Introduction Flashcards
The pattern of change that begins at conception and continues through the life span. Most development involves growth, although it also includes decline brought on by aging and dying.
Development
The perspective that development is lifelong, multidimensional, multidirectional, plastic, multidisciplinary, and contextual; involves growth, maintenance, and regulation; and is constructed through biological, sociocultural, and individual factors working together.
Life-span perspective
Influences that are similar for individuals in a particular age group
Normative age-graded influences
Influences that are common to people of a particular generation because of historical circumstances
Normative history-graded influences
Unusual occurrences that have a major impact on an individual’s life
Nonnormative life events
The behavior patterns, beliefs, and all other products of a group that are passed on from generation to generation
Culture
Comparison of one culture with one or more other cultures. These provide information about the degree tow which development is similar, or universal, across cultures, and the degree to which it is culture specific
Cross-cultural studies
A characteristic based on cultural heritage, nationality characteristics, race, religion, and language
Ethnicity
Refers to the grouping of people with similar occupational, educational, and economical characteristcis
Socioeconomic status
The characteristics of people as male or females
Gender
A national government’s course of action designed to promote the welfare of its citizens
Social policy
Changes in an individual’s physical nature
Biological processes
Changes in an individual’s thought, intelligence, and language
Cognitive processes
Changes in an individual’s interpersonal relationships, emotions, and personality
Socioemotional processes
Period of development: Prenatal
Conception to birth
Period of development: Infancy
Birth to 2 years
Period of development: Early childhood
3 to 5 years
Period of development: Middle and late childhood
6 to 11 years
Period of development: Adolescence
10 to 21 years
Period of development: Early adulthood
20s and 30s
Period of development: Middle adulthood
40s and 50s
Period of development: Late adulthood
60s to death
Development of an organism due to biological inheritance
Nature
Development of an organism due to its environmental experiences
Nurture
Debate about whether we become older renditions of our early experience or whether we develop into someone different from who we were at an earlier point in development
Stability-change issue
Debate about the extent to which development involves gradual, cumulative change or distinct stages
Continuity-discontinuity issue
Specific assumptions and predictions that can be tested to determine their accuracy
Hypotheses
Theories that describe development as primarily unconscious and heavily colored by emotion. Behavior is merely a surface characteristic, and the symbolic workings of the mind have to be analyzed to understand behavior. Early experiences with parents are emphasized.
Psychoanalytic theories
Freud’s theory: First stage
Oral stage; infant’s pleasure centers on the mouth; from birth to 1 1/2 years
Freud’s theory: Second stage
Anal stage; child’s pleasure focuses on the anus; from 1 1/2 to 3 years
Freud’s theory: Third stage
Phallic stage; child’s pleasure focuses on the genitals; from 3 to 6 years
Freud’s theory: Fourth stage
Latency stage; child represses sexual interest and develops social and intellectual skills; from 6 years to puberty
Freud’s theory: Fifth stage
Genital stage; a time of sexual reawakening; source of sexual pleasure becomes someone outside the family; puberty onward
Theory of eight stages of human development. Each stage consists of a unique developmental task that confronts individuals with a crisis that must be resolved.
Erik Erikson’s Psychosocial theory
Erikson’s theory: Infancy stage
Trust vs. mistrust; first year;
Autonomy vs. shame and doubt; 1 to 3 years
Erikson’s theory: Early childhood
Initiative vs. guilt; preschool years, 3 to 5 years
Erikson’s theory: Middle and late childhood
Industry vs. inferiority, elementary school years, 6 years to puberty
Erikson’s theory: Adolescence
Identity vs. identity confusion; 10 to 20 years
Erikson’s theory: Early adulthood
Intimacy vs. isolation; 20s, 30s
Erikson’s theory: Middle adulthood
Generativity vs. stagnation; 40s, 50s
Erikson’s theory: Late adulthood
Integrity vs. despair; 60s onwards
Theory stating that children actively construct their understanding of the world and go through four stages of cognitive development.
Piaget’s Cognitive Theory of Development
Piaget’s theory: First stage
Sensorimotor stage; from birth to 2 years
Piaget’s theory: Second stage
Preoperational stage; from 2 to 7 years
Piaget’s theory: Third stage
Concrete operational stage; from 7 to 11 years
Piaget’s theory: Fourth stage
Formal operational stage; from 11 to 15 years
A theory that emphasizes how culture and social interaction guide cognitive development
Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Cognitive Theory
Theory that emphasizes that individual manipulate information, monitor it, and strategize about it. Central to this theory are the processes of memory and thinking.
Information-processing theory
Theory that a behavior followed by a rewarding stimulus is more likely to recur, whereas a behavior followed by a punishing stimulus is less likely to recur.
B.F. Skinner’s Operant Conditioning
The view of psychologists who emphasize behavior, environment, and cognitions as key factors in development
Bandura’s Social Cognitive theory
Study that stresses behavior is strongly influenced by biology, is tied to evolution, and is characterized by critical or sensitive periods.
Ethology
Theory that development reflects the influence of five environmental systems: microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, and chronosystem
Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory
