Chapter One: The Study of Human Development Flashcards
nature-nurture issue
the degree to which genetic or hereditary influences [nature] and experiential influences [nurture] determine the kind of person you are
human development
the multidisciplinary study of how people change and how they remain the same over time
continuity-discontinuitity issue
whether a particular developmental phenomenon represents a smooth progression throughout the life span [continuity] or a series of abrupt shifts [discontinuity]
universal vs. context-specific development issue
whether there is just one path of development or several paths
biopsychosocial framework
a useful way to organize the biological, psychological, and sociocultural forces on human development
neuroscience
the study of the brain and nervous system, especially in terms of the brain-behavior relationships
theory
an organized set of ideas that is designed to explain development
psychodynamic theories
theories proposing that development is largely determined by how well people resolve conflicts they face at different ages
psychosocial theory
Erikson’s proposal that personality development is determined by the interaction of an internal maturational plan and external societal demands
epigenetic principle
in Erikson’s theory, the idea that each psychosocial strength has its own special period of particular importance
operant conditioning
Skinner - learning paradigm in which the consequences of a behavior determine whether a behavior is repeated in the future
reinforcement
a consequence that increase the future likelihood of the behavior that it follows
punishment
a consequence that decreases the future likelihood of the behavior that it follows
imitation/observational learning
Bandar - learning that occurs by simply watching how others behave
self-efficacy
people’s beliefs about their own abilities and talents
information-processing theory
theory proposing that human cognition consists of mental hardware (ex. structures - memories) and mental software (ex. processes - reading a sentence)
ecological theory
theory based on idea that human development is inseparable from the environmental contexts in which a person develops
Piaget’s Four Stages of Cognitive Development
- Sensimotor (birth-2): knowledge of world based on sense/motor skills
- Preoperational thought (2-6): child learns to use symbols
- Concrete operational thought (7-early adolescence): understands/applies logical operations, focuses on here and now
- Formal operational thought (adolescence ->): thinks abstractly
microsystem
the people and objects in an individual’s immediate environment
mesosystem
provides connections across microsystems
exosystem
social settings that a person may not experience firsthand but that still influence development
macrosystem
the cultures and subcultures in which the microsystem, mesosystem, and ecosystem are embedded
Bronfenbenner’s Theory
the developing person is embedded in a series of complex and interactive systems
life-span perspective
view that human development is multiply determined and cannot be understood within the scope of a single framework
selective optimization with compensation (SOC) model
model in which three processes (selection, optimization, and compensation) form a system of behavioral action that generates and regulates development and aging
Life course perspective
description of how various generations experience the biological, psychological, and sociocultural forces of development in their respective historical contexts
systematic observation
watching people and carefully recording what they do or say
naturalistic observation
technique in which people are observed as they behave spontaneously in some real life situation
structured observation
technique in which a researcher creates a setting that is likely to elicit the behavior of interest
self-reports
people’s answers to questions about the topic of interest
reliability
extent to which a measure provides a consistent index of a characteristic
validity
extent to which a measure actually assess what researchers think it does
correlational study
investigation looking at relations between variables as they exist naturally in the world
correlational coefficient
an expression of the strength and direction of a relation between two variables
qualitative research
method that involves gaining in-depth understand of human behavior and what governs it
longitudinal study
longitudinal study research design in which the same individuals are observed or tested repeatedly at different points in their lives
cross-sectional study
study in which developmental differences are identified by testing people of different ages
cohort effects
problem with cross-sectional designs in which differences between age groups (cohorts) may result as easily from environmental events as from developmental processes
sequential design
developmental research design based on a cross-sectional and longitudinal designs (a “sequence” of longitudinal designs)
meta-analysis
a tool that enables researchers to synthesize the results of many studies to estimate relations between variables
The nature-nurture issue involves the degree to which _____ and the environment influence human development.
genetics
Azar remarked that her 14 year-old son is incredibly shy and has been ever since he was a little baby. This illustrates the _______ of development.
continuity
______ forces include genetic and health factors.
biological
Neuroscience examines ______ relations.
brain-behavior
_____ organize knowledge in order to provide testable explanations of human behaviors and the ways in which they change over time.
theories
The _____ perspective proposes that development is determined by the interactions of an internal maturational plan and external societal demands.
psychosocial
According to the social cognitive theory, people learn from reinforcements, from punishments, and through ______ ____.
observing others
Piaget’s theory and Vygotsky’s theory are examples of the _______ perspective.
cognitive development
According to Bronfenbenner, development occurs in the context of the _______ mesosytem, exosystem, and macrosystem.
microsystem
A belief that human development is characterized by multidirecitonality and plasticity is fundamental to the ______ perspective.
life-span
In _____, people are observed as they behave spontaneously in a real life setting.
naturalistic observation
A _____ is a group of individuals thought to be representative of some larger population of interest.
sample
The ____ variable is measured in an experiment to evaluate the impact of the variable that was manipulated.
dependent
Problems of longitudinal studies include the length of time to complete the work, loss of research participants over time, and ______.
influence of repeated testing on a person’s performance
Human development researchers must submit their plans for research to a review board that determines whether the research ________________.
preserves the rights of the research participants
