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unit 1 exam
developmental psychology
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| the importance of studying life-span development | prepares the individual to take responsibility for children, gives insight about induvial lives and history, and provides knowledge about what their lives will be like in their adult years |
| life-span perspective | the perspective that development is life-long, multidimensional, plastic, and multidisciplinary, and contextual |
| development is contextual | development involves growth, maintenance, and regulation and is constructed through biological, sociocultural, and individual factors working together |
| health and well-being | lifestyles and psychological states have powerful influences on health and well-being |
| parenting and education | many questions involve pressures on the contemporary family and conditions impairing the effectiveness in US schools |
| sociocultural contexts and diversity | culture (behavior patterns, beliefs, and other products of a group passed from generations) and cross-cultural studies (comparison of one culture to another to gain information about developmental similarities) |
| social policy | national government's course of action designed to promote the welfare of its citizens |
| technology | there has been an almost overwhelming increase in the use of technology at all points in human development |
| biological processes | changes in an individual's physical nature |
| cognitive processes | changes in an individual's thought, intelligence, and language |
| socioemotional processes | changes in an individual's relationships, emotions, and personality |
| periods of development | refers to a time frame in a person's life characterized by certain features |
| prenatal period | conception to birth |
| infancy | birth to 18 or 24 months |
| toddler | 18 months to 3 years of age |
| early childhood | 3 to 5 years of age |
| middle and late childhood | about 6 to 10 years of age |
| adolescence | 10-12 to 18-21 years of age |
| emerging adulthood | 18 to 25 years of age |
| early adulthood | early 20s to 30s |
| middle adulthood | 40s to 50s |
| late adulthood | 60s or 70s until death |
| normal aging | describes most individuals, with psychological functioning peaking in early middle age |
| pathological aging | describes individuals with above-average decline as they age, developing a condition leading to mild cognitive impairment or chronic disease that impairs daily functioning |
| successful aging | describes individuals maintaining positive physical, cognitive, and socioemotional development longer in life |
| the significance of age | age and happiness; stronger relationships, feeling less pressure to achieve, more leisure time, and having more life experience that helps |
| chronological age | number of years that have elapsed since birth |
| biological age | age in terms of biological health |
| psychological age | individuals' adaptive capacities compared with people of the same chronological age |
| social age | connectedness with others and the social roles people adopt |
| nature-nurture issue | debate about whether development is primarily influenced by nature (organism's biological inheritance) or nurture (environmental experiences) |
| stability-change issue | debate about the degree to which early traits and characteristics persist through life or change |
| continuity-discontinuity issues | debate about the extent to which development involves gradual, cumulative change (continuity), or distinct stages (discontinuity) |
| scientific method | four-step approach that can be used to obtain accurate information- conceptualize a problem, collect data, analyze the data, and draw conclusions |
| theory | interrelated, coherent set of ideas that helps to explain phenomena and facilitate predictions |
| hypotheses | specific assumptions and predictions that can be tested to determine their accuracy |
| psychoanalytic theories | describe development as primarily unconscious and heavily colored by emotion |
| cognitive theories | children go through multiple stage of development when constructing their understanding of the world |
| behavioral and social cognitive theories | development consists of the pattern of behavioral changes brought about by rewards and punishments |
| ethological theory | stresses that behavior is strongly influenced by biology, is tied to evolution, and is characterized by experiences during critical or sensitive periods |
| ecological theory | development reflects the influence of five environmental systems: microsystems, mesosystems, exosystems, macrosystems, and chronosystems |
| eclectic theory | selects from each theory whatever is considered its best features and allows for seeing the study of development as it actually exists |
| correlational research | attempts to determine the strength of the relationship between two or more events or characteristics |
| correlation coefficient | a number based on statistical analysis that is used to describe the degree of association between two variables |
| experimental research | designed to study causality |
| cross-sectional approach | research approach strategy that compares individuals of different ages simultaneously |
| longitudinal approach | research strategy where the same individuals are studied over a period of time, usually several years or more |
| cohort effects | characteristics determined by a person's time of birth, era, or generation rather than the person's actual age |
| evolutionary psychology | emphasizes the importance of adaption and reproduction to ensure survival |
| evolutionary developmental psychology | psychological mechanisms are domain-specific, ex. we developed sets of problem-solving skills for recurring problems life finding food |
| collaborative gene | human life begins as a single cell, the nucleus of each cell contains chromosomes |
| chromosomes | threadlike structures made up of deoxyribonucleic acid |
| DNA | complex double-helix molecule that contains genetic code or information |
| genes | units of hereditary information composed of DNA |
| methylation | tiny molecules attach themselves to the outside of a gene, making the gene less capable of receiving and responding to biochemical signals from the body |
| genetic variability | combining the genes of two parents in offspring increases variability in the population, unique combinations |
| monozygotic twins | identical twins: two eggs split into two genetically identical replicas and become two individuals |
| dizygotic twins | fraternal twins: two eggs fertilized by different sperm create two nonidentical zygotes as genetically similar as ordinary siblings |
| mutated gene | permanently altered segment of DNA |
| susceptibility gene | genes that make the individual more vulnerable to specific diseases or accelerated aging |
| longevity gene | genes that make the individual less vulnerable to certain diseases and more likely to live to an older age |
| genotype | persons genetic material |
| phenotype | how an individual's genotype is expressed in observable and measurable physical and psychological characteristics |
| dominant-recessive genes | one gene of a pair always exerts its effects, expressed to create a particular phenotype |
| sex-linked genes | when a mutated gene is carried on the x chromosomes, the result is called x-linked inheritance |
| genetic imprinting | occurs when the expression of a gene has different effects depending on whether the gene is passed on by mother or father |
| polygenic inheritance | many different genes, interacting, plus environmental influences, determine a characteristic or developing diseases |
| behavior genetics | the field that seeks to discover the influence of hereditary and environment on individual differences in human traits, development, and behavior |
| twin study | the behavioral similarity of identical twins is compared with the behavioral similarity of fraternal twins |
| adoption study | seeks to discover whether behavioral and psychological characteristics of adopted children are more like those of their adoptive parents or biological parents |
| passive genotype-environment correlations | occur because biological parents provide a rearing environment for the child |
| evocative genotype-environment correlations | occur because a child's genetically influenced characteristics elicit certain types of environments |
| active genotype-environment correlations | occur when children seek out environments that they find compatible and stimulating and suited for their genetically influenced abilities |
| epigenetic view | development is the result of an ongoing, bidirectional interchange between heredity and environment |
| gene x environment interation | interaction of a specific measured variation in the DNA and a specific measured aspect of the environment |
| the germinal period | occurs in the first two weeks after conception: creation of the zygote, continued cell division, and attachment of the zygote to the uterine wall |
| embryonic period | occurs two to eight weeks after conception: rate of cell differentiation intensifies, and the mass of cells in now an embryo |
| fetal period | occurs between two months after conception to birth, lasts about 7 months |
| neural tube | pear-shaped and develops out of the ectoderm at about 18-24 days after conception |
| neurogenesis | massive proliferation of new immature neurons, beginning at about week 5 and continuing through the remainder of the prenatal period |
| neuronal migration | process of cells moving outward from their point of origin to their appropriate locations take place between 6 and 24 weeks |
| neural connectivity | about week 23, when connections between neurons begin to occur |
| teratogen | any agent that can cause a birth defect or negativity after cognitive and behavioral developmental outcomes |
| prescription and nonprescription drugs | teratogen; antibiotics, some antidepressants, certain hormones, and Accutane |
| psychoactive drug | teratogen; caffeine, alcohol, nicotine, cocaine, marijuana, and heroin |
| environmental hazards | teratogen for embryo or fetus, includes radiation, toxic wastes and other chemical pollutants |
Created by:
taylor.post