Chapter 1

Question 1

Human development

Answer 1

Scientific study of the systematic process of change and stability in people

Question 2

Life-span development

Answer 2

Positive or negative development from conception to death

Question 3

Goals of human development field

Answer 3

Describe, explain, predict, and intervene

Question 4

Physical development

Answer 4

Growth of body and brain, sensory capacities, motor skills, and health

Question 5

Cognitive development

Answer 5

Learning, attention, memory, language, thinking, reasoning, and creativity

Question 6

Psychosocial development

Answer 6

Emotions, personality, and social relationships

Question 7

Heredity

Answer 7

The inborn traits and characteristics provided by a child’s biological parents

Question 8

Socioeconomic status (SES)

Answer 8

Family income and educational and occupational levels of the adults in the household

Question 9

Culture

Answer 9

A society’s or group’s total way of life including customs, traditions, laws, knowledge, beliefs, values, language, and physical products

Question 10

Individualistic culture

Answer 10

Place a priority on personal goals and encourage people to view themselves as distinct individuals

Question 11

Collectivistic cultures

Answer 11

Concerned with collective goals and group dynamics

Question 12

Ethnic group

Answer 12

People united by a distinctive culture, ancestry, religion, language, or national origin

Question 13

Intersectionality

Answer 13

An analytic framework focused on how a person’s identities combine to create differences in discrimination or privilege

Question 14

Ethnic gloss

Answer 14

Overgeneralization that obscures or blurs variations

Question 15

Normative influences

Answer 15

Biological or environmental events that affect many or most people in a society in similar ways and events that touch only certain individuals

Question 16

Historical generation

Answer 16

Group of people who experience the event at a formative time in their lives

Question 17

Nonnormative influence

Answer 17

Unusual events that have a major impact on individual lives because they disturb the expected sequence of the life cycle

Question 18

Imprinting

Answer 18

Newly born animals instinctively following the first moving object they see

Question 19

Critical period

Answer 19

Specific time when a given event, or its absence, has a specific impact on development

Question 20

Plasticity

Answer 20

Modifiability of performance

Question 21

Sensitive periods

Answer 21

Times when a developing person is especially responsive to certain kinds of experiences

Question 22

Development is lifelong

Answer 22

Each period of the life span is affected by what happened before and will affect what is to come

Question 23

Development is multidimensional

Answer 23

Occurs along interacting dimensions- biological, psychological, and social

Question 24

Development is multidirectional

Answer 24

As people gain in one area, they may lose in another

Question 25

Relative influences of biology and culture shift over the life span

Answer 25

Balance between influences changes

Question 26

Development involves changing resource allocations

Answer 26

Individuals choose to invest their resources of time, energy, talent, money, and social support in varying ways.

Question 27

Development shows plasticity

Answer 27

Many abilities can be improved significantly with training and practice even late in life.