PSYB20 Terms (start - midterm 1)

Development

systematic continuities and changes in the individual over the course of life

Developmental Continuities

ways in which we remain stable over time or continue to reflect our pas

Developmental Psychology

branch of psychology devoted to identifying and explaining the continuities and changes that individuals display over time

Developmentalists

any scholar, regardless of discipline (e.g., psychologist, biologist, sociologist, anthropologist, educator), who seeks to understand the developmental process

maturation

developmental changes in the body or behaviour that result from the aging process rather than from learning, injury, illness, or some other life experience

learning

a relatively permanent change in behaviour (or behavioural potential) that results from one's experiences or practice

normative development

developmental changes that characterize most or all members of a species; typical patterns of development

ideographic development

individual variations in the rate, extent, or direction of development

holistic perspective

unified view of the developmental process that emphasizes the important interrelationships among the physical, mental, social, and emotional aspects of human development

plasticity

capacity for change; a developmental state that has the potential to be shaped by experience

original sin

idea that children are inherently negative creatures who must be taught to rechannel their selfish interests into socially acceptable outlets

innate purity

idea that infants are born with an intuitive sense of right and wrong that is often misdirected by the demands and restrictions of society

tabula rasa

the idea that the mind of an infant is a "blank slate" and that all knowledge, abilities, behaviours, and motives are acquired through experience

baby biographies

a detailed record of an infant's growth and development over a period of time

scientific method

the use of objective and replicable methods to gather data for the purpose of testing a theory or hypothesis. It dictates that, above all, investigators must be objective and must allow their data to decide the merits of their thinking

theory

a set of concepts and propositions designed to organize, describe, and explain an existing set of observations

hypothesis

a theoretical prediction about some aspect of experience

reliability

the extent to which a measuring instrument yields consistent results, both over time and across observers

validity

the extent to which a measuring instrument accurately reflects what the researchers intended to measure

structured interview / structured questionnaire

a technique in which all participants are asked the same questions in precisely the same order so that the responses of different participants can be compared

clinical method

a type of interview in which a participant's response to each successive question (or problem) determines what the investigator will ask next

naturalistic observation

a method in which the scientist tests hypotheses by observing people as they engage in everyday activities in their natural habitats (e.g., at home, at school, or on the playground)

observer influence

tendency of participants to react to an observer's presence by behaving in unusual ways

time-sampling

a procedure in which the investigator records the frequencies with which individuals display particular behaviours during the brief time intervals that each is observed

structured observation

an observational method in which the investigator cues the behaviour of interest and observes participants' responses in a laboratory

case study

a research method in which the investigator gathers extensive information about the life of an individual and then tests developmental hypotheses by analyzing the events of the person's life history

ethnography

method in which the researcher seeks to understand the unique values, traditions, and social processes of a culture or subculture by living with its members and making extensive observations and notes

psychophysiological methods

methods that measure the relationships between physiological processes and aspects of children's physical, cognitive, social, or emotional behaviour/development

correlational design

a type of research design that indicates the strength of associations among variables; though correlated variables are systematically related, these relationships are not necessarily causal

correlational coefficient

numerical index, ranging from 21.00 to 11.00, of the strength and direction of the relationship between two variables

experimental design

a research design in which the investigator introduces some change in the participant's environment and then measures the effect of that change on the participant's behaviour

independent variable

the aspect of the environment that an experimenter modifies or manipulates in order to measure its impact on behaviour

dependent variable

the aspect of behaviour that is measured in an experiment and assumed to be under the control of the independent variable

confounding variable

some factor other than the independent variable that, if not controlled by the experimenter, could explain any differences across treatment conditions in participants' performance on the dependent variable

experimental control

steps taken by an experimenter to ensure that all extraneous factors that could influence the dependent variable are roughly equivalent in each experimental condition; these precautions must be taken before an experimenter can be reasonably certain that observed changes in the dependent variable were caused by manipulation of the independent variable

random assignment

control technique in which participants are assigned to experimental conditions through an unbiased procedure so that the members of the groups are not systematically different from one another

ecological validity

state of affairs in which the findings of one's research are an accurate representation of processes that occur in the natural environment

field experiment

an experiment that takes place in a naturalistic setting such as home, school, or playground

natural (quasi) experiment

a study in which the investigator measures the impact of some naturally occurring event that is assumed to affect people's lives

cross-sectional design

a research design in which subjects from different age groups are studied at the same point in time

cohort

a group of people of the same age who are exposed to similar cultural environments and historical events as they are growing up

cohort effect

age-related difference among cohorts that is attributable to cultural/historical differences in cohorts' growing-up experiences rather than to true developmental change

longitudinal design

a research design in which one group of subjects is studied repeatedly over a period of months or years

practice effects

changes in participants' natural responses as a result of repeated testing

selective attrition

nonrandom loss of participants during a study that results in a nonrepresentative sample

non representative sample

a subgroup that differs in important ways from the larger group (or population) to which it belongs

cross-generational problem

the fact that long-term changes in the environment may limit the conclusions of a longitudinal project to that generation of children who were growing up while the study was in progress

sequential designs

a research design in which subjects from different age groups are studied repeatedly over a period of months or years

micro genetic studies

a research design in which participants are studied intensively over a short period of time as developmental changes occur; attempts to specify how or why those changes occur

cross-cultural comparisons

a study that compares the behaviour and/or development of people from different cultural or subcultural backgrounds

informed consent

the right of research participants to receive an explanation in language they can understand, of all aspects of all aspects of research that may affect their willingness to participate

protected from harm

the right of research participants to be protected from physical or psychological harm

minimal risk

term used when assessing risk in ethics reviews that refers to risks that are no greater than those one would encounter in daily life

benefits to risk ratio

a comparison of the possible benefits of a study for advancing knowledge and optimizing life conditions versus its costs to participants in terms of inconvenience and possible harm

parsimony

a criterion for evaluating the scientific merit of theories; a parsimonious theory is one that uses relatively few explanatory principles to explain a broad set of observations

falsifiable

a criterion for evaluating the scientific merit of theories. A theory is falsifiable when it is capable of generating predictions that could be disconfirmed

heuristic value

a criterion for evaluating the scientific merit of theories. A heuristic theory is one that continues to stimulate new research and discoveries

psychosexual theory

Freud's theory states maturation of the sex instinct underlies stages of personality development, and that the manner in which parents manage children's instinctual impulses determines the traits that children display

unconscious motives

Freud's term for feelings, experiences, and conflicts that influence a person's thinking and behaviour but lie outside the person's awareness

repressed

a type of motivated forgetting in which anxiety-provoking thoughts and conflicts are forced out of conscious awareness

drives

an inborn biological force that motivates a particular response or class of responses

id

psychoanalytic term for the inborn component of the personality that is compelled by the drives

ego

psychoanalytic term for the rational component of the personality

superego

psychoanalytic term for the component of personality that consists of one's internalized moral standards

fixate

arrested development at a particular psychosexual stage that can prevent movement to higher stages

psychosocial theory

Erikson's revision of Freud's theory, which emphasizes sociocultural (rather than sexual) determinants of development and posits a series of eight psychosocial conflicts that people must resolve successfully to display healthy psychological adjustments

behaviourism

a school of thinking in psychology that holds that conclusions about human development should be based on controlled observations of overt behaviour rather than speculation about unconscious motives or other unobservable phenomena; the philosophical underpinning for the early theories of learning

habits

well-learned associations between stimuli and responses that represent the stable aspects of one's personality

reinforcer

any consequence of an act that increases the probability that the act will recur

punisher

any consequence of an act that suppresses that act and/or decreases the probability that it will recur

operant learning

a form of learning in which voluntary acts (or operants) become either more or less probable, depending on the consequences they produce

observational learning

learning that results from observing the behaviour of others

cognitive development

age-related changes that occur in mental activities such as attending, perceiving, learning, thinking, and remembering

scheme

an organized pattern of thought or action that a child constructs to make sense of some aspect of his or her experience; Piaget sometimes used the term cognitive structures as a synonym for schemes

assimilation

Piaget's term for the process by which children interpret new experiences by incorporating them into their existing schemes

accommodation

Piaget's term for the process by which children modify their existing schemes in order to incorporate or adapt to new experiences

disequilibriums

imbalances or contradictions between an individual's thought processes and environmental events. On the other hand, equilibrium refers to a balanced, harmonious relationship between an individual's cognitive structures and the environment

invariant developmental sequence

a series of developments that occur in one particular order because each development in the sequence is a prerequisite for the next

sociocultural theory

Vygotsky's perspective on cognitive development, in which children acquire their culture's values, beliefs, and problem-solving strategies through collaborative dialogues with more knowledgeable members of society

zone of proximal development

Vygotsky's term for the range of tasks that are too complex to be mastered alone but can be accomplished with guidance and encouragement from a more skillful partner

information-processing theory

a perspective that views the human mind as a continuously developing symbol-manipulating system, similar to a computer, into which information flows, is operated on, and is converted into output (answers, inferences, or solutions to problems)

ethology

the study of the bioevolutionary bases of behaviour and development

natural selection

an evolutionary process, proposed by Charles Darwin, stating that individuals with characteristics that promote adaptation to the environment will survive, reproduce, and pass these adaptive characteristics to offspring; those lacking these adaptive characteristics will eventually die out

sensitive period

period of time that is optimal for the development of particular capacities or behaviours and in which the individual is particularly sensitive to environmental influences that would foster these attributes

evolutionary theory

the study of the bioevolutionary basis of behaviour and development, with a focus on survival of the genes

ecological systems theory

Bronfenbrenner's model emphasizing that the developing person is embedded in a series of environmental systems that interact with one another and with the person to influence development

microsystem

the immediate settings (including role relationships and activities) that the person actually encounters; the innermost of Bronfenbrenner's environmental layers or contexts

mesosystem

the interconnections among an individual's immediate settings or microsystems; the second of Bronfenbrenner's environmental layers or contexts

exosystem

social systems that children and adolescents do not directly experience but that may nonetheless influence their development; the third of Bronfenbrenner's environmental layers or contexts

macrosystem

the larger cultural or subcultural context in which development occurs; Bronfenbrenner's outermost environmental layer or context

chronosystem

in ecological systems theory, changes in the individual or the environment that occur over time and influence the direction development takes

nature/nurture issue

the debate among developmental theorists about the relative importance of biological predispositions (nature) and environmental influences (nurture) as determinants of human development

continuity/discontinuity issue

a debate among theorists about whether developmental changes are quantitative and continuous, or qualitative and discontinuous (i.e., stagelike)

positional stability

stability of an individual's relative position in a group of people with regard to a psychological characteristic

absolute stability

no change in a person's attribute over the course of development

quantitative changes

incremental change in degree without sudden transformations; for example, some view the small yearly increases in height and weight that 2- to 11-year-olds display as quantitative developmental changes

qualitative changes

a change in kind that makes individuals fundamentally different than they were before; the transformation of a prelinguistic infant into a language user is viewed by many as a qualitative change in communication skills

developmental stage

distinct phase within a larger sequence of development; a period characterized by a particular set of abilities, motives, behaviours, or emotions that occur together and form a coherent pattern

holistic nature of development

awareness that development is a holistic process even when being studied as a segmented, separate process

mechanistic model

view of children as passive entities whose developmental paths are primarily determined by external (environmental) influences