Human Development

I. The Study of Human Development

human development focuses on the scientific study of the systematic processes of
change and stability in people.
life-span development to be from “womb to tomb,” comprising the entire human
life span from conception to death.
As the fi eld of human development itself developed, its goals came to include
description, explanation, prediction, and intervention.
physical development is the Growth of body and brain, including patterns of
change in sensory capacities, motor skills, and health.
cognitive development is the Pattern of change in mental abilities, such as
learning, attention, memory, language, thinking, reasoning, and creativity.
psychosocial development is the Pattern of change in emotions, personality, and
social relationships.
social construction is A concept or practice that may appear natural and obvious to
those who accept it, but that in reality is an invention of a particular culture or
society.
individual differences are the Differences in characteristics, influences, or
developmental outcomes.
Heredity is the Inborn traits or characteristics inherited from the biological
parents.
Environment is the Totality of nonhereditary, or experiential, influences on
development.
Maturation is the Unfolding of a natural sequence of physical and behavioral
changes.
nuclear family is the two-generational kinship, economic, and household unit
consisting of one or two parents and their biological children, adopted children, or
stepchildren.
extended family is the Multigenerational kinship network of parents, children, and
other relatives, sometimes living together in an extended-family household.
socioeconomic status (SES) is the Combination of economic and social factors
describing an individual or family, including income, education, and occupation.
risk factors are Conditions that increase the likelihood of a negative
developmental outcome.
Culture is A societies or group’s total way of life, including customs, traditions,
beliefs, values, language, and physical products—all learned behavior, passed on
from parents to children.
ethnic group is A group united by ancestry, race, religion, language, or national
origins, which contribute to a sense of shared identity.
ethnic gloss is the Overgeneralization about an ethnic or cultural group that
obscures differences within the group.
Normative is the Characteristic of an event that occurs in a similar way for most
people in a group.
historical generation is A group of people strongly influenced by a major
historical event during their formative period.
Cohort is a group of people born at about the same time.
Nonnormative is the Characteristic of an unusual event that happens to a
particular person or a typical event that happens at an unusual time of life.
Imprinting is an Instinctive form of learning in which, during a critical period in
early development, a young animal forms an attachment to the first moving object
it sees, usually the mother.
critical period is Specific time when a given event, or its absence has a specific
impact on development.
Plasticity is the Range of modifiability of performance.
sensitive periods are Times in development when a person is particularly open to
certain kinds of experiences.
Development is lifelong. Development is a lifelong process of change. Each
period of the life span is affected by what happened before and will affect what is
to come.
Development is multidimensional. It occurs along multiple interacting
dimensions—biological, psychological, and social—each of which may develop at
varying rates.
Development is multidirectional. As people gain in one area, they may lose in
another, sometimes at the same time. Children grow mostly in one direction—up—
both in size and in abilities.
Relative influences of biology and culture shift over the life span. The process
of development is influenced by both biology and culture, but the balance between
these influences’ changes.
Development involves changing resource allocations. Individuals choose to
invest their resources of time, energy, talent, money, and social support in varying
ways. Resources may be used for growth (for example, learning to play an
instrument or improving one’s skill).
Development shows plasticity. Many abilities, such as memory, strength, and
endurance, can be improved significantly with training and practice, even late in
life.
Development is influenced by the historical and cultural context. Each person
develops within multiple contexts—circumstances or conditions defined in part by
maturation and in part by time and place.
II. Basic Theoretical Issue
Theory is the Coherent set of logically related concepts that seeks to organize,
explain, and predict data.
Hypotheses is the Possible explanations for phenomena, used to predict the
outcome of research.
Mechanistic model is the Model that views human development as a series of
predictable responses to stimuli.
Organismic model Model that views human development as internally initiated by
an active organism and as occurring in a sequence of qualitatively different stages.
quantitative change are the Changes in number or amount, such as in height,
weight, size of vocabulary, or frequency of communication.
qualitative change Discontinuous changes in kind, structure, or organization.
psychoanalytic perspective is the view of human development as shaped by
unconscious forces that motivate human behavior.
psychosexual development - In Freudian theory, an unvarying sequence of stages
of childhood personality development in which gratification shifts from the mouth
to the anus and then to the genitals.
psychosocial development - In Erikson’s eight-stage theory, the socially and
culturally influenced process of development of the ego, or self.
learning perspective is the View of human development that holds those changes
in behavior result from experience or from adaptation to the environment.
Behaviorism is the Learning theory that emphasizes the predictable role of
environment in causing observable behavior.
Classical conditioning is Learning based on associating a stimulus that does not
ordinarily elicit a response with another stimulus that does elicit the response.
Operant conditioning is Learning based on association of behavior with its
consequences.
Reinforcement is the process by which a behavior is strengthened, increasing the
likelihood that the behavior will be repeated.
Punishment is the process by which a behavior is weakened, decreasing the
likelihood of repetition.
social learning theory is the Theory that behaviors are learned by observing and
imitating models. Also called social cognitive theory.
reciprocal determinism is Bandura’s term for bidirectional forces that affect
development.
observational learning is the Learning through watching the behavior of others.
self-efficacy is the Sense of one’s capability to master challenges and achieve
goals.
cognitive perspective View that thought processes are central to development.
cognitive-stage theory is Piaget’s theory that children’s cognitive development
advances in a series of four stages involving qualitatively distinct types of mental
operations.
Organization is Piaget’s term for the creation of categories or systems of
knowledge.
Schemes is Piaget’s term for organized patterns of thought and behavior used in
particular situations.
Adaptation is Piaget’s term for adjustment to new information about the
environment, achieved through processes of assimilation and accommodation.
Assimilation is Piaget’s term for incorporation of new information into an existing
cognitive structure.
Accommodation is Piaget’s term for changes in a cognitive structure to include
new information.
Equilibration is Piaget’s term for the tendency to seek a stable balance among
cognitive elements; achieved through a balance between assimilation and
accommodation.
sociocultural theory is Vygotsky’s theory of how contextual factors affect
children’s development.
zone of proximal development (ZPD) is Vygotsky’s term for the difference
between what a child can do alone and what the child can do with help.
Scaffolding is Temporary support to help a child master a task.
information-processing approach is the Approach to the study of cognitive
development by observing and analyzing the mental processes involved in
perceiving and handling information.
contextual perspective is the View of human development that sees the individual
as inseparable from the social context.
bioecological theory is Bronfenbrenner’s approach to under-standing processes
and contexts of human development that identifies five levels of environmental
influence.
evolutionary/sociobiological perspective is the View of human development that
focuses on evolutionary and biological bases of behavior.
Ethology is the Study of distinctive adaptive behaviors of species of animals that
have evolved to increase survival of the species.
Evolutionary psychology is the Application of Darwinian principles of natural
selection and survival of the fittest to individual behavior.
quantitative research deals with objectively measurable data.
scientific method is the System of established principles and processes of
scientific inquiry, which includes identifying a problem to be studied, formulating
a hypothesis to be tested by research, collecting data, analyzing the data, forming
tentative conclusions, and disseminating findings.
qualitative research focuses on nonnumerical data, such as subjective
experiences, feelings, or beliefs.
Sample are a Group of participants chosen to represent the entire population under
study.
Random selection is the Selection of a sample in such a way that each person in a
population has an equal and independent chance of being chosen.
naturalistic observation is a Research method in which behavior is studied in
natural settings without intervention or manipulation.
laboratory observation is a Research method in which all participants are
observed under the same controlled conditions.
operational definition - the Definition stated solely in terms of the operations or
procedures used to produce or measure a phenomenon.
cognitive neuroscience is the Study of links between neural processes and
cognitive abilities.
case study is the Study of a single subject, such as an individual or family.
ethnographic study - In-depth study of a culture, which uses a combination of
methods including participant observation.
participant observation is a Research method in which the observer lives with the
people or participates in the activity being observed.
correlational study is a Research design intended to discover whether a statistical
relationship between variables exists.
experimental group - In an experiment, the group receiving the treatment under
study.
control group - In an experiment, a group of people, similar to those in the
experimental group, who do not receive the treatment under study.
independent variable - In an experiment, the condition over which the
experimenter has direct control.
dependent variable - In an experiment, the condition that may or may not change
as a result of changes in the independent variable.
random assignment - Assignment of participants in an experiment to groups in
such a way that each person has an equal chance of being placed in any group.
cross-sectional study is the Study designed to assess age-related differences, in
which people of different ages are assessed on one occasion.
longitudinal study is the Study designed to assess age changes in a sample over
time.
sequential study is the Study design that combines cross-sectional and
longitudinal techniques.