Ch. 1 Studying Adult Development And Aging

Front 1

Age Effects

Back 1

One of the three fundamental effects examined in developmental research, along with cohort and time-of-measurement effects, which reflects the influence of time-dependent processes on development.

Front 2

Ageism

Back 2

The untrue assumption that chronological age is the main determinant of human characteristics and that one age is better than another.

Front 3

Biological Forces

Back 3

One of four basic forces of development that includes all genetic and health-related factors.

Front 4

Biopsychosocial Framework

Back 4

Way of organizing the biological, psychological, and sociocultural forces on human development.

Front 5

Case Study

Back 5

An intensive investigation of individual people.

Front 6

Cohort

Back 6

A group of people born at the same point or specific time span in historical time.

Front 7

Cohort Effects

Back 7

One of the three basic influences examined in developmental research, along with age and time-of-measurement effects, which reflects differences caused by experiences and circumstances unique to the historical time in which one lives.

Front 8

Confounding

Back 8

Any situation in which one cannot determine which of two or more effects is responsible for the behaviors being observed.

Front 9

Continuity-Discontinuity Controversy

Back 9

The debate over whether a particular developmental phenomenon represents smooth progression over time (continuity) or a series of abrupt shifts (discontinuity).

Front 10

Correlational Study

Back 10

An investigation in which the strength of association between variables is examined.

Front 11

Cross-Sectional Study

Back 11

A developmental research design in which people of different ages and cohorts are observed at one time of measurement to obtain information about age differences.

Front 12

Dependent Variable

Back 12

Behaviors or outcomes measured in an experiment.

Front 13

Emerging Adulthood

Back 13

A period when individuals are not adolescents but are not yet fully adults.

Front 14

Experiment

Back 14

A study in which participants are randomly assigned to experimental and control groups and in which an independent variable is manipulated to observe its effects on a dependent variable so that cause-and-effect relations can be established.

Front 15

Gerontology

Back 15

The study of aging from maturity through old age.

Front 16

Independent Variable

Back 16

The variable manipulated in an experiment.

Front 17

Life-Cycle Forces

Back 17

One of the four basic forces of development that reflects differences in how the same event or combination of biological, psychological, and sociocultural forces affects people at different points in their lives.

Front 18

Life-Span Perspective

Back 18

A view of the human Life-Span that divides it into two phases: childhood/adolescence and young/middle/late adulthood.

Front 19

Longitudinal Study

Back 19

A developmental research design that measures one cohort over two or more times of measurement to examine age changes.

Front 20

Meta-Analysis

Back 20

A technique that allows researchers to synthesize the results of many studies to estimate relations between variables.

Front 21

Microgenetic Study

Back 21

A special type of longitudinal design in which participants are tested repeatedly over a span of days or weeks, typically with the aim of observing change directly as it occurs.

Front 22

Nature-Nurture Issue

Back 22

A debate over the relative influence of genetics and the environment on development.

Front 23

Nonnormative Influences

Back 23

Random events that are important to an individual but do not happen to most people.

Front 24

Normative Age-Graded Influences

Back 24

Experiences caused by biological, psychological, and sociocultural forces that are closely related to a person's age.

Front 25

Normative History-Graded Influences

Back 25

Events that most people in a specific culture experience at the same time.

Front 26

Plasticity

Back 26

The belief that capacity is not fixed, but can be learned or improved with practice.

Front 27

Primary Aging

Back 27

The normal, disease-free development during adulthood.

Front 28

Psychological Forces

Back 28

One if the four basic forces of development that includes all internal perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and personality factors.

Front 29

Reliability

Back 29

The ability of a measure to produce the same value when used repeatedly to measure the identical phenomenon over time.

Front 30

Secondary Aging

Back 30

Developmental changes that are related to disease, lifestyle, and other environmental changes that are not inevitable.

Front 31

Self-Reports

Back 31

People's answers to questions about a topic of interest.

Front 32

Sequential Designs

Back 32

Types of developmental research designs involving combinations of cross-sectional and longitudinal designs.

Front 33

Sociocultural Forces

Back 33

One of the four basic forces of development that include interpersonal, societal, cultural, and ethnic factors.

Front 34

Stability-Change Issue

Back 34

A debate over the degree to which people remain the same over time as opposed to being different.

Front 35

Systematic Observation

Back 35

A type of measurement involving watching people remain and carefully recording what they say or do.

Front 36

Tertiary Aging

Back 36

Rapid losses occurring shortly before death.

Front 37

Time-of-Measurement Effects

Back 37

One of the three fundamental effects examined in developmental research, along with age and cohort effects, which result from the time at which the data are collected.

Front 38

Universal Versus Context-Specific Development Controvery

Back 38

A debate over whether there is a single pathway of developmental, or several.

Front 39

Validity

Back 39

The degree to which an instrument measures what it is supposed to measure.