chapter 1 definitions Flashcards
(56 cards)
What is development?
Systematic or orderly changes that occur within the individual from the moment of conception until death.
Define child development.
A field of study devoted to understanding constancy and change from conception through adolescence.
What is developmental science?
An interdisciplinary field devoted to the study of all changes humans experience throughout the lifespan.
What is a theory?
An orderly, integrated set of statements that describes, explains, and predicts behavior.
Define continuous development.
The view that development is a process of gradually adding more of the same type of skills that were there to begin with.
What is discontinuous development?
A view of development as a process in which new ways of understanding and responding to the world emerge at specific times.
What are contexts in development?
Unique combinations of personal and environmental circumstances that can result in different paths of change.
What is the nature-nurture controversy?
Debate among theorists about whether genetic or environmental factors are more important influences on development.
Define plasticity in human development.
Openness of human development to change in response to influential experiences.
What is resilience?
The ability to adapt effectively in the face of threats to development.
Define maturation.
A genetically determined, naturally unfolding course of growth.
What is the normative approach to development?
An approach in which measures of behavior are taken on larger numbers of individuals, computing age-related averages to represent typical development.
What does the psychoanalytic perspective focus on?
Personality development through a series of stages where conflicts are resolved.
What is Freud’s psychosexual theory?
Emphasizes that how parents manage children’s sexual and aggressive drives in early life is crucial for healthy personality development.
What is Erikson’s psychosocial theory?
Emphasizes that at each Freudian stage, individuals develop a unique personality and acquire skills to become active members of society.
Define behaviorism.
An approach that focuses on directly observable events—stimuli and responses—as the appropriate study focus.
What is social learning theory?
An approach that emphasizes modeling, imitation, or observational learning as a powerful source of development.
What is applied behavior analysis?
Observations of behavior and environmental events followed by systematic changes based on conditioning and modeling.
Define cognitive-developmental theory.
An approach introduced by Piaget viewing children as actively constructing knowledge through manipulation and exploration.
What does information processing refer to?
An approach that views the human mind as a symbol-manipulating system through which information flows.
What is developmental cognitive neuroscience?
An investigation area that studies the relationship between brain changes and the developing child’s cognitive processing.
Define developmental social neuroscience.
An investigation area studying the relationship between brain changes and emotional and social development.
