Human Growth and Development Exam 1 Multiple Choice

Human Development

The scientific study of how people change or stay the same from conception to death.

Nature vs. Nurture

Nature refers to genetic/biological traits; nurture refers to traits learned from the environment.

Tabula Rasa

John Locke's idea that the mind is a blank slate at birth.

Behaviorism

An approach focusing on observable behavior rather than consciousness.

Founder of Behaviorism

John Watson.

Psychoanalysis

A theory explaining personality and behavior through unconscious forces.

Founder of Psychoanalysis

Sigmund Freud.

Humanism

Emphasizes freedom, growth, and unique human qualities (Rogers, Maslow).

Cognitive Revolution

Return to studying consciousness and how information is processed.

Biological Perspective

Explains behavior in terms of physiological processes.

Maturation

Development largely determined by genetic programming.

Germinal Stage

First 2 weeks after conception; placenta forms.

Embryonic Stage

2 weeks to 2 months; organs and body systems form.

Fetal Stage

2 months to birth; growth, movement, and brain cell multiplication.

Age of Viability

22-26 weeks.

Teratogens

External agents that can harm prenatal development.

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder

Damage caused by alcohol use during pregnancy.

Cephalocaudal Trend

Development from head to foot.

Proximodistal Trend

Development from center of body outward.

Visual Cliff

A test used to measure depth perception in infants.

Child-Directed Speech

Slow, high-pitched speech used when talking to infants.

Behavioral View of Language

Language is learned through experience.

Nativist View of Language

Language ability is innate.

Interactionist View of Language

Language develops through both learning and innate ability.

Assimilation

Interpreting new experiences using existing mental structures.

Accommodation

Changing mental structures to fit new experiences.

Object Permanence

Understanding that objects exist even when out of sight.

Egocentrism

Difficulty seeing things from another person's perspective.

Conservation

Understanding that quantity does not change despite changes in shape or appearance.

Variable

Anything that can change in a study.

Hypothesis

A testable, educated guess.

Operational Definition

An exact description of how a variable is measured and observed.

Replication

Repeating a study to test reliability of results.

Independent Variable (IV)

The variable that is manipulated in an experiment.

Dependent Variable (DV)

The variable that is affected by the manipulation.

Random Assignment

Giving participants an equal chance of being placed in any group.

Correlation

A measure of the relationship between two variables.

Positive Correlation

Both variables move in the same direction.

Negative Correlation

As one variable increases, the other decreases.

Third Variable Problem

An outside factor may be responsible for the relationship between two variables.