DEVPSYCH - TERMS Flashcards
focuses on the scientific study of the systematic processes of change and stability in people
Human development
concept of human development as lifelong process, which can be studied scientifically
Life-span development
views development as lifelong, multidimensional, multidirectional, plastic, multidisciplinary, and contextual, and as a process that involves growth, maintenance, and regulation of loss.
life-span perspective
What are the domains of development
Physical Development
Cognitive Development
Psychosocial Development
growth of the body and brain
Physical Development
learning, attention, memory, language, thinking, reasoning and creativity
Cognitive Development
emotions, personality, and social relationships
Psychosocial Development
concept or practice that is an invention of a particular culture or society
Social Construction
involves the degree to which early traits and characteristics persist through life or change
Stability-Change Issue
focuses on the degree to which development involves either gradual cumulative change (continuity) or distinct stages (discontinuity)
Continuity-Discontinuity
unfolding of mental sequence of physical change and behavior patterns
Maturation
scientific study of the extent to which genetic and environmental differences among people and animals are responsible for differences in their traits
Behavioral Genetics
proportion of all variability in the trait within a large sample of people that can be linked to genetic differences among those individuals
Heritability
Who studied the heredity in plants
Gregor Mendel
attempting to breed animals for a particular trait to determine whether the trait is heritable
Selective Breeding
3 types of genetic studies
Twin Studies
Adoption Studies
Family Studies
the percentage of pairs of people studied in which if one member of a pair displays the trait, the other does too
Concordance Rate
Genes turn on and off in patterned ways throughout the lifespan
Epigenetics
the effects of genes depend on what kind of environment we experience and how we respond to the environment
Gene-Environment Interaction
3 factors that contribute to individual differences in emotionality
Gene
Shared environmental influences
Non-shared environmental influences
The basic unit through which genetic information is stored and passed between generations.
Genes
common experiences that work to make them similar (e.g. parenting style)
Shared environmental influences
unique experiences to the individual those who are not shared with other members of the family (e.g., parental favoritism)
Non-shared environmental influences
3 kinds of Gene-environment correlations
Passive Gene- Environment
Evocative Gene-Environment
Active Gene-Environment
parent provide for their children is influenced partly by the parents’ genotypes
Passive Gene-environment
child’s genotype evokes certain kind of reactions from other people
Evocative Gene-environment
children’s genotype influence the kinds of environment they seek
Active Gene-Environment
consists of inborn traits and characteristics provided by the child’s parents (Nature)
Heredity
influences stems from the outside body, starting from conception throughout life (Nurture)
Environment
people differ in gender, height, weight, and body build; in health and energy level, etc.
Individual differences
Nuclear and Extended Family
Family
What are the Context of Development
Family
Socioeconomic Status
Culture
Gender
History
combination of economic and social factors describing an individual or family, including income, education, and occupation
Socioeconomic Status
society’s or group’s total way of life
Culture
What are the 2 types of Culture
Ethnic Gloss
Race
overgeneralization that obscures or blurs variations
Ethnic Gloss
identifiable biological category, is more accurately defined social construct
Race
social construct and generally based on the norms, behaviors, and societal roles expected of individuals based primarily on their sex.
Gender
study of the prior events and the lives of people.
History
biological or environmental events that affect many or most people in a society in a similar ways and events that touch only certain individuals
Normative influences
What are the 2 types of Normative influences
Normative Age-Graded influences
Normative History - graded influences
group of people who experience the event at a formative time in their lives
Historical Generation
group of people born at about the same time
Age Cohort
What are the two types of Normative History - Graded Influences
Historical Generation
Age Cohort
unusual events that have major impact on individual lives because they disturb the expected sequence of the life cycle
Non-normative
instinctively follow the first moving object they see
imprinting
specific time when a given event , or its absence, has a specific impact on development
Critical Period
when developing person is especially responsive to certain kind of experience
Sensitive Period
modifiability of performance; the capacity to be shaped, molded, or altered; neuroplasticity, then, is the ability for the brain to adapt or change over time, by creating new neurons and building new networks.
Plasticity
set of logically related concepts or statements that seek to describe and explain development and to predict the kinds of behavior that might occur under certain conditions
Theory
explanations or predictions that can be tested further by research
Hypothesis
father of cognitive psychology - Tabula Rasa / Blank State
John Locke
a Genevan philosopher of the Enlightenment era. He is best remembered for his views on political and moral philosophy - in other words, on human nature and human dynamics.
He states that children are born “noble savages” who develop according to their own positive natural tendencies if not corrupted by society
Jean Jacques Rousseau
people are like machines that react to environmental input
Mechanistic Model
people as active, growing organism that set their own development in motion; initiate events, and do not just react
Organismic Model
gradual and incremental
continuous
abrupt or uneven
discontinous
change in number or amount, such as height, weight, or vocabulary size
Quantitative Change
emergence of new phenomena that could not be easily predicted on the basis of the past basic functioning
Qualitative Change
emphasized the importance of adaptation, reproduction, and “survival of the fittest” in shaping behavior
Evolutionary Psychology
