Chapter 1 Discovering the Life Span – Flashcards
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lifespan development
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field of study that examines patterns of growth change and stability in behavior that occur throughout the entire life span
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physical development
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development involving the body's physical makeup including the brain, nervous system, muscles, and senses; and the need for food, drink, and sleep
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cognitive development
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development involving the ways that growth and change in intellectual capabilities influence a person's behavior
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Cognitive Developmentalists examine:
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learning, memory, problem solving, and intelligence
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Personality development
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development involving the ways that the enduring characteristics that differentiate one person from another change over the life span
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social development
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way in which individuals interactions with others and their social relationships grow, change, and remain stable over the course of life
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social construction
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shared notion of reality that is widely accepted but is a function of society and cultures at a given time
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race
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biological concept which should refer to classification based on physical and structural characteristics of species
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ethnic group
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refer to cultural background nationality, religion, and language
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cohort
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group of people born at around the same time in the same place
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Three assumptions made by lifespan developmentalists are
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1. focus on human development, 2. understanding of stability in addition to growth and change and 3. perception that development persists throughout our entire lives
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the time when children utter their first complete sentence is an example of
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age graded influence
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continuous change
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gradual development in which acheivments at one level build on those of previous levels
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discontinuous change
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development that occurs in distinct steps or stages with each stage bringing about behavior that is assumed to be qualitatively different from behavior at earlier stages
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critical period
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specific time during development when a particular event has its greatest consequences and the presence of certain kinds of environmental stimuli are necessary for development to proceed normally
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sensitive period
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a point in development when organisms are particularly susceptible to certain kinds of stimuli in their environments, but the abscence of those stimuli does not always produce irreversible consequences
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nature
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refers to traits, abilities, and capacities that are inherited from one's parents; encompasses any factor that is produced by predetermined unfolding of genetic information (maturation)
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nurture
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environmental influences that shape behavior
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grady believes that human development occurs in small measurable amounts. His sister Andrea disagrees and suggests that human development is more distinct and steplike. Their argument is most reflective of the ________________________ issue
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continuous vs discontinuous
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A _____________ is a specific time during development when a particular event has its greatest consequence
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critical period
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Sigmund Freud
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psychoanalytic theory which suggests that unconscious forces act to determine personality and behavior
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What are the three aspects of personality?
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id, ego, superego
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id
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the raw unorganized inborn part of the personality that is present at birth, it represents primitive drives related to hunger, sex, aggression and irrational impulses
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ego
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part of the personality that is rational and reasonable, acts as a buffer between the external world and the primitive id, operates on the reality principle in which instinctual energy is restrained in order to maintain the safety of the individual and help integrate the person into society
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superego
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represents a person's conscience, incorporating distinctions between right and wrong, begins to develop from age 5 to 6 and is learned from an individual's parents, teachers, and other significant figures
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theories
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broad explanations and predictions about phenomena of interest
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psychodynamic perspective
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the approach that states behavior is motivated by inner forces, memories, and conflicts that are generally beyond people's awareness and control
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psychosexual development
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according to Freud, a series of stages that children pass through in which pleasure, or gratification is focused on a particular biological function and body part
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Erikson's psychosocial development
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encompasses changes in our interactions with an understanding of one another as members of society and in their comprehension of the meaning of others' behaviors
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Who regarded development complete by adolescence?
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Freud
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Who regarded development to continue to grow and change throughout the life span
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Erickson
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behavioral perspective
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approach that suggests that the keys to understanding development are observable behavior and outside stimuli in the environment (people are affected by the environmental stimuli they happen to be exposed to)
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Classical conditioning
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type of learning in which an organism responds in a particular way to a neutral stimulus that normally does not bring about that type of response
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BF Skinner
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operant conditioning
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operant conditioning
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form of learning in which a voluntary response is strengthened or weakened by its association with positive or negative consequences
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behavior modification
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formal techniques for promoting the frequency of desirable behaviors and decreasing the incidence of unwanted ones
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social cognitive learning theory
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learning by observing the behavior of another person called a model, learned through observation not trial and error
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cognitive perspective
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approach that focuses on the processes that allow people to know, understand and think about the world
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Piaget's Theory
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all people pass through a fixed sequence of universal stages of cognitive development and not only does the quantity of information increase in each stage but the quality of knowledge and understanding changes as well
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assimilation
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process in which people understand a new experience in terms of their current stage of cognitive development and existing ways of thinking
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accommodation
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changes in existing ways of thinking in response to encounters with new stimuli or events
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___ and __ work in tandem to bring about cognitive development
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assimilation and accommodation
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information processing approaches
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model that seeks to identify the ways individuals take in, use, and store information
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cognitive neuroscience approaches
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approach that examines cognitive development through the lens of brain processes
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__________ are organized explanations and predictions concerning phenomena of interest and provide frameworks for understanding the relationships across variables
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Theories
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The __________________ perspective suggests that the key to understanding one's actions involves observation of those actions and the outside stimuli in the environment
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behavioral
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humanistic perspective
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theory that contends that people have a natural capacity to make decisions about their lives and control their behavior, emphasizes free will
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free will
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the ability of humans to make choices and come to decisions about their lives
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Carl Rogers
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humanistic perspective, suggests that peoplple need positive regard which results from an underlying wish to be loved and respected, our view of ourselves and our self worth is a reflection of how we think others view us
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Maslow
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self actualization is a primary goal in life
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self actualization
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state of self fulfillment in which people achieve their highest potential in their own unique way
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contextual perspective
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theory that considers the relationship between individuals and their physical cognitive personality and social worlds
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Bronfenbrenner
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bioecological approach
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bioecological approach
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perspective suggesting that levels of the environment simultaneously influence individuals there are five levels of environment: microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem chonosystem
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microsystem
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everyday immediate environment of children's daily lives (caregivers, parents teachers' influence)
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mesosystem
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binds children to parents, students to teachers, employees to bosses, friends to friends
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exosystem
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broader influences, societal institutions such as local government, the community, schools, places of worship, and the local media
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macrosystem
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larger cultural influences on an individual including society in general, types of governments religious and political value systems and other broad encompassing factors
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chronosystem
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underlies each of the previous systems, it involves the way the passage of time including historical events affects children's development
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Collectivism
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notion that well being of the group is more important than that of the individual
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individualism
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personal identity, uniqueness, freedom and the worth of the individual
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Vygotsky's sociocultural theory
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approach that emphasizes how cognitive development proceeds as a result of social interations between members of a culture
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evolutionary perspective
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theory that seeks to identify behavior that is a result of our genetic inheritance from our ancestors
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Bronfenbrenner's bioecological approach and Vygotsky's sociocultural theory fall under the category of the __________ perspective
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contextual
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the researcher most closely associated with the evolutionary perspective is__
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Konrad Lorenz
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Three major steps in scientific method
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1. identifying questions of interest 2. formulating an explanation 3. carrying out research that either lends support to the explanation or refutes it
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scientific method
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process of posing and answering questions using careful, controlled techniques that include systematic orderly observation and the collection of data
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hypothesis
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prediction stated in a way that permits it to be tested
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correlational research
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research that seeks to identify whether an association or relationship between two factors exists
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experimental research
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research designed to discover causal relationships between various factors
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Who employed correlational techniques
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Piaget and Vygotsky
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correlation coefficient
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strength and direction of a relationship between two factors represented by a mathematical score
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positive correlation
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indicates that as the value of one factor increases it can be predicted that the value of the other will also increase
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negative correlation
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informs us that as the value of one factor increases the value of the other factor declines
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naturalistic observation
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type of correlational study in which some naturally occurring behavior is observed without intervention in the situation
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case studies
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involve extensive in depth interviews with a particular individual or small group of individuals
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survey research
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type of study where a group of people chosen to represent some larger population are asked questions about their attitudes, behavior or thinking on a given topic
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psychophysiological methods
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research that focuses on the relationship between physiological processes and behavior (EEG, CAT scan, MRI)
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experiment
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process in which an investigator called an experimenter devises two different experiences for participants
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independent variable
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variable that researchers manipulate in an experiment
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dependent variable
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variable that researchers measure to see if it changes as a result of the experimental manipulation
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sample
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group of participants chosen for the experiment
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field study
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research investigation carried out in a naturally occurring setting
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__ researchers typically focus on either theoretical research or applied research
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developmental
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theoretical research
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designed specifically to test some developmental explanation and expand scientific knowledge
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applied research
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research meant to provide practical solutions to immediate problems
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longitudinal research
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research in which the behavior of one or more participants in a study is measured as they age
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cross sectional research
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research in which people of different ages are compared at the same point in time
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sequential studies
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research in which researchers examine a number of different age groups over several points in time
