PSY 323 Unit 1 Exam

Science of Human Development

seeks to understand how and why people of all ages and scenarioschance or remain the same over time

Steps of scientific method

1. Begin with curiosity

2. Develop a hypothesis

3. Test the hypothesis

4. Draw conclusions

5. Report the results

Hypothesis

a specific prediction that can be tested and proven/disproven

Replication

Repeating a study using different participants from different backgrounds

Nature

the influence of genes that people inherit

Nurture

environmental influences

Examples of nature

Traits, capacities, and limitations inherited at conception

Examples of nurture

Health, diet, and attitudes of parents at conception; family, school, community, and nation after birth

Nature-nurture debate

Both genes and environment affect every characteristic. Nature and Nature go hand in hand with each other, neither has a greater influence than the other

Differential Susceptibility

how people vary in how sensitive they are to different experiences because of their genes or past experiences

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)

childhood experiences that have been proven to have harmful effects on development.

What can ACEs cause in adulthood?

Physical and emotional problems

Life-span Perspective

a study of human development that includes all phases (birth to death) and considers many changes in direction, culture, and context

Infancy

0-2 years

Early Childhood

2-6 years

Middle childhood

6-11 years

Adolescence

11 to 18 years

Emerging Adulthood

18 to 30 years

Adulthood

30 to 60 years

Late Adulthood

60 years and older

Multi-directional development

Multiple chances in every direction

Examples of multi-directional development

children growing faster in the summer than in winter, faster in infancy and slower in middle childhood, and with a growth spurt at puberty that causes adolescents to grow 6 inches a year

Discontinuity

changes can occur rapidly and dramatically

Continuity

growth can be gradual

Critical Periods

time when certain development must occur. if it doesn’t and something prevents the growth, it cannot develop later

Example of critical period

humans being able to grow arms and legs, hands and feet, fingers and toes between 28 and 54 days after conception

Sensitive Periods

a tie when a certain development is most likely to occur, although it can still happen later

Examples of sensitive periods

if children do not communicate in their first language between 1 or 3 years old, they may do so later but their language ability is impaired

Multi-contextual development

Includes direct physical environment, surrounding living creatures, and implicit social values

Social context

includes all other people who influence each developing person, immediately/overtime and directly/indirectly.

Ecological Systems

a perspective on human development where all influences from different contexts of development are considered

Who emphasized the ecological systems approach?

Urie Bronfenbrenner

Macrosystem

Cultural patterns, political philosophies, economic policies, and social conditions

Exosystem

Involves external settings where individual does not contribute but is indirectly affected by it; similiar to macrosystem; local institutions

Mesosystem

Interaction and communication of microsystems

Microsystem

Immediate and direct environment, including family, school, peers and neighbors

Chronosystem

Changing conditions of personal and societal issues over the lifespan

What did Bronfrenbrenner add later on?

Bioecological system; internal biology of the person

Cohort

people born within the same historical period who move through life together, experience the same events, new technologies, and cultural shifts

Multi-cutural development

development that takes into account culture, which involves shared beliefs, values, expectations, and behavioral patterns passed down through generations.

Culture

a system of shared beliefs, norms, behaviors, and expectations that persist over time and set social behavior and assumptions; shared values and traditions

Social construction

an idea built on shared perceptions; a concept created by society

Who stressed the multi-cultural approach?

Lev Vygotsky

What did Lev Vygotsky believe?

people do not develop in isolation but rather in relationship to their community

Difference-equals-deficit error

the mistaken belief that unusual “beliefs, conventions, norms, behaviors, and expectations” are not as good as familiar ones

Ethnic Group

people whose ancestors were born in the same region in which they share a language, culture, and/or religion; heritage

Ethinicity is a social contruction

False; it’s a biological construction

To prevent difference-equals-deficit, what must be understood?

Ethnicity and race

Race

a concept where people think some people are distinct from others because of their physical appearance, especially skin color; socially construction that emphasizes external appearance

Race is a biological construction

True

Socioeconomic Stauts (SES)

a person’s position in society that is determined by income, occupation, education, and place of resident (social class)

How well do children from low SES families perform?

Less well

How well do children from high SES families perform?

Highly well

What do adult SES habits affect?

Health, behavior, and survival

Intersectionality

Gender, religion, race, age, culture, SES, and ethnicity push and pull everyone to identify within a particular group; everyone’s identities interact with each other and change over time

Plastic Development

the idea that abilities, personality, and other characteristics are moldable and can change

Dynamic-systems Approach

a view of human development as an ongoing, ever-changing interaction between the physical, cognitive, and psychosocial influences

Three mains factors of a person’s SES

income, education and household

Developmental Theory

A group of ideas and assumptions about human growth; provides framework to interpret growth and growth

Theory

a comprehensive and organized explanation of many phenomena

Psychodynamic Theories

stresses the power of each person’s past experiences and emotions to shape later thoughts and behavior

Psychoanalytic Theory

inner drives & motives from childhood; development in first six years affects personality, impulses, and emotions lifelong

Oral Stage

lips, tongue, and gums are focus of pleasurable sensations in baby’s body; sucking and feeding are most stimulating activities

When does the oral stage occur?

Birth to 1 year

Anal Stage

anus is the focus of pleasurable sensations in the baby’s body; toilet training is most important

When does the anal stage occur?

1 to 3 years

Phallic Stage

phallus (penis) is the most important body part and pleasure is derived from genital stimulation; boys are proud of their penises and girls wonder why they don’t have them

Latency

Sexual needs are quiet, psychic energy flows into sports, school, and friendship

When does phallic stage occur?

3-6 years

When does latency occur?

6-11 years

Genital Stage

The genitals are the focus of pleasurable sensations and a young person seeks stimulation and satisfaction in heterosexual relationships (adolescence)

Adulthood

Frued believed that the genital stage lasts throughout adulthood.

Erik Erikson

A neo-Freudian who described eight psychosocial stages including three in adulthood, each characterized by a challenging crisis

Trust vs Mistrust

Babies either trust that others will satisfy their basic needs or develop mistrust about the care of others

Autonomy vs Shame & Doubt

Children either become self sufficient in many activities or doubt their own abilities

Initiative vs Guilt

Children either try to undertake many adult like activities or internalize the limits set by the parents.

Industry vs Inferiority

Children busily practice and then master new skills or they feel inferior and unable to do anything well

Identity vs Role Confusion

Adolescents establish sexual, political, religious, and vocational identities or are confused about their roles

Intimacy vs Isolation

Young adults seek companionship and love or they become isolated from others, fearing rejection

Generativity vs Stagnation

Middle aged adults contribute to future generations through work or they stop developing

Integrity vs Despair

Older adults try to make sense of their lives or they despair at goals they never reached

What did Erik call his theory?

Psychosocial

Behaviorism

A theory of human development that studies observable actions; also called learning theory for describing how people learn what they do

Classical Conditioning (Ivan Pavlov)

When a living creature learns to associate a neutral stimulus with a meaningful stimulus, gradually reacting to the neutral stimulus in the same way as the meaningful one

Operant Conditioning (B.F. Skinner)

The learning process that reinforces or punishes behavior

Reinforcement

The positive experience that follows a behavior, making it likely that the behavior will occur again

Social Learning Theory (Albert Bandura)

A theory that emphasizes the influence of other people; people learn via role models

Cognitive Theory (Jean Piaget)

A theory of human development that focuses on how people think. Thoughts shape our attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors

Evolutionary Theory (Charles Darwin)

The idea that current human emotions and impulses are a legacy from thousands of years ago

Survey

A research method where information is collected from a large number of interviews and questionnaires

Observation

Watching and recording participants’ behavior in a systematic and objective manner, in a natural setting or in a laboratory

Experiment

Where researcher adds one variable (independent variable) and then observes the effect on another variable (dependent variable) in order to learn if the independent variable causes change in the dependent variable

Independent Variable

The variable that is added by the researcher to see if it affects the dependent variable

Dependent variable

The variable that may change as a result of the independent variable

Cross-sectional study

A research design that compares people who differ in age

Longitudinal Research

A research design that follows the same individuals over time

Cross-sequential Research

A hybrid research design that includes cross-sectional and longitudinal research

Correlation

Number between +1.0 and -1.0 that indicates whether and how much two variables are related

Positive Correlation

Both variables tend to increase or decrease together

Negative correlation

If one variable tends to increase while the other decreases