Ch 1: The Study of Human Development

Describe human development and how its study has evolved; Describe the domains and periods of human development; Give examples of the influences that make each person different; Discuss the principles of lifespan perspective

Human Development

The scientific study of processes of change and stability across the human life span, from conception to death.

What are the goals of human develoment?

To understand and explain how individuals grow, learn, and adapt throughout their lives, focusing on physical, cognitive, and social-emotional changes.

Describe Goal

To observe and record developmental milestones, e.g., when children say their first words.

Explain Goal

To understand the mechanisms and reasons behind developmental processes, e.g., how children learn language.

Predict Goal

To forecast future developmental outcomes or challenges, e.g., estimating the likelihood of speech problems.

Intervene Goal

To apply knowledge to optimize development, e.g., assessing the effectiveness of speech therapy.

Physical Development

Changes in the body and brain, including the senses, motor skills, and health.

Cognitive Development

Change in learning, memory, language, and creativity.

Psychosocial Development

Change in emotions, personality, and social relationships.

Social Constructions

Concepts like 'childhood' and 'adulthood' that are based on subjective perceptions or assumptions and vary among cultures and across generations.

How many periods of development are there and what are they?

There are eight periods of development, including infancy, early childhood, middle childhood, adolescence, early adulthood, middle adulthood, late adulthood, and old age.

Prenatal Period

The developmental period from conception to birth.

Infancy and Toddlerhood

The developmental period from birth to 3 years.

Early Childhood

The developmental period from 3 to 6 years.

Middle Childhood

The developmental period from 6 to 11 years.

Adolescence

The developmental period from 11 to 20 years.

Young Adulthood

The developmental period from 20 to 40 years.

Middle Adulthood

The developmental period from 40 to 65 years.

Late Adulthood

The developmental period from 65 years and over.

Heredity

Inborn traits and characteristics inherited from biological parents.

Environment

The world outside the self and learning through experience.

Maturation

The unfolding of a natural sequence of physical changes and behavioral patterns, such as walking and talking.

Nuclear Family

A household consisting of one or two parents and their children (biological, adopted, stepchildren).

Extended Family

A multigenerational kinship network of parents, children, and other relatives, sometimes living together.

Socioeconomic Status (SES)

A combination of factors including parental income, education, and occupation that characterizes a family.

Culture

A society’s or group’s total way of life, including customs, traditions, laws, knowledge, beliefs, values, language, and physical products.

Ethnic Group

People united by a distinctive culture, ancestry, religion, language, or national origin.

Race

A socially constructed term with no real consensus on a definition; categories are shaped by society and politics.

Normative Influences

Biological and environmental events that affect many or most people in a society in similar ways.

Age-graded Influences

Normative influences that are highly similar for people in a particular age-group, such as puberty.

History-graded Influences

Normative influences that are significant historical events, such as the Great Depression or World War II.

Historical Generation

A group of people who experience a significant historical event at a formative time in their lives.

Age Cohort

A group of people born at the same time.

Nonnormative Influences

Unusual events that have a major impact on individual lives by disturbing the expected sequence of the life cycle.

Imprinting

A predisposition toward learning shown by some animals, like ducklings instinctively following the first moving object they see.

Critical Period

A specific time when a given event, or its absence, has a specific impact on development, potentially leading to irreversible abnormal patterns if the event does not occur.

Plasticity

The modifiability of performance, meaning many abilities can be improved even late in life.

Sensitive Periods

Times when a person is particularly open to certain kinds of experiences, a more useful concept than 'critical periods' due to plasticity.

Infant-directed (ID) Speech

Speech characterized by simplified grammar, slower tempo, and repetition of key words and phrases, which babies pay special attention to.

Balte's Life-Span Approach: Seven Principles

A framework for studying human development that emphasizes it is lifelong, multidimensional, multidirectional, involves changing resource allocations, shows plasticity, and is influenced by historical and cultural context.

Multidimensional Development

A principle of Baltes's approach stating that development includes biological, psychological, and social dimensions that develop at varying rates.

Multidirectional Development

A principle of Baltes's approach stating that development shows both gains and losses at any point in the life span.