History, Theory & Applied Directions

Question 1

child development

Answer 1

area of study devoted to understanding constancy and change from conception to adolescence

Question 2

developmental science

Answer 2

includes all changes we experience throughout the lifespan

Question 3

theory

Answer 3

orderly, integrated set of statements that describes, explains and predicts behavior

Question 4

continuous development

Answer 4

process of gradually adding more of the same types of skills that were there to begin with

Question 5

discontinuous development

Answer 5

process in which new ways of understanding and responding to the world emerge at specific times

Question 6

stages

Answer 6

qualitative changes in thinking, feeling and behaving that characterize specific periods of development

Question 7

contexts

Answer 7

unique combinations of personal and environmental circumstances that can result in different paths of change

Question 8

nature-nurture

Answer 8

are genetic or environmental factors more important in influencing development?

Question 9

plasticity

Answer 9

openness to change in response to influential experiences

Question 10

maturation

Answer 10

genetically determined, naturally unfolding course of growth

Question 11

normative approach

Answer 11

measures of behavior are taken on large numbers of individuals and age-related averages are computed to represent typical development

Question 12

psychoanalytic perspective

Answer 12

children move through a series of stages in which they confront conflicts between biological drives and expectations; how these conflicts are resolved determines the person’s ability to learn, to get along with others and to cope with anxiety

Question 13

psychosexual theory

Answer 13

emphasizes how parents manage their child’s sexual and aggressive drives in the first few years is crucial for healthy personality development

Question 14

psychosocial theory

Answer 14

in addition to mediating between id impulses and superego demands, the ego makes positive contribution to development, acquiring attitudes and skills that make the individual an active, contributing member of society

Question 15

behaviorism

Answer 15

directly observable events are the appropriate focus of study

Question 16

social learning theory

Answer 16

Albert Bandura emphasized modeling, otherwise known as imitation or observational learning as a powerful source of development

Question 17

behavior modification

Answer 17

consists of procedures that combine conditioning and modeling to eliminate undesirable behaviors and increase desirable responses

Question 18

cognitive-developmental theory

Answer 18

children actively construct knowledge as they manipulate and explore their world

Question 19

information processing

Answer 19

human mind as a symbol manipulating system through which information flows

Question 20

developmental cognitive neuroscience

Answer 20

brings together psychology, biology, neuroscience and medicine to study the relationships between changes in the brain and the developing child’s cognitive processing and behavior patterns

Question 21

ethology

Answer 21

concerned with the adaptive, or survival, value of behavior and its evolutionary history

Question 22

sensitive period

Answer 22

time that is optimal for certain capacities to emerge because the individual is especially responsive to environmental influences

Question 23

evolutionary developmental psychology

Answer 23

seeks to understand the adaptive value of species-wide cognitive, emotional, and social competencies

Question 24

sociocultural theory

Answer 24

how culture is transmitted to the next generation; social interaction as necessary for children to acquire the ways of thinking and behaving that make up a community’s culture

Question 25

ecological systems theory

Answer 25

child as developing within a complex system of relationships affected by multiple levels of the surrounding environment

Question 26

microsystem

Answer 26

consists of activities and interaction patterns in the child’s immediate surroundings

Question 27

mesosystem

Answer 27

encompasses connections between microsystems–home, school, neighborhood, childcare center

Question 28

exosystem

Answer 28

consists of social settings that do not contain children but that nevertheless affect children’s experiences in immediate settings

Question 29

macrosystem

Answer 29

consists of cultural values, laws, customs and resources

Question 30

chronosystem

Answer 30

life changes can be imposed on the child or can arise from within the child as children learn to select, modify and create their own settings and experiences

Question 31

dynamic systems perspective

Answer 31

child’s mind, body and physical/social worlds form an integrated system that guides mastery of new skills; this system is dynamic

Question 32

social policy

Answer 32

planned set of actions by a gorup, institution or governing body directed at attaining a social goal

Question 33

public policy

Answer 33

laws and government programs designed to improve current conditions

Question 34

individualistic societies

Answer 34

people think of themselves as separate entities and are largely connected with their own personal needs

Question 35

collectivist societies

Answer 35

people define themselves as part of a group and stress group goals over individual goals