human growth development Flashcards
what is human development?
- multidisciplinary study of how people change and how they remain the same over time.
- reflects the complexity and uniqueness of each person and each person’s experiences as well as commonalities and patterns across people.
- firmly grounded in theory and seeks to understand human behavior.
recurring issues in human development?
- nature vs. nurture
- continuity vs. discontinuity
- universal vs. context-specific development
nature vs nurture
degree to which genetic influences (nature) or experiential influences (environment) determine the kind of person you are.
—> despite the ongoing debate as to which influence is greater, theorists and researchers recognize that virtually no features of life-span development are due exclusively to either heredity or environment. development is always shaped by both-nature and nature are mutually interactive influences.
continuity vs discontinuity
focuses on whether a particular developmental phenomenon represents a smooth progression throughout the life span (continuity) or a series of abrupt shift (discontinuity). continuity approaches emphasize quantitative change; discontinuity approaches emphasize qualitative change.
universal vs context-specific development
focuses on whether there is just one path of development or several. in other words, does development follow the same general path in all people, or is it fundamentally different, depending on the sociocultural context?
basic forces in human development?
- biological forces
- psychological forces
- social cultural forces
- life-cycle forces
- biopsychosocial framework
biological forces
include genetic and health related factors that affect development
- > puberty and menopause = universal and affect people people across generations
- > diet and disease = affect people in specific generations or occur in a small number of people.
psychological forces
include all internal perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and personality factors that affect development.
-> may affect all individuals, specifics generations, or only a few individuals.
sociocultural forces
include interpersonal, societal, cultural, and ethnic factors that affect development.
-> culture refers to knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors associated with a group of people.
provide the context or backdrop for development.
life-cycle forces
reflect differences i how the same event affects people of different ages.
reflect the influences of biological, psychological, and sociocultural forces at different points in the life span
provide a context for understanding how people perceive their current situation and it’s effect on them.
biopsychsocial framework
emphasizes that biological/psychological/sociocultural/life-cycle forces are mutually interactive and that development can not be understood by examining them in isolation.
-> combining the four developmental forces, view in human development that encompasses the life span, yet appreciates the unique aspects of each phase of life.
what is a theory?
organized set of ideas that is designed to explain development
essential for developing predictions about behavior
predictions result in research that helps to support or clarify the theory
major theoretical perspective on human development?
psychodynamic
- freud, erikson
learning
- watson, skinner, bandura
cognitive
- piaget, kohlberg
ecological + systems
- brofenbrenner, lawton, nahemow
lifespan
-baltes
psychodynamic :
erikson’s psychosocial theory
- development is determined by how well people resolve conflicts they face at different ages.
- 8 universal stages»_space; characterized by a particular struggle»_space; each have own special period of particular importance
learning theory
concentrates on how learning influences behavior
emphasizes the role of experience
stresses the influence of consequences on behavior
recognizes that people learn from watching others
watson behaviorism
learning determines our behavior
experience is sufficient to explain the course of development
watson did little research to support his claims
operant conditioning
: skinner
consequences of a behavior determine whether it will be repeated
> > reinforcement increases the chance that a behavior will be repeated
> > punishment decreases the chances that a behavior will be repeated
social learning theory
observational learning or imitation
> people learn by watching others
> imitation more like»_space; observed seen as smart/popular/talented
> imitation»_space; more likely when observed is rewarded for the behavior
social cognitive theory
: albert bandura
emphasizes the development of the thought processes as we mature
two approaches to development of cognition:
> we develop our thinking in stages (piaget,kohlberg)
> we become more efficient at processing information as we mature (like computers)
jean piaget’s cognitive development theory
children gradually learn more about how the world works by little “experiments” in which they test their understanding
proposed a four stage universal sequence of cognitive development in which child constructs knowledge in a new way in each stage.
information-processing theory
used the computer as a model of joe thinking develops
mental hardware: psychological structures such as memory capacity
mental software: cognitive abilities that process information and help us to interact with the world
vygotsky’s theory
focuses on the ways that adults convey to children the beliefs, customs, values, sans skills of their culture.
one of first theorists to emphasize that children’s thinking does not develop in a vacuum, but influenced by the sociocultural context in which they grow up
ecological and systems approach
views all aspects of human development as interconnected
no aspect of development alone can adequately explain development
understanding requires considering all factors: environmental, family, political, social… and how they interact
uris bronfenbrenner
- one of best known ecological theorists
development occurs in a series of complex interconnected systems
> microsystem: people + objects in immediate environment
> mesosystem: influences of microsystems on each other
> exosystem: social/environmental/governmental forces
> macrosystem: subcultures + cultures in which other three systems are imbedded
competence-environmental press theory
: lawton + nahemow
adaptation, or development, depends upon:
persons abilities or “competencies”
their environment + the demands it places on them
emphasis is on how these factors interact
life-span perspective
many factors + one does not adequately explain development. all must be considered
baltes’ 4 key features
- multidirectionality - development involves growth + decline
- plasticity - one’s capacity is not predetermined or carved in stone
- historical context - each develops w/in particular set of circumstances determined by the historical time period born and culture grew up in
- multiple causation - how we develop results from biological, psychological, sociocultural, + life cycle forces
selective optimization with compensation (soc) model
describes choices that determines and regulate development + aging
- selection - making choices to reduce involvement
to concentrate on another - loss-based - reducing involvement because of lack of resources or abilities
- compensation - finding alternate ways of meeting goals due to loss of ability or diminished skills
life-course perspective
emphasizes:
how personal life events interact with historical influences
how individual issues integrate with family issues
how earlier life events and the period of history in which they occurred shaped subsequent events and issues
measurement in human development
- systemic observation
- snaking behavior with tasks
- self reports
- physiological measures
- reliability and validity
- representative sampling
systemic observation
natural observation
“real life” observations
sampling behavior with tasks
behavior can not be observed directly. task is created to sample the behavior of interest
self reports
people’s answers to questions about the topic of interest
physiological measures
measuring people’s physiological responses (heart rate, cortisol levels, brain activity) to focus on a particular aspect of a person’s behavior
reliability and validity
the extend a measure provides a consistent index of a characteristic (reliability) and whether it really measures what we think it measures (validity)
representative sampling
reflect the characteristics of the population of interest
general designs for research?
- correlational studies
- experimental studies
- qualitative research method
correlational studies
measures relationship between variables as they are observed naturally in the world
provides correlation coefficient (“r”) which indicates the strength of the relationship in between variables
correlation does not prove causation
experimental studies
studies the effect of one variable on another studies possible “cause and effect” relationship
independent variable - variable being manipulated (cause)
dependent variable - behavior being observed (effect/outcome)
designs for studying development?
- longitudinal studies
- micro genetic study
- cross-sectional designs
- cohort effects
- sequential designs
- meta-analysis
longitudinal studies
observes it tests one group of individuals ofer a long period
» expensive + requires a large time commitment
micro genetic study
longitudinal design which participants tested repeatedly over a span of days or weeks
> observing change directly as it occurs
cross sectional studies
observed or tests groups of different ages
|»_space; more time effective, less expensive
cohort effects
problems with cross sectional designs in which differences between age groups (cohorts) may result easily from environmental events as from developmental processes
sequential studies
combination of cross sectional and longitudinal designs
allows for flexibility to collect information in several ways
avoids cohort effects
meta analysis
analysis of many studies to estimate relations between variables
allows scientists to verify finding across many studies
conducting research ethically?
- minimize risks research to potential participants
- describe the research to potential participants
- avoid deception
- make results anonymous
communicating research results?
research results are published in scientific journals
to be published in journals, research results must be useful, well done, and original
applying research results: social policy
driving age
stem cell research
adoption policies
piaget’s stages of cognitive development
- sensorimotor
- preoperational
- concentrate operational thought
- formal operational thought
