Ch 1 Flashcards
developmental science
field of study devoted to understanding constancy and change throughout the lifespan
theory
orderly, integrated set of statements that describes, explains and predicts behavior
continuous
process of gradually augmenting the same types of skills that were there to begin with
discontinuous
process in which new ways of understanding and responding to the world emerge at specific times
continuous v discontinuous
view that infants react in similar just less complex way to the world than adults v children having a unique way of thinking feeling and behaving from adults
stage theorists
assume everyone follows same sequence of development
human development field
believe adults and children live indistinct contexts
contexts
unique combinations of personal and environmental circumstances that can result in different paths of change
stages
qualitative changes in thinking feeling and behaving that characterizes specific periods of development
nature v nurture
are genetic or environmental facts more influential
nature
hereditary information received from our parents at conception
nurture
complex forces of physical and social world that influence our biological makeup and psychological experiences before and after birth
stability
individuals will retain deficits and strengths through life, focuses on heredity, persistence of individual differences, proceeds staidly and sequentially
environment
usually point to early experiences as establishing a lifelong pattern of behavior
plasticity
open to change throughout life in response to influential experiences
