chapter 1 Flashcards
(28 cards)
what is a critical period?
a time when a specific experience has a profound effect on development
what does developmental theory do?
- it explains how and why children grow the way they do
- it helps us predict behavior, explain changes, and guide research or interventions
how does the ethological theory explain child development?
development is seen from an evolutionary perspective and behaviors are examined for their survival value
what are the primary contributions of the psychodynamic theory?
- early experiences can have enduring effects on children’s development
- children often experience conflict between what they want to do and what they should do
how does social cognitive theory explain development?
children use reward, punishment, and imitation to try to understand their world
how does piaget and vygotsky explain development?
- piaget said that children actively build understanding through stages
- vygotsky said that learning is social and guided by more capable individuals
how does social-ecological theory explain development?
human development is influenced by the interconnectedness of individuals and their environment
what types of measurement can researchers use to collect data?
- naturalistic observation
- structured observation
what is the microsystem?
immediate settings (family, school)
what is the mesosystem?
relationships between microsystem
what is the exosystem?
settings that influence indirectly (parent’s workplace)
what is the macrosystem?
cultural and societal influences
what is continuity?
development is smooth and gradual
what is discontinuity?
development happens in jumps or stages
what is convenience sampling?
pick participants who are easy to access
what is random selection?
every child has an equal chance of being picked
what is naturalistic observation?
watching behavior in real-life settings
what is structured observation?
done in a lab with specific tasks
what is reliability?
the testing procedure leads to consistent results
what is construct validty?
asks if the test actually measures what it is supposed to
what is correlational research?
it looks at relationships between variables, but it cannot prove cause
what is a correlation coefficient?
it ranges from -1 to +1 and the closer it is to either end, the stronger the relationship
what is an experiment?
researchers change one variable (the independent variable) to measure its effect on another (the dependent variable) to establish cause-and-effect
what is a field experiment?
conducted in a natural setting but with some control over conditions
