Introductory Developmental Psychology & Hereditary Influences

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards generated from lecture notes on developmental psychology, developmental theories, genetics, and prenatal testing.

Development

Systematic continuities & changes occurring from conception to death that are orderly, patterned, and relatively lasting.

Maturation

Biological changes caused by aging & inheritance rather than learning, illness, injury, etc.

Learning

A relatively permanent change in behaviour or behavioural potential caused by experience or practice.

Normative Development

Typical patterns of change shared by MOST people.

Ideographic Development

Individual differences in the rate, extent, or direction of development.

Holistic Perspective

A perspective that emphasizes that different areas of development (physical, cognitive, social, emotional) are interconnected.

Plasticity

The capacity for development to change in response to positive or negative experiences.

Original Sin (Hobbes)

The early view that children are naturally selfish & must be controlled.

Innate Purity (Rousseau)

The early view that children are naturally good, but society may corrupt them.

Tabula Rasa (Locke)

The view that the infant mind is a blank slate shaped through experiences.

Reliability

The extent to which a measure produces consistent results.

Validity

The extent to which a measure actually assesses what it is intended to measure.

Clinical Method

A measurement technique where the researcher asks flexible follow-up questions based on each participant's previous answer.

Naturalistic Observation

A method in which the researcher observes behaviour in its normal, everyday environment.

Structured Observation

A method in which the researcher creates the same situation for everyone & observes whether the target behaviour occurs.

Ethnography

A research method that involves extensive observation & participation within a social group or culture.

Confounding Variable

A factor other than the independent variable that could explain changes in the dependent variable.

Ecological Validity

The extent to which research findings accurately represent processes occurring in natural, real-world environments.

Cohort Effect

An apparent age difference caused by different historical or cultural experiences.

Selective Attrition

Nonrandom loss of participants during a study, causing the remaining sample to become nonrepresentative.

Cross-Generational Problem

Occurs when findings from 1 generation may NOT apply to later generations because historical environments change.

Microgenetic Design

A design that observes participants very frequently over a short period while a developmental change is occurring.

Assent

An age-appropriate explanation and agreement provided to a child in research involving children.

Parsimonious Theory

A theory that uses few principles to explain MANY observations.

Falsifiable Theory

A theory that makes predictions that could potentially be disproven.

Heuristic Theory

A theory that generates NEW hypotheses, research & discoveries.

ID

The inborn & impulsive component of personality that demands immediate satisfaction of biological drives.

Ego

The rational component of personality that finds realistic ways to satisfy the ID.

Superego

The conscience containing internalized moral standards, which develops around ages 3-6.

Fixation

Arrested development caused by unresolved, excessive, or insufficient conflict/gratification during a psychosexual stage.

Reinforcer

In Skinner's operant learning theory, an event that increases the probability that a behaviour will recur.

Punisher

In Skinner's operant learning theory, an event that decreases the probability that a behaviour will recur.

Observational Learning

Learning that results from watching a model; requires the observer to pay attention, encode the behaviour, store it in memory, and reproduce it later.

Schemes

An organized pattern of thought or action used to understand experience.

Assimilation

Interpreting a new experience using an existing scheme.

Accommodation

Modifying an existing scheme or creating a new one when current understanding does not fit the experience.

Disequilibrium

Occurs when experience CONTRADICTS existing schemes & motivates accommodation.

Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)

Includes tasks that are too difficult for a child to complete alone, but possible with guidance from a more skilled partner.

Imprinting

An early biologically prepared response that causes young animals to follow a caregiver.

Microsystem

Settings directly experienced by the child, such as family, school, and friends.

Mesosystem

Connections between microsystems, such as parent-teacher relationships.

Exosystem

Settings the child does not enter but that affect them, such as parent workplace or school board.

Macrosystem

Broader culture, values, laws & social class.

Chronosystem

Personal & environmental changes across time, such as divorce, technology, or historical events.

Positional Stability

When a person maintains a similar rank relative to others even if everyone's absolute level changes.

Mechanistic Model

View that people are relatively passive & gradually shaped by external influences (e.g., Bandura, Watson, Skinner).

Organismic Model

View that people are active, holistic organisms guided partly by internal forces & stages (e.g., Piaget, Ethology).

Contextual Model

View that development results from continuous interaction between an active person & active environment (e.g., Bronfenbrenner).

Genotype

Genes inherited from parents.

Phenotype

Observable traits of the genotype.

Epigenetics

Changes in gene expression without changing DNA sequence.

Regulatory Genes

Genes that turn other genes off/on & help control developmental timing.

Codominance

Inheritance pattern in which both alleles are fully expressed (e.g., AB blood type).

Incomplete Dominance

Inheritance pattern in which 1 allele does NOT completely mask the other (e.g., sickle-cell trait).

Polygenic Traits

Traits influenced by MANY genes that generally show continuous variation rather than distinct categories.

DNA Methylation

Epigenetic process where environmental experiences alter gene expression by reducing or switching off gene expression without changing DNA.

Down Syndrome (Trisomy 21)

Trisomy condition resulting from an extra copy of all or part of chromosome 21, leaving the individual with 47 chromosomes.

Turner Syndrome (XO)

Sex-chromosome abnormality in females characterized by short stature, atypical sexual development, verbal ability general strength, and usually sterile status.

Klinefelter Syndrome (XXY/XXXY)

Sex-chromosome abnormality in males characterized by tall stature, underdeveloped testes, usually sterile status, and potential development of female secondary sex characteristics.

Amniocentesis

Prenatal procedure performed around 15-22 weeks that removes a sample of amniotic fluid containing fetal cells (~1 in 400 miscarriage risk).

Chorionic Villus Sampling (CVS)

Prenatal procedure usually performed at 10-14 weeks that removes tissue from placenta containing fetal cells (~1-2% miscarriage risk).

Noninvasive Prenatal Testing (NIPT)

Prenatal test performed as early as 9 weeks that analyzes cell-free DNA from placenta in the mother's blood.

Somatic Gene Therapy

Gene therapy that alters genes in body cells so changes are not passed to future generations.

Germline Gene Therapy

Gene therapy that alters cells involved in producing gametes, meaning changes CAN be passed to future generations.

Heritability

The amount of variability in a trait within a particular population that can be attributed to hereditary factors.

Heritability Coefficient (H)

A coefficient calculated as $H = 2(r_{\text{identical twins}} - r_{\text{fraternal twins}})$ ranging from $0.00$ to $1.00$.

Nonshared Environment (NSE)

Experiences that make people raised together DIFFERENT from one another, calculated as $NSE = 1 - r_{\text{identical twin-together}}$.

Shared Environment (SE)

Experiences shared by family members that make them similar, calculated as $SE = 1 - (H + NSE)$.

Canalization

Occurs when genes restrict development to a small number of possible outcomes.

Range of Reaction Principle

Proposes that genotype establishes a range of possible phenotypes, and environment helps determine where within that genetic range the person actually develops.

Active Genotype-Environment Correlation

Occurs when people actively seek environments compatible with their genetic tendencies (niche-picking).

Evocative Genotype-Environment Correlation

Occurs when genetically influenced characteristics evoke certain reactions from other people.

Passive Genotype-Environment Correlation

Occurs when parents provide BOTH genes and a related environment.