Theory And Research

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Theory

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Coherent set of logically related concepts that seeks to organize, explain, and predict data.

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Hypotheses

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Possible explanations for phenomena, used to predict the outcome of research.

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Mechanistic Model

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Model that views human development as a series of predictable responses to stimuli.

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Organismic Model

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Model that views human development as internally initiated by an active organism and as occurring in a sequence of qualitatively different stages.

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Quantitative Change

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Change in number or amount, such as in height, weight, or the size of vocabulary.

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Qualitative Change

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Change in kind, structure, or organization, such as the change from nonverbal to verbal communication.

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Psychoanalytic perspective

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View of human development as being shaped by unconscious forces.

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Psychosexual Development

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In Freudian theory, an unvarying sequence of stages of childhood personality development in which gratification shifts from the mouth to the anus and then to the genitals.

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Psychosocial Development

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In Erikson's eight-stage theory, the socially and culturally influenced process of development of the ego, or self.

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Learning Perspective

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View of human development which holds that changes in behavior result from experience or from adaptation to the environment.

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Behaviorism

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Learning theory that emphasizes the predictable role of environment in causing observable behavior.

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Classical Conditioning

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Learning based on association of a stimulus that does not ordinarily elicit a particular response with another stimulus that does elicit the response.

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Operant Conditioning

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Learning based on association of behavior with its consequences.

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Reinforcement

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In operant conditioning, a process that strengthens and encourages repetition of a desired behavior.

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Punishment

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In operant conditioning, a process that weakens and discourages repetition of a behavior.

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Social Learning Theory

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Theory that behaviors are learned by observing and imitating models. Also called social cognitive theory.

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Reciprocal Determinism

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Bandura's tern for bidirectional forces that affect development.

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Observational Learning

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Learning through watching the behavior of others.

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Self - efficacy

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Sense of one's capability to master challenges and achieve goals.

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Cognitive Perspective

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View that thought processes are central to development.

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Cognitive-stage Theory

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Piaget's theory that children's cognitive development advances in a series of four stages involving qualitatively distinct types of mental operations.

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Organization

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Piaget's term for the creation of categories or systems of knowledge.

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Schemes

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Piaget's term for organized patterns of thought and behavior used in particular situations.

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Adaptation

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Piaget's term for adjustment to new information about the environment, achieved through processes of assimilation and accommodation.

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Assimilation

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Piaget's term for incorporation of new information into an existing cognitive structure.

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Accommodation

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Piaget's term for changes in a cognitive structure to include new information.

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Equilibration

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Piaget's term for the tendency to seek a stable balance among cognitive elements; achieved through a balance between assimilation and accommodation.

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Sociocultural theory

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Vygotsky's theory of how contexutal factors affect children's development.

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Zone of proximal development

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Vygotsky's term for the difference between what a child can do alone and what the child can do with help.

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Scaffolding

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Temporary support to help a child master a task.

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Information-processing approach

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Approach to the study of cognitive development by observing and analyzing the mental processes involved in perceiving and handling information

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Contextual Perspective

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View of human development that sees the individual as inseparable from the social context.

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Bioecological Theory

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Bronfenbrenner's approach to understanding processes and contexts of human development that identifies five levels of environmental influence.

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Evolutionary/sociobiological perspective

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View of human development that focuses on evolutionary and biological bases of behavior.

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Ethology

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Study of distinctive adaptive behaviors of species of animals that have evolved to increase survival of the species.

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Evolutionary Psychology

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Application of Darwinian principles of natural selection and survival of the fittest to individual behavior.

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Quantitative Research

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Research that deals with objectively measurable data.

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Qualitative Research

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Research that focuses on nonnumerical data, such as subjective experiences, feelings, or beliefs.

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Scientific Method

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System of established principles and processes of scientific inquiry, which includes identifying a problem to be studied, formulating a hypothesis to be tested by research, collecting data, analyzing the data, forming tentative conclusions, and disseminating findings.

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Sample

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Group of participants chosen to represent the entire population under study.

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Random Selection

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Selection of a sample in such a way that each person in a population has an equal and independent chance of being chosen.

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Naturalistic Observation

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Research method in which behavior is studied in natural settings without intervention or manipulation.

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Laboratory Observation

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Research method in which all participants are observed under the same controlled conditions.

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Operational Definition

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Definition stated solely in terms of the operations or procedures used to produce or measure a phenomenon.

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Cognitive neuroscience

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Study of links between neural processes and cognitive abilities.

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Case Study

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Study of a single subject, such as an individual or family.

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Ethnographic Study

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In-depth study of a culture, which uses a combination of methods including participant observation.

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Participant Observation

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Research method in which the observer lives with the people or participates in the activity being observed.

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Correlational Study

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Research design intended to discover whether a statistical relationship between variables exists.

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Experiment

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Rigorously controlled, replicable procedure in which the researcher manipulates variables to assess the effect of one on the other.

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Experimental group

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In an experiment, the group receiving the treatment under study.

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Control Group

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In an experiment, a group of people, similar to those in the experimental group, who do not receive the treatment under study.

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Independent Variable

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In an experiment, the condition over which the experimenter has direct control.

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Dependent Variable

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In an experiment, the condition that may or may not change as a result of changes in the independent variable.

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Random Assignment

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Assignment of participants in an experiment to groups in such a way that each person has an equal chance of being placed in any group.

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Cross-sectional study

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Study designed to assess age-related differences, in which people of different ages are assessed on one occasion.

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Longitudinal Study

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Study designed to assess age changes in a sample over time.

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Sequential Study

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Study design that combines cross-sectional and longitudinal techniques.