Life-Span Development – Comprehensive Vocabulary

Human Development

Scientific study of patterns of change and stability throughout the human lifespan.

Life-Span Development

View of development as a lifelong, multidimensional, multidirectional, plastic, contextual process.

Growth

Quantitative physical and physiological changes in structure and form.

Development

Qualitative, predictable pattern of change in organization and function.

Maturation

Unfolding of traits through interaction of heredity and environment.

Risk Factor

Condition that increases the likelihood of negative developmental outcomes.

Protective Factor

Condition that reduces the likelihood of negative developmental outcomes.

Causal Factor

Influence that directly leads to a developmental outcome.

Domains of Development

Physical, cognitive, and psychosocial areas of growth.

Chronological Age

Number of years since birth.

Biological Age

Age in terms of physiological health.

Psychological Age

Adaptive capacities compared with same-age peers.

Social Age

Expected social roles and behaviors for a person’s age.

Nature

Influence of heredity on development.

Nurture

Influence of environment and experience on development.

Critical Period

Limited time in which exposure to certain stimuli is essential for normal development.

Sensitive Period

Time during which individuals are especially responsive to certain experiences.

Normative Influence

Event experienced similarly by most people in a group.

Nonnormative Influence

Unusual event affecting an individual life course.

Organismic Model

Active, self-initiated development perspective (Rousseau).

Mechanistic Model

Reactive, environment-shaped development perspective (Locke).

Continuous Development

Gradual, quantitative change view of development.

Discontinuous Development

Stage-like, qualitative change view of development.

Psychoanalytic Perspective

View that behavior stems from unconscious processes and early experiences.

Freud’s Id

Primitive source of drives, governed by pleasure principle.

Freud’s Ego

Rational mediator, governed by reality principle.

Freud’s Superego

Moral component of personality.

Fixation

Arrested development due to over- or under-gratification in a stage.

Erikson’s Trust vs. Mistrust

First psychosocial stage; hope emerges when needs are reliably met.

Operant Conditioning

Learning via consequences that strengthen or weaken behavior (Skinner).

Reinforcement

Consequence that increases likelihood of a behavior.

Punishment

Consequence that decreases likelihood of a behavior.