Chpt 1- Basic Concepts And Methods

Front 1

Human development

Back 1

The scientific study of age-related changes in behavior, thinking, emotion, and personality.

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Norms

Back 2

Average age at which developmental milestones are reached.

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Maturation

Back 3

The gradual unfolding of a genetically programmed sequential pattern of change

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Norm-referenced test

Back 4

Standardized tests that compare an individual's child's score to the average score of others her age.

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Lifespan perspective

Back 5

the current view of developmentalist that important changes occur through the entire human life span and that these changes must be interpreted in terms of the culture and context in which they occur; thus, interdisciplinary research is critical to understanding human development.

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Physical domain

Back 6

Changes in the size, shape, and characteristics of the body.

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Cognitive domain

Back 7

Changes in thinking, memory, problem solving, and other intellectual skills.

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Social domain

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Change in variables that are associated with the relationship of an individual to others.

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Nature - nurture debate

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The debate about the relative contributions of biological processes and experiential factors to development

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Quantitative change

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A change in amount

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Qualitative change

Back 11

The change in kind or type

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Stages

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Qualitatively distinct periods of development

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Normative age - graded changes

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Changes that are common to every member of a species

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Social clock

Back 14

A set of age norms defining a sequence of life experiences that is considered normal in a given culture and that all individuals and that culture are expected to follow

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Ageism

Back 15

Prejudicial attitudes about older adults that characterizes them in negative way

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Normative history - graded changes

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Changes that occur in most members of a cohort as a result of factors at work during a specific, well defined historical period

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Nonnormative changes

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Changes that result from unique, unshared events

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Critical period

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A specific period in development when an organism is especially sensitive to the presence (or absence) of some particular kind of experience

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Sensitive period

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Span of months or years during which a child may be particularly responsive to specific forms of experience are particularly influenced by their absence

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Atypical development

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Development that deviates from the typical developmental pathway in a direction that is harmful to the individual

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Naturalistic observation

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The process of studying people in their normal environment

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Case study

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An in-depth examination of a single individual

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Laboratory observation

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Observation of behavior under controlled conditions

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Survey

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A data collection method in which participants respond to questions

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Population

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The entire group that is of interest to a researcher

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Sample

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A subset of a group that is of interest to a researcher who participates in a study

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Representative sample

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A sample that has the same characteristics as the population to which the study's findings apply

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Correlation

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A relationship between two variables that can be expressed as a number ranging from -1.00 to +1.00

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Experiment

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The study that tests a casual hypothesis

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Experimental group

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The group in an experiment that receives the treatment the experimenter thinks will produce a particular effect

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Control group

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The group in an experiment that receives either no special treatment or neutral treatment

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Independent variable

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The presumed casual element in an experiment

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Dependent variable

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The characteristics or behavior that is expected to be affected by the independent variable

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Cross-sectional design

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A research design in which groups of people of different ages are compared

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Longitudinal design

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A research design in which people in a single group are studied at different times in their lives

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Sequential design

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A research design that combines cross - sectional and longitudinal examinations of development

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Cohort effects

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Findings that result from historical factors to which one age group in a process that sectional study has been exposed

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Ethnography

Back 38

A detailed description of a single culture or context

Front 39

Research Ethics

Back 39

The guidelines researchers follow to protect the rights of animals used in research and humans who participate in studies