Chapter 1 vocabulary Flashcards
age effects
one of the three fundamental effects examined in developmental research, along with cohort and time-of-measurement effects, which reflects the influence of time dependent processes on development.
ageism
the untrue assumption that chronological age is the main determinant of human characteristics and that one age is better than another.
biological forces
one of four basic forces of development that includes all genetic and health-related factors.
biopsychosocial framework
way of organizing the biological, psychological and sociocultural forces on human development.
case study
an intensive investigation of individual people
cohort
a group of people born at the same point in time or within a specific time span.
cohort effects
one of the three basic influences examined in developmental research, along with age and time-of-measurement effects, which reflects differences caused by experiences and circumstances unique to the historical time in which one lives.
confounding
any situation in which one cannot determine which of two or more effects is responsible for the behaviors being observed.
continuity-discontinuity controversy
the debate over whether a particular developmental phenomenon represents smooth progression over time (continuity) or a series of abrupt shifts (discontinuity).
correlational study
an investigation in which the strength of association between variables is examined.
cross-sectional study
a developmental research design in which people of different ages and cohorts are observed at one time of measurement to obtain information about age differences.
demographers
people who study population trends.
dependent variable
behaviors or outcomes measured in an experiment.
emerging adulthood
a period when individuals are not adolescents but are not yet fully adults.
experiment
a study in which participants are randomly assigned to experimental and control groups and in which an independent variable is manipulated to observe its effects on a dependent variable so that cause-and-effect relations can be established.
gerontology
the study of aging from maturity through old age.
independent variable
the variable manipulated in an experiment.
life-cycle forces
one of the four basic forces of development that reflects differences in how the same event or combination of biological, psychological, and sociocultural forces affects people at different points in their lives.
life-span perspective
a view of the human life span that divides it into two phases: childhood/adolescence and young/middle/late adulthood.
longitudinal study
a developmental research design that measures one cohort over two or more times of measurement to examine age changes.
meta-analysis
a technique that allows researchers to synthesize the results of many studies to estimate relations between variables.
microgenetic study
a special type of longitudinal design in which participants are tested repeatedly over a span of days or weeks, typically with the aim of observing change directly as it occurs.
nature-nurture issue
a debate over the relative influence of genetics and the environment on development.
nonnormative influences
random events that are important to an individual but do not happen to most people.
normative age-graded influences
experiences caused by biological, psychological, and sociocultural forces that are closely related to a person’s age.
normative history-graded influences
events that most people in a specific culture experience at the same time.
plasticity
the belief that capacity is not fixed, but can be learned or improved with practice.
population pyramid
graphic technique for illustrating population trends.
primary aging
the normal, disease-free development during adulthood.
psychological forces
one of the four basic forces of development that includes all internal perceptual, cognitive, emotional and personality factors.
reliability
the ability of a measure to produce the same value when used repeatedly to measure the identical phenomenon over time.
secondary aging
developmental changes that are related to disease, lifestyle, and other environmental changes that are not inevitable.
self-reports
people’s answers to questions about a topic of interest.
sequential designs
types of developmental research designs involving combinations of cross-sectional and longitudinal designs.
sociocultural forces
one of the four basic forces of development that include interpersonal, societal, cultural, and ethnic factors.
stability-change issue
a debate over the degree to which people remain the same over time as opposed to being different.
systematic observation
a type of measurement involving watching people and carefully recording what they say and do.
tertiary aging
rapid losses occurring shortly before death.
time-of-measurement effects
one of the three fundamental effects examined in developmental research, along with age and cohort effects, which results from the time at which the data are collected.
universal versus context-specific development controversy
a debate over whether there is a single pathway of development, or several.
validity
the degree to which an instrument measures what it is supposed to measure.
