Ch. 1: Study of Human Development

Question 1

Human Development

Answer 1

The multidisciplinary study of how people change and how they remain the same over time.

Question 2

continuity-discontinuity issue

Answer 2

Concerns whether a particular developmental phenomenon represents a smooth progression throughout the life span or a series of abrupt shifts (discontinuity)

Question 3

universal and context-specific developmental issue

Answer 3

whether there is one path of development or several. Ex: order of infancy developmental skills is roughly the same, but how those skills are emphasized can influence focus on certain things

Question 4

biological forces

Answer 4

all genetic and health-related forces that affect development

Question 5

Psychological forces

Answer 5

all internal perceptual, cognitive, emotional and personality factors that affect development

Question 6

sociocultural forces

Answer 6

interpersonal, societal, cultural, and ethnic factors that affect development

Question 7

life-cycle forces

Answer 7

differences in how the same events affect people of different ages (pregnancy as a teen vs. 30 year old)

Question 8

biopsychosocial framework

Answer 8

how biological, psychological, and sociocultural forces all interact to make up development

Question 9

psychodynamic theories

Answer 9

Development is largely determined by how well people resolve conflicts they face at different ages (starts with Freud)

Question 10

Psychosocial Theory

Answer 10

Erikson’s theory that personality development is determined by interaction of the internal maturational plan and the external societal demands

Question 11

Epigenetic Principle

Answer 11

Means by which each psychosocial strength has its own special period of particular importance (later stages of life built on a foundation of what happens earlier)

Question 12

operant conditioning

Answer 12

consequences of behavior determine whether it is repeated in the future (rat pushes button and receives treats and continues to push button)

Question 13

reinforcement

Answer 13

a consequence that increases the likelihood of a behavior

Question 14

self-efficacy

Answer 14

people’s beliefs about their own abilities and talents

Question 15

information-processing theory

Answer 15

human cognition consists of mental hardware and mental software

Question 16

Ecological Theory

Answer 16

views human development as inseparable from the environmental contexts in which a person develops. Bronfenbrenner is best known proponent of this and proposes that developing person is embedded in series of complex and interactive systems (Macro-Exo-Meso-Micro)

Question 17

Microsystem

Answer 17

people and objects in individual’s immediate environment

Question 18

Mesosystem

Answer 18

provides connections across microsystems (school, friends, etc.)

Question 19

exosystem

Answer 19

settings that person may not experience firsthand but still influence them (Government and social policy, parent’s workplace, etc.)

Question 20

macrosystem

Answer 20

culture and subcultures in which other systems are embedded (historical events, ethnic group, etc.)

Question 21

environmental press

Answer 21

demands put on people by the environment

Question 22

life-span perspective

Answer 22

view that human development is multiple determined and cannot be understood within the scope of a single framework

Question 23

selective optimization with compensation (SOC) model

Answer 23

selection, optimization, and compensation form a system of behavioral action that generates and regulates development and aging

Question 24

life-course perspective

Answer 24

how various generations experience the biological, psychological, and sociocultural forces of development in their respective historical contexts

Question 25

systematic observation

Answer 25

watching people and carefully recording what they do or say

Question 26

naturalistic observation

Answer 26

observing people as they behave spontaneously in real life

Question 27

structured observations

Answer 27

researcher creates a setting that is likely to bring out the behavior of interest

Question 28

correlation study

Answer 28

investigation looking at relations between variables as they exist naturally in the world

Question 29

correlation coefficient

Answer 29

an expression of the strength and direction of a relation between two variables. Range from -1.0 to 1.0

Question 30

cross-sectional study

Answer 30

developmental differences are identified by testing people of different ages

Question 31

cohort effects

Answer 31

problem with cross-sectional studies when differences between age groups may result from environmental events not from developmental processes

Question 32

sequential design

Answer 32

developmental research design based on cross-sectional and longitudinal studies

Question 33

Learning Theory

Answer 33

Concentrates on how learning influences a person’s behavior, emphasizes the role of experience in whether behaviors are rewarded or punished. Encompasses behaviorism and social learning theory

Question 34

Behaviorism

Answer 34

Proposed by John Watson in 1900s. Argued that infants are “blank slates” and learning alone determines what a person will become. Operant conditioning and reinforcement are important

Question 35

Social Learning Theory

Answer 35

People learn much by simply watching those around them

Question 36

Cognitive-Developmental Theory

Answer 36

Focuses on thought process and person constructing knowledge actively (Piaget’s Theory included under this umbrella)

Question 37

Piaget’s Theory

Answer 37

Jean Piaget argues that children naturally try to make sense of their world, acting like little scientists who constantly form and test different hypotheses. Four stages of Piaget’s cognitive development: sensorimotor, preoperational thought, concrete operational thought, and formal operational thought.

Question 38

Vygotsky’s Theory

Answer 38

View development as an apprenticeship where children develop as they work with skilled adults