Chapter 1: Introduction to Child and Adolescent Development Flashcards
Development
Predictable changes that occur in structure or function over the life span
Ontogeny
Development of the individual over his or her lifetime
Phylogeny
Evolution of the species
Child Study Movement
Social movement begun in the United States around 1900 that proposed the systematic application of science principles to the study of children
Stability
In development psychology, the degree to which a person maintains over time the same rank order in comparison with peers for a particular characteristic
Plasticity
The extent to which behavior or brain functioning can be changed
Dicontinuity versus Continuity of Development
The scientific debate over whether developmental change is gradual (continuous) or relatively abrupt (discontinuous)
Normative Approach
Approach in psychology concerned with features that all people have in common
Developmental Function
The form that development takes over time
Idiographic Approach
Approach to psychology that is concerned with individual differences among people, as opposed to concern with features that all people have in common
Nature/Nurture
Debate concerning the degree to which biology (nature) and experience (nurture) influences the development of any psychological characteristic and its development
Empiricism
Philosophical perspective that nature provides only species-general learning mechanisms, with cognition arising as a result of experience
Nativism
Philosophical perspective that human intellectual abilities are innate
Genetic Determinism
The idea that one’s genes determine one’s behavior
Developmental Systems Theory
The perspective that development is not simply “produced” by genes, nor constructed by the environment, but emerges from the continuous, bidirectional interaction between all levels of biological and environmental factors
Epigenesis
The emergence of new structures and functions during course of development
Preformationism
The idea that development is just the expression of previously fully formed structures
Structure
In development psychology, a substrate of the organism that develops, such as muscle, nervous tissue, or mental knowledge
Function
In developmental psychology, action related to a structure, such as movement of a muscle, nerve firing, or the activation of a mental representation
Sensitive Period
The time in development (usually early in life) when a certain skill or ability can be most easily acquired
Validity
The extent to which a measurement accurately assesses what it purports to measure
Reliability
The trustworthiness of a research finding; includes interobserver reliability and replicability
Parsimony
Preference for the simplest scientific explanation for a phenomenon
Structured Interviews
Interviews in which participants are asked a set of standardized questions under conditions in which the researcher can control extraneous factors that may influence a child’s behavior
Clinical Interviews
Interviews, used extensively by Piaget, in which the examiner probes a child’s knowledge about a given topic
Questionnaires
A form of self-reports, in which participants respond to a series of questions designed to get at some specific aspect of people’s behavior, thinking, or feelings
Observational Studies
Studies in which researchers identify a type of behavior they are interested in and observe children in specific situations for the incidence of those behaviors. They can be naturalistic or structured and typically do not involve an experimental manipulation of variables
Case Study
Detailed description of a single individual made by an expert observer
Correlational Studies
Type of study that examines two or more factors to determine if changes in one are associated with changes in another
Experimental Studies
Type of studies in which a researcher manipulates one or more factors, then observes how these manipulations change the behavior under investigation
Independent Variables
In experimental studies, the factors, or variables, that are modified to see their effect on the dependent, or outcome, variables
Dependent Variables
The “outcome” variable, or behavior, that is being studied
Quasi-Experimental Studies
Studies in which assignment of participants to conditions is not made at random (e.x. males vs females)
Naturalistic Studies
Studies in which the researcher observes individuals in their own environments, interviewing as little as possible.
Longitudinal Studies
Type of developmental studies that assesses developmental change by following a person or group of people over a long period of time
Cross-sectional Studies
Type of developmental studies that compares different individuals of different ages at the same point in time
Cross-sequential Approach
Type of developmental studies that combines aspects of cross-sectional and longitudinal; groups of participants as different ages are tested, and then followed longitudinally
Cohort Effects
The psychological effects associated with being a member of a group born at a particular time (e.x. a generation) and place; the fact that people who are living in a culture at the same time are influenced by the same historical events
Microgenetic Studies
Studies assessing some target behaviors of participants repeatedly over relatively short intervals of time, usually days or weeks
