Chapters 1 & 2 Key Terms: The Science of Development & Grand Theories

Vocabulary study cards covering all key terms listed in Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 of the developmental psychology notes.

Science of human development

The discipline that seeks to understand how and why people change or remain the same over time.

Scientific method

A way to answer questions using empirical research and data-based conclusions through systematic steps.

Theory

A comprehensive set of ideas, principles, and concepts that provide a framework to explain observations and guide research.

Hypothesis

A specific, testable prediction derived from a theory or observation.

Replication

The repetition of a research study, using different participants or conditions, to verify the findings of the original study.

The five steps of the scientific method

The systematic process of inquiry consisting of posing a question, developing a hypothesis, testing the hypothesis, drawing conclusions, and reporting the results.

Scientific observation

A method of testing a hypothesis by unobtrusively watching and recording participants' behavior in a natural or laboratory setting.

Experiment

A research method in which the researcher manipulates an independent variable to observe its effect on a dependent variable.

Independent variable

In an experiment, the variable that is manipulated or introduced by the researcher to see if it affects the dependent variable.

Dependent variable

In an experiment, the variable that may change as a result of manipulating the independent variable.

Survey

A research method in which information is collected from a large number of people by interviews, written questionnaires, or other means.

Case study

An in-depth inspection and analysis of a single individual, group, or situation over a period of time.

Correlation

A statistical relationship indicating that two variables change together, which does not prove that one variable causes the other (causation).

Quantitative research

Research that provides data expressed in numbers, quantities, or statistical measures.

Qualitative research

Research that considers qualities, descriptions, themes, and non-numerical data such as narrative responses.

Code of ethics

A set of moral principles and guidelines that research standards must conform to, ensuring participant protection and research integrity.

Nature

The general term for the traits, capacities, and limitations that each individual inherits genetically at the moment of conception.

Nurture

The general term for all the environmental influences that affect human development after conception.

Nature-nurture debate

The ongoing debate over the relative influence of genes (nature) versus environment (nurture) on human traits and development.

Critical period

A crucial time when a particular type of developmental growth must happen for normal development to occur.

Sensitive period

A time when a certain type of development is most likely to happen or happens most easily, though it may still happen later.

Plasticity

The concept that human traits can be molded, yet maintain a certain durability and identity across time.

Difference-equals-deficit error

The mistaken belief that a deviation from some standard or normal behavior is inherently inferior or deficient.

Social construction

An idea or concept built on shared perceptions, assumptions, and values of a society rather than an objective reality.

Culture

A system of shared beliefs, norms, behaviors, expectations, values, and artifacts that persist over time within a group.

Ethnic group

People whose ancestors were born in the same region and who often share a language, culture, and religion.

Race

A group of people categorized by physical appearance, traditionally viewed as biological, though social construction plays a major role.

Socio-economic status (SES)

A person's position in society determined by income, wealth, occupation, education, and place of residence.

Ecological-systems approach

Urie Bronfenbrenner's perspective that considers all contexts and environmental influences that affect a developing person.

Cohort

A group defined by the shared age or time period of its members, moving through life together.

Biosocial development

A domain of human development that includes physical growth, brain development, motor skills, and health factors.

Cognitive development

A domain of human development that includes mental processes, perception, memory, language, judgment, and problem-solving.

Psychosocial development

A domain of human development that includes emotions, personality, social skills, and relationships with others.

Developmental theory

A systematic framework of concepts and principles that explains human growth and change over time.

Norm

An average or standard behavior, calculated from many individuals within a specific group or population.

Psychoanalytic theory

A grand theory of human development holding that irrational, unconscious drives and motives originate in childhood and underlie human behavior.

Behaviorism

A grand theory of human development that studies observable, measurable actions rather than internal mental states.

Conditioning

The learning processes by which responses become linked to particular stimuli, including classical and operant conditioning.

Classical conditioning

A learning process in which a meaningful stimulus is connected with a neutral stimulus that had no special meaning before.

Operant conditioning

A learning process by which a particular action is followed by something desired or unwanted to increase or decrease that behavior.

Reinforcement

In operant conditioning, any consequence that follows a behavior and increases the likelihood that the behavior will be repeated.

Social learning theory

An extension of behaviorism emphasizing that individuals learn through observing, imitating, and modeling others.

Modeling

The central process of social learning theory by which a person observes and copies another person's behavior.

Cognitive theory

A grand theory of human development that focuses on changes in how people think over time and how thoughts shape attitudes and actions.

Cognitive equilibrium

A state of mental balance in which individuals use existing thought processes to understand new experiences.

Assimilation

The process of reinterpreting new experiences to fit into preexisting cognitive schemas.

Accommodation

The process of restructuring old ideas or schemas to include new experiences and information.

Sociocultural theory

A newer theory holding that development results from the dynamic interaction between each person and their surrounding culture.

Apprenticeship in thinking

Lev Vygotsky's term for how cognition is stimulated and developed in a learner through guided interaction with more skilled members of society.

Guided participation

The process by which people learn from others who guide their experiences and explorations in a culture.

Zone of proximal development

In sociocultural theory, a metaphorical area containing skills, knowledge, and concepts that a learner is close to acquiring but can master only with help.

Humanism

A theory that stresses the potential of all humans for good and the belief that all people have the same basic needs.

Evolutionary theory

In human development, the perspective that modern humans inherit biological inclinations and behaviors that evolved to foster survival and reproduction.

Eclectic perspective

An approach in which developmentalists select and apply aspects of various developmental theories rather than relying exclusively on one.