Developmental Psych Exam One

Week 1 - 4

Developmental Science

An interdisciplinary field devoted to understanding consistency and change throughout the lifespan

Theory

An orderly, intergrated set of statements that describes, explains, and predicts behavior

Plasticity

Openness of development to change in response to influential experiences

Lifespan Perspective

A developmental systems approach that assumes dependent is lifelong, multidimensional and multidirectional, highly plastic, and affected by multiple interacting forces

Resilience

The ability to adapt effectively in the face of threats to development

Age-grade influences

Influences on lifespan development that are strongly related to age and therefore fairly predictable in when they occur and how long they last

History-grade influences

Influences on lifespan development that are unique to a particular historical era and explain why people born around the same time (cohort) tend to be alike in ways that set them apart from people born at other times.

Nonormative influences

Influences on lifespan development that are irregular, in that they happen to just one person or a few people and do not follow a predictable timetable

Behavior modification

add this in

Microsystem

In ecological systems theory, the innermost level of the environment, consisting of activities and interaction patterns in the person’s immediate surroundings (ex: friends/family)

Mesosystem

In ecological systems theory, the second level of the enviornment, encompassing connections between an persons microsystem (ex: co-parenting, parent doctor relationship)

Exosystem

In ecological systems theory, the level of the environment constisting of social settings that do not contain the developing person but affect experiences in immediate settings (ex: parents friends, local government)

Macrosystem

In ecological systems theory, the outermost level of the environment, consisting of cultural values, laws, customs, and resources that influence individuals’ experiences and interactions at inner levels.

Chronosystem

In ecological systems theory, the temporal dimension of the environment, in which life changes can be imposed externally or can arise from within one person (ex: time)

Naturalistic observation

A research method in which the investigator goes into the field, or natural environment, and records the behavior of interest

Structured observation

A research method in which the investigator sets up a laboratory situation that evokes the behavior of interest so that every participant has equal oppurtunity to display the response

Clinical interview

An interview method where the researcher uses a flexible conversation style to probe for the person’s point of view

Structured interview

An interview method in which the researcher asks each participant the same set of questions in the same way. (more strict)

Case study

Research method in which the aim is to obtain as complete a picture as possible of ones individuals pscyhological functioning and the experiences that led up to it by bringing together interview data, observations, and test scores

Ethnography

Research method in which the researcher attempts to understand a culture or a distinct social group through particiapnt observation (living with its members and gathering field notes over an extended amount of time) (ex: Jane Godall)

Correlational design

Research design in which investigators gather information on individuals without altering their experiences and then examine relationships between participants’ characteristics and their behavior or development

Correlational coefficient

Number ranging from 1.00 to -1.00 that describes the strength and direction of the relationship between two variables

Experiemental design

Research design in which invesigators randomly assign participants to two or more treatment conditions and then study the effect that manipulating an independent variable has on a dependent variable. Permits inferences on cause and effect

Random assignment

A small group out of the whole of people being studied

Longitudinal design

Research design in which participants are studied repeatly throuout their life

Cross-sectional design

Participants differ in age and are studied at the same time

Genotype

Genetic makeup

Phenotype

Observable physical traits

Chromosomes

DNA

Gene

Mitosis

Meiosis

Gamete

Zygote

Dizygotic

Monozygotic

Domminant-ressesive inherritance

Incomplete domminance

ex: red and white flowers make pink flowers

X - linked inherritance

Polygenetic inheritance

Socioeconomic status

Collective studies

Individualistic societies

Behavioral genetics

Heritability estimates

Kinship studies

Gene-environment correlation

niche-picking

Epigenesis

Embryo

fetus

age of viability

teratogen

sensitive periods

Rh factor incompatibility

Reflex