Study Guide Chapter 1: The Beginning of Human Development

These flashcards cover key concepts from the lecture on human development, including definitions of terms and significant theories related to the science of human development.

Science of Human Development

the science that seeks to understand why people of all ages change or remain the same over time

Hypothesis

a scientific prediction arising from a question raised

Nature

refers to the influence of genes that people inherrit

Nuture

refers to environmental influences including health, attitudes of the parents

Differential Susceptibility

idea that people vary in how sensitive they are to experiences

Adverse Childhood Experiences

childhood experiences that have harmful effects on development

Ecological-System Approach

perspective on human development that considers influences from multiple contexts of development

Cohort

roup of people born within a few years of eachother who move through life together experiencing the same events

Survey

a research method where information is collected from a large number of people by written question

Independent Variable

a variable that is manipulated by the researcher to see if it affects another variable

Life Span Perspective

emphasizes that every age has specific challenges and requires people to adapt

Difference-Equals-Deficit Error

a mistaken belief that a deviation from some norm is inferior

Sensitive Periods

a time when developmental growth is most likely occur although it may happen later

Longitudinal Research

research design that follows the same individual overtime

Qualitative research

research that considers individual qualites

Scientific Method

a way to answer questions using empirical research

Replication

repeating a study’s steps and methods with different participants

Critical Periods

a time when development must occur or it wont develop later

Culture

system of shared beliefs

Social Constructions

a idea that is built on shared perceptions

Ethic Group

people who ancestors share a language, culture or religion

Race

a concept that some people are distinct from others due to physical apperance

Socioeconomic Status

a person position in society

Plasticity

idea that abilities and other characteristics can be molded and change

Dynamic-Systems Approach

viewing human development as ever changing interactions between physical, cognitive influences

Developmental Theory

a group of ideas about human growth

Behaviorism

a theory of human development that studies actions

Classical Conditioning

when a living thing learns to associate a stimulus with a meaningful stimulus

Operant Conditioning

learning process that reinforces or punishes behavior

Reinforcement

positive experience that follows a behavior making it likely the behavior will occur again

Social Learning Theory

theory that emphasizes the influence of other people

Cognitive Theory

theory that focuses on how people thing

Evolution Theory

idea that human emotions are a legacy from years ago

Scientific Observation

watching and recording participants behavior

Experiment

research method which the research adds the independent variable and observes if it causes changes to the dependent variable

Dependent Variable

variable that may change as a result of the independent variable

Cross-Sectional Research

research design that compares people of different ages

Cross-Sequential Research

research design that includes cross-sectional and longitudial research

Correlation

exists between two variables if one is more/less likely to occur

Quantitative Research

research that provides data with numbers