Developmental Psychology - Introduction, Research Methods, and Theories

This set of vocabulary flashcards covers essential terms, age ranges, philosophical views, research methodologies, and theoretical frameworks from the introductory lectures of Developmental Psychology.

Development

Systematic continuities and changes between conception and death.

Maturation

Hereditary influences on the aging process.

Learning

A change in behavior due to experience.

Normative development

Typical patterns of change common to most individuals.

Ideographic development

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

Plasticity

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

Prenatal period

The period of life from conception to birth.

Infancy

The period of life from birth to $18$ months old.

Toddler period

The period of life from $18$ months to $3$ years old.

Preschool period

The period of life from $3$ to $5$ years of age.

Middle childhood

The period of life from $5$ to $12$ or so years of age, until the onset of puberty.

Adolescence

The period of life from approximately $12$ to $20$ years of age, ending when the individual begins to work and is independent.

Original sin

The philosophical view proposed by Thomas Hobbes that children are inherently bad and must be shaped by others.

Innate purity

The philosophical view proposed by Jean Jacques Rousseau that children are born with an intuitive sense of right and wrong and shape their own development.

Tabula rasa

The philosophical view proposed by John Locke that a child is a blank slate shaped entirely by experience.

Reliability

The extent to which a test gives consistent outcomes each time it is administered.

Validity

The extent to which a test really measures what it purports to measure.

Clinical method

A free-form interview technique where the investigator's subsequent questions are determined by the participant's answers.

Naturalistic observation

Observing children in their common surroundings, such as home or school.

Structured observation

A laboratory situation designed to elicit a specific behavior from a participant.

Time-sampling

A procedure where the frequency of behavior is recorded in brief observation intervals.

Ethnography

A research method where the researcher lives in a community for a period to understand the effect of culture on development.

Correlation coefficient ($r$)

A numerical index of the strength and direction of a relationship, varying from $-1.00$ to $+1.00$.

Cross-sectional design

A research design where people of different ages are studied at the same point in time.

Longitudinal design

A research design where the same participants are observed repeatedly over a period of time.

Sequential design

A research strategy combining cross-sectional and longitudinal designs by selecting different age groups and observing them repeatedly over time.

Parsimonious

A quality of a good theory where it uses relatively few explanatory principles to explain a broad range of observations.

Falsifiable

A quality of a good theory where it can make predictions that can be disconfirmed.

Id

The innate component of personality driven by the pleasure principle and instinctual impulses.

Ego

The conscious, rational component of personality driven by the reality principle.

Superego

The component of personality consisting of internalized moral standards.

Fixation

A concept in Freud's theory where development is arrested at a particular stage if conflicts are not properly resolved.

Radical behaviourism

B. F. Skinner's perspective that behavior is predicted by the outcome of previous occurrences via reinforcements and punishments.

Reciprocal determinism

Albert Bandura's proposal that the child and the environment influence each other bidirectionally.

Scheme

An organized pattern of thought or action used by a child to make sense of experiences.

Assimilation

The process of using an existing scheme to interpret a novel experience.

Accommodation

The process of modifying an existing scheme to incorporate new experiences.

Sensorimotor stage

Piaget's first stage ($birth$ to $2$ years) characterized by exploration using senses and improving motor coordination.

Preoperational stage

Piaget's second stage ($2$ to $7$ years) characterized by the usage of symbols.

Concrete Operations stage

Piaget's third stage ($7$ to $11$ years) characterized by the development of logical thought.

Formal Operations stage

Piaget's fourth stage ($11$ years and older) characterized by the capacity for abstract thought.

Social mediation

The mechanism by which children acquire culture through interaction with knowledgeable members of society, according to Vygotsky.