WK1 Chapter 1 Learning Outcomes & research methods Flashcards
Describe how the human population has changed over the
past 10,000 years and explain why some developed countries are
following a different demographic path from other developed
countries.
The total human population was under 10 milion for most of history,
but it rose from 2 bilion in 1930 to 7 bilion in 2011 and is expected
to increase to 9.7 bilion by 2064. Unlike most developed countries,
the United States is projected to increase in population during the
21st century, due primarily to immigration
Distinguish between the demographic profiles of
developed countries and developing countries in terms of cultural
values, income and education.
Most people in developing countries are poor and live in rural
areas, but these countries are experiencing rapid economic
development and a massive migration to urban areas. Also, young
people are receiving increasing levels of education as their
countries become wealthier and enter the global economy. In
general, cultural values are more individualistic in developed
countries and more colectivistic in developing countries.
Define the term socioeconomic status (SES) and explain
why SES, gender and ethnicity are important aspects of human
development within countries.
SES includes educational level, income level, and occupational
status. It influences access to resources such as education and
health care. Gender shapes expectations and opportunities in most
cultures throughout life. Ethnicity often includes a distinct cultural
identity
Explain the process of natural selection and trace the
evolutionary origins of the human species.
Natural selection results in species change because the young who
are best adapted to the environment wil be most likely to survive
and reproduce. Humans arose from earlier hominins and developed
distinctive characteristics such as large brains, long infancy, tool
use and control of fire. Our species, Homo sapiens, first appeared
about 200,000 years ago
Summarise the major changes in human cultures since the
Upper Palaeolithic period.
The Upper Palaeolithic period (40,000–10,000 years ago) is the
first time human cultures became distinct from one another in their
art and tools. During the Neolithic period (10,000–5,000 years
ago), humans first domesticated plants and animals. The first
civilisations around 5,000 years ago marked the origin of writing,
specialised work, and a centralised state
LO 1.6
Apply information about human evolution to how human
development takes place today.
Humans are one species, but since the birth of culture, human
groups have developed remarkably diverse ways of life. Our
exceptiona ly large brain has a lowed us to create cultural practices
that enable us to live in a wide range of environments.
Compare and contrast three ancient conceptions of
development through the life span.
Stage conceptions of the life span were developed thousands of
years ago in the Hindu, Ancient Greek and Jewish cultures.
There
were four stages in the Hindu conception, nine in the Ancient Greek
and 14 in the Jewish. Al three conceptions concerned only men
and ignored women’s development.
Al three ancient conceptions are ideals in that they assume that life
wil go wel and wil continue into old age. Al view youth as a time
of preparation and immaturity, adulthood as a time of great
responsibilities and peak achievements, and the final stages of life
as a preparation for death.
Summarise Freud’s psychosexual theory of human
development and describe its main limitations.
Freud’s psychosexual theory of development emphasised the
sexual drive as the primary motivator of human behaviour. He
proposed five stages of psychosexual development, but believed
that the early stages were crucial and that most of later
development was determined by age 6.
Describe the eight stages of Erikson’s psychosocial theory
of human development.
Erikson proposed a psychosocial theory of development that
emphasised social and cultural influences and proposed that
important changes take place throughout the life span. In his theory
of eight stages throughout the life span, each stage is
characterised by a distinctive ‘crisis’ with two possible resolutions,
one healthy and one unhealthy
Define the five systems of Bronfenbrenner’s ecological
theory and explain how it differs from stage theories.
Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory emphasises the different
systems that interact in a person’s development, including
microsystems, the mesosystem, the exosystem, the macrosystem
and the chronosystem. It is not a stage theory and instead
emphasises the multiple influences that shape human development
in the social environment throughout life
Outline the cultural-developmental model that wil be the
structure of this text and describe the new life stage of emerging
adulthood.
The three principles of the cultural-developmental model are: (1)
humans always develop within a culture; (2) it is necessary to study
people in diverse cultures for a ful understanding of human
development; and (3) today, cultural identities are becoming more
complex around the world. In this text, the life span is divided into
10 stages, from prenatal development to late adulthood. Most of
the stages occur in al cultures, but emerging adulthood is a new
life stage between adolescence and young adulthood that has
become typical mainly in developed countries, although it is
becoming more common in developing countries. During emerging
adulthood, most people are less dependent on their parents but
have not yet made commitments to the stable roles in love and
work that structure adult life for most people.
scientific method process of scientific investigation, involving a
series of steps from:
identifying a research question to
forming a hypothesis,
selecting research methods and designs,
colecting and analysing data,
and drawing conclusions
hypothesis definition
in the scientific process, a researcher’s idea
about one possible answer to the question
proposed for investigation
in the scientific process, the approach to
investigating the hypothesis
research method
plan for when and how to colect the data for
a study
research design
subset of a population for which data are
colected in a scientific study
sample
in research, the entire category of people
represented by a sample
population
procedure
the way a study is conducted and the data
are colected
in scientific research, the system of having
other scientists review a manuscript to judge
its merits and worthiness for publication
peer review
framework that presents a set of
interconnected ideas in an original way and
inspires further research
theory
data that are colected in non-numerical form
qualitative
data that are colected in numerical form
quantitative
research method that involves spending
extensive time among the people being
studied
ethnographic research
biological measurements
measures of genetic, hormonal and
brain activity
