Ecological Systems Theory

A framework that shows how a child's environment shapes their development. Example: Your school, neighborhood, and the laws of your country all influence you.

Microsystem

The immediate, daily environment where a person interacts.

Example: Your parents, siblings, or classmates at school.

Mesosystem

How two parts of the immediate environment connect.

Example: A parent calling a child's teacher about their grades.

Exosystem

Social settings that affect a person, but they aren't directly in it.

Example: A parent losing their job creates stress at home.

Macrosystem

The broad cultural values, laws, and customs of the society.

Example: Living in a country with specific laws about minimum wage.

Chronosystem

The influence of historical changes and major life transitions over time.

Example: How growing up during the rise of social media affected your friendships.

Authoritarian

High demands, low warmth; strict rules with little discussion.

Example: "Clean your room now, because I said so, and that's final."

Authoritative

High demands, high warmth; clear rules with open discussion.

Example: "You must be home by 9. Let's talk about why we have this rule."

Permissive

Low demands, high warmth; few rules or consequences.

Example: Letting a child skip school because they "didn't feel like going."

Secure Attachment

Child trusts the caregiver and is confident they will return.

Example: A baby is upset when mom leaves, but easily calmed when she returns.

Insecure Attachment

Child lacks consistent trust in the caregiver's availability.

Example: A child either avoids, clings, or is disorganized when the parent returns.

Avoidant

Child seems indifferent or ignores the caregiver when they return.

Example: The child keeps playing alone and acts like they don't notice the parent come back.

Anxious

Child is overly distressed when the caregiver leaves; clingy when they return.

Example: The child cries intensely and clings, unable to be comforted upon reunion.

Disorganized

Child shows confused, mixed, or contradictory behavior upon reunion.

Example: The child runs to the parent, then stops and backs away confusedly.

Achievement

Identity status where a person has explored options and made a firm commitment.

Example: A student considered three majors and confidently chose to become a mechanic.

Diffusion

Identity status with no commitment and no exploration; doesn't care.

Example: A student who can't pick a major and isn't actively looking at any options.

Foreclosure

Commitment made without personal exploration; usually adopted from parents.

Example: A student becomes a lawyer only because their parent is a lawyer, without exploring other paths.

Moratorium

Actively exploring options and struggling, but hasn't made a final commitment yet.

Example: A student is actively taking different classes to decide between two completely different careers.

Racial

Sense of belonging to a racial group.

Example: Feeling connected to your ethnic background and heritage.

Gender

Internal sense of being male, female, both, or neither.

Example: A person identifying as non-binary or transgender.

Sexual Orientation

Who a person is attracted to romantically or sexually.

Example: Identifying as homosexual, heterosexual, or bisexual.

Religious

Sense of commitment to a spiritual practice or belief system.

Example: Deciding to attend a place of worship regularly and following its tenets.

Occupational

Sense of commitment to a career or type of work.

Example: Defining yourself as an engineer, a chef, or a nurse.

Familial

Sense of commitment to one's family role or position.

Example: Taking on the identity of "firstborn" or "responsible oldest sibling."

Temperament

A person's natural, inborn style of emotional response.

Example: Some babies are naturally "easy" and calm, others are "difficult" and fussy.

Separation Anxiety

Distress in children when a familiar caregiver leaves.

Example: A toddler crying loudly when dropped off at daycare.

Monkey Studies

Harlow's research showing comfort is essential for attachment, not just food.

Example: Baby monkeys chose a soft, non-feeding mother over a wire, feeding mother.

Parallel Play

Children play near each other, but not actively with each other.

Example: Two toddlers building separate block towers in the same room.

Pretend Play

Using objects or actions to represent something else (symbolic).

Example: Using a couch as a pirate ship.

Adolescent egocentrism

The belief that others are highly focused on one's appearance and actions.

Example: A teen worrying excessively that everyone is watching them eat.

Imaginary audience

The belief that a crowd of people is constantly watching and judging you.

Example: A teen feeling intense embarrassment over a small stain, assuming everyone saw it.

Personal fable

The feeling that one is unique, special, and invulnerable to harm.

Example: "That won't happen to me!" (e.g., taking risks like speeding).

Emerging Adulthood

The period from 18 to 25, marked by identity exploration and instability.

Example: Moving out, finishing school, and changing jobs multiple times.

Attachment Theory

Theory that early bonds with caregivers shape later adult relationships.

Example: Having a secure early bond leads to trusting adult relationships.

8 Psychosocial Stages

Erikson's eight stages, where a conflict must be resolved for healthy development.

Example: The stage of Identity vs. Role Confusion in the teen years.

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)

Potentially traumatic events (e.g., abuse, neglect) occurring before age 18.

Example: Growing up in a household with domestic violence or substance abuse.

Cross-sectional

Studying different age groups at the same time.

Example: Testing 20-year-olds, 40-year-olds, and 60-year-olds' memory today.

Longitudinal

Studying the same group of people over a long period.

Example: Testing a group of kindergartners' reading skills every year for ten years.

Lifespan

The idea that development is a continuous process from conception to death.

Example: Studying how learning abilities change across all 80+ years of a person's life.

Stability vs Change

Does our personality stay the same (stable) or develop new qualities (change)?

Example: Is a quiet child always a quiet adult (stability)?

Nature vs Nurture

Is development due to genetics (nature) or environment/experience (nurture)?

Example: Is intelligence inherited or learned?

Continuous vs. discontinuous

Is development a smooth, gradual change (continuous) or does it happen in distinct steps (stages)?

Example: Learning to walk is continuous, but Piaget's stages of thinking are discontinuous.

Teratogen

Any agent (drug, virus, toxin) that can cause birth defects.

Example: Alcohol consumption during pregnancy.

Reflex-rooting

A newborn's automatic turn of the head toward a touch on the cheek.

Example: A baby turning its head toward a gentle tap on its face, looking for food.

Visual Cliff apparatus

An experiment to test if infants have depth perception.

Example: An infant hesitates to crawl over a glass surface that looks like a big drop-off.

Critical or sensitive Period

A specific time when an ability must develop or it will be hard/impossible later.

Example: The first few years are the best time to learn a native language perfectly.

Adolescent growth spurt

A rapid increase in height and weight during the teen years.

Example: A 13-year-old growing four inches in a single summer.

Puberty

Biological changes leading to sexual maturity.

Example: Development of breasts in females or a deeper voice in males.

Primary/Secondary sex characteristics

Primary: Reproductive organs. Secondary: Non-reproductive signs of maturity.

Example: Primary: Ovaries/Testes. Secondary: Public hair/breast growth.

Menarche

A girl's first menstrual period.

Example: The biological marker for the start of reproductive capability in females.

Spermarche

A boy's first ejaculation (often nocturnal).

Example: The biological marker for the start of reproductive capability in males.

Menopause

When a woman's menstrual cycles cease (usually around age 50).

Example: A time in middle age when reproduction is no longer possible.

Piaget

The psychologist who developed the four stages of cognitive (thinking) development.

Definition: You have to finish one stage of thinking before you can start the next.

Sensorimotor stage

(Birth-2 years) Child learns through senses and motor actions.

Example: A baby shaking a rattle or mouthing a toy.

Object permanence

Knowing an object still exists even if you can't see it.

Example: A child searches for a toy that was hidden under a blanket.

Conservation

The understanding that quantity remains the same despite changes in appearance.

Example: Knowing that a tall, thin glass holds the same amount of water as a short, wide glass.

Reversibility

The ability to mentally undo an action or thought. Example: Knowing that 4+2=6 and that 6-2=4

Animism

Giving life or feelings to inanimate objects.

Example: A child telling their teddy bear that it is sad.

Egocentrism

The inability to see the world from anyone else's point of view.

Example: A child holds a picture up to their face and asks, "Can you see it?"

Theory of mind

The ability to understand that others have different thoughts, feelings, and beliefs than you do.

Example: Understanding that a friend is looking for a toy where they last left it, not where you know it is now.

Preoperational stage

(2-7 years) Child uses symbols (words/images), but thinking is not logical.

Example: The stage when a child engages in a lot of pretend play.

Concrete Operational stage

(7-11 years) Child can think logically about concrete (physical) events.

Example: The child successfully understands the concept of Conservation.

Formal Operational stage

11+ years) Child can think abstractly and hypothesize (imagine "what if").

Example: A teenager can debate the ethical implications of a complex moral issue.

Vygotsky

The psychologist who focused on social interaction and culture as keys to development.

Definition: Learning happens best when people talk and work together.

Scaffolding

A teacher adjusts their support to match the learner's current level.

Example: A parent first physically guides a child to hold a spoon, then just watches them do it.

Zone of proximal development

The perfect learning zone: what a child can do with help, but not alone.

Example: A child can't do a math problem alone, but can solve it with their teacher's hints.

Crystallized intelligence

Accumulated knowledge and verbal skills (increases with age).

Example: Knowing the capitals of many countries or the definition of a new word.

Fluid Intelligence

Ability to reason quickly and solve new, abstract problems (decreases with age).

Example: Solving a brand-new logic puzzle or seeing patterns in a series of numbers.

dementia

A general term for a serious decline in mental ability that interferes with daily life.

Example: Severe memory loss, confusion, and difficulty communicating due to Alzheimer's disease.

Phonemes

The basic sound units of a language.

Example: The "p" sound in pad or the "sh" sound in shoe.

Morphemes

The smallest unit of meaning in a language.

Example: The word book (1 morpheme), or books (book + s for plural = 2 morphemes).

Semantics

Cooing stage

(2-4 months) Vowel-like sounds produced by an infant.

Example: Oooooh or Aaaah.

Babbling stage

(4-6 months) Repeating consonant-vowel combinations.

Example: Ba-ba-ba or Ma-ma-ma.

One-word stage

(10-18 months) Child speaks using single words to express a whole thought.

Example: Saying Ball! to mean "I want the ball."

Telegraphic stage

(18-24 months) Short, two-word sentences using only essential words.

Example: Go car (meaning "I want to go in the car").

Overgeneralization

Applying a grammar rule too widely, even to irregular words.

Example: Saying I runned instead of I ran or two foots instead of two feet.