Study Of Human Development

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Human Development

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Scientific study of processes of change and stability throughout human lifespan

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Life-span Development

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Concept of human development as a life-long process which can be studied scientifically

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Physical Development

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Growth of body and brain, including patterns of change in sensory capacities, motor skills, and heatlh

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Cognitive Development

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Pattern of change in mental abilities, such as learning, attention, memory, language, thinking, reasoning, and creativity

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Psychosocial Development

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Pattern of change in emotions, personality, and social relationships

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Social Construction

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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

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Individual Differences

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Differences in characteristics, influences, or developmental outcomes

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Heredity

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Inborn traits or characteristics inherited from the biological parents

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Environment

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Totality of nonhereditary, or experiential influences on development

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Maturation

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Unfolding of a natural sequence of physical and behavioral changes

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Nuclear Family

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Two-generational kinship, economic, and household unit consisting of one or two parents and their biological children, adopted children, or stepchildren

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Extended Family

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Multigenerational kinship network of parents, children, and other relatives, sometimes living together in an extended-family household

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Socioeconomic Status (SES)

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Combination of economic and social factors describing an individual or family, including income, education, and occupation.

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Risk Factors

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Conditions that increase the likelihood of a negative developmental outcome.

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Culture

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A society's 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.

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Ethnic Group

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A group united by ancestry, race, religion, language, and/or national origins, which contribute to a sense of shared identity.

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Ethnic Gloss

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Overgeneralization about an ethnic or cultural group that obscures differences within the group.

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Normative

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Characteristic of an even that occurs in a similar way for most people in a group.

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Cohort

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A group of people born at about the same time.

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Historical Generation

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A group of people strongly influenced by a major historical event during their formative period.

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Nonnormative

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Characteristic of an unusual event that happens to a particular person or a typical event that happens at an unusual time of life.

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Imprinting

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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.

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Critical period

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Specific time when a given event or its absence has a specific impact on development.

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Plasticity

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Range of modifiability of performance.

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Sensitive periods

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Times in development when a person is particularly open to certain kinds of experiences.