Developmental Psychology – Chapter 1 Overview

These 45 question-and-answer flashcards cover the major themes, concepts, theories, and contemporary issues introduced in Chapter 1 of the developmental psychology lecture, providing a comprehensive review for exam preparation.

What does developmental psychology study across the lifespan?

Systematic changes and continuities in biological, cognitive, and socio-emotional processes from conception to death.

What is the lifespan perspective in developmental psychology?

A view that development is lifelong, multidimensional, multidirectional, plastic, multidisciplinary, and contextual.

Give three key reasons why studying developmental psychology is important.

(1) Guides responsible child-rearing and promotes healthy children; (2) Provides insight into people’s lives at every age; (3) Helps individuals and societies prepare for—and adapt to—aging and life changes.

How did average U.S. life expectancy change from 1900 to today?

It rose from about 47 years (1900) to roughly 79 years (current).

Name two broad social implications of the rapid rise in life expectancy.

Greater need to share resources/accommodate older adults and re-design of societal systems (e.g., transportation, healthcare).

List the six core characteristics of the lifespan perspective.

Lifelong, multidimensional, multidirectional, plastic, multidisciplinary, contextual.

In developmental terms, what is meant by plasticity?

The capacity for change; traits and abilities can be molded and reshaped throughout life.

What does it mean that development is contextual?

It occurs within changing settings (family, school, culture, historical era) that influence growth.

Define co-construction in development.

Development results from simultaneous interactions among biological, socio-cultural, and individual factors.

What are normative age-graded influences?

Biological and environmental events common to people of a particular age group (e.g., puberty, starting college).

What are normative history-graded influences?

Events common to a generation because of historical circumstances (e.g., Great Depression, 9/11).

What are non-normative life events?

Unusual occurrences that have a major impact on an individual’s life (e.g., winning a scholarship, parental divorce).

Identify two contemporary developmental concerns highlighted in the lecture.

(1) Health & well-being (e.g., obesity); (2) Parenting and education (e.g., prevalence of single-parent households).

Approximately what percentage of U.S. adults were obese in 2017–2018?

About 42 percent.

What proportion of American children under 21 lived with a single parent in 2015?

Roughly 27 percent.

How does culture influence development?

By shaping behaviors, beliefs, and social practices passed from generation to generation, thereby altering developmental pathways.

What is social policy in the context of development?

Governmental course of action designed to promote citizens’ welfare, influencing developmental outcomes (e.g., free-lunch programs).

Why is technology considered a new developmental factor?

Constant use of the internet, smartphones, and social media affects relationships, identity, and self-esteem.

Name the three major processes that interact in human development.

Biological, cognitive, and socio-emotional processes.

List the eight traditional periods of development.

Prenatal, infancy, early childhood, middle/late childhood, adolescence, early adulthood, middle adulthood, late adulthood.

In the four-age life-span model, what age span is called the ‘Third Age’?

Approximately 60–80 years old.

Define normal aging.

Typical aging pattern where psychological functioning peaks in early middle age and declines modestly thereafter.

Define pathological aging.

Above-average decline in early old age, often linked to mild cognitive impairment or earlier disease onset.

Define successful aging.

Maintaining positive physical, cognitive, and socio-emotional functioning well into late life.

Differentiate chronological age from biological age.

Chronological: years since birth; Biological: age of one’s bodily systems/health status.

What is psychological age?

An individual’s adaptive capacities and emotional functioning relative to others of the same chronological age.

What is social age?

Social roles and expectations relative to chronological age (e.g., parenting responsibilities at 14 increase social age).

Explain the nature–nurture debate.

Controversy over whether genetics (nature) or environment/experience (nurture) plays the greater role in development.

What is the stability–change issue?

Debate over whether traits persist as older versions of the early self (stability) or transform into new characteristics (change).

What is the continuity–discontinuity issue?

Whether development is gradual and cumulative (continuity) or occurs in distinct stages (discontinuity).

Define a developmental theory.

An interrelated, coherent set of ideas that explains phenomena and predicts developmental outcomes.

According to psychoanalytic theories, what chiefly drives development?

Unconscious emotions and inner conflicts rooted in early experiences.

Who proposed the eight stages of psychosocial development?

Erik Erikson.

Do cognitive theories view development as conscious or unconscious?

Primarily conscious and driven by active mental processes.

Name Jean Piaget’s four stages of cognitive development.

Sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, formal operational.

What key idea did Lev Vygotsky add in his sociocultural cognitive theory?

Cognitive development is guided by social interaction and culture (e.g., scaffolding in the zone of proximal development).

According to B.F. Skinner, what shapes human development?

Operant conditioning through rewards and punishments that increase or decrease behavior probability.

What core process does Albert Bandura emphasize in his social cognitive theory?

Modeling/observational learning—people imitate others’ behavior, attitudes, and emotional reactions.

What does ethology emphasize about development?

Biological evolution and sensitive or critical periods that shape behavior.

What did Konrad Lorenz’s imprinting studies show?

Newly hatched birds form an attachment to the first moving object they see, illustrating critical periods in bonding.

According to John Bowlby, why is early caregiver attachment crucial?

Attachment quality in the first year predicts social and emotional outcomes across the lifespan.

What is an eclectic theoretical orientation?

An approach that integrates the best elements of multiple developmental theories rather than relying on one.

List the four generational cohorts discussed in class.

Millennials, Generation X, Baby Boomers, Silent Generation.

What is gender bias in developmental research?

Viewing or studying females from a predominantly male perspective, leading to skewed interpretations.

Define ethnic gloss.

Using superficial ethnic labels that portray a group as more homogeneous than it really is (e.g., ‘all Asian Americans’).

What overall dynamic did the lecture describe as central to human development?

The ongoing interaction among the person, the environment, and behavior.