Human Development and Mental Functions Lecture Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering key definitions, historical developments, cultural concepts, developmental theories, and cognitive mental functions from the lecture transcript.

Preformationism

An early theory predominant in the 15th-16th century proposing that a tiny, fully formed human is implanted in the sperm or egg at conception and grows in size until birth.

Sensory Learning

Gaining knowledge through direct experience with the senses, including seeing, hearing, touching, and observing the world.

Pragmatism

The philosophy of judging ideas by their practical usefulness and real-world consequences.

Occupations

Everyday activities that people do as individuals, in families, and with communities to occupy time and bring meaning and purpose to life.

Holistic Approach

An approach to development viewing it as an interaction of physical, cognitive, emotional, social, and environmental factors.

Ecological Approach

An approach explaining that interactions between the individual and multiple environmental systems shape human development.

Neurodevelopmental Approach

An approach focusing on how brain growth and nervous system development influence learning, behavior, and motor skills.

Plasticity

The human capacity to change and the malleable quality of personal characteristics, as demonstrated by the brain's ability to learn from experience and recover from injury.

Contextualism

A paradigm in Baltes' theory referring to the idea that three systems of biological and environmental influences work together to shape development.

Ascribed-Status Position

All the social or physical statuses that someone acquires either at birth or involuntarily later in life, such as gender, eye color, nationality, or kinship.

Achieved Position

A status that an individual takes on voluntarily throughout life, such as becoming a doctor, nurse, or student.

Self-Schema

Knowledge that people accumulate about themselves by interacting with the natural world and other human beings.

Role Schema

Knowledge about how people are supposed to behave based on their roles in particular social situations.

Event Schema

Also called cognitive scripts, these describe behavioral and event sequences in daily activities to anticipate the future and make plans.

Barkada

A peer group in Filipino adolescent culture through which adolescents develop their identity.

Pakikisama

A Filipino cultural value centered on maintaining harmonious relationships, loyalty, and mutual support.

Sandwich Generation

Middle adults who balance employment while simultaneously caring for their own children and aging parents.

Biological Age

Age determined in terms of biological health and the functional capacities of vital organs.

Psychological Age

An individual's adaptive capacity compared with individuals of the same chronological age.

Social Age

Connectedness with others and the social roles adapted by an individual.

Birth Order Theory

Alfred Adler's psychological concept suggesting that a person's rank within their family influences their personality, behavior, and development.

Working Memory

An executive function involving holding and manipulating information in the mind over short periods.

Inhibition

An executive function defined as the ability to resist impulses, distractions, or inappropriate behaviors.

Cognitive Flexibility

An executive function defined as the ability to shift thinking or strategies when rules or situations change.

Id

The pleasure-seeking province of the mind focused on immediate gratification and basic instincts.

Ego

The province of the mind acting as a mediator of rationality, balancing id instincts with real-world constraints.

Superego

The moral conscience representing societal and parental standards striving for ideal behavior.

Persona

Carl Jung's archetype describing the public mask or social role presented to the world.

Anima

Carl Jung's archetype representing the feminine side of a man's psyche.

Animus

Carl Jung's archetype representing the masculine side of a woman's psyche.

Shadow

Carl Jung's archetype representing the dark, instinctual, and repressed side of personality, serving as a source of both creativity and destructive impulses.

Teleology

The concept that motivation is directed by future goals, purposes, or aspirations.

Causality

The concept that motivation is shaped by past experiences and historical or childhood causes.

Zone of Proximal Development

Lev Vygotsky's concept describing the range between a learner's current independent skill level and the level achievable with guidance from a more knowledgeable peer or adult.

Microsystem

The immediate environmental system where a person directly interacts, including family, school, friends, and teachers.

Mesosystem

The environmental system formed by interactions between two or more microsystems, such as parent-teacher communications.

Exosystem

Settings in which an individual does not directly participate, but which still affect their development and daily life.

Macrosystem

The environmental system encompassing larger cultural and societal influences, beliefs, traditions, and laws.

Chronosystem

The system capturing changes over time that affect human development, including socio-historical events and shifts in family structure.