Developmental Psychology – Vocabulary Flashcards (60)

60 vocabulary flashcards covering key terms from the lecture notes.

Development

The pattern of change that begins at conception and continues throughout the life span.

Health and well-being

The physical and mental health status that influences a child’s development.

Parenting

Caregiving behaviors and practices of parents that shape children’s development.

Education

Learning experiences and schooling that influence development.

Sociocultural contexts

The social and cultural environments that influence development.

Social policy

Government actions and programs designed to promote citizens’ welfare.

Culture

Shared beliefs, patterns, and products of a group passed across generations.

Cross-cultural studies

Research comparing two or more cultures to understand developmental differences and similarities.

Ethnicity

A characteristic based on cultural heritage, nationality, race, religion, and language.

Socioeconomic status (SES)

An individual’s position in society based on occupational, educational, and economic characteristics, with inequalities often present.

Gender

The characteristics of people as male and female, culturally defined roles and behaviors.

Resilience

The capacity to adapt and thrive despite adversity or negative stereotypes.

Authoritative parenting

Warmth and structure with high expectations; linked to positive child outcomes.

Extrafamilial context

Supportive relationships and influences outside the family that affect development.

Microsystem

The immediate environment in which development occurs (family, school, peers, neighborhood).

Mesosystem

Connections between the child’s microsystems, such as family–school links.

Exosystem

Settings that do not involve the child directly but affect them (parents’ workplace, community services).

Macrosystem

The broader cultural values, laws, and resources that shape development.

Chronosystem

Time-related dimension of Bronfenbrenner’s model, including life events and sociohistorical conditions.

Nature-nurture issue

The debate over whether development is primarily influenced by biology or by environmental experiences.

Nature

Genetic and biological factors that contribute to development.

Nurture

Environmental experiences and learning that shape development.

Continuity-discontinuity issue

Whether development is gradual and continuous or occurs in distinct stages.

Early-later experience issue

The extent to which early experiences vs. later experiences determine development.

Scientific method

An objective, systematic approach to investigation involving hypothesis testing and evidence.

Theory

A coherent set of ideas that explains and predicts phenomena.

Hypothesis

A specific testable prediction derived from a theory.

Psychoanalytic theories

Theories of development emphasizing unconscious processes and emotion, with early experiences central.

Freud

Founding figure of psychoanalytic theory; emphasized psychosexual stages and early experiences.

Erikson

Psychologist who proposed eight life-span stages with psychosocial challenges.

Oral stage

Birth to 1½ years; pleasure focused on the mouth.

Anal stage

1½ to 3 years; pleasure focused on the anus.

Phallic stage

3 to 6 years; pleasure focused on the genitals.

Latency stage

6 years to puberty; repression of sexual interests and development of social skills.

Genital stage

Puberty onward; sexual impulses focus outside the family.

Trust versus mistrust

Infancy stage where trust develops when needs are met.

Autonomy versus shame and doubt

Early childhood stage focused on independence and self-control.

Initiative versus guilt

Preschool years; balancing initiative with a sense of guilt when missteps occur.

Industry versus inferiority

Middle to late childhood; striving for competence and achievement.

Identity versus identity confusion

Adolescence; forming a stable sense of self and direction.

Intimacy versus isolation

Early adulthood; forming close relationships or feeling disconnected.

Generativity versus stagnation

Middle adulthood; contributing to society vs. stagnation.

Integrity versus despair

Late adulthood; reflecting on life with a sense of fulfillment or regret.

Piaget

Cognitive-developmental theory emphasizing active construction of knowledge by children.

Four stages of cognitive development

Piaget’s stages: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, formal operational.

Sensorimotor stage

Birth to 2; learning through sensory experiences and actions; development of object permanence.

Preoperational stage

2 to 7; symbolic thinking but reasoning is egocentric and illogical.

Concrete operational stage

7 to 11; logical reasoning about concrete events; classification and seriation.

Formal operational stage

11 through adulthood; abstract and hypothetical thinking.

Vygotsky

Sociocultural cognitive theory; emphasizes social interaction and culture in cognitive development.

Sociocultural cognitive theory

Cognition is shaped by social interaction and cultural tools.

Information-processing theory

Approach focusing on how people encode, store, and retrieve information; memory and thinking processes.

Microgenetic method

Research approach that examines cognitive processes during learning as they occur in real time.

Bandura

Proponent of social cognitive theory; emphasized observational learning.

Observational learning

Learning by watching others’ behavior and its consequences (modeling).

Ethology

Biological basis of behavior with emphasis on evolution and critical/sensitive periods.

Bronfenbrenner

Psychologist who proposed the ecological theory of development with nested environmental systems.

Eclectic theoretical orientation

Drawing from multiple theories rather than sticking to a single framework.

Laboratory observation

Systematic observations conducted in a controlled laboratory setting.

Naturalistic observation

Observations conducted in everyday real-world settings.