Ch. 1 Vocab

Question 1

the ways in which people grow, change, and stay the same throughout their lives, from conception to death

Answer 1

lifespan human development

Question 2

body maturation and growth (such as body size, proportion, appearance, health, and perceptual abilities)

Answer 2

physical development

Question 3

the maturation of thought processes and the tools that we use to obtain knowledge, become aware of the world around us, and solve problems

Answer 3

cognitive development

Question 4

changes in personality, emotions, views of oneself, social skills, and interpersonal relationships with family and friends

Answer 4

socioemotional development

Question 5

malleable or changeable

Answer 5

plasticity

Question 6

the capacity to adapt effectively to adverse contexts and circumstances

Answer 6

resilience

Question 7

where and when a person develops

Answer 7

context

Question 8

a generation of people born at the same time

Answer 8

cohort

Question 9

a set of customs

Answer 9

culture

Question 10

slow and gradual change

Answer 10

continuous

Question 11

abrupt change

Answer 11

discontinuous

Question 12

how is development cause by nature or nurture?

Answer 12

nature-nurture issue

Question 13

a way of organizing a set of observations or facts into a comprehensive explanation of how something works

Answer 13

theory

Question 14

proposed explanations for a given phenomena

Answer 14

hypotheses

Question 15

describes development and behavior as a result of the interplay of inner drives, memories, and conflicts we are unaware of and cannot control

Answer 15

Psychoanalytic theories

Question 16

periods in which unconscious drives are focused on different parts of the body (by Freud)

Answer 16

psychosexual stages

Question 17

theorists who only examine behavior that can be observed and believe that all behavior is influenced by the physical and social environment

Answer 17

behaviorism

Question 18

form of learning in which a person or animal comes to associate environmental stimuli with physiological responses

Answer 18

classical conditioning

Question 19

theory which holds that behavior becomes more or less probable depending on its consequences

Answer 19

operant conditioning

Question 20

a behavior followed by a rewarding or pleasing outcome

Answer 20

reinforcement

Question 21

a behavior followed by an aversive or unpleasant outcome

Answer 21

punishment

Question 22

people actively process information and their thoughts and feelings influence their behavior

Answer 22

social learning theory

Question 23

learning through observing and imitating others

Answer 23

observational learning

Question 24

individuals and the environment interact and influence each other

Answer 24

reciprocal determination

Question 25

theory that views children and adults as active explorers of their world, driven to learn by interacting with the world around them and organizing what they learn into cognitive schemas

Answer 25

cognitive-developmental theory

Question 26

concepts, ideas, and ways of interacting with the world

Answer 26

cognitive schemas

Question 27

theory which posits that the mind works in ways similar to a computer in that information enters and then is manipulated

Answer 27

information processing theory

Question 28

theory that examines how culture is transmitted from one generation to the next through social interaction

Answer 28

sociocultural theory

Question 29

theory that poses that development is a result of the ongoing interactions among biological, cognitive, and psychological changes within the person and s/he changing context

Answer 29

bioecological systems theory

Question 30

innermost level of context; includes interactions with the immediate physical and social environment surrounding the person, such as family, peers, and school

Answer 30

microsystem

Question 31

refers to the relations and interactions among microsystems, or connections among contexts

Answer 31

mesosytem

Question 32

consists of settings in which the individual is not a participant but that nevertheless influence s/he

Answer 32

exosystem

Question 33

the greater sociocultural context in which the microsystem, mesosytem, and exosystem are embedded

Answer 33

macrosystem

Question 34

refers to how the bioecological system changes over time

Answer 34

chronosystem

Question 35

the scientific study of the evolutionary basis of behavior

Answer 35

ethology

Question 36

theory that applies principles of evolution and scientific knowledge about the interactive influence of genetic and environmental mechanisms to understand the changes people undergo throughout their lives

Answer 36

evolutionary developmental theory

Question 37

a process of posing and answering questions by making careful and systematic observations and gathering information

Answer 37

scientific method

Question 38

to observe and record behavior in natural, real-world setting

Answer 38

naturalistic observation

Question 39

entails observing and recording behaviors displayed in a controlled environment, a situation constructed by the experimenter

Answer 39

structured observation

Question 40

type of interview in which a trained interviewer uses a conversational style that encourages the participant, or the person under study, to expand s/he responses

Answer 40

open-ended interview

Question 41

surveys; sets of questions; typically multiple choice

Answer 41

questionnaires

Question 42

permits researchers to examine relations among measured characteristics, behaviors, and events

Answer 42

correlational research

Question 43

testing hypotheses about casual relationships

Answer 43

experimental research

Question 44

behavior under study

Answer 44

dependent variable

Question 45

the factor that is manipulated

Answer 45

independent variable

Question 46

participant has equal chance of being assigned to the experimental or control group; essential for ensuring that the groups are as equal as possible in all preexisting characteristics

Answer 46

random assignment

Question 47

compares groups of people of different ages at a single point in time

Answer 47

cross-sectional research study

Question 48

follows the same group of participants over many points in time

Answer 48

longitudinal research study

Question 49

combines the best features of cross-sectional and longitudinal research by assessing multiple cohorts over time, enabling scientists to make comparisons that disentangle the effects of cohort and age

Answer 49

sequential research design

Question 50

ability to make and implement decisions

Answer 50

autonomy

Question 51

their informed, rational, and voluntary agreement to participate

Answer 51

informed consent