NURS 203: Human Growth and Development Across the Lifespan

Vocabulary flashcards to review key concepts in human growth and development, covering various theories and principles discussed in the lecture.

Development

The science seeking to understand how and why people of all ages and circumstances change.

Life-Span Perspective

Development is multi-directional, varies in pace, and is multi-contextual and multi-cultural.

Plasticity (Life-Span Perspective)

The concept that human traits can be molded, yet people maintain a certain durability of identity.

Age Ranges for Development

Infancy (0-2), Early Childhood (2-6), Middle Childhood (6-11), Adolescence (11-18), Emerging Adulthood (18-25), Adulthood (25-65), Late Adulthood (65+).

Nature vs. Nurture

Nature refers to genetic influences; nurture refers to environmental factors affecting development.

Epigenetics

The study of how environmental factors influence gene expression.

Critical Period

A time when a particular type of developmental growth (in the body or behavior) must happen for normal development to occur.

Sensitive Period

A time when a certain type of development is most likely to happen or happens most easily, although it may still occur later with more difficulty.

Developmental Theory

Frameworks for understanding how and why people develop as they age.

Psychoanalytic Theory

Focus on unconscious motives and drives, as defined by Freud and Erikson.

Behaviorism

Learning through conditioning; includes classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and social learning.

Cognitive Theory

Focuses on changes in how people think over time; includes Piaget's stages of cognitive development.

Social Learning Theory

Learning occurs by modeling behaviors observed in others.

Humanism (Developmental Theory)

A theory that emphasizes the potential for all humans to be good and capable of making choices that lead to growth; focuses on individual fulfillment and values self-actualization.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

A theory proposing that humans have a series of needs, from physiological to self-actualization.

Ecological-Systems Approach

Bronfenbrenner's theory that individuals are influenced by multiple social contexts and interactions.

Bronfenbrenner's Bioecological Model Systems

1. Microsystem: Immediate environment (family, school, peers). 2. Mesosystem: Interactions between microsystems (e.g., parent-teacher conferences). 3. Exosystem: External contexts affecting development indirectly (e.g., parental workplace). 4. Macrosystem: Cultural values, laws, customs. 5. Chronosystem: Historical changes that influence development.

Information Processing Theory

A perspective that compares human thinking processes to computer analysis of data, including sensory input, connections, stored memories, and output.

Trust vs. Mistrust

Erikson’s first psychosocial stage, where infants learn to trust caregivers or develop mistrust.

Identity vs. Role Confusion

Erikson’s fifth stage, where adolescents explore various identities to form a coherent self.

Cognitive Development

Piaget's theory proposing that cognitive abilities develop through structured stages.

Sociocultural Theory

Vygotsky’s idea that cognitive development is influenced by cultural context.

Differential Susceptibility

Variability in individual responses to environmental influences based on inherited traits.