Organizing Themes in Development

Flashcards covering the foundational concepts, historical theories, and core developmental issues discussed in Chapter 1 of 'The Life Span: Human Development for Helping Professionals'.

Developmental Science

The study of life span development, defined as human behavioral change from conception to death.

Reflective Practice

A creative method of thinking in which the helper masters the professional knowledge base but goes beyond rote technical applications to generate new kinds of understanding and strategies of action.

Stage

A period of time during which a person’s activities in one broad domain have certain characteristics in common.

Qualitative Change

A feature of stage theories describing transformational change where new forms of behavioral organization are fundamentally different from and more complex than previous stages.

Id

In Freud's theory, the biological self and source of all psychic energy that blindly pursues gratification according to the pleasure principle.

Ego

In Freud's theory, the rational aspect of self that uses a reality principle to fulfill needs effectively while avoiding negative consequences.

Superego

In Freud's theory, the internalized parent or conscience that causes feelings of guilt if actions violate rules or restrictions.

Defense Mechanisms

Irrational, unconscious self-protection strategies used by the ego to manage internal conflicts, such as denial or repression.

Psychosocial Crisis

In Erikson's theory, a developmental task initiated by biological maturation/decline and corresponding changes in societal expectations.

Sensorimotor Stage

Piaget's first stage (birth to 2 years) characterized by an absence of representational thought and reliance on reflexive behavior.

Constructivist View

The idea that children create knowledge and understanding as they interact with the environment rather than passively receiving information.

Classical (Respondent) Conditioning

A learning process where a neutral stimulus is paired with a stimulus that causes an automatic response until the neutral stimulus alone causes that response.

Operant Conditioning

A learning process where a spontaneous behavior (operant) is followed by a reinforcing event that increases the likelihood of the behavior being repeated.

Social Learning Theory

A theory emphasizing observational learning or modeling as the primary way children acquire personality characteristics and social skills.

Multidimensional (Systems) Theories

Theories that explain development as the result of reciprocal, bidirectional relationships among physical, biological, psychological, social, and cultural levels of functioning.

Proximal Processes

Reciprocal interactions between an evolving human organism and the persons, objects, and symbols in its immediate external environment.

Microsystem

In Bronfenbrenner’s theory, the immediate environment where proximal processes occur, such as the family, school, or neighborhood.

Mesosystem

The full set of relationships and interactions among an individual’s various microsystems.

Exosystem

Settings that an individual may not directly interact with but that still influence them, such as a teacher’s family life or a parent's workplace.

Macrosystem

The customs, character, and values of the larger culture that shape the microsystems of an individual.

Neuroplasticity

Continuous changes in the brain and its function that occur as a result of practice, experience, and environmental factors throughout the life span.

Critical (Sensitive) Period

A time-limited window of opportunity during which particular skills or dispositions are most easily and fully acquired.

WEIRD Samples

Research participants from Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic societies, who represent a disproportionate amount of social science data.

Developmental Psychopathology

The study of how psychological disorders develop by integrating normal development science with clinical and biological disciplines.

Risk (Vulnerability) Factors

Conditions such as poverty, maltreatment, or trauma that increase the possibility of deleterious developmental outcomes.

Protective Factors

Variables that buffer existing risks and contribute indirectly to positive outcomes.

Multifinality

The principle that similar early developmental pathways may result in a wide range of possible different outcomes.

Equifinality

The principle that different early developmental pathways can produce the same eventual outcome.

Individual Trauma

Results from an event or series of events experienced as physically or emotionally harmful and having lasting adverse effects on well-being.

Resilience

The capacity of a dynamic system to adapt successfully through multisystem processes to challenges that threaten function or development.

Steeling

The process where exposure to brief, non-traumatic stressors provides opportunities for coping that build tolerance and prepare the individual for future stress.

Sensitization

A process where severe, early, or ongoing stress exposures weaken reserves and make people more susceptible to subsequent stressors.

Skin-deep Resilience

A phenomenon where individuals show outward success and upward mobility despite hardship while suffering internal physiological wear and tear and health challenges.

Translational Research

A spectrum of research steps often called “from bench to bedside” that moves basic scientific discoveries into sustainable and effective real-world implementation.

Universal Prevention

Health and wellness efforts directed at the general population rather than specific risk groups.