Chapter 1: Introduction Flashcards
development
pattern of movement or change that starts at conception and continues through the human life span
life-span perspective
development is lifelong, multidimensional, multidirectional, plastic, multidisciplinary, and contextual; that it involves growth, maintenance, and regulation; and that it is constructed through biological sociocultural, and individual factors working together
normative age-graded influences
biological and environmental influences that are similar for individuals in a particular age group
non-normative life events
unusual occurrences that have a major impact on a person’s life; the occurrence, pattern, and sequence of these events are not applicable to many individuals
biological process development
changes in an individual’s physical nature
cognitive process development
changes in an individual’s thought, intelligence, and language
socioemotional process development
changes in an individual’s relationships with other people, emotions, and personality
nature-nurture issue
the debate about the extent to which development is influenced by nature (biological inheritance) and by nurture (environmental experiences
stability-change issue
the debate about the degree to which early traits and characteristics persist through life or change
continuity-discontinuity issues
the debate about the extent to which development involves gradual, cumulative change (continuity) or distinct stages (discontinuity)
hypotheses
assertion or predictions, often derived from theories, that can be tested
Freud’s psychoanalytic theory
psychoanalytic theory in which problems were result of experiences early in life; change in focus of pleasure and sexual impulses; oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital stages
Erikson’s psychosocial theory and stages
a psychoanalytic theory in which 8 stages of psychosocial development unfold throughout the human life span; each stage consists of a unique development task that confronts individuals with a crisis that must be faced
Piaget’s cognitive theory
theory that children construct their understanding of the world and go through four stages of cognitive development; sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, formal operational
Vygotsky’s cognitive theory
sociocultural cognitive theory that emphasizes how culture and social interaction guide cognitive development
information-processing approach
emphasizes that individuals manipulate information, monitor it, and strategize about it; process of memory and thinking are central
Skinner’s operant conditioning theory
consequences of a behavior produce changes in the probability of the behavior’s recurrence; behavior followed by a rewarding stimulus is more likely to recur and behavior followed by a punishing stimulus is less likely to recur
Bandura’s social cognitive theory
behavior, environment, and person/cognition factors are key factors in development; observational learning/imitation/modeling
ethological theory
stresses that behavior is strongly influenced by biology, is ties to evolution, and is characterized by critical or sensitive periods
Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory
development reflects the influence of 5 environmental systems; microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, chronosystem
naturalistic observation
observations that occur in a real-world setting without any attempt to manipulate the situation
case study
an in-depth examinations of an individuals
experiment
regulated procedure in which one or more factors believed to influence the behavior being studied is manipulated and all other factors are held constant; permits determination of cause
correlational research
focuses on describing the strength of relation between two or more events or characteristics; does not prove causation
