Human Development Chapters 1-3

Front 1

lifespan perspective

Back 1

the view that important changes occur throughout the entire human lifespan and that these changes must be interpreted in terms of the culture and context in which they occur

Front 2

key elements of lifespan perspective

Back 2

plasticity, interdisciplinary research, multi-contextual nature of development

Front 3

plasticity

Back 3

individuals of all ages possess the capacity for positive change in response to environmental demands

Front 4

interdisciplinary research

Back 4

research from different kinds of disciplinary perspectives (e.g., anthropology, economics, psychology) is needed to fully understand lifespan development

Front 5

multi-contextual nature of development

Back 5

individual development occurs within several interrelated contexts (e.g., family, neighborhood, culture)

Front 6

physical domain

Back 6

changes in the size, shape, and characteristics of the body

Front 7

cognitive domain

Back 7

changes in thinking, memory, problem-solving, and other intellectual skills

Front 8

social domain

Back 8

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

Front 9

nature-nurture debate

Back 9

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

Front 10

quantitative change

Back 10

a change in amount

Front 11

qualitative change

Back 11

change in kind or type

Front 12

stages

Back 12

qualitatively distinct periods of development

Front 13

normative age-graded changes

Back 13

changes that are common to every member of the species

Front 14

naturalistic observation

Back 14

the process of studying people in their normal environments

Front 15

case study

Back 15

an in-depth examination of a single individual

Front 16

laboratory observation

Back 16

observation of behavior under controlled conditions

Front 17

survey

Back 17

data collection method in which participants respond to questions

Front 18

population

Back 18

the entire group that is of interest to a researcher

Front 19

sample

Back 19

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

Front 20

correlation

Back 20

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

Front 21

experiment

Back 21

a study that tests a casual hypothesis

Front 22

experimental group

Back 22

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

Front 23

control group

Back 23

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

Front 24

independent variable

Back 24

the presumed causal element in an experiment

Front 25

dependent variable

Back 25

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

Front 26

cross-sectional design

Back 26

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

Front 27

longitudinal design

Back 27

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

Front 28

sequential design

Back 28

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

Front 29

research ethics (definition)

Back 29

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

Front 30

research ethics (major concerns)

Back 30

protection from harm, informed consent, confidentiality, knowledge of results, deception

Front 31

psychoanalytic theories

Back 31

theories proposing that developmental change happens because of the influence of internal drives and emotions on behavior

Front 32

id

Back 32

in Freud's theory, the part of the personality that comprises a person's basic sexual and aggressive impulses; it contains the libido and motivates a person to seek pleasure and avoid pain

Front 33

ego

Back 33

according to Freud, the thinking element of personality

Front 34

superego

Back 34

Freud's term for the part of personality that is the moral judge

Front 35

psychosexual stages

Back 35

Freud's five stages of personality development through which children move in a fixed sequence determined by maturation; the libido is centered in a different body part in each stage

Front 36

oral stage

Back 36

Freud: birth to 1 year

Front 37

anal stage

Back 37

Freud: 1 to 3 years

Front 38

phallic stage

Back 38

Freud: 3 to 6 years

Front 39

latency period

Back 39

Freud: 6 to 12 years

Front 40

genital stage

Back 40

Freud: 12+

Front 41

psychosocial stages

Back 41

Erikson's eight stages, or crises, of personality development in which inner instincts interact with outer cultural and social demands to shape personality

Front 42

behaviorism

Back 42

the view that defines development in terms of behavior changes caused by environmental influences

Front 43

learning theories

Back 43

theories that assert that development results from an accumulation of experiences

Front 44

classical conditioning

Back 44

learning that results from the association of stimuli

Front 45

operant conditioning

Back 45

learning to repeat or stop behaviors because of their consequences

Front 46

reinforcement

Back 46

anything that follows a behavior and causes it to be repeated

Front 47

punishment

Back 47

anything that follows a behavior and causes it to stop

Front 48

extinction

Back 48

the gradual elimination of a behavior through repeated nonreinforcement

Front 49

observational learning (or modeling)

Back 49

learning that results from seeing a model reinforced or punished for a behavior

Front 50

cognitive theories

Back 50

theories that emphasize mental processes in development, such as logic and memory

Front 51

scheme

Back 51

in Piaget's theory, an internal cognitive structure that provides an individual with a procedure to use in a specific circumstance

Front 52

assimilation

Back 52

the process of using a scheme to make sense of an event or experience

Front 53

accommodation

Back 53

changing a scheme as a result of some new information

Front 54

equilibration

Back 54

the process of balancing assimilation and accommodation to create schemes that fit the environment

Front 55

sociocultural theory

Back 55

Vygotsy's view that complex forms of thinking have their origins in social interactions rather than in an individual's private explorations

Front 56

information-processing theory

Back 56

a theoretical perspective that uses the computer as a model to explain how the mind manages information

Front 57

neo-Piagetian theory

Back 57

an approach that uses information-processing principles to explain the developmental stages identified by Piaget

Front 58

behavior genetics

Back 58

the study of the role of heredity in individual differences

Front 59

ethology

Back 59

a perspective on development that emphasizes genetically determined survival behaviors presumed to have evolved through natural selection

Front 60

sociobiology

Back 60

the study of society using the methods and concepts of biology; when used by developmentalists, an approach that emphasizes genes that aid group survival

Front 61

bioecological theory

Back 61

Bronfenbrenner's theory that explains development in terms of relationships between individuals and their environments, or interconnected contexts

Front 62

chromosomes

Back 62

strings of genetic material in the nuclei of cells

Front 63

gametes

Back 63

cells that unite at conception (ova in females; sperm in males)

Front 64

zygote

Back 64

single cell created when sperm and ovum unite

Front 65

deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)

Back 65

chemical material that makes up chromosomes and genes

Front 66

genes

Back 66

pieces of genetic material that control or influence traits

Front 67

gonads

Back 67

sex glands (ovaries in females; testes in men)

Front 68

genotype

Back 68

the unique genetic blueprint of each individual

Front 69

phenotype

Back 69

an individual's particular set of observed characteristics

Front 70

dominant-recessive pattern

Back 70

pattern of inheritance in which a single dominant gene influences a person's phenotype but two recessive genes are necessary to produce an associated trait

Front 71

polygenic inheritance

Back 71

pattern of inheritance in which many genes influence a trait

Front 72

multi-factorial inheritance

Back 72

inheritance affected by both genes and the environment

Front 73

cephalocaudal pattern

Back 73

growth that proceeds from the head downward

Front 74

proximodistal pattern

Back 74

growth that proceeds from the middle of the body outward

Front 75

germinal stage

Back 75

the first stage of prenatal development, beginning at conception and ending at implantation (approximately 2 weeks)

Front 76

implantation

Back 76

attachment of the blastocyst to the uterine wall

Front 77

placenta

Back 77

specialized organ that allows substances to be transferred from mother to embryo and from embryo to mother, without their blood mixing

Front 78

umbilical cord

Back 78

organ that connects the embryo to the placenta

Front 79

amnion

Back 79

fluid-filled sac in which the fetus floats until just before it is born

Front 80

embryonic stage

Back 80

the second stage of prenatal development, from week 2 through week 8, during which the embryo's organ systems form

Front 81

neurons

Back 81

specialized cells of the nervous system

Front 82

organogenesis

Back 82

process of organ development

Front 83

fetal stage

Back 83

the third stage of prenatal development, from week 9 to birth, during which growth and organ refinement take place

Front 84

viability

Back 84

ability of the fetus to survive outside the womb

Front 85

cell body

Back 85

the part of a neuron that contains the cell body and is the site of vital cell functions

Front 86

synapses

Back 86

tiny spaces across which neural impulses flow from one neuron to the next

Front 87

axons

Back 87

tail-like extensions of neurons

Front 88

dendrites

Back 88

branchlike protrusions from the cell bodies of neurons

Front 89

glial cells

Back 89

the "glue" that holds neurons together to give form to the structures of the nervous system

Front 90

teratogens

Back 90

substances, such as viruses and drugs, that can cause birth defects

Front 91

teratogens (examples)

Back 91

maternal diseases: cancer, toxoplasmosis, chicken pox, parvovirus, hepatitis b, chlamydia, tuberculosis; drugs: inhalants, accutane/vitamin a, streptomycin, penicillin, tetracycline, diet pills

Front 92

cesarean section (c-section)

Back 92

delivery of an infant through incisions in the abdominal and uterine walls

Front 93

anoxia

Back 93

oxygen deprivation experienced by a fetus during labor and/or delivery

Front 94

neonate

Back 94

term for babies between birth and 1 month of age

Front 95

human development

Back 95

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

Front 96

below 5.5 pounds

Back 96

low birth weight

Front 97

apgar scale

Back 97

used to assess health of babies, immediately after birth

Front 98

cancer, toxoplasmosis, chicken pox, parvovirus, hepatitis b, chlamydia, tuberculosis

Back 98

teratogens - maternal diseases

Front 99

inhalants, accutane/vitamin a, streptomycin, penicillin, tetracycline, diet pills

Back 99

teratogens - drugs