Developmental chapter 1 (Introduction)

Question 1

development

Answer 1

→ systematic changes and continuities that occur between one’s conception and death (changes are systematic)
→ developmental change involves both gains and losses at any age

→ characterized by lifelong plasticity → neuroplasticity
→ shaped by historical-cultural context
→ multiply influenced → development is a product of nature and nurture
→ must be studied by multiple disciplines

→ multidirectional → different aspects change differently
→ involves both gain and loss

Question 2

development implies continuities

Answer 2

even while we change there are elements of consistency. Dvelopment builds on the old reshapes and extends.

Question 3

types of changes and continuities

Answer 3

1. physical development → body and organs
2. cognitive development → perception, language, learning, memory, problem-solving
3. psychosocial development → emotions, personality, relationships, skills, roles

Question 4

Ageing

Answer 4

a range of physical, cognitive, and psychosocial changes, positive or negative, in the
mature organism

Question 5

Emerging adulthood

Answer 5

→ explore their identities
→ live unstable lives (lots of
changes)
→ are self-focused and
relatively free of obligations to others
→ feel in between
→ believe they have limitless
possibilities
→ it was added resently to the “periods of life”

Question 6

Period of life

Answer 6

prenatal: conception - birth
infancy: 0 - 2 years
preschool (toddler): 2 - 5 years
middle childhood: 6 -10 years
adolescence: 10 - 18 years
emerging adulthood: 18 - 25 years
early adulthood: 25 - 40 years
middle adulthood: 40 - 65 years
late adulthood: 65+ years

Question 7

culture

Answer 7

the shared understandings and way of life of people including beliefs, values etc.

Question 8

age norms

Answer 8

what poepel should and shouldnt do at their age, according to their culture (this is getting weaker of the passage of time)

Question 9

social clock

Answer 9

a person’s sense of when things should be done (having kids, havign a job, having a wife and others)

Question 10

socioeconomic status (SES)

Answer 10

rank in society based on education, income and occupation

Question 11

Historical Changes:

Answer 11

→ Children were seen like adults before the 17th century
→ adolescence: recognized as distinctive phase since late 19th century
→ emerging adulthood: since the 21st century
→ middle age as emptying of the nest: since the 20th century
→ old age as retirement: since the 20th century (before people worked until they died)

Question 12

life expectancy (about wealth)

Answer 12

wealth is associeted with longer life

Question 13

nature-nurture issue

Answer 13

the question of how biological and environmental forces act and interact to make us who we are

nature
→on this side of the debate are those who emphasize the influence of heredity

nurture
→ on this side of the debate are those who emphasize change in response to environment

Question 14

maturation

Answer 14

→ the biological unfolding of the individual as sketched by genes

Question 15

first scientific investigations of development:

Answer 15

in the 19th century with baby biographies

Question 16

environment

Answer 16

→ all external physical and social conditions, stimuli, and events

Question 17

G. Stanley Hall

Answer 17

considered to be the founder of developmental psychology

Question 18

Gerontology

Answer 18

the study of aging and old age

Question 19

ethnocentrism

Answer 19

→ the belief that one’s group or culture is superior

Question 20

ethnicity

Answer 20

→ people’s affiliation with a group based on common heritage or traditions