Human Growth and Development

Question 1

multidimensional lifespan development

Answer 1

Change happens across multiple dimensions of the human life

Question 2

multidirectional lifespan development

Answer 2

Dimensions grow and shrink during different points in a person’s development

Question 3

Continuity View of Development

Answer 3

Development is continuous and cumulative (stress nature over nurture)

Question 4

Discontinuity View of Development

Answer 4

A series of distinct and separate stages (stress nurture over nature)

Question 5

Psychoanalytic Theory of Development

Answer 5

Examines factors that motivate behavior by focusing on the role of the unconscious. Motivation and the importance of early experience on development (Freud psychosexual and Erikson psychosocial)

Question 6

Major Learning Theories (i.e. reasons for learned behavior)

Answer 6

Pavlov- Classical Conditioning

Skinner- Operant Conditioning (reinforcement and punishment)

Bandura - Social Learning Theory (behavior modeling)

Question 7

Cognitive Development Theory

Answer 7

Concerned with the development of thought process. Jean Piaget as major figure. Specific stages of cognitive development.

Question 8

Systems Theories(3)

Answer 8

How people interact with the their environment and how these interactions relate to biological factors and to behaviors. Includes:

-Evolutionary Developmental Psychological (apply theories of evolution and natural selection)

-Epigenetic Psychobiological Systems Perspective (Gottlieb, interaction between biological and environmental forces)

-Ecological Systems Theories (Bronfenbrenner, different environments interact to influence the individual in some way)

Question 9

biopsychosocial framework

Answer 9

how biological, psychological, and sociocultural forces all interact to make up development

Question 10

psychodynamic theories

Answer 10

Development is largely determined by how well people resolve conflicts they face at different ages (starts with Freud)

Question 11

Psychosocial Theory

Answer 11

Erikson’s theory that personality development is determined by interaction of the internal maturational plan and the external societal demands

Question 12

Epigenetic Principle

Answer 12

Means by which each psychosocial strength has its own special period of particular importance (later stages of life built on a foundation of what happens earlier)

Question 13

operant conditioning

Answer 13

consequences of behavior determine whether it is repeated in the future (rat pushes button and receives treats and continues to push button)

Question 14

reinforcement

Answer 14

a consequence that increases the likelihood of a behavior

Question 15

self-efficacy

Answer 15

people’s beliefs about their own abilities and talents

Question 16

information-processing theory

Answer 16

human cognition consists of mental hardware and mental software

Question 17

Ecological Theory

Answer 17

views human development as inseparable from the environmental contexts in which a person develops. Bronfenbrenner is best known proponent of this and proposes that developing person is embedded in series of complex and interactive systems (Macro-Exo-Meso-Micro)

Question 18

Microsystem

Answer 18

people and objects in individual’s immediate environment

Question 19

Mesosystem

Answer 19

provides connections across microsystems (school, friends, etc.)

Question 20

exosystem

Answer 20

settings that person may not experience firsthand but still influence them (Government and social policy, parent’s workplace, etc.)

Question 21

macrosystem

Answer 21

culture and subcultures in which other systems are embedded (historical events, ethnic group, etc.)

Question 22

life-course perspective

Answer 22

how various generations experience the biological, psychological, and sociocultural forces of development in their respective historical contexts

Question 23

systematic observation

Answer 23

watching people and carefully recording what they do or say

Question 24

naturalistic observation

Answer 24

observing people as they behave spontaneously in real life

Question 25

structured observations

Answer 25

researcher creates a setting that is likely to bring out the behavior of interest

Question 26

sequential design

Answer 26

developmental research design based on cross-sectional and longitudinal studies

Question 27

Piaget’s Theory

Answer 27

Jean Piaget argues that children naturally try to make sense of their world, acting like little scientists who constantly form and test different hypotheses. Four stages of Piaget’s cognitive development: sensorimotor, preoperational thought, concrete operational thought, and formal operational thought.

Question 28

Vygotsky’s Theory

Answer 28

View development as an apprenticeship where children develop as they work with skilled adults

Question 29

Kohlberg’s Theory

Answer 29

People go through distinct stages in the development of their moral reasoning. Example of Schlinder’s List. There are three stages, each with two substages. Three stages: Preconventional (external forces), Conventional (societal norms), and Postconventional (personal moral code).

Question 30

Preconventional Level of Kohlberg’s Theory (with Obedience and Instrumental Orientations)

Answer 30

Moral reasoning is based on external forces, i.e. punishment and reward. Stage 1: Obedience Orientation (believing that authority figures know what is right and wrong). Stage 2: Instrumental Orientation (people look out for their own needs, believing that nice behavior is an exchange for future favors)

Question 31

Conventional Level of Kohlberg’s Theory (with interpersonal norms and social system morality)

Answer 31

Moral reasoning based on society’s norms and moral behavior is determined by other’s expectations of you. Stage 3: Interpersonal Norms (winning the approval of others). Stage 4: Social System Morality (follow rules to maintain order in society)

Question 32

Postconventional Level of Kohlberg’s Theory (with social contract and universal ethical principles)

Answer 32

Moral reasoning is based on a personal moral code. Stage 5: Social Contract (adhere to a common set of expectations and laws so long as they validly promote the welfare of individuals). Stage 6: Universal Ethical Principles (abstract moral principles that apply to all, i.e. justice, compassion, equality

Question 33

Erikson’s 8 Stages of Psychosocial Development

Answer 33

-Under 2: Trust vs. Mistrust (Oral Sensory)

-2-4: Autonomy vs. Shame/Doubt (Muscular Anal)

-4-5: Initiative vs. Guilt (Locomotor stage)

-5-12: Industry vs. Inferiority (Latency)

-12-19: Identity vs. Role Confusion (Adolescence)

-20-39: Intimacy vs. Isolation (young adulthood)

-40-59: Generativity vs. Stagnation (middle adulthood)

-60+: Ego Integrity vs. Despair (Late adulthood)

1 Tim Makes 2 Apple Sherries Divine. 3 Individuals Gain 4 Insipid Iterations. 5 Icelanders Ruin 6 Individual Items. 7 Greenlanders Steal 8 Entire Desserts

Question 34

Roger Gould Adult Development Theory

Answer 34

Development takes place with the replacement of childhood responses with ones that are more mature (childhood responses often based on what we learn is safe)

Question 35

Daniel Levinson’s Adult Development Theory

Answer 35

Development takes place as we move from one life stage to the next (he identified seven stages starting with early adult transition)

Question 36

William Perry’s Adult Development Theory

Answer 36

(specifically as it applies to young adult students) Young adults develop as they change their belief in one absolute truth to the belief in multiple truths

Question 37

Carl Jung’s Theory of Adult Development

Answer 37

No specific stages, but a time for past reflection, making peace with past events, and forgiving parents

Question 38

Constructivism

Answer 38

People learn by integrating new information into the framework of their previous knowledge. In other words, people construct meaning by fitting new information together with what they already understand. The main assumptions of constructivism are:

Individuals construct meaning based on their previous experiences and knowledge.
Learning is an active process, as opposed to passive absorption of information.
Knowledge is constructed, not discovered.