Chapter 1 - The Science of Development IP Flashcards
Science of Development
Seeks to understand how and why people - all kinds of people, everwhere, of every age - change over time.
Scientific Method
A way to answer questions that requires empirical research and data-based conclusions. 1. Begin with curiosity. 2. Develop a hypothesis. 3. Test the hypothesis. 4. Draw conclusions. 5. Report the results.
Replication
The repetition of a study, using different participants.
Nature
A general term for the traits, capacities, and limitations that each individual inherits genetically from his or her parents at the moment of conception.
Nurture
A general term for all the environmental influences that affect development after an individual is conceived.
Critical Period
A time where a particular type of developmental growth (in body or behavior) must happen if it is ever going to happen. ex. Limb development between 28-54 days after conception.
Sensitive Period
A time when a certain type of development is most likely to happen or happens most easily, although it may still happen later with more difficulty. For example, early childhood is considered a sensitive period for language learning.
Difference-Equals-Deficit-Error
The mistaken belief that a deviation from some norm is necessarily inferior to behavior or characteristiscs that meet the standard. p6 Ex: deaf children thought to be deficient, when they just need sign language to communicate.
Life-Span Perspective
An approach to the study of human development that takes into account all phases of life, not just childhood or adulthood. p7 Notes that development throughout life is 1. multidirectional 2. multicontextual 3. multicultural 4. multidisciplinary 5. plastic
Cohort
A group defined by the shared age of its members, who, because they were born at about the same time, move through life together, experiencing the same historical events and cultural shifts. p9 Ex: cohorts who came of age in the US during WWII, Vietnam War, the Gulf War, and the Iraq War.
Socioeconomic Status SES
A person’s positionin society as determined by income, wealth, occupation, education, and place of residence. (Sometimes called social class). p10 Ex: working class, middle class.
Ethnic Group
People whose ancestors were born in the same region and who often share a language, culture, and religion. p11
Social Construction
An idea that is based on shared perceptions, not on objective reality. Many age-related terms, sich as childhood, adolescence, yuppie, and senior citizen, are social constructions. p12
Epigenetic
Referring to the effects of environmental forces on the expression of an individual’s or a species’, genetic inheritance. p12
Plasticity
Denotes two complementary aspects of development: 1. Human traits can be molded (as plastic can be) 2. People maintain a certain durability of identity (as plastic does) p15
Developmental Theory
A group of ideas, assumptions, and generalizations that interpret and illuminate the thousands of observations that have been made about human growth. A developmental theory provides a framework for explaining the patterns and problems of development. p17
Psychoanalytic Theory
A theory of human development that holds that irrational, unconscious drives and motives, often originating in childhood, underlie human behavior. p17
Behaviorism
A theory of human development that studies observable behavior. Behaviorism is also called learning theory, because it describes the laws and processes by which behavior is learned. p19
Conditioning
According to behaviorism, the processes by which responses become linked to particular stimuli and learning takes place. The word conditioning is used to emphasize the importance of repeated practice, as when an athelete conditions his or her body to perform well by training for a long time. p20
Classical Conditioning
A learning process in which a meaningful stimulus (such as the smell of food to a hungry animal) gradually comes to be connected witha neutral stimulus (such as a particular sound) that had no special meaning before the learning process began. (Also called respondent conditioning). p20
Operant Conditioning
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Reinforcement
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Social Learning Theory
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Cognitive Theory
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Ecological Systems Approach
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Dynamic-Systems Approach
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Scientific Observation
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Experiment
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Independent Variable
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Dependent Variable
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Survey
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