Chap 1 - Orientation to Lifespan Dev Flashcards
Physical development
Development involving the body’s physical makeup, including the brain, nervous system, muscles, & senses, & the need for food, drink, & sleep
Lifespan development
Field of study that examines patterns of growth, change & stability in behavior that occur throughout the entire life span.
Cognitive development
Development involving the ways that growth & change in intellectual capabilities influence a person’s behavior
Personality development
Development involving the ways that the enduring characteristics that differentiate one person from another change over the life span
Social development
The way in which individuals’ interactions with others & their social relationships grow, change, & remain stable over the course of life.
Continuous change
Gradual development in which achievements at one level build on those of previous levels
Discontinuous change
Development that occurs in distinct steps or stages, with each stage bringing about behavior that is assumed to be qualitatively different from behavior of earlier stages
Critical period
Specific time during development when a particular event has its greatest consequences & the presence of certain kinds of environmental stimuli is necessary for development to proceed normally
Sensitive period
A point in development when organisms are particularly susceptible to certain kinds of stimuli in their environments, but the absence of those stimuli does not always produce irreversible consequences
Maturation
The predetermined unfolding of genetic info
Theories
Explanations & predictions concerning phenomena of interest, providing a framework for understanding the relationships among an organized set of facts or principles
Psychodynamic perspective
The approach stating that behavior is motivated by inner forces, memories, & conflicts that are generally beyond people’s awareness & control
Psychoanalytic theory
The theory proposed by Freud that suggests that unconscious forces act to determine personality & behavior
Psychosexual development
According to Freud, a series of stages that children pass through in which pleasure, or gratification, focuses on a particular biological function & body part
Psychosocial development
The approach that encompasses changes in our interactions with & understandings of one another, as well as in our knowledge & understanding of ourselves as members of society
Behavioral perspective
The approach suggesting that the keys to understanding development are observable behavior & outside stimuli in the environment
Classical conditioning
A 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
Operant conditioning
A form of learning in which a voluntary response is strengthened or weakened by its association with positive or negative consequences
Behavior modification
A formal technique for promoting the frequency of desirable behaviors & decreasing the incidence of unwanted ones
Social-cognitive learning theory
Learning by observing the behavior of another person, called a model
Cognitive perspective
The approach that focuses on the processes that allow people to know, understand, & think about the world
Information processing approaches
Models that seek to identify the ways individuals take in, use, & store info
Cognitive neuroscience approaches
Approaches that examine cognitive development through the lens of brain processes
Contextual perspective
The theory that considers the relationship between individuals & their physical, cognitive, personality, & social worlds
