Chapter 1 Understand Life-Span Human Development

Scientific Method

Belief that investigators should allow facts to determine the merits of their thinking

Theory

concerts and propositions intended to describe and explain certain phenomena

Hypothesis

Specific predictions generated from theories

Sample

group of individuals studied

population

well-defined group

random sampling

sample formed by identifying all members of the larger population and then by a random means selects a portion of the population to study

behavioral observations

naturalistic observations observing people in their everyday surroundings

independent variable

variable that is manipulated so that its casual effects van be assessed

dependent variable

variable expected to be different

meta analysis

results of multiple studies addressing the same question are combined to produce overall conclusions

cross-sectional design

study something in 2 different locations

longitudinal design

one cohort of individuals is assessed repeatedly overtime

sequential design

combines cross-sectional approach and longitudinal approach in a single study

development

systematic changes and continuities in the individual that occur between conception and death

growth

Physical changes that occur from conception to maturity

biological aging

Deterioration of organisms that leads to death

aging

physical, cognitive, and psychosocial changes, positive and negative, in the mature organism

prenatal period

Conception to birth

infancy

First 2 years of life (the first month is the neonatal or newborn period)

preschool period

2–5 (some prefer to describe as toddlers children who have begun to walk and are age 1–3)

middle childhood

6 to about 10 (or until the onset of puberty)

adolescence

Approximately 10–18 (or from puberty to when the individual becomes relatively independent)

emerging adulthood

18–25 or even 29 (transitional period between adolescence and adulthood)

early adulthood

25–40 years (adult roles are established)

middle adulthood

40–65 years

late adulthood

65 years and older (some break out subcategories such as the young-old, old-old, and very old based on differences in functioning)

Rite of passage

Ritual that marks a person’s “passage” from one status to another

age norms

• Society’s way of telling people how to act their age

• Influence people’s decisions about how to lead their lives

social clock

• Person’s sense of when things should be done and when they are ahead of or behind the schedule dictated by age norms

ethnicity

People’s classification or affiliation with a group based on common heritage or traditions

socioeconomic status

Standing in society based on occupational prestige, education, and income