History, Theory, And Research Strategies

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Human Development

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Field of study devoted to understanding constancy and change throughout the lifespan

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Theory

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Orderly, integrated set of statements that describes, explains, and predicts behavior. Theories are vital to provide organizing frameworks (guide and give meaning to what we see) and a sound basis for practical action

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Continuous

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Process of gradually augmenting the same types of skills that were there to being with

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Discontinuous

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Process in which new and different ways of understanding and responding emerge at specific times

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Stages

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Qualitative changes in thinking, feeling, and behaving that characterize specific periods of development

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Contexts

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Unique combinations of personal and environmental circumstances that can result in different paths of change

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Nature-Nurture Controversy

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Debate on weather genetic or environmental factors are more important in development

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Lifespan Perspective

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Leading dynamic system approach that is made up of four assumptions: that development is
(1)lifelong
(2)multidimensional/directional
(3)highly plastic
(4)affected by multiple interacting forces

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Resilience

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ability to adapt effectively in the face of threats to development

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Age-Graded Influences

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Events strongly related to age and are fairly predictable in when they occur and how long they last

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History-Graded Influences

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Explain why people born around the same time (cohort) tend to be alike in ways that set them apart from people born at other times

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Nonnormative Influences

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Events that are irregular and they happen to just one person or a few people and do not follow a predictable timetable

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Tabula Rasa

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"Blank Slate" which gives the idea that children are nothing at all to begin with and their characteristics are shaped my experiences (LOCKE)q

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Noble Savages

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Naturally endowed with a sense of and wrong and with an innate plan for orderly, healthy growth (ROUSSEAU)

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Maturation

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Genetically determined, naturally unfolding course of growth

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Normative Approach

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Measures of behavior are taken on large numbers of individuals, and age-related averages are computed to represent typical development

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Psychoanalytic Perspective

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People move through a series of stages in which they confront conflicts between biological drives and social expectations. Resolve determines individual's ability to learn, get along with other, and cope with anxitey

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Psychosexual Theory

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emphasizes how parents manage their child's sexual and aggressive drives in first few years is crucial for healthy personality development (FREUD)

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Pshychosocial Theory

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emphasizes that ego does not just mediate between id impulses and superego demands. Also acquires attitude skills that make the individual an active, contributing member of society (ERIKSON)

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Behaviorism

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Directly observable events--stimuli and responses--are appropriate focus of study

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Social Learning Theory

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Most influential theory that says modeling, aka imitation or observational learning, is powerful source of development (BANDURA)

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Behavior Modification

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Procedures that combine conditioning and modeling to eliminate undesirable behaviors and increase desirable responses

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Cognitive-Developmental Theory

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Children actively construct knowledge as they manipulate and explore their world (PIAGET)

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Information Processing

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Human mind might also be viewed as symbol-manipulating system through which information flows

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Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience

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Researchers from psychology, biology, neuroscience, and medicine study relationships between changes in the brain and the developing person's cognitive processing and behavior patterns

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Ethology

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Adaptive value of behavior and its evolutionary history

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Sensitive Period

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Time that is optimal for certain capacities to emerge and in which individual is especially responsive to environmental influences

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Evolutionary Developmental Psychology

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Understand adaptive value of specieswide cognitive, emotional, and social competencies as they change with age

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Sociocultural Theory

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How culture--values, beliefs, customs, and skills--is transmitted to next generation (VYGOTSKY) social interaction--in particular cooperative dialogue with more knowledgeable members of society--is necessary to acquire ways of thinking and behaving that make up community's culture

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Ecological Systems Theory

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Views person as developing within complex system of relationships affected by multiple levels of surroundings

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Microsystem

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innermost layer of the environment, which consists of activities and interaction patterns in the person's immediate surroundings

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Mesosystem

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encompasses connections between microsystem such as immediate family, school, and play area

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Exosystem

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made up of social settings that do not contain the developing person but do affect experiences in immediate settings such as friends and neighbors, extended family, community health service, and workplace

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Macrosystem

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not a specific context, but consists of cultural values, laws, customs, and resources

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Chronosystem

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the temporal dimension of time that shows life's changes can be imposed externally or can arise from within the person since individuals select, modify, and create their own settings and experiences (BRONFENBRENNER)

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Naturalistic Observation

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a systematic approach to go into the field of natural environment and record behavior of interest

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Structured Observation

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a systematic approach in which investigator sets up laboratory situation that evokes behavior of interest so every participant has equal opportunity to display a response

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Clinical Interview

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a self report where researchers use flexible, conversational style to probe for the participant's point of view

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Structured Interview

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a self report in which each participant is asked the same set of questions in the same way

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Clinical (Case Study) Method

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brings together wide range of information on one person, such as interviews, observations, and test scores

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Ethnography

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Method for studying culture that is largely a descriptive, qualitative technique. Much like clinical method, but is directed toward understanding a distinct social group through participant observation rather than aiming to understand a single person

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Correlational Design

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researchers gather information on individuals, generally in natural life circumstances, without altering their experiences. Then they look at relationships between participants' characteristics and behavior of development

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Correlation Coefficient

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number that describes how two measures are associated with one another

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Experimental Design

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permits inferences about cause and effect relationship because researches use evenhanded procedure to assign people to two or more treatment conditions

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Independent Variable

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one the investigator manipulates in order to see a change in another variable

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Dependent Variable

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one that is expected to be influenced by the independent variable

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Random Assignment

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uses an unbiased procedure in order to increase the chances that participants' characteristics will be equally distributed across treatment conditions

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Longitudinal Design

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participants are studied repeatedly and changes are noted as they get older

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Cross-Sectional Design

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groups of people who differ in age are studied at the same point in time

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Sequential Design

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When several similar cross-sectional or longitudinal studies (called sequences) are conducted at varying times