Chapter 1: History, Theory, and Research Strategies Flashcards
Developmental science
Scientific study of how/why people change or stay the same over time
Theory
Describe, explain, and predict behavior
Continuous development
Process of gradually augmenting the same types of skills that were there to begin with
Discontinuous development
Process where new ways of understanding the world emerge at specific times
Stages
Qualitative changes in thinking, feeling, and behaving that characterize a specific period of development
Contexts
Unique combinations of personal and environmental circumstances that can result in different paths of change
Nature-nurture controversy
Are genetic or environmental factors more important
Plasticity
Development is open to change in response to influential experiences
Lifespan perspective
Assumes development is lifelong, multidimensional, multidirectional, plastic, and affected by multiple interacting forces
Age-graded influences
Events that are strongly related to age (predictable when they occur)
Resilience
The ability to adapt effectively in the face of threats to development
History-graded influences
What sets people apart from other cohorts (economic prosperity, technological advances)
Non-normative influences
irregular events that don’t follow a predictable timeline (marriage, career promotion, death of a parent)
Normative approach
Measures of behavior are taken on large numbers of individuals and are computed to represent typical development
Standford-Binet Intelligence Scale
Test that predicted school achievement–> sparked interest in development of the individual
Psychoanalytic perspective
Freud, people move through stages where the confront conflicts between biological drives and social expectations. How they resolve these conflicts describes their ability to learn, get along with others and cope with anxiety
Id
Source of basic biological needs and desires
Ego
conscious, rational part of personality
Superego
conscience related to societal values
Psychosocial theory
Erikson, emphasized that in addition to mediating between id and superego, the ego makes a positive contribution to development to make the individual an active member of society
Behaviorism
A systematic approach to studying human behavior (and responses to stimuli)
Classical conditioning
A learning process that occurs when to stimuli are paired and a response that at first is just elicited by the second stimulus is now elicited by the first (Pavlov’s dog)
Operant conditioning
Positive behavior can be increased with reinforces, negative behavior can be decreased with punishments
Social learning theory
Observational learning is a powerful source of development
