Chapter 1 - PSYC 3201 - Child Development

Normative Development

Typical patterns of development

Ideographic Development

Variations in the direction of development.

Maturation

Development as a result of aging.

Developmentalist

Anyone who wants to understand development.

Developmental Continuity

Ways in which we remain stable over time.

Development

Change over time.

Holistic

Unified view that emphasizes interrelationships.

Plasticity

Capacity for change.

Innate Purity

Children are inherently good.

Original Sin

Children are inherently bad.

Tabula Rasa

Children are blank slates to be shaped.

Naturalistic Observation

Test hypothesis by observing everyday life.

Observer Influence

Participants react to the observer.

Ethnography

Studying the effects of culture by living in it.

Psychophysiological Methods

Studying the relationship between the brain and development.

Correlation Design

Strength of association with variables.

Independent Variable

The variable that is being manipulated.

Dependent Variable

The variable whose value depends on that of another.

Cognitive

Perception, language, learning, and thinking.

Psychosocial Theory (What is it and who coined it?)

Erik Erikson - The sociocultural determinants of development.

Confounding Variable

A factor other than independent variable that might produce an effect in an experiment.

Ecological Validity

Extent to which a study is realistic or representative of real life.

Quasi experiment (Natural)

The effect of a natural event (tornado) on lives.

Scientific Method

Belief that investigators should be objective and allow data to decide the direction.

Structured Observation

Present an identical situation to each child and recording their behavior.

Structured Interview

All participants are asked the same questions.

Cross-Sectional Design

Where the subjects from different age groups are studied at the same point in time.

Cohort

People of the same age who are exposed to similar cultural environments and historical events as they are growing up.

Cohort Effect

Age-related difference among cohorts that is attributable to cultural/historical differences in cohorts’ growing experiences rather than true development.

Longitudinal Design

The same group is studied over time.

Practice Effects

Changes in participants’ responses as a result of repeated testing.

Selective Attrition

Non-random loss of participants during a study that results in a non-representative sample.

Non-representative Sample

Different from the larger group it belongs to in major ways.

Cross-Generational Problem

Long-term environmental changes limit the conclusions of a longitudinal design.

Sequential Designs

Different age groups are studied multiple times over a long period of time.

Microgenetic Studies

Participants are studied as change actively occurs.

Sampling Bias

A part of the population has a lower or higher probability of being in the study.

Cross-Cultural Comparisons

Compares the behavior/development of people from different cultural or subcultural backgrounds.

Time-sampling

Studying specific behavior at time intervals.

Experimental Design

Change in environment, the effect on behavior.

Field Experiment

Experiment that takes place in a natural environment.

Psychosexual Theory (What is it and who coined it?)

Sigmund Freud - Sexual instinct underlies all personality development.

Behaviorism (What is it and who coined it?)

John Watson - Development should be based on controlled observation.

Sociocultural Theory (What is it and who coined it?)

Lev Vygotsky - Children aquire everything from cultures.

Information-processing Theory (What is it and who coined it?)

George Miller - The mind is continuously developing like a computer.

Ecological Systems Theory (What is it and who coined it?)

Urie Bonfenbrenner - Development is shaped by interacting environmental systems.

Developmental Systems View (What is it and who coined it?)

Susan Oyama - Development results from multiple different sources, including genes, environment, and their current psyche.

Mechanistic Model

A view of children as passive entities with paths determined by environment.

Organismic Model

A view of children as active entities with paths determined by a force within themselves.

Contextual Model

A view of children as active entities with paths represent continous, dynamic between nature and nurture.

Reliability

A test yields consistent results over time.

Validity

A test yields what the intended measurement was.

Generalization

A small sample can give conclusions for a larger sample.

Random Assignment

There is no bias on people when in experiment groups.

Minimal Risk

A study gives risk that is no greater than everyday life.

Parsimony

A theory that explains the same evidence with fewer assumptions or entities.

Falsifiable

A theory that is capable of generating predictions that could be disconfirmed.

Heuristic

A theory that continues to generate new research and discoveries.

Unconscious Motives

Influence thinking that isn’t known by the person.

Repression

Anxiety-provoking thoughts are forced out.

Drives

A biological force that motivates a specific response.

ID

From psychosexual theory, term for the component of personality compelled by drives.

Ego

From psychosexual theory, term for the rational part of personality.

Superego

From psychosexual theory, term for the moral standards in a personality.

Fixate

A specific psychosexual stage that prevents movement to higher stages.

Habits

Associations between stimuli and responses.

Reinforcer

A desireable consequence of an act that increases its probability of reocurring.

Punisher

The consequence of an act that surpresses that act or lowers the chance of it reocurring.

Operant Learning

Voluntary acts become more or less probable depending on consequences produced.

Observational Learning

Learn from watching others.

Cognitive Development

Age-related change in mental activities.

Scheme

An organized pattern of thought children use to make sense of experience.

Assimilation

Children interpret experience by incorperating them into schemes.

Accomodation

Children modify schemes to adapt to new experience.

Disequilibriums

Imbalance/contradiction in thoughts versus environment.

Invariant Developmental Sequence

A series of developments that occur in order.

Zone of Proximal Development

Complex tasks that can’t be mastered alone and only with guides.

Ethology

The study of bioevolutionary bases of behavior and development.

Natural Selection

Charles Darwin - Characteristics that promote adaptation will survive.

Sensitive Period

Where the organism is more susceptible to certain environmental influences.

Evolutionary Theorists

The study of the bioevolutionary basis of behavior/development, such as genes.

Microsystem

The immediate relationships encountered by a person. (Mom, dad)

Mesosystem

The relationships from the microsystem that occur without the center person.

Exosystem

The social systems that indirectly influence development.

Macrosystem

The cultural context in which development occurs.

Chronosystem

Changes in environment/individual that occur overtime.

Families

Complex network of relationships/interactions that characterize.

Nature and Nurture Issue

Debate about the importance of nature and environmental issues.

Active and Passive Issue

Whether children are active participants in their own development or passive instead.

Positional Stability

The stability of a person’s relative position in a group.

Absolute Stability

No change in an attribute over development.

Quantitative Changes

Incremental changes without sudden transformations.

Developmental Changes

A phase in a larger sequence of development.

Holistic Development

Aware of development as holistic.