click below
click below
Normal Size Small Size show me how
Chapter 1
The Science of Human Development
Term | Definition |
---|---|
Science of human development | Seeks to understand how and why people of all ages and circumstances change or remain the same over time |
Scientific method | A way to answer questions that requires empirical research and databased conclusions |
Hypothesis | A specific prediction that can be tested |
Empirical evidence | Evidence based on data from a scientific observation or experiment; not theoretical |
Replication | The repetition of a study, using different participants |
Nature | Traits, capacities, and limitations that each individuals inherits genetically from his or her parents at the moment of conception |
Nurture | All the environmental influences that affect development after conception |
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) | An infants unexpected death; when a seemingly healthy baby, usually between 2 and 6 months old, suddenly stops breathing and dies unexpectedly while asleep. |
Life-span perspective | The study of human development that takes into account all phases of life, not just childhood or adulthood |
Multidirectional | Multiple changes, in every direction, which characterize the life span |
Critical period | Time when a type of developmental growth, in body or behavior, must happen if it is ever going to happen |
Sensitive period | Time when a certain type of development is most likely to happen or happens most easily, although it may still happen later with more difficulty. (Ex. Early childhood is a sensitive period for language learning) |
Multicontextual | Takes place within many contexts such as physical surroundings (climate, noise, population) and family configurations (married couple, single parent, extended family). |
Ecological-systems approach | The person should be considered in all e contexts and interactions that constitute life. AKA bioecological theory. |
Microsystems | Each persons immediate surroundings such as family and peers |
Exosystems | Institutions such as school and church |
Macrosystems | Larger social setting such as cultural values, economic policies, and political processes. |
Chronosystem | Time system |
Mesosystem | Consists of the connections among the other systems |
Cohort | Group defined by the shared age of its members, who, because they were born at about the same time, move through life together, experiencing the same historical events and cultural shifts. |
Socioeconomic status | Person's position in society as determined by income, wealth, occupation, education, and place of residence. AKA social class |
Multicultural | All kinds of people, everywhere, at every age. |
Culture | System of shared beliefs, norms, behaviors, and expectations that persist over time and prescribe social behavior and assumptions |
Social construction | Idea that is based on shared perceptions, not objective reality. Many age related terms (childhood, adolescence, yuppie, senior citizen) are social constructions. |
Difference-Equals-Deficit Error | Mistaken belief that a deviation from some norm is necessarily inferior to behavior or characteristics that meet the standard |
Guided participation | Belief that a universal process used by mentors could teach cultural knowledge, skills, and habits (Vygotsky). |
Ethnic group | People whose ancestors were born in the same region and who often share a language, culture, and religion |
Race | Group of people who are regarded by themselves or by others as distinct from other groups on the basis of physical appearance. |
Multidisciplinary | How numerous academic fields, as well as other people, contribute insights. |
Epigenetic | The effects of environmental forces on the expression of an individual's, or a species', genetic inheritance. |
Plasticity | Every individual, and every trait within each individual, can be altered at any point in the life span. |
Dynamic systems approach | View of human development as an ongoing, ever changing interaction between a person's physical and emotional being and between the person and every aspect of his or her environment, including the family and society. |
Differential sensitivity | Idea that some people are more vulnerable than others are to certain experiences, usually because of genetic diffences |
Developmental theory | Gropd of ideas, assumptions, and generalizations that interpret and illuminate the thousands of observations that have been made about human growth. |
Psychoanalytical theory | Theory of human development that holds that irrational, unconscious drives and motives, often originating in childhood, underlie human behavior |
Behaviorism | Theory of human development that studies observable behavior. Behaviorism is also called learning theory because it describes the laws and processes by which behavior is learned. |
Conditioning | Process by which responses become linked to particular stimuli and learning takes place. The word conditioning is used to emphasize the importance of repeated practice, as when an athelete conditions his or her body to preform well by training for awhile |
Classical conditioning | Learning process in which a meaningful stimulus gradually comes go be conected with a neutral stimulis that had no special meaning before the learning process began. |
Operant conditioning | Learning process in which a particular action is followed either by something desired or by something unwanted. AKA instrumental conditioning |
Behaviorism | Theory of human development that studies observable behavior. Behaviorism is also called learning theory because it describes the laws and processes by which behavior is learned. |
Conditioning | Process by which responses become linked to particular stimuli and learning takes place. The word conditioning is used to emphasize the importance of repeated practice, as when an athelete conditions his or her body to preform well by training for awhile |
Classical conditioning | Learning process in which a meaningful stimulus gradually comes go be conected with a neutral stimulis that had no special meaning before the learning process began. |
Operant conditioning | Learning process in which a particular action is followed either by something desired or by something unwanted. AKA instrumental conditioning |
Social learning theory | Extension of behaviorism that emphasizes the influence that other people have over a person's behavior, involving learning by observation and imitation. |
Modeling | People learn by observing other people and then copying them |
Cognitive theory | Focuses on changes on how people think over time |
Selective adaptation | Genes that enhance survival and reproductive ability are selected by |
Scientific observation | Method of testing a hypothesis by unobtrusively watching and cording participants' behavior in a systematic and objective manner. |
Independent variable | Variable that is introduced to see what affect it has on the dependent variable |
Dependent variable | Variable that may change as a result of whatever new condition or situation the experimenter adds |
Cross sectional research | Compares groups of people who differ in age but are similar in other important characteristics |
Longitudinal research | Same individuals are followed over time and their development is repeatedly assessed |
Cross sequential research | (Hybrid) researches first study several groups of people of different ages and then follow these groups over the year |
Correlation | Indicates the degree of relationship between two variable, expressed in therms of their likelihood that one variable will or will not occur when the other variable does or does not. |