Ch 1 Flashcards
Hypothesis
specific prediction about what will hold true if we observe a phenomenon
Theory
set of concepts and propositions designed to organize, describe, and explain a set of observations
relatively permanent change in behavior (or behavioral potential) that results from a person’s experiences or practice
Learning
well-defined group that a researcher is interested in drawing conclusions about
Population
period of the life span extending from about age 18 to age 25 or later
Emerging adulthood
set of developmental changes biologically programmed by hereditary material rather than caused primarily by life experience
Maturation
developmental research in which one group of subjects is studied repeatedly over months or years
longitudinal design
attitude dictating that investigators must be objective and allow data to decide merits of their theorizing
Scientific method
set of conditions outside the person that are presumed to influence and be influenced by the individual
Environmenr
hereditary material passed from parents to child at conception
Genes
set of systematic changes in the individual occurring between conception and death
Development
Growth
The physical changes that occur from conception to maturity
Culture
A system of meanings shared by a population of people and transmitted from one generation to the next.
Socially defined age groups or strata, each with different statuses, roles, privileges, and responsibilities in society.
Age grade
Expectations about what people should be doing or how they should behave at different points in the life span = ___
Age norms
A personal sense of when things should be done in life and when the individual is ahead of or behind the schedule dictated by age norms
Social clock
person’s classification in or affiliation with a group based on common heritage or traditions
Ethnicity
Socioeconomic Status (SES)
The position people hold in society based on such factors as income, education, occupational status, and the prestige of their neighborhoods.
The transitional period between childhood and adulthood that begins with puberty and ends when the individual has acquired adult competencies and responsibilities; roughly ages 10 to 18 or later.
Adolescence
Life expectancy
The average number of years a newborn baby can be expected to live; now about 78 years in the United States
Nature-nurture issue
The debate over the relative roles of biological predispositions (nature) and environmental influences (nurture) as determinants of human development.
Developmental changes that are biologically programmed by genes rather than caused primarily by learning, injury, illness, or some other life experience
Maturation
A functional unit of heredity made up of DNA and transmitted from generation to generation
Genes
Events or conditions outside the person that are presumed to influence and be influenced by the individual
Environment
Events or conditions outside the person that are presumed to influence and be influenced by the individual
Environment
A relatively permanent change in behavior (or behavioral potential) that results from a person’s experiences or practice
Learning
Grounding what professionals do in research and ensuring that the curricula and treatments provided to students or clients have been demonstrated to be effective
Evidence-based practice
Baby biographies
Carefully recorded observations of the growth and development of children by their parents over a period; the first scientific investigations of development
G. Stanley Hall’s term for the emotional ups and downs and rapid changes that he believed characterize adolescence
Storm and stress
A perspective that views development as a lifelong, multidirectional process that involves gain and loss, is characterized by considerable plasticity, is shaped by its historical–cultural context, has many causes, and is best viewed from a multidisciplinary perspective
Life-span perspective
An openness of brain cells or of the organism as a whole to positive and negative environmental influence; a capacity to change in response to experience.
Plasticity
The brain’s remarkable ability to change in response to experience throughout the life span, as when it recovers from injury or benefits from stimulating learning experiences
Neuroplasticity
A research method in which the scientist observes people as they engage in common everyday activities in their natural habitats. Contrast with structured observation
Naturalistic observation
A research method in which scientists create special conditions designed to elicit the behavior of interest to achieve greater control over the conditions under which they gather behavioral data. Contrast with naturalistic observation
Structured observation
A brain-scanning technique that uses magnetic forces to measure the increase in blood flow to an area of the brain that occurs when that brain area is active. By having children and adults perform cognitive tasks while lying very still in an fMRI scanner, researchers can determine which parts of the brain are involved in particular cognitive activities
functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)
A research strategy in which the investigator manipulates or alters some aspect of a person’s environment to measure its effect on the individual’s behavior or development
Experiment
The aspect of the environment that a researcher deliberately changes or manipulates in an experiment to see its effect on behavior; a causal variable. Contrast with dependent variable
Independent variable
The aspect of behavior measured in an experiment and assumed to be under the control of, or dependent on, the independent variable
Dependent variable
A technique in which research participants are placed in experimental conditions in an unbiased or random way so that the resulting groups are not systematically different
Random assignment
The holding of all other factors besides the independent variable in an experiment constant so that any changes in the dependent variable can be said to be caused by the manipulation of the independent variable
Experimental control
A research technique that involves determining whether two or more variables are related. It cannot indicate that one thing caused another, but it can suggest that a causal relationship exists or allow us to predict one characteristic from our knowledge of another
Correlational method
A measure, ranging from +1.00 to −1.00, of the extent to which two variables or attributes are systematically related to each other in either a positive or a negative way
Correlational coefficient
The problem in correlational studies of determining whether a presumed causal variable is the cause or the effect. See also third variable problem
Directionality problem
In correlation studies, the problem posed by the fact that the association between the two variables of interest may be caused by some third variable; see also directionality problem.
Third variable problem
A research method in which the results of multiple studies addressing the same question are synthesized to produce overall conclusions
Meta-analysis
