Human Development: Life-Span Perspective and Contexts

Vocabulary flashcards covering human development concepts, the life-span perspective, genetic and environmental influences, Bronfenbrenner's model, and Sinha's ecological framework.

Development

The pattern of progressive, orderly, and predictable changes that begin at conception and continue throughout life, involving both growth and decline.

Biological Processes

Developmental changes stemming from genes inherited from parents, including physical growth and the development of organs like the brain, heart, and lungs.

Cognitive Processes

Mental activities associated with the processes of knowing and experiencing, such as thought, perception, attention, and problem solving.

Socio-Emotional Processes

Developmental processes involving changes in an individual's interactions with other people, changes in emotions, and changes in personality.

Life-Span Perspective (LSP)

A framework holding that development is lifelong, multi-directional, highly plastic, interdisciplinary, contextual, and driven by interwoven biological, cognitive, and socio-emotional processes.

Multi-Directionality

The characteristic of development where some dimensions or components of a dimension increase while others decrease in performance over time.

Plasticity

The degree of within-person modifiability in psychological development, meaning skills and abilities can be improved or developed throughout life.

Growth

An increase in the size of body parts or of the organism as a whole that can be measured or quantified, such as height and weight.

Maturation

Developmental changes that follow an orderly sequence and are largely dictated by an inner genetic blueprint, such as sitting by 7 months and walking by 1 year.

Evolution

Species-specific biological changes that occur over generations through natural selection to ensure survival and reproduction.

Genotype

An individual's actual genetic material or inherited genetic heritage.

Phenotype

The observable and measurable physical and psychological characteristics of an individual, resulting from the interaction between genotype and environment.

Sandra Scarr (1992)

Psychologist who proposed that parents pass on genes and shape environments, and that a child's genotype evokes specific responses and influences their choices of environments.

Microsystem

The immediate setting in Bronfenbrenner's model in which an individual directly interacts with social agents such as family, peers, teachers, and neighbourhood.

Mesosystem

The layer in Bronfenbrenner's model consisting of relations between different immediate contexts or microsystems, such as parents' interactions with teachers.

Exosystem

Social settings in Bronfenbrenner's model where the child does not participate directly, but which nevertheless affect their immediate context, such as a parent's job transfer.

Macrosystem

The layer in Bronfenbrenner's model consisting of the overarching culture, beliefs, ideologies, attitudes, and traditions in which an individual lives.

Chronosystem

The temporal dimension in Bronfenbrenner's model involving life events, socio-historical circumstances, and their timing across an individual's life.

Durganand Sinha (1977)

Psychologist who formulated an ecological model for understanding child development in the Indian context across two concentric layers.

Upper Layer (Sinha's Model)

The visible layer of a child's ecology consisting of home conditions, quality and facilities of schooling, and peer group interactions and activities.

Surrounding Layer (Sinha's Model)

The broader environmental context in Sinha's model comprising general geography, institutional settings (caste, class), and general amenities.

Social Expectations

Accomplishments, skills, and behaviour patterns that an individual is expected by society to master during specific developmental stages.