Unit 1 (Ch. 1)

Question 1

Development

Answer 1

stability and change over time

Question 2

Lifespan

Answer 2

Change at all ages from prenatal development to death

Question 3

Nature-Nurture

Answer 3

Nature: biological / genetic factors that give rise to a certain behavior / characteristic

Nurture: influenced by environment and one’s experiences

*they interact!

Question 4

Continuity

Answer 4

Quantitative change
-path marked by smooth progression
-EX: height

Question 5

Discontinuity

Answer 5

Qualitative change
-path marked by abrupt shifts
-Any type of stage theory
-EX: Growth spurt

Question 6

Universal-Context-specific

Answer 6

Universal: happens regardless of experience
-strong on the NATURE side
-one path that is similar across individuals and cultures
-EX: puberty (milestones)

Context-specific: many paths and the path depends on the experience
-EX: Age of puberty (due to malnutrition, sports early on)

Question 7

what are the four interacting forces in Biopsychosocial Framework?

Answer 7

1) biological forces: hormones, genes, health conditions

2) sociocultural forces: background, ethnicity, culture, peers, family

3) psychological forces: personality, emotions

4) Life-cycle forces: same event is going to give a different outcome depending on the stage of development you are in
-EX: Pregnancy (teenage vs adult)

Question 8

what should theories provide?

Answer 8

-Description of bx (WHAT the bx looks like)
-Explanation of bx (WHY the bx looks like it does)
-Prediction of bx (Bx should appear in certain ways under certain conditions)

Question 9

what is Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory?

Answer 9

-your personality will develop across the lifespan through a sequences of fixed stages
-each stage there is a challenge or crisis you must overcome in order to move onto the next stage
-DISCONTINUOUS

Question 10

what is Watson and Skinner theory of Behaviorism?

Answer 10

Bx is determined by experience (nature vs nurture)
-NURTURE side

Question 11

what did Watson discover?

Answer 11

classical conditioning
-US (noise) -> UR (crying)
-CS (furry animals) + US (noise) -> UR (crying)
-CS (furry animals) -> CR (crying)

Question 12

what did Skinner discover?

Answer 12

operant conditioning
-reinforcement (increases bx)
-punishment (decreases bx)

Question 13

positive and negative reinforcement

Answer 13

(+): ADDING something to increase a bx
-Candy for good grades

(-): TAKING AWAY something to increase bx
-Taking away chores to get better grades

Question 14

positive and negative punishment

Answer 14

(+): ADDING something to decrease a bx
-shoveling snow for cursing

(-): TAKING AWAY something to decrease bx
taking away phone to stop getting bad grades

Question 15

what is Bandura’s Social (cognitive) Learning Theory?

Answer 15

People learn by observing others (nurture)
-The person doesn’t have to experience it, they can watch other people experience something
-They don’t exactly mimic

EX: If they see someone is aggressive by punching, the kids taking punching as violence and use other methods of violence such as guns

Question 16

what is Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development?

Answer 16

Children construct their own understanding of the world
-Universal stages of development
-DISCONTINUOUS (qualitative)
-Abrupt shifts in thinking

Question 17

what are the four stages of the theory of cognitive thinking?

Answer 17

Sensorimotor, Preoperational, Concrete operational, Formal operational

1. learning through actions & senses
   (birth-2)
2. learning through language & mental images (2-7)
3. learning through logical thinking & categories
   (7-12)
4. learning through hypothetical thinking & scientific reasoning
   (12+)

Question 18

what is Bronenbrenner’s Ecological Theory?

Answer 18

a developing person is embedded in series of systems
-Several systems impact how a child develops

Question 19

what are the four systems in the ecological theory?

Answer 19

microsystem: Parents to child
mesosystem: Friends to child
exosystem: Social policy to child
Macrosystem: Ethnic group to child

Question 20

what is Baltes Life-span approach?

Answer 20

Must pay attention to…
-Multidirectional: growth and decline
-Plasticity: flexibility, adaptation to circumstance
-Historical context
-Multiple causation: biopsychosocial forces

Question 21

what is reliable?

Answer 21

-you are able to replicate the experiment
-get the same answer every time

Question 22

what is validity?

Answer 22

-measures what you intend to measure
-Does the ACT really determine college capabilities?

Question 23

what is a representative sample?

Answer 23

does the small group of people tested accurately depict the population of study

Question 24

what are two types of Systematic Observation?

Answer 24

naturalistic & structured

Question 25

what is naturalistic observation?

Answer 25

observing someone in their day-to-day life, they are unaware they are being observed
-NOT MANIPULATING an environment

Question 26

what is structured observation?

Answer 26

anytime you are manipulating anything in the environment

Question 27

what are Behavioral Tasks?

Answer 27

-Analyze performance of a task
-Test emotional components

Question 28

what is Self Report?

Answer 28

Surveys, interviews

Question 29

what is Physiological tests?

Answer 29

Heart Rate, cortisol levels, MRI, EEG’s

Question 30

what is a Longitudinal study?

Answer 30

studying same group of people repeatedly over time
-spans over several years

EX: Kochanska investigates children’s internalization of social rules from infancy through early childhood
-All members of the cohort visit the lab every few months/years

Question 31

what is a Cross-Sectional study?

Answer 31

study different aged people, studied one time
-you make inferences as they develop
-more common

EX: Examining how 4 yr olds, 5 yr olds, and adults remember the locations of objects
-Three groups of participants visit the lab one time

Question 32

what is a Sequential study?

Answer 32

multiple groups tested at multiple points in time (same groups)
-combination of longitudinal and cross-sectional studies
-can compare the different aged groups over a long period of time without making inferences

EX: Seattle project studies cognitive functioning of multiple cohorts of adults over many years
-Study different groups over many years

Question 33

what is a Microgenetic study?

Answer 33

study same individuals at several time points close together in time
-Mini longitudinal study (Weeks / Months apart)

EX: Siegler investigates math strategy development
-Children solve math problems twice a week for a few weeks

Question 34

what is a Correlational study?

Answer 34

-seek relation among variables
-cannot manipulate the variables
-measures direction and strength of relation

Question 35

what is positive correlation?

Answer 35

both are going same direction (both going up, both going down)

perfect positive: +1.00

Question 36

what is negative correlation?

Answer 36

inversely related (ones going up & ones going down)

perfect negative: -1.00

Question 37

what do you look at when looking at the direction of correlation?

Answer 37

look at the (+) and (-)

Question 38

what do you look at when looking at the strength of correlation?

Answer 38

look at the number!
-Closer to 1.00, the stronger the relationship

0.00: not strong
1.00: strong!

Question 39

why does correlation NOT equal causation?

Answer 39

Directionality Problem
-You don’t know if A causes B or if B causes A

Third Variable Problem
-you don’t know if there is something else driving the relationship

Question 40

what are Experimental Studies?

Answer 40

-effect of the independent variable on dependent variable
-depends on random assignment to conditions
-control groups are tested
-can determine CAUSATION!!

EX: the effects of breastfeeding upon intelligence
-Independent variable: breastfeeding & not breastfeeding
-Dependent variable: standardized intelligence test

Question 41

what is an independent variable?

Answer 41

-what you are manipulating
-We control everything!
-We cannot let the groups decide what they are doing

Question 42

what is an dependent variable?

Answer 42

-what you are measuring