Psy. 412A Ch. 1

Question 0

Developmental Scientists

Answer 0

Experts who study development—regardless of their disciplinary training. prenatal period

Question 1

Empirical Evidence

Answer 1

Information obtained through systematic observations and experiments.

Question 2

Prenatal Period

Answer 2

The period of development from conception to birth.

Question 3

Infancy

Answer 3

The period of development from birth to age two.

Question 4

Early childhood

Answer 4

The period of development from about ages 2-6.

Question 5

Middle Childhood

Answer 5

The period of development from about 6-11.

Question 6

Adolescence

Answer 6

The period of development from about 11-21.

Question 7

Physical Development

Answer 7

The domain of development that includes changes in size, shape, outward, appearance, and inner physical functioning; changes in physical capabilities; and changes in structure and function of the brain.

Question 8

Cognitive Development

Answer 8

The domain of development that involves changes intellectual abilities, including memory, thinking, reasoning, language, problem solving, and decision making.

Question 9

Socioemotional Development

Answer 9

The domain of development that includes changes in feelings and motivation, temperament and personality, and relationships with other other. Sometimes referred to as psychological development.

Question 10

Development

Answer 10

Relatively enduring growth and change that makes an individual better adapted to the environment, by enhancing the individual’s ability to engage in, understand, and experience more complex behavior, thinking, and emotions.

Question 11

Developmental Trajectory

Answer 11

A pathway of developmental change that connects the past, present, and future.

Question 12

Psychoanalytic Theory

Answer 12

The theory of human behavior and development, first articulated by Sigmund Freud, that focuses on the inner self and how emotions determine the way we interpret our experiences and thus how we act.

Question 13

Learning Theory

Answer 13

The theory of human behavior, based on principles of classical and/or operant conditioning, as well as observational learning, that stresses the role of external influences on behavior.

Question 14

Classical Conditioning

Answer 14

A process of associative learning by which a subject comes to respond in a desired manner to a previously neutral stimulus (e.g. The sound of a steel bar being hit with a hammer) that has been repeatedly presented along with an unconditional stimulus (e.g. A white furry object) that elicits the desired response. (E.g. Fear)

Question 15

Operant Conditioning

Answer 15

A process of learning in which the likelihood of a specific behavior is increased or decreased as a result of reward or punishment that follows.

Question 16

Behavioral Therapy

Answer 16

An attempt to change behavior through the deliberate use of rewards and punishment.

Question 17

Social Learning Theory

Answer 17

A theory of human behavior that emphasizes the ways in which individuals learn by observing others and through the application of social rewards (e.g. Praise) and punishment (e.g. Disapproval).

Question 18

Observational Learning

Answer 18

A process of learning based on the observation of others.

Question 19

Cognitive-Developmental Perspective

Answer 19

A perspective on human development that emphasizes qualities changes in the ways that individuals think as they mature, mainly associated with the work of Jean Piaget.

Question 20

Sensorimotor Stage

Answer 20

In Piaget’s theory, the stage of cognitive development from birth to age 2, during which infants learn by relating sensations to motor action.

Question 21

Prepositional Stage

Answer 21

In Piaget’s theory, the stage of cognitive development from approximately ages 2-7, during which children acquire a mental storehouse of images of symbols, especially spoken and written words.

Question 22

Concrete Operational Stage

Answer 22

In Piaget’s theory, the stage of cognitive development from approximately ages 7-11, during which children make giant strides in their ability to organize ideas and think logically, but where their logical reasoning is limited to real objects and actual experiences and events.

Question 23

Formal Operational Stage

Answer 23

In Piaget’s theory, the stage of cognitive development that emerges approximately at age 11, during which individuals develop the ability to apply to logical reasoning to abstract phenomena.

Question 24

Assimilation

Answer 24

In Piaget's theory, the child's attempt to fit new information into his or her existing way of thinking.

Question 25

Accommodation

Answer 25

In Piaget's theory, the child's adaption of an existing way of thinking in respond to new information.

Question 26

Ecological Perspective

Answer 26

A perspective on human development that emphasizes the contexts, both proximal and distant, in which development occurs.

Question 27

Sociocultural Perspective

Answer 27

A perspective on human development that stresses the way in which development involves adaption to specific cultural demands.

Question 28

Behavioral Genetics

Answer 28

The study of the inherited bases of behavior.

Question 29

Evolutionary Perspective

Answer 29

A perspective on human development that emphasizes the evolved basis of human behavior.

Question 30

Dynamic Systems Theory

Answer 30

A perspective on human development that views the many facets of development as part of a single, dynamic, constantly changing system.

Question 31

Scientific Method

Answer 31

A systematic, step-by-step procedure for testing ideas.

Question 32

Hypothesis

Answer 32

A prediction that can be tested empirically and supported or rejected on the basis of scientific evidence.

Question 33

Self-Report

Answer 33

A method of data collection in which the researcher asks individuals about themselves, either through questionnaires or interviews.

Question 34

Standardized Tests

Answer 34

Measures that are generally accepted by other scientists as reliable and valid, often with norms derived from their prior administration to large and representative samples.

Question 35

Reliability

Answer 35

The extent to which a measure yields assessments that are consistent, or the degree to which an instrument measures something the same way each time it is used under the same condition with the same subjects.

Question 36

Validity

Answer 36

The extent to which a measure assesses what it is supposed to measure rather than something else; also can be used to refer to the truth or accuracy of a conclusion drawn from a scientific study.

Question 37

Case Study

Answer 37

An intensive study of one or a small number of individuals or families.

Question 38

Correlational Study

Answer 38

A study in which the researcher examines two or more variables to see if they are linked in any way.

Question 39

Positive Correlation

Answer 39

When two variables are correlated such that high levels of one variable are associated with high levels of the other, and low levels of one are associated with low levels of the other.

Question 40

Negative Correlation

Answer 40

When two variables are correlated such that high levels of one variable are associated with low levels of the other, and low levels of one are associated high levels of the other.

Question 41

Experiment

Answer 41

A research design in which the researcher controls conditions in the hopes of drawing conclusions about cause and effect.

Question 42

Random Assignment

Answer 42

In an experiment, the practice of assigning participants to treatment OR control groups on a random basis, to attempt to limit any observed differences between them to the presence or absence of the treatment.

Question 43

Natural Experiment

Answer 43

A research design that takes advantage of naturally occurring events that affect some individuals but not others, or that makes use of an opportunity to measure development before and after a naturally occurring event has occurred.

Question 44

Longitudinal Study

Answer 44

A study in which researchers follow the same individuals over time and assess them more than once.

Question 45

Cross-Sectional Study

Answer 45

A study in which researchers compare individuals of different ages at the same time.

Question 46

Cohort Effect

Answer 46

The influence of the fact that people of different ages grew up in different eras and had different experiences, which complicates drawing conclusions about age differences found in cross-sectional studies.

Question 47

Accelerated longitudinal study

Answer 47

A study that is both cross-sectional and longitudinal, in which the researcher follows different age groups over time and assesses them more than once.