Week 1: The Study of Human Development

Question 1

What is human development?

Answer 1

The multidisciplinary scientific study of how people change and how they stay the same.

Question 2

What are the stages of early human development from birth to oldest adulthood?

Answer 2

Newborn: birth to 1 month

Infant: 1 month to 1 year

Toddler: 1–2 years

Preschooler: 2–6 years

School-age child: 6–12 years

Adolescent: 12 years to 20 years

Young adult: 20 years to 40 years

Middle age adult: 40 years to 64 years

Young-old adult: 65 years to 80 years

Oldest-old adult: 80 year and beyond

Question 3

What is the nature vs nurture debate?

Answer 3

It’s the issue of whether genetic (nature) or environmental (nurture) factors play a greater role in development.

Question 4

What is epigenetics?

Answer 4

The idea that genes can turn on or off based on environmental factors.

Question 5

What are twin studies used for in development research?

Answer 5

To explore the effects of nature vs nurture by comparing separated identical twins.

Question 6

What is the continuity–discontinuity issue?

Answer 6

Whether development is gradual and continuous or happens in distinct stages.

Question 7

What does the universal vs context-specific issue explore?

Answer 7

Whether development follows one universal path or multiple different paths depending on context.

Question 8

What are the 4 forces in the Biopsychosocial Framework?

Answer 8

Biological

Psychological

Sociocultural

Life-cycle

Question 9

What is neuroscience in the context of development?

Answer 9

The study of brain and nervous system in relation to behavior and development.

Question 10

What can early stress do to a child’s amygdala?

Answer 10

It can enlarge it, leading to hypersensitivity and anxiety disorders.

Question 11

What is the main idea of psychodynamic theory?

Answer 11

Behavior is guided by unconscious motives and childhood conflicts.

Question 12

What did Sigmund Freud propose?

Answer 12

Sigmund Freud suggested that personality develops out of conflicts between the child’s desires (psychosexual stages) and society’s demands

Question 13

What are the five psychosexual stages?

Answer 13

Oral (1st year)

Anal (1-3 years)

Phallic (3-5 years)

Latency (5-puberty)

Genital (puberty onward)

Question 14

What is fixation, and how does it affect adulthood?

Answer 14

If a stage’s conflict isn’t resolved, the person may become fixated at that stage, leading to behaviors that reflect that stage (e.g., oral fixations like smoking, or anal traits like being overly neat or messy).

Question 15

What happens during the Oral Stage (1st year)?

Answer 15

Focus on the mouth (sucking, biting). Conflict is weaning.

Fixation may lead to behaviors like smoking, overeating, or excessive talking.

Question 16

What happens during the Anal Stage (1-3 years)?

Answer 16

Focus on the anus (toilet training). Conflict is control over bodily functions.

Fixation can lead to anal-retentive (neat, controlling) or anal-expulsive (messy, disorganized) traits.

Question 17

What happens during the Phallic Stage (3-5 years)?

Answer 17

Focus on the genitals. Conflict involves the Oedipus/Electra complex (attraction to the opposite-sex parent).

Fixation may lead to issues with authority or relationships.

Question 18

What happens during the Latency Stage (5-puberty)?

Answer 18

Sexual feelings are dormant. Focus is on developing social skills, friendships, and hobbies.

Little to no fixation occurs.

Question 19

What happens during the Genital Stage (puberty onward)?

Answer 19

Focus on mature sexual relationships. Conflict is forming healthy, intimate relationships.

Resolution of earlier stages leads to healthy adult functioning.

Question 20

Who proposed the psychosocial stages of development?

Answer 20

Erik Erikson.

Question 21

What does Erikson’s epigenetic principle state?

Answer 21

Each stage of psychosocial development has its own critical period.

Question 22

What are Erikson’s 8 Psychosocial Stages of Development, and what is the core conflict in each?

Answer 22

Infancy (0–1 yr)
- Conflict: Trust vs. Mistrust
- Outcome: Hope
- Key Question: “Can I trust the world?”

Toddlerhood (1–3 yrs)
- Conflict: Autonomy vs. Shame & Doubt
- Outcome: Will
- Key Question: “Can I do things myself or must I rely on others?”

Preschool (3–6 yrs)
- Conflict: Initiative vs. Guilt
- Outcome: Purpose
- Key Question: “Is it okay for me to take initiative?”

School Age (6–12 yrs)
- Conflict: Industry vs. Inferiority
- Outcome: Competence
- Key Question: “Can I succeed at tasks and activities?”

Adolescence (12–18 yrs)
- Conflict: Identity vs. Role Confusion
- Outcome: Fidelity
- Key Question: “Who am I, and where am I going?”

Young Adulthood (18–40 yrs)
- Conflict: Intimacy vs. Isolation
- Outcome: Love
- Key Question: “Can I form close relationships?”

Middle Adulthood (40–65 yrs)
- Conflict: Generativity vs. Stagnation
- Outcome: Care
- Key Question: “Can I make my life count and contribute?”

Late Adulthood (65+ yrs)
- Conflict: Integrity vs. Despair
- Outcome: Wisdom
- Key Question: “Was my life meaningful?”

Question 23

What is behaviourism, and who are key contributors?

Answer 23

It emphasizes learning through environmental experiences

Key figures are John Watson and B.F. Skinner.

Question 24

Tabula Rasa

Answer 24

“blank slate”

John Watson

Question 25

"Give me a child and I can make them…”

Answer 25

John Watson believed that anybody could learn to do or be anything, given the right environment

Question 26

Operant conditioning

Answer 26

The consequences of a behaviour determine whether or not that behaviour is repeated in the future B.F. Skinner

Question 27

Define reinforcement and punishment in operant conditioning.

Answer 27

Reinforcement: Increases behavior Punishment: Decreases behavior

Question 28

Positive reinforcement example

Answer 28

In positive reinforcement, you ADD a reward when the individual engages in the behaviour Ex: getting money for doing chores

Question 29

Negative reinforcement example

Answer 29

you REMOVE something unpleasant when the individual engages in the behavior Ex: remove bedtime or chores for good marks

Question 30

Positive punishment example

Answer 30

you ADD an aversive stimulus when the individual engages in the behaviour Ex: extra chores, spanking, time-out

Question 31

Negative punishment example

Answer 31

you REMOVE something pleasant when the individual engages in the behavior Ex: taking phone away

Question 32

What does Bandura’s social learning theory emphasize?

Answer 32

Learning through observation, imitation, and modeling. Ex: Bobo doll experiment

Question 33

True or false: Albert Bandura’s social cognitive theory is the view that thinking, as well as direct reinforcement and punishment, plays an important part in shaping behavior

Answer 33

True

Question 34

We are more likely to imitate a behaviour if: ___ (3)

Answer 34

1) The actor was rewarded, rather than punished 2) The actor is someone we respect and admire (parent, teacher, etc) 3) We have self-efficacy (the belief that we are capable of performing the task we saw the actor perform)

Question 35

What is Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development focused on?

Answer 35

How thinking develops over time through stages.

Question 36

What are the 4 stages of Piaget’s theory of cognitive development and their key features?

Answer 36

Sensorimotor Stage (Birth to ~2 years) - Learns through senses and actions - Develops object permanence (understanding that things continue to exist even when not seen) - Begins to develop motor coordination and basic cause-effect understanding Preoperational Stage (~2 to 7 years) - Begins symbolic thinking (e.g., using words and images) - Egocentrism: Difficulty seeing things from others’ perspectives - Struggles with logic and understanding conservation (e.g., amount of water stays the same in different shaped glasses) Concrete Operational Stage (~7 to 11 years) - Can think logically about concrete events - Understands conservation, reversibility, and classification - Less egocentric; understands viewpoints of others better Formal Operational Stage (~12 years and up) - Develops abstract thinking and hypothetical reasoning - Can use deductive logic and test hypotheses - Capable of metacognition (thinking about thinking)

Question 37

What is Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory?

Answer 37

Children learn through social interaction and cultural context.

Question 38

What is the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)?

Answer 38

The ZPD is the gap between what a learner can do independently and what they can do with guidance or support.

Question 39

What are the three zones in Vygotsky’s model of learning?

Answer 39

Outside circle - "What I can’t do" (even with help) Second circle - "What I can do with help" (ZPD) Inside circle - "What I can do on my own with no help" (Mastered skills)

Question 40

What is scaffolding in the context of the ZPD?

Answer 40

Scaffolding is the support provided by a more knowledgeable other (e.g., teacher, peer) to help a learner complete tasks in their ZPD.

Question 41

Define ecological theory.

Answer 41

view that human development cannot be separated from the environmental contexts in which development occurs.

Question 42

What are the systems in Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory? (4)

Answer 42

Microsystem: the people and objects that are present in one’s immediate environment - Ex: family Mesosystem: the interrelations among different microsystems - Ex: interaction bw family vs school Exosystem: social settings that influence one’s development even though one does not experience them firsthand - Ex: community, where we live, SES Macrosystem: the cultural and subcultural settings in which the microsystems, mesosystems, and exosystems are embedded - Ex: strong religious childhood

Question 43

What is the lifespan perspective?

Answer 43

view that development is determined by many biological, psychological, and social factors and that all parts of the life span are interrelated To truly understand a person’s current situation, we must understand the origins and consequences, considering that person’s past and future

Question 44

What are the 4 key features of Baltes' lifespan perspective?

Answer 44

Multi-directionality: development involves both growth and decline (peaks and valleys of development) Plasticity: a person’s capacity is not carved in stone (Ex: brain plasticity) Historical context: each of us develops within a particular set of circumstances determined by the historical time in which we are born and the culture in which we grow up Multiple causation: how we develop results from biological, psychological, sociocultural, and life-cycle forces

Question 45

What is the purpose of developmental research?

Answer 45

To test and support/refute theories of development.

Question 46

What is naturalistic observation?

Answer 46

A form of systematic observation in which people are observed as they behave spontaneously in some real-life (natural) situation Ex: observing animals in natural habitat

Question 47

What is structured observations?

Answer 47

A setting created by a researcher that is particularly likely to elicit the behaviour of interest so that it can be observed Ex: Bobo doll

Question 48

What is sampling behaviour with tasks?

Answer 48

Sometimes we’re interested in something we can’t observe directly, and so we give participants tasks that should tap the phenomenon or ability we’re trying to measure ex: Playing violent video games

Question 49

Pros and cons of self report?

Answer 49

Pros: - Quick/easy - Cheap Cons: - Ppl can lie about it - Thinking researcher is looking for a specific answer so you give it

Question 50

What is the main difference between reliability and validity?

Answer 50

Reliability: Consistency Validity: Accuracy

Question 51

True or false: A reliable test may or may not be valid.

Answer 51

True Ex: You create a math test to measure students' reading comprehension. - The test gives consistent scores every time it’s given to students (reliable). - But it's measuring math skills, not reading comprehension (not valid). Reliable (same results consistently) Not valid (not measuring what it’s supposed to)

Question 52

True or false: An unreliable test cannot be valid

Answer 52

True It’s like a speedometer in a car that is calibrated to measure speed (valid) but flickers or jumps around randomly (not reliable)

Question 53

What is a correlation? Does it imply causation?

Answer 53

A correlation shows a relationship between variables but does NOT imply causation.

Question 54

What is a correlation coefficient?

Answer 54

A statistic that reveals the strength and direction of the relation between two variables (-1 -> +1) A positive (+) correlation means that if one variable increases, so does the other - Ex: Studying more should incr grades A negative (–) correlation means that if one variable increases, the other decreases - Ex: Increased time on phone may decrease grades if they are doing that instead of studying

Question 55

What is an experiment?

Answer 55

A systematic way of manipulating factors that a researcher thinks cause a particular behavior

Question 56

Difference between dependent and independent variables

Answer 56

Independent variable: factor that researchers manipulate in an experiment - IV = drinking Dependent variable: behaviour that is observed after other variables are manipulated (it's dependent on IV) - DV = aggression

Question 57

What is a qualitative study?

Answer 57

A study in which researchers look in-depth at experiences and processes, usually of a relatively small group of subjects about which very little is known (Ex: Holocaust survivors) Uses no numerical data (outcomes are captured in words) Frequently is used to study fairly unique individuals or populations

Question 58

What is a longitudinal study?

Answer 58

A study of the same group over a long period of time. Ex: twin studies

Question 59

What are some cons of longitudinal studies?

Answer 59

Time-consuming, costly, practice effects, participant dropout.

Question 60

What are the 3 ethical principles in Canadian research?

Answer 60

Respect for persons Concern for welfare Justice