Lecture 1 Flashcards
What is developmental theory?
Explores the process of growth and change over the life course
Development is _____
Dynamic
What is the trajectory of equifinality?
Lots of different causes lead to a single outcome (ex: Identity development)
What is the trajectory of multifinality?
One cause leads to different outcomes (ex: childhood trauma)
What is structural theory?
Focuses on the impact of broader social structures on human behaviour and experience.
What are the root causes of developmental problems according to structural theory?
Societal issues such as gender and race etc
What is critical theory?
Critiques dominant social structures and sees how they negatively shape development.
What is the key to the structural approach?
Centrality of power in social relationships- how dominant structures are held up by power and oppression.
What is intersectionality?
How different oppressions intersect to shape developmental pathways
What does human behaviour result from?
The interaction between person and environment. Behaviour as context specific.
What is ecological systems theory?
Blends people and their environment. There is a set of nesting ecological systems. At the centre is the individual.
What is the microsystem?
Institutions and groups that most immediately and directly impact the individual (peers, family, biology)
What is the idea of reciprocity?
The environment acts on the individual, yet the individual also acts on the environment
What are settings?
Place with defined physical features, where the individual engages in activities at a defined time, does defined activities, and takes on defined roles.
What is the mesosystem?
Interactions between microsystems (ex: Best friend interacting with parents)
What is the exosystem?
Settings where the individual does not have an active role, but it still shapes development (ex: parents work, government etc)
What is the macrosystem?
The culture in which individuals live. Oppression occurs here and then trickles down to impact all other systems and the individual
What is the chronosystem?
Time as a factor in development. Life transitions, patterns of events, and historical timing.
What are some universal features of adolescence across the mammalian species?
Rapid increase of social interaction with peers, risk seeking/sensation seeking.
Why do adolescents engage in risk taking behaviours from an evolutionary perspective?
Willingness to explore and also mate outside their gene pool.
