Chapter 2. Causes

Question 1

Adaptive behavior

Answer 1

Thoughts, feelings, and actions
that allow children to develop social, emotional, and
behavioral competence over time and meet the changing demands of the environment

Question 2

Alleles

Answer 2

Alternative forms of a gene that are inherited or

arise by mutation

Question 3

Attachment

Answer 3

The affective bond between caregiver and

child that serves to protect and reassure the child in times of danger or uncertainty

Question 4

Basal ganglia

Answer 4

Brain regions located under the cortex; they
help to control movement, filter incoming information,
relay information to other regions, and regulate attention and emotions

Question 5

Behavioral epigenetics

Answer 5

A scientific field of study that

examines the ways environmental experiences can affect genetic expression and be passed from one generation to the next

Question 6

Behavioral genetics

Answer 6

An area of scientific study that
examines the relationship between genes and behavior; chiefly interested in determining the heritability of traits or disorders

Question 7

Brain stem

Answer 7

An evolutionarily old region of the brain
responsible for many basic life-sustaining functions;
consists of the medulla, pons, and midbrain

Question 8

Cerebellum

Answer 8

A brain region located posteriorly (in the

back); chiefly responsible for balance and coordination

Question 9

Cerebral cortex

Answer 9

The outermost layer of the brain,

consisting of the frontal, parietal, occipital, and temporal lobes

Question 10

Chromosomes

Answer 10

Threadlike strands of genes organized in 23

pairs in typically developing humans

Question 11

Classical conditioning

Answer 11

A type of learning in which two
stimuli are paired together in time, and a previously
neutral stimulus comes to elicit an automatic,
unconditioned response

Question 12

Cognitive development

Answer 12

Changes in a person’s capacity for perception, thought, language, and problem-solving

Question 13

Concordance

Answer 13

Used by behavioral geneticists to describe
the probability that two people will both have a certain
characteristic or disorder given that one has the
characteristic

Question 14

Developmental pathways

Answer 14

Possible courses or trajectories of children’s behavioral, cognitive, or social–emotional
development over time, ranging from adaptation to
maladaptation

Question 15

Developmental psychopathology

Answer 15

A multidisciplinary approach to studying adaptive and maladaptive development across the lifespan. According to this perspective, development is shaped by the complex interaction of biological, psychological, and social–cultural factors over time

Question 16

Developmental tasks

Answer 16

Behavioral, cognitive, or social–emotional challenges that children face at each age or developmental level

Question 17

Diathesis-stress model

Answer 17

A broad theory that posits that a child will exhibit a disorder when she has both (1) an underlying genetic risk for the disorder and (2) an environmental experience or life event that triggers its onset

Question 18

Ecological systems theory

Answer 18

A theory of child development that consists of concentric nested systems, each progressively more distal from the child: microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, chronosystem

Question 19

Emotional development

Answer 19

The emergence and refinement of

a person’s experience, expression, understanding, and regulation of feelings

Question 20

Emotion regulation

Answer 20

The processes that people use
to recognize, label, and control our feelings and our
expression of these feelings

Question 21

Equifinality

Answer 21

Describes the phenomenon in which children
with different developmental histories show a similar
developmental outcome

Question 22

Gene

Answer 22

Thousands of nucleotides that form part of a
chromosome; they are transferred from parent to
offspring and influence the characteristics of those
offspring

Question 23

Gene-environment correlation

Answer 23

The idea that our environments are partially influenced by our genotypes; there are three types of correlations: (1) passive, (2) evocative, and (3) active

Question 24

Genotype

Answer 24

The genetic code that we inherit from our

parents

Question 25

Goodness-of-fit

Answer 25

The compatibility of a child’s temperament
with the features of his or her environment, especially
parenting behavior

Question 26

Heterotypic continuity

Answer 26

The phenomenon in which symptoms change over time, but their underlying pattern remains the same (e.g., a boy’s ADHD symptoms change from childhood to adulthood, but he still has underlying problems with inhibition)

Question 27

Histones

Answer 27

Proteins found in cells; they act as spools

around which DNA winds; they regulate the expression of genes, turning them “on” or “off”

Question 28

Homotypic continuity

Answer 28

The phenomenon in which disorders
persist over time relatively unchanged (e.g., a boy with
intellectual disability continues to have this disorder as
an adult)

Question 29

Internal working model

Answer 29

In attachment theory, a mental representation of a caregiver that helps an individual cope with psychosocial stress

Question 30

Learning theory

Answer 30

A broad explanation for the causes of
behavior that relies on classical conditioning, operant
conditioning, and modeling

Question 31

Limbic system

Answer 31

Located deep within the brain, responsible
for emotional processing and memory; consists of the
amygdala, hippocampus, and several other structures

Question 32

Maladaptive behavior

Answer 32

Thoughts, feelings, and actions that
interfere with children’s social, emotional, and behavioral competence or do not meet the changing demands of the environment

Question 33

Molecular genetics

Answer 33

An area of scientific study that examines the relationship between specific genes and the presence or absence of characteristics and disorders

Question 34

Multifinality

Answer 34

Describes the phenomenon in which children
with similar early experiences show different social,
emotional, and behavioral outcomes

Question 35

Neural plasticity

Answer 35

A term used to describe the brain’s
capacity to change its structure or functioning in
response to environmental experience

Question 36

Neurons

Answer 36

Nerve cells; consist of dendrites, a cell body

(soma), an axon, and terminal endings; relay information within themselves using electrical signals

Question 37

Neurotransmitters

Answer 37

Chemical messengers that allow

neurons to communicate with each other; examples are dopamine and serotonin

Question 38

Nonshared environmental factors

Answer 38

Experiences that differ between siblings (e.g., different age, gender, friends, sports, or hobbies)

Question 39

Operant conditioning

Answer 39

A type of learning in which an action is associated with an environmental consequence, either reinforcement or punishment

Question 40

Parenting types

Answer 40

A four-part classification of parenting behavior based on its degree of responsiveness and demandingness: authoritative, authoritarian, indulgent, uninvolved

Question 41

Phenotype

Answer 41

The observable expression of our genetic endowment

Question 42

Probabilistic epigenesis

Answer 42

A principle of developmental psychopathology; refers to the manner in which genetic, biological, and social–cultural factors interact over time to influence (but not absolutely determine) development

Question 43

Protective factors

Answer 43

Influences that buffer the negative effects of risks on children’s development and promote adaptive functioning

Question 44

Punishment (learning theory)

Answer 44

In operant conditioning, an environmental consequence that decreases the likelihood of future behavior

Question 45

Reinforcement (learning theory)

Answer 45

In operant conditioning, an environmental consequence that increases the likelihood of future behavior

Question 46

Resilience

Answer 46

The tendency of some children to develop social, emotional, and behavioral competence despite the presence of multiple risk factors

Question 47

Risk factors

Answer 47

Influences on development that interfere with the acquisition of competencies or compromise children’s ability to adapt to their environments

Question 48

Shared environmental factors

Answer 48

Environmental experiences common to siblings (e.g., same parents, house, school)

Question 49

Social cognition

Answer 49

Refers to a person’s capacity to think about social situations and to perceive, interpret, and solve interpersonal problems

Question 50

Social learning theory

Answer 50

The idea that people learn

from one another through observation, imitation, and modeling

Question 51

Strange situation

Answer 51

A laboratory-based test of infant–caregiver attachment; can be used to determine attachment security

Question 52

Synaptogenesis

Answer 52

An increase in the number of neurons and connections between neurons; arises from maturation and experience

Question 53

Temperament

Answer 53

An inborn tendency to organize and react to behavior in response to environmental stimuli