

notion that there are concepts and ideas just beyond our current abilities that we are ready to learn and master, if only we had a little help, often in the form of others

PSYC 2040 (3 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2025 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions