Human Development Flashcards

Flashcards from Lecture Notes

Human Development

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

Life-Span Development

Concept of human development as a lifelong process, which can be studied scientifically from 'womb to tomb'.

Growth

Physical and physiological changes (structure and form); quantitative change.

Development

Relatively predictable pattern of changes (organization and function); qualitative change.

Maturation

Unfolding of traits resulting from the interaction of heredity and environment; broad term.

Risk Factor

Increases likelihood of negative developmental outcomes.

Protective Factor

Reduces likelihood of negative developmental outcomes.

Causal Factor

Leads to the negative developmental outcome.

Prenatal Period

From conception to birth; rapid formation of basic body structures and organs.

Infancy and Toddlerhood

From birth to 3 years; more physical growth, especially cognitive and motor skills, with attachment to parents.

Early Childhood

From 3 to 6 years; preschool years, acquisition of school readiness skills, and egocentrism.

Middle Childhood

From 6 to 11 years; elementary years, fundamental skills in reading, writing, arithmetic, and exposure to a larger world.

Adolescence

From 11 to 20 years; rapid physical changes due to puberty, identity and independence, logical, idealistic, and abstract thought.

Emerging and Young Adulthood

From 20 to 40 years; transition between adolescence and adulthood, marked by exploration and experimentation of occupational, sexual, ideological roles.

Middle Adulthood

From 40 to 65 years; expansion of personal and social responsibilities beyond family, maintaining career satisfaction.

Late Adulthood

From 65 and over; period of life review, retirement, and adjustment to new social roles, decline in health and abilities.

Chronological Age

Number of years that have elapsed since birth.

Biological Age

Age in terms of individual’s biological health.

Psychological Age

Individual’s adaptive capacities compared with those of other individuals of the same chronological age.

Social Age

Social roles and expectations related to a person’s age.

Nature

Development is influenced by heredity.

Nurture

Development is influenced by the environment.

Epigenetics

Study of how the environment and other factors can influence gene expression.

Nuclear Family

Household unit consisting of 1-2 parents and their children; most common in western culture.

Extended Family

Multigenerational network of grandparents, aunts, uncles, and other distant relatives; most common in asian households.

Blended Family

Consists of two adults, the child or children that they have had together, and one or more children that they have had with previous partners.

Socioeconomic Status (SES)

Combination of social and economic factors describing an individual or family.

Culture

Behavior patterns, beliefs, and all other products of a particular group of people that are passed on from generation to generation.

Ethnicity

Rooted in cultural heritage, nationality, race, religion, and language.

Ethnic Group

People united by distinctive culture, ancestry, religion, language, or national origin.

Ethnic Gloss

Overgeneralization that obscures or blurs variation.

Race

Identifiable biological category that is impossible to measure reliably.

Normative History-Graded Influences

Similar in a historical generation (ex. Pandemic).

Normative Age-Graded Influences

Similar in a particular age group (ex. Age of Retirement).

Nonnormative Influences

Unusual events that disturb the expected sequence of life cycle.

Critical Period

Time when it is essential for a person to be expected to a specific stimulus to develop; very short in duration.

Sensitive Period

Less sensitive than critical period; No exact time frame with results are not necessarily as dramatic or irreversible.

Active Development

People create experiences for themselves and are motivated to learn about the world around them.

Reactive Development

People are shaped by input from their environment.

Continuous Development

Views development as gradual and incremental.

Discontinuous Development

Views development as abrupt or uneven.

Mechanistic Model

People are viewed as machines that react to their environment; emphasis on the influence of experiences (input) on behavior (output).

Psychosexual Theory

Emphasized the role of unconscious drives and early childhood in human development; proposed by Sigmund Freud.

Psychosocial Theory

Extension of Freud’s psychosexual theory that emphasizes the influence of social interactions; proposed by Erik Erikson.

Operant Conditioning

Learning results from the use of reinforcements to modify the occurrence of behavior; proposed by B.F. Skinner.

Classical Conditioning

Learning based on associating a stimulus that does not ordinarily elicit a response with another stimulus that does elicit the response; proposed by Ivan Pavlov.

Social Cognitive Theory

Learning based on the human characteristic of plasticity, which is influenced by extrinsic and intrinsic factors; proposed by Albert Bandura.

Cognitive Development Theory

Argued that children’s intelligence undergo changes as they grow; children’s intelligence undergo changes as they grow; proposed by Jean Piaget.

Sociocultural Theory

Learning as a collaborative process; social and cultural processes guide children’s cognitive development; proposed by Lev Vygotsky.

Bioecological Theory

Brings focus to the environmental systems that are involved, emphasizes interconnectedness of multiple influences on individual; proposed by Urie Bronfenbrenner.

Ethological Theory

Stresses that development is strongly influenced by biology and is tied to evolution; characterized by critical/sensitive periods.

Attachment Theory

Stresses the importance of forming attachments in early development for survival, attachment to the primary caregiver becomes the basis of our internal working model; proposed by John Bowlby.

Sternberg’s Triangular Theory of Love

Proposes three components of love, which combine in different ways to create eight kinds of love.

Case Study

In-depth study of a single individual.

Ethnographic Study

In-depth study of a culture.

Correlational Study

Attempt to find positive or negative relationship between variables.

Experiment Study

Controlled procedure conducted in a laboratory or field.

Cross-Sectional Study

Data is collected from different ages at a single point in time.

Longitudinal Study

Repeated observations of the same group of people.

Sequential Study

Combination of cross-sectional and longitudinal research design.

Fertilization

Marks the beginning of development where the sperm and ovum combine to create a zygote in the fallopian tube.

Dizygotic Twins

Fraternal twins that result from the fertilization of 2 separate eggs by 2 sperms.

Monozygotic Twins

Identical twins that result from the cleaving of 1 fertilized egg.

Mitosis

Process by which somatic cell’s nucleus duplicates itself to form two new cells.

Meiosis

Specialized form of cell division that is involved in the production of gametes for sexual reproduction, introduces genetic diversity.

Gene

Segments of DNA that contain the instructions for building and maintaining an organism.

Proteins

Building blocks of cells and regulators that direct the body’s processes.

Sex-Linked Genes

Genes that determine an individual's sex/gender at birth; twenty-third pair of chromosomes.

Allele

Two or more alternative forms of a gene that occupy the same position on paired chromosomes and affect the same trait.

Homozygous

Possessing two identical alleles for a trait.

Heterozygous

Possessing two different alleles for a trait.

Dominant Inheritance

Pattern of inheritance in which, when a child receives different alleles, only the dominant one is expressed.

Dominant Gene

An allele that is expressed in the phenotype even when only one copy is present in the genotype (heterozygous condition).

Recessive Inheritance

Pattern of inheritance in which a child receives identical recessive alleles, resulting in expression of a nondominant trait.

Multifactorial Transmission

Phenomenon by which environmental experience modifies the expression of the genotype for most traits.

Genotype

Person’s genetic heritage; the actual genetic material.

Phenotype

Observable, physical, and biochemical traits of an organism.

Epigenesis

Mechanism that turns genes on or off and determines functions of body cells.

Behavior Genetics

Field that seeks to discover the influence of heredity and environment on individual differences in human traits and development.

Heritability

Statistical estimate of contribution of heredity to individual differences in a specific trait within a given population.

Reaction Range

Range of potential expressions of a hereditary trait.

Canalization

Illustrates how heredity restricts the range of development for some traits, strongly programmed by genes and little opportunity for variance.

Genotype-Environment Interaction

Effects of similar environmental conditions on genetically different individuals.

Genotype-Environment Correlations

Tendency of certain genetic and environmental influences to reinforce each other.

Prenatal Development

Gestation, takes place in three stages: germinal, embryonic, and fetal.

Gestation

Period of development between conception and birth.

Gestational Age

Age of an unborn baby dated from the first day of an expectant mother’s last menstrual cycle.

Cephalocaudal Principle

Dictates that development proceeds from the head to the lower part of the trunk.

Proximodistal Principle

Dictates that parts of the body near the center develop before the extremities.

Germinal Period

From fertilization to 2 weeks, the zygote undergoes rapid cell division and implantation in the uterine wall.

Embryonic Stage

From 2 to 8 weeks, rapid development of organs and major body systems (organogenesis). Embryo is most vulnerable to destructive influences.

Fetal Stage

From 8 weeks to birth, fetus grows rapidly, and organs/body systems become more complex.

Teratogen

An environmental agent that can interfere with normal prenatal development; vulnerability may depend on genes.

Parturition

Act or process of giving birth that typically begins about 2 weeks before delivery.

Electronic Fetal Monitoring

Used to track the fetus;s heartbeat during labor and delivery.

Natural Childbirth

Method that aims to reduce the mother’s pain by decreasing her fear by providing information about childbirth and teaching her and her partner to use breathing methods and relaxation techniques during delivery.

Apgar Scale

The first physical assessment that is administered after a minute of delivery and is done again 5 minutes after birth.

Low birth weight infants

Infants that weigh less than 5 pounds 8 ounces at birth.

Preterm infants

Those born three weeks or more before the pregnancy has reached the completion of 37 weeks of gestation.

Postpartum Period

Period after childbirth when the mother adjusts, both physically and psychologically, to the process of childbirth which typically lasts for about six weeks.