Lifespan Human Development Study Guide

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards generated from the lifespan human development lecture notes covering developmental theories, genetics, prenatal phases, neonatal health, brain structures, motor development, and perception.

Lifespan Perspective

A perspective viewing human development as a lifelong process from conception to death, characterized as lifelong, multidimensional, multidirectional, plastic, multidisciplinary, contextual, and involving growth, maintenance, and regulation of loss.

Median Age

The age that divides a population into two equal groups, with half younger and half older; influenced by birth rates, death rates, life expectancy, immigration, emigration, and population age distribution.

Chronological Age

The exact number of years a person has lived since birth.

Biological Age

A measure of age based on the physical condition and biological functioning of an individual's body.

Psychological Age

An individual's adaptive capacities, including cognitive abilities, emotional functioning, and psychological adaptability relative to others of similar age.

Social Age

The social roles and behavioral expectations associated with a person's age within a given culture or society.

Nature vs. Nurture

The developmental issue evaluating the relative influences of biological and genetic inheritance (nature) versus environmental experiences and context (nurture).

Continuity vs. Discontinuity

The debate regarding whether development involves gradual, cumulative quantitative changes (continuity) or distinct, qualitative stage-like shifts (discontinuity).

Stability vs. Change

The issue concerning whether human traits and characteristics persist predictably throughout the lifespan (stability) or alter due to subsequent experience and growth (change).

Cross-Sectional Design

A research design that compares individuals of different ages at a single point in time.

Longitudinal Design

A research design in which the same individuals are studied repeatedly over an extended period of time.

Sequential Design

A developmental research strategy that combines cross-sectional and longitudinal methods by tracking multiple age cohorts over time.

Cohort Effect

Differences between research groups attributable to shared historical, cultural, or environmental experiences rather than biological age differences.

Psychoanalytical Approach

A developmental theory emphasizing unconscious mental processes, early childhood experiences, and resolution of emotional conflicts, pioneered by Freud and Erikson.

Schemas

Mental frameworks or structures used to organize and interpret incoming environmental information in Piaget's cognitive theory.

Assimilation

The cognitive process of fitting new experiences and information into pre-existing mental schemas.

Accommodation

The cognitive process of modifying existing schemas or creating new ones to adapt to new information.

Self-Efficacy

An individual's personal belief in their ability to perform behaviors and achieve desired outcomes, central to Bandura's social cognitive theory.

Imprinting

A rapid, innate learning process in ethology where young animals form a strong attachment to the first moving object encountered during a critical or sensitive period.

Bioecological Approach

Bronfenbrenner's developmental theory proposing that development is shaped by interactions across nested environmental systems (microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, and chronosystem).

Microsystem

The immediate setting or environment where an individual directly interacts, such as family, peers, school, or workplace.

Mesosystem

The set of interconnections or linkages between an individual's immediate microsystems, such as parent-teacher communications.

Exosystem

Social settings or institutions that do not directly involve the individual but indirectly impact their development, such as a parent's workplace.

Macrosystem

The overarching cultural, subcultural, or social context including beliefs, values, laws, and customs that influence lower-level systems.

Chronosystem

The sociohistorical conditions, environmental changes, and life transitions that occur across time over the life course.

Eclectic Approach

An orientation that selects and combines the best features and explanations from various developmental theories rather than relying on a single framework.

Somatic Gene Editing

Genetic modifications performed on specific body cells that affect only the patient and are not passed on to future generations.

Germline Gene Editing

Genetic modifications made to eggs, sperm, or early embryos, altering the genetic makeup in ways that can be passed down to future generations.

Neurodiversity

A perspective acknowledging natural variations in human brain function and neurological processing (e.g., autism, ADHD, dyslexia) as biological differences rather than inherent defects.

Thrifty Genotype Hypothesis

The proposal that genes favoring efficient energy and fat storage evolved for survival during historical food scarcity but contribute to metabolic risks and obesity in modern food-abundant environments.

Down Syndrome

A chromosomal disorder typically caused by an extra copy of chromosome 21, also known as trisomy 21.

Turner Syndrome

A female chromosomal condition characterized by a missing or partially missing X chromosome, resulting in a $45,X$ karyotype.

Klinefelter Syndrome

A male chromosomal condition characterized by an extra X chromosome, resulting in a $47,XXY$ karyotype.

Non-Invasive Prenatal Testing (NIPT)

A screening method analyzing cell-free fetal DNA circulating in maternal blood to assess the likelihood of fetal chromosomal conditions.

Chorionic Villus Sampling (CVS)

A diagnostic prenatal procedure collecting placental tissue to confirm genetic or chromosomal conditions in the fetus.

Amniocentesis

A diagnostic prenatal test where amniotic fluid is sampled to detect chromosomal or genetic conditions in the fetus.

Embryonic Stem Cells

Pluripotent cells derived from early embryos that possess the ability to differentiate into virtually any specialized body cell type.

Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPSCs)

Adult somatic cells reprogrammed to return to a pluripotent state capable of giving rise to various cell types.

Heritability

A statistical index estimating the proportion of trait variability within a specific population and environment attributable to genetic differences.

Germinal Period

The first phase of prenatal development from conception to approximately 2 weeks, marked by zygote formation, cell division, blastocyst formation, and uterine implantation.

Embryonic Period

The prenatal stage spanning approximately weeks 3 to 8, characterized by major organ system formation (organogenesis), neural tube development, and high vulnerability to teratogens.

Fetal Period

The prenatal phase from approximately week 9 until birth, characterized by rapid growth, structural maturation, functional brain development, and coordinated movements.

Ectoderm

The primary embryonic germ layer that gives rise to the nervous system, sensory organs, and skin epidermis.

Mesoderm

The primary embryonic germ layer that develops into muscle tissue, bone, connective tissues, and the circulatory system.

Endoderm

The primary embryonic germ layer that forms the internal lining of the digestive and respiratory tracts and associated internal organs.

Neurogenesis

The neurobiological process responsible for generating new nerve cells (neurons).

Synaptic Pruning

The selective elimination of weak, unused, or redundant neural connections to enhance brain network efficiency.

Myelination

The process of insulating neural axons with a fatty myelin sheath to increase the speed and efficiency of electrical signal transmission.

Teratogens

Environmental factors—such as drugs, infections, toxic chemicals, alcohol, or radiation—that can impair prenatal development and produce structural or functional defects.

Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) Hypothesis

The theory proposing that early environmental conditions during pregnancy alter organ, metabolic, and systemic development, thereby influencing long-term risk of cardiometabolic diseases.

Recommended Weight Gain in Singleton Pregnancy

Clinical guidelines based on pre-pregnancy BMI: below $18.5$ ($12.5–18\,kg$), $18.5–24.9$ ($11.5–16\,kg$), $25.0–29.9$ ($7–11.5\,kg$), and $30$ or higher ($5–9\,kg$).

Apgar Score

A rapid assessment of a newborn's physical condition conducted at 1 and 5 minutes post-birth based on Appearance, Pulse, Grimace, Activity, and Respiration, each scored 0 to 2.

Kangaroo Care

A method of infant care involving continuous skin-to-skin contact between a newborn and caregiver, essential for temperature regulation, heart rate stability, and bonding in premature infants.

Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs)

Exogenous chemical substances that interfere with normal biological hormone synthesis, signaling, and metabolic homeostasis.

Obesogens

Substances (including specific EDCs) that disrupt energy balance and lipid regulation, encouraging fat cell proliferation and increased risk of obesity.

Experience-Expectant Development

Brain growth processes depending on universal environmental inputs expected by all humans, such as visual light, environmental sound, and natural language.

Experience-Dependent Development

Brain plasticity and neural path formation resulting from unique individual life experiences, such as acquiring specific skills or musical training.

Frontal Lobe

The cerebral hemisphere region involved in executive functioning, motor planning, decision-making, impulse control, and speech production.

Parietal Lobe

The brain region responsible for processing tactile sensations, spatial orientation, body awareness, and sensory integration.

Temporal Lobe

The cerebral region specialized for auditory processing, speech comprehension, memory storage, and emotional response.

Occipital Lobe

The posterior brain region dedicated to visual input perception and image interpretation.

Hippocampus

A limbic system structure crucial for spatial memory navigation and the consolidation of new long-term declarative memories.

Amygdala

A subcortical brain structure central to processing emotional significance, threat detection, and fear-conditioned learning.

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)

The sudden, unexpected death of an infant under 1 year of age that remains unexplained after a comprehensive postmortem investigation.

Gross Motor Skills

Motor abilities involving large muscle groups and large-body movements such as crawling, sitting, standing, and walking.

Fine Motor Skills

Motor skills involving small body movements and precise digital manipulation, such as reaching, grasping, and picking up objects.

Cephalocaudal Development

The pattern of physical growth and motor skill control progressing along the body from the head downward.

Proximodistal Development

The pattern of physical growth and motor control proceeding from the body center outwards toward the extremities.

Rooting Reflex

An automatic infant reflex where tactile stimulation on the cheek causes the baby to turn their head toward the stimulus seeking food.

Moro Reflex

An automatic neonatal startle reaction triggered by a sudden loss of support, causing the baby to extend arms and legs, then pull them inward.

Visual Cliff Experiment

An experimental apparatus featuring a transparent surface used to test depth perception and avoidance behavior in infants.

Habituation

A research measure of infant perception where repeated exposure to a single stimulus results in a gradual decrease in attention.

Dishabituation

The recovery or increase in infant visual or behavioral responsiveness when presented with a novel stimulus after habituation.

Object Permanence

The cognitive milestone achieved during Piaget's sensorimotor stage wherein an infant understands that objects continue to exist even when out of view.

Rovee-Collier Mobile Experiment

A study demonstrating infant memory formation and recall using a foot ribbon attached to a mobile to establish instrumental conditioning.

Critical Period Hypothesis

The theory proposing that a biologically bounded window of time exists early in human life during which language acquisition must occur for complete developmental mastery.