Lifespan Developmental Psychology Chapter 1 Vocabulary

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ACCOMODATION

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Part of Cognitive Perspectives

Jean Piaget

Accommodation occurs when the information does not fit any existing schema or challenges an old schema.

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AGE - GRADED

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Every culturs has designated roles or activities based on age, such as naming ceremonies for infants, puberty rituals, and ages at which a person begins formal schooling, gets a driver's license, or retires.

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ASSIMILATION

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Assimilation means taking in information as it is -- incorporaing that new knowledge into an existing framework (schema).

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BEHAVIORISTS

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Behaviorists focus entirely on the nurture, or environment, side of the nature-nurture debate and consider developmental as a more continuous process.

Behaviorists focus only on observable behavior, labeling the products of the mind the " black box" that cannot be studied objectively.

In general, behaviorists believe that humanactions are the result of patterns of reinforcement from the environment, rather than any innate abilities.

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CASE STUDY

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When an individual is observed very closely, given surveys, maybe interviewed.

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CHRONOSYSTEM

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The pattern of events that unfold over chronological age, including the historical and social context.

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CLASSICAL CONDITIONING

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Ivan Pavlov

When an Uncontrolled Stimulus stimulates an Uncontrolled Response. One may use a Controlled Stimulus and pair it with an Uncontrolled Stimulus to create a Controlled Response.

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COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

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Jean Piaget

Children are active participants in their own learning, instead of the passive recievers of information from others.

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COHORT DIFFERENCES

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Differences that arise from the unique sociocultural factors to which people of different generations are exposed.

i.e. computer literacy

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CONFOUNDING VARIABLES

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Confounding variables are things that might affect the result in unanticipated ways or that were not controlled for in the design of the experiment.

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CONSCIOUS

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According to Freud, a level in personality where information is readily available to us.

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CONTINUITY

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Continuity theorists believe that development is the result of gradual and cumulative changes over the entire lifespa.

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CONTROLLED EXPERIMENTS

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Controlled experiments are done in a laboratory setting where much greater control over extraneous variables can take place.

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CORRELATIONAL

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Correlational means that the variables are related, but you cannot say whether one caused the other.

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CROSS SECTIONAL

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Groups that can be studied at only one point in time.

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DATA ANALYSIS

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Data analysis refers to statistical procedures that are done to make sense odf the findings of a study.

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DEFENSE MECHANISMS

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Defense Mechanisms is the way our ego defends us from daily assaults according to Freud.

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DEPENDENT VARIABLES

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Dependent variables are the outcome measures of interest, such as the score on the math test after having special instruciton.

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DESCRIPTIVE RESEARCH

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aka CORRELATIONAL

which means the variables are related but you cannot say which one caused the other.

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DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS

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Includes Means, Medians, Modes, Frequencies and Simple Correlations.

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DEVELOPMENT

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The term development refers to the changes that occur over time, across the entire life span. It includes all aspects of human living, from physical growth and maturation, to cognitive changes, to our personality and social and emotional transitions.

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DICONTINUITY

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Discontinuity theorists believe that development occurs in discrete, identifiable stages.

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EGO

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According to Freud, the ego is centered on the reality principle and starts to develop in infancy.

The ego balances the demands of the id and the restrictions of the supereo in order to meet the realities of the situation.

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ETHOLOGY

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Ethology refers to the idea that behavior is largely influenced by biological factors, particularly behaviors that have developed over time.

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EXOSYSTEM

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Bronfenbrenner examines the world that is not quite as close to the individual: the extended family, mass media, social welfare agencies, and government policies.

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FIELD EXPERIMENT

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In a field experiment, the observation takes place in a natural setting, but there is some manipulation or control over variables, such as giving some children special math instruction and others the usual math instruction, then observing their scores on a math test. There is no control over the many possible variables.

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HIERARCHY OF HUMAN NEEDS

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Albert Maslow proposed that physical needs such as hunger and thirst, and emotional needs like feeling safe and secure must first be met before the child is ready for academic/cognitive tasks.

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HISTORY GRADED

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Each generation (age cohort) is influenced by the historical events that occur in their lifetime, such as growing up during the Great Depression, going to school in the computer era

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HUMANISTIC THEORIES

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stress that people can take control over their own behavior and are not merely pawns of reinforcement or driven by genetic factors.

They tend to focus on the ways in which humans achieve some higher level of existence.

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HYPOTHESIS

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A research question based on some theoretical perspective.

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ID

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centered on seeking pleasure and avoiding pain and is present at birth.

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INDEPENDENT VARIABLES

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Independent variables are the ones that are manipulated by the experimenter, such as the type of math instruction.

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INFERENTIAL STATISTICS

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Inferential Statistics are used to determine if there is a significant difference between two or more scores, or to determine if some score could occur just by chance.

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INFORMED CONSENT

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Consent means saying yes or no to a participation.

Informed Consent means completely understanding what one is consenting to.

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LONGITUDINAL

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Studying a certain group at many different times.

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MACROSYSTEM

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According to Bronfenbrenner,this is the last circle and that it consists of the dominant ideology (attitudes and beliefs of a culture reflected in its educational, legal, religious, and governing body practices).

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MESOSYSTEM

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Looks at how the structures in the microsystem instersect and interact with each other.

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MICROSYSTEM

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The structures that impinge on the individual every day, such as family, school, peers, and close neighbors.

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MORAL REASONING

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Moral Reasoning refers to the way that people use cognitive processes to solve ethical dilemmas.

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MULTIDIMENSIONAL

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Physical
Cognitive
Emotional
Personality

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NATURALISTIC OBSERVATION

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Naturalistic Observation involve watching people in their natural settings, such as at a daycare center, a school, or a workplace, and recording information about how people behave.

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NON- NORMATIVE

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There are many events that are not univeral or even widespread, but can have significant influence on a person's development.

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OPERANT CONDITIONING

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B.F. Skinner proposed Operant Conditioning.

People are reinforced for certain behaviors. Behaviors that result in pleasurable outcomes (positive or negative reinforcement) are likely to be repeated whereas behaviors that result in unpleasant outcomes (punishment, penalty) or no reinforcemnet (extinction) are not likely to be repeated.

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PHYSICAL GROWTH

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Physical growth includes the development of human organs in the prenatal period, the growth in size and changes in functioning that occur in childhood and adolescence, and then the declines and alterations in functioning that occur iwth more advanced aging.

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PRECONSCIOUS

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Is the intermediary between the unconscious and conscious minds. We are not usually aware of it, but it pops out in dreams, jokes, slips of tongue.

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PSYCHODYNAMIC THEORIES

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Psychodynamic theories originated with Sigmund Freud, and they focus on the ide that we have an "unconscious" mind that contains emotionally charged memories of the early life experiences.

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SAMPLE

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A respresentation of a population.

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SCHEMA

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Framework

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SCIENTIFIC METHOD

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The scientific method formulating a hypothesis ( a research question based on some theoretical perspective), then testing the hypothesis, drawing conclusions, and making the findings available to others.

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SELF ACTUALIZED

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A person who has all of his/her needs met can become self-actualized.

A self-actualized person is one who is spontaneous, creative, good at solving problems, and self-directed, and who has good social relationships but also likes his/her privacy.

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SELF-EFFICACY

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The study of how people come to believe that they are competent or likely to succeed at different kinds of tasks.

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SEQUENTIAL DESIGN

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The most complicated design includes a combination of cross sectional and longitudinal designs and is called sequential design.

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SOCIAL/EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

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Encompasses temperament (our style of responding to new situations), personality (the deeply ingrained habits we are born with or acquire). and socialization into a particular cultural group.

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SUPEREGO

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Is the conscience; it tells the person what s/he shouldor should not do.

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UNCONSCIOUS

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Material that has been repressed because it is sexually charged or includes painful memories It is only available through hypnosis.

According to Freud, material in the unconscious mind influences our behavior without our being aware of it.

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ZONE OF PROXIMAL DEVELOPMENT

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There are some tasks that are too difficult for childrent to achieve alone, but they can be achieved with the direct assistance of an adult or older peer.

The lower level of the zone encompasses what the child can do alone, and the upper level what the child can do with assistance.