Life-Span & Developmental Psychology – Comprehensive Review

A comprehensive set of 100 question-and-answer flashcards covering key concepts, theories, research methods, ethical standards, genetic and environmental influences, developmental stages, and critical issues across the life span.

What does Human Development study?

The systematic processes of change and stability in people across the life span.

Define Life-Span Development.

The concept that human development is a lifelong process that can be studied scientifically.

List the six characteristics of the Life-Span Perspective.

Development is lifelong, multidimensional, multidirectional, plastic, multidisciplinary, and contextual, involving growth, maintenance, and regulation of loss.

Name the three major domains of development.

Physical, Cognitive, and Psychosocial development.

What is meant by ‘social construction’ in developmental psychology?

A concept or practice that is an invention of a particular culture or society, not a universal fact.

Explain the Stability-Change issue.

Debates whether early traits persist through life (stability) or change over time (change).

Distinguish between continuity and discontinuity in development.

Continuity views development as gradual and cumulative; discontinuity sees it as occurring in distinct stages.

Differentiate Growth, Maturation, and Development.

Growth = quantitative physical changes; Maturation = unfolding of a natural sequence that leads to full functionality; Development = progressive functional changes including physical, mental, and social aspects.

Define Learning in developmental terms.

The process by which experience produces relatively permanent changes in behavior or knowledge.

What does Behavioral Genetics study?

The extent to which genetic and environmental differences are responsible for differences in traits.

What is heritability?

The proportion of variability in a trait within a large sample that can be attributed to genetic differences.

Who pioneered the study of heredity in plants?

Gregor Mendel.

Name the three classic behavioral-genetic designs.

Twin studies, Adoption studies, and Family studies.

What is a concordance rate?

The percentage of pairs in which both individuals display a trait if one member does.

Define Reaction Range.

The wide range of possible phenotypic outcomes allowed by a genotype, depending on environment.

What does ‘canalized trait’ mean?

A trait that shows little variation because its development is strongly programmed genetically (e.g., basic motor milestones).

What is epigenetics?

Study of how genes turn on and off in patterned ways across the life span under environmental influence.

Summarize Gene–Environment Interaction.

The effect of genes depends on environment, and environmental effects depend on the individual’s genes.

List the three kinds of Gene–Environment correlations.

Passive, Evocative, and Active correlations.

Describe a Passive Gene–Environment correlation.

Parents provide an environment influenced by their own genotype, which also matches their child’s inherited tendencies.

What is an Evocative Gene–Environment correlation?

A child’s genetically influenced traits evoke certain responses from others, shaping the environment experienced.

Define an Active Gene–Environment correlation.

Children actively seek environments compatible with their genotype (niche-picking).

Differentiate ‘nature’ and ‘nurture’.

Nature = heredity/inborn traits; Nurture = environmental influences from conception onward.

What is socioeconomic status (SES)?

A combination of income, education, and occupation that describes an individual’s or family’s social standing.

Give an example of a normative age-graded influence.

Starting school around age 6.

What is a cohort effect?

Differences caused by experiences unique to the time period when people were born, not by age itself.

Define imprinting.

An instinct whereby newborns follow the first moving object seen, demonstrating a critical period for attachment in some species.

What is meant by a critical period in development?

A specific time when a particular event has a profound and irreversible effect on development.

Explain plasticity.

The modifiability of performance; capacity for change in response to positive or negative experiences.

State the mechanistic vs. organismic models of development.

Mechanistic: people react to environmental input (passive). Organismic: people initiate events and actively shape development.

Differentiate quantitative and qualitative change.

Quantitative = change in amount (e.g., height); Qualitative = change in kind or structure (e.g., child’s reasoning style).

Core idea of Evolutionary Psychology in development?

Behavior is shaped by adaptation, reproduction, and survival of the fittest.

Name APA’s five general ethical principles.

Beneficence & Non-maleficence, Fidelity & Responsibility, Integrity, Justice, and Respect for People’s Rights & Dignity.

What must informed consent include?

Purpose, duration, procedures, right to decline/withdraw, consequences, risks, benefits, limits of confidentiality, incentives, and researcher contact.

When may informed consent be waived?

If research poses no harm, involves normal educational practices, anonymous surveys, naturalistic observation, or if law permits.

Define ethnocentrism in research.

Bias of viewing one’s own culture as superior and interpreting others through that lens.

Describe a case-study design.

In-depth study of one individual or small group, useful for rare cases but limited generalizability.

What does a correlational study tell us?

Whether and how strongly variables are related; it does not establish causation.

Key feature that allows an experiment to determine causation?

Manipulation of an independent variable with control of extraneous factors and random assignment.

Explain a quasi-experiment.

Comparison of groups formed by natural circumstances rather than random assignment; essentially correlational.

Contrast cross-sectional and longitudinal designs.

Cross-sectional: different ages at one time point; Longitudinal: same individuals studied repeatedly over time.

Purpose of sequential designs.

Combine cross-sectional and longitudinal methods to separate age effects from cohort effects.

Freud’s three personality structures.

Id (pleasure principle), Ego (reality principle), Superego (morality).

What is fixation in Freudian theory?

Arrested development where libido remains tied to an earlier psychosexual stage.

State Freud’s five psychosexual stages in order.

Oral, Anal, Phallic, Latency, Genital.

Give the central crisis of Erikson’s first psychosocial stage.

Trust vs. Mistrust (infancy).

What virtue emerges from successfully resolving Autonomy vs. Shame & Doubt?

Will.

Erikson’s adolescent crisis and resulting virtue?

Identity vs. Identity Confusion; virtue = Fidelity.

Piaget’s four stages of cognitive development.

Sensorimotor, Pre-operational, Concrete Operational, Formal Operational.

Define assimilation and accommodation.

Assimilation: fit new info into existing schemes; Accommodation: modify schemes to incorporate new info.

What is object permanence and when does it emerge?

Understanding that objects continue to exist when out of sight; develops during the sensorimotor stage (~8–12 months onwards).

Explain centration with an example.

Focusing on one aspect of a situation (e.g., judging liquid amount only by height of glass).

Key cognitive advance in concrete operations?

Ability to think logically about concrete objects, including mastery of conservation, seriation, and class inclusion.

Describe hypothetical-deductive reasoning.

Systematic generation and testing of hypotheses; hallmark of formal operational thought.

What are the ‘imaginary audience’ and ‘personal fable’?

Imaginary audience: belief others are constantly watching one; Personal fable: belief one’s experiences are unique and invulnerable.

Kohlberg’s three levels of moral development.

Pre-conventional, Conventional, Post-conventional morality.

What defines Stage 4 of Kohlberg’s theory?

Maintaining Social Order – obeying laws and authority to uphold society.

Gilligan’s primary critique of Kohlberg.

His system is biased toward male logic of justice; women’s morality centers on an ‘ethic of care.’

Piaget’s Heteronomous vs. Autonomous morality.

Heteronomous: rules are fixed, focus on consequences (4-7 yrs); Autonomous: rules are negotiable, intention considered (10 yrs+).

Bronfenbrenner’s five ecological systems.

Microsystem, Mesosystem, Exosystem, Macrosystem, Chronosystem.

Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD).

Range between what a child can do alone and what they can do with guidance.

Define scaffolding.

Temporary support from a more skilled partner that helps a learner master a task.

Ainsworth’s four attachment styles.

Secure, Avoidant, Ambivalent/Resistant, Disorganized-Disoriented.

Parenting style linked to secure attachment.

Sensitive and responsive caregiving.

What is separation anxiety in attachment theory?

Infant distress when a familiar caregiver leaves.

Mahler’s concept of ‘psychological birth’.

Process of separation-individuation whereby the child becomes a separate, autonomous self (1-3 yrs).

Marcia’s four identity statuses.

Identity Achievement, Moratorium, Foreclosure, Identity Diffusion.

Classical vs. Operant conditioning.

Classical: learning through stimulus association (Pavlov); Operant: learning through consequences (Skinner).

Bandura’s concept of reciprocal determinism.

Behavior, personal factors, and environment influence each other bidirectionally.

Define self-efficacy.

One’s belief in their capability to succeed in specific situations.

Kolb’s four stages of experiential learning.

Concrete Experience, Reflective Observation, Abstract Conceptualization, Active Experimentation.

Natural selection’s role in evolutionary psychology.

Behaviors that increase survival and reproduction become more common in the species.

Social Role Theory’s main idea.

Personality develops through participation in an expanding set of social roles that vary in number, intensity, time demands, and structure.

State one principle of developmental plasticity.

Abilities can often be improved through training and practice at many points in the lifespan.

Down Syndrome chromosomal pattern and hallmark.

Trisomy 21; characterized by intellectual disability, distinctive facial features, and health risks.

Definition of teratogen and its critical factor.

Any environmental agent causing prenatal harm; its impact depends on timing, dosage, and genetic susceptibility.

Purpose of kangaroo care.

Skin-to-skin contact to stabilize temperature, heart rate, and breathing in preterm infants.

What is sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)?

Unexplained death of an apparently healthy infant under one year of age, often during sleep.

Explain small-for-date (small-for-gestational-age) infants.

Babies whose weight is below normal for the length of pregnancy, regardless of gestational age.

Erikson’s virtue associated with Generativity vs. Stagnation.

Care.

Define instrumental aggression.

Aggressive behavior aimed at achieving a goal rather than causing harm.

What is coregulation in middle childhood?

A transitional form of supervision in which parents and children cooperate to manage the child’s behavior.

Explain psychosocial moratorium.

A ‘time-out’ during adolescence that allows for exploration before permanent commitments are made.

Juvenile delinquency risk factor linked to biology.

Low autonomic arousal levels, leading youths to seek sensation through antisocial acts.

Define critical period for neural tube closure and its nutrient.

Occurs 25-29 days post-conception; adequate folic acid prevents defects like spina bifida.

What is a quasi-experimental ‘natural experiment’?

Study comparing naturally occurring groups to infer causal relations where random assignment is impossible.

Why can’t correlation prove causation?

Because variables may influence each other or both be affected by a third variable; no experimental control.

Describe the principle of monotropy in Bowlby’s theory.

Infants form one primary attachment that is qualitatively different and more important than others.

What is ethnographic research useful for?

Describing cultural patterns and overcoming Western biases by studying behavior in natural cultural contexts.

State two APA rules on deception in research.

Use deception only if justified and reveal the deception as early as feasible during debriefing.

Define fuzzy-trace theory.

Dual-process model stating decisions rely on verbatim analytic and gist-based intuitive processing working in parallel.

What is anoxia and a possible outcome?

Oxygen deprivation during birth; can lead to cerebral palsy or cognitive impairments.

Identify the three principles of development that resources shift across life.

Growth, Maintenance, and Regulation of loss.

How does SES influence development?

Through access to resources, education, and health care, impacting physical, cognitive, and socio-emotional outcomes.