Lifespan Development Flashcards

Flashcards covering key vocabulary terms related to Lifespan Development.

Developmental Psychology

The scientific study of how people change and stay the same from conception to death; also known as Human Development or Lifespan Development.

Lifespan Perspective

A perspective that views development as lifelong, multidirectional, multidimensional, multidisciplinary, plastic, and contextual.

Multidirectional Development

The concept that humans change in many directions; gaining in some areas while showing losses in others.

Multidimensional Development

The concept that we change across three general domains: physical, cognitive, and psychosocial.

Plasticity

The ability to change; many of our characteristics are malleable.

Multicontextual Development

Development occurs in many contexts, including normative age-graded influences, normative history-graded influences, and non-normative life influences.

Normative Age-Graded Influences

Experiences and developmental changes shared by people in a specific age group.

Normative History-Graded Influences

The time period in which you are born shapes your experiences.

Cohort

A group of people who are born at roughly the same period in a particular society and travel through life experiencing similar circumstances.

Non-Normative Life Influences

Unique experiences that may shape an individual's development, not typical of the age group.

Socioeconomic Status (SES)

A way to identify families and households based on their shared levels of education, income, and occupation.

Culture

The totality of our shared language, knowledge, material objects, and behavior.

Ethnocentrism

The belief that our own culture is superior.

Cultural Relativity

An appreciation for cultural differences and the understanding that cultural practices are best understood from the standpoint of that particular culture.

Lifespan

The length of time a species can exist under the most optimal conditions; longevity.

Life Expectancy

The predicted number of years a person born in a particular time period can reasonably expect to live.

Chronological Age

The number of years since your birth.

Biological Age

How quickly the body is aging.

Psychological Age

Our psychologically adaptive capacity compared to others of our chronological age.

Social Age

Based on the social norms of our culture and the expectations our culture has for people of our age group.

Prenatal Development

Conception occurs and development begins. All of the major structures of the body are forming, and the health of the mother is of primary concern.

Infancy and Toddlerhood

The first two years of life are ones of dramatic growth and change.

Early Childhood

This period is also referred to as the preschool years and consists of the years which follow toddlerhood and precede formal schooling (ages 2-6).

Middle and Late Childhood

The ages of six to the onset of puberty comprise middle and late childhood.

Adolescence

A period of dramatic physical change marked by an overall growth spurt and sexual maturation, known as puberty.

Emerging Adulthood

A transitional time between the end of adolescence and before individuals acquire all the benchmarks of adulthood (ages 18-25).

Early Adulthood

The twenties and thirties (ages 25-40).

Middle Adulthood

The forties through the mid-sixties (ages 40-65).

Late Adulthood

From 65 onward.

Nature vs. Nurture

A debate addressing whether heredity or environmental factors play the most important role in development.

Continuity vs. Discontinuity

A debate addressing whether development is best characterized as a slow, gradual process or as one of more abrupt change.

Active vs. Passive

A debate addressing how much people play a role in their own developmental path.

Stability vs. Change

A debate addressing how similar one is to how they were as a child.

Preformationism

The belief that a tiny, fully formed human is implanted in the sperm or egg at conception and then grows in size until birth.

Tabula Rasa

The idea that a child’s mind is a blank slate, and whatever comes into the child’s mind comes from the environment.

Maturation

The child’s development was activated by genes.

Psychosocial Crises

Each period of life has a unique challenge or crisis that the person who reaches it must face.

Learning Theory

Also known as Behaviorism, is based on the premise that it is not possible to objectively study the mind, and therefore psychologists should limit their attention to the study of behavior itself.

Social Learning Theory

Learning by watching others.

Reciprocal Determinism

There is interplay between our personality and the way we interpret events and how they influence us.

Cognitive Theories

Focus on how our mental processes or cognitions change over time.

Sociocultural Theory

Emphasizes the importance of culture and interaction in the development of cognitive abilities.

Ecological Systems Theory

Provides a framework for understanding and studying the many influences on human development.

Microsystem

Includes the individual’s setting and those who have direct, significant contact with the person, such as parents or siblings.

Mesosystem

Includes the larger organizational structures, such as school, the family, or religion. These institutions impact the microsystems.

Exosystem

Includes the larger contexts of community. A community’s values, history, and economy can impact the organizational structures it houses.

Macrosystem

Includes the cultural elements, such as global economic conditions, war, technological trends, values, philosophies, and a society’s responses to the global community.

Chronosystem

The historical context in which these experiences occur.

Scientific Method

The set of assumptions, rules, and procedures scientists use to conduct research.

Research Design

Is the specific method a researcher uses to collect, analyze, and interpret data. Can be Descriptive, Correlational, or Experimental.

Descriptive Research

Research that describes what is occurring at a particular point in time.

Correlational Research

Research designed to discover relationships among variables and to allow the prediction of future events from present knowledge.

Experimental Research

Research in which a researcher manipulates one or more variables to see their effects.

Case Studies

Descriptive records of one or a small group of individuals’ experiences and behavior.

Naturalistic Observation

Psychologists observe and record behavior that occurs in everyday settings.

Laboratory Observation

Conducted in a setting created by the researcher that permits the researcher to control more aspects of the situation.

Survey

A measure administered through either a verbal or written questionnaire to get a picture of the beliefs or behaviors of a sample of people of interest.

Representative Sample

Would include the same percentages of males, females, age groups, ethnic groups, and socio-economic groups as the larger population.

Social Desirability

When respondents on a survey lie because they want to present themselves in the most favorable light.

Psychophysiological Data

Researchers may also record measures of heart rate, hormone levels, or brain activity to help explain development.

Event-Related Potentials (ERPs)

Recorded by fitting a research participant with a stretchy cap that contains many small sensors or electrodes. These electrodes record tiny electrical currents on the scalp in response to a picture or a sound.

Secondary/Content Analysis

Involves analyzing information that has already been collected or examining documents or media to uncover attitudes, practices or preferences.

Pearson Correlation Coefficient

Symbolized by the letter r, is the most common statistical measure of the strength of linear relationships among variables. Ranges from -1.00 to +1.00.

Third Variable

A variable that is not part of the research hypothesis but produces the observed correlation between them.

Independent Variable

The causing variable that is created or manipulated by the experimenter.

Dependent Variable

A measured variable that is expected to be influenced by the experimental manipulation.

Experimental Group

Receives the treatment under investigation.

Control Group

Does not receive the treatment the experimenter is studying; used as a comparison.

Extraneous Variables

Variables that are not part of the experiment that could inadvertently affect either the experimental or control group, thus distorting the results.

Cross-Sectional Research

Compares samples that represent a cross-section of the population who vary in age.

Cohort Effect

The impact of having been born in a certain time-period.

Longitudinal Research

Involves studying a group of people who are the same age, and measuring them repeatedly over a period-of-time.

Attrition

Occurs when participants fail to complete all portions of a study.

Practice Effect

Occurs when participants become better at a task over time because they have done it again and again; not due to natural psychological development.

Sequential Research

Includes elements of both longitudinal and cross-sectional research designs. Features participants who are followed over time along with participants of different ages.

Informed Consent

Explains as much as possible about the true nature of the study, particularly everything that might be expected to influence willingness to participate.

Deception

Occurs whenever research participants are not completely and fully informed about the nature of the research project before participating in it.

Debriefing

A procedure designed to fully explain the purposes and procedures of the research and remove any harmful aftereffects of participation; must occur at the end of a study.