Ch 1 Introduction to Lifespan Development

middle adulthood

A local community center advertises a meet-up for people who are seeking support as part of the "sandwiched generation," sandwiched between caring for young kids and aging parents. This meet-up is geared toward people in which period of human development?

Development is lifelong

A professor tells students, "In order to understand human development, you can't just study infants, children, or teenagers. You need to study people over the course of their entire lives." Which of Baltes' key principles of lifespan development is this professor supporting?

cross sectional study

A research team designed a study of parenting style that included three groups: parents in their 30s with preschool-age children (2-5), parents in their 40s with children ages 6-11, and parents in their 50s with adolescents ages 12-18. This design is considered by the researchers to be less-time consuming and expensive than other potential designs, but they acknowledge the limitation of having only one measurement of parenting style for one point in time. As such, they cannot conclude that changes between parent groups indicate changes with age over time. Which research design does this describe?

cognitive

A researcher who studies language development and tracks the rate at which toddlers learn new words is interested in which domain of human development?

Early adulthood

An author on a new book tour markets the book with messages such as, "Do you constantly think about your love life and work? Are you deciding if you'll get married and have children? Are you in the process of finishing up your formal education and launching your career? Are you still struggling to feel like an adult? Then this book is for you." This author is marketing to people in which period of human development?

development is plastic

An elderly person is experiencing age-related memory decline. A healthcare provider recommends brain training programs based on research indicating that dimensions of cognitive decline are partially reversible because the brain retains a lifelong capacity to reorganize cortical tissue. This healthcare provider's recommendation is aligned with which of Baltes' key principles of lifespan development?

older adults tend to have lower empathy scores than younger adults

Let's suppose that researchers who study social-emotional development from young adulthood to older adulthood found a correlation coefficient of -.75 between empathy and age. What conclusion would you draw from this finding?

development is lifelong

Motivational quotes that inspire people to keep learning and growing, no matter how young or old, are aligned with Baltes' key principles of lifespan development that

to test whether a relationship exists between 2 or more variables

Petersen uses a correlational study to determine if time spent playing video games is related to obesity. The objective of this research is ________.

socioeconomic status

Researchers are implementing educational intervention programs designed to reduce and eliminate the academic achievement gap across racial/ethnic groups. Many of these programs target the development of academic skills in children from low-income families, given that family education, income, and occupation strongly influence the academic achievement gap. Which contextual influence on development does this best exemplify?

secondary content analysis

Researchers who study adolescent health were excited to read the announcement that The National Institutes of Health released a dataset from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study, considered the largest long-term study of brain development. When scientists use this database to study the various factors that influence adolescent brain, cognitive, social, and emotional development, what type of research method are they doing?

informed consent

Simone is conducting research about how psychosocial factors relate to relationship satisfaction. She has all the potential research participants review a written description of the procedures to be used in the research and any expected risks or benefits. If they sign this ________, it serves as a contract stating that they agree to participate in research.

ethnocentrism ; cultural relativity

Someone expressing ________ believes that their cultural practices are the best and right ones, and it is difficult for them to understand the cultural practices of other societies. Someone expressing ________ demonstrates an appreciation for cultural differences and a willingness to consider the perspectives of people in other cultures.

Cause and effect relationships

The results of an experiment on the effects of sleep training on sleep quality showed that participants who received eight sessions of sleep enhancement training had longer sleep duration and better sleep quality than participants who did not receive the training. This led the researchers to conclude that an eight-week sleep enhancement training program is effective for improving sleep quality. What advantage of experimental research does this demonstrate?

descriptive study

Through observation and surveys, Dr. Thompson was able to determine how much time a sample of children spent playing outside. What type of research is this?

cross sectional study

researchers wanted to study alcohol use by teenagers and observe if there were any differences between cohorts over time. They compared three groups of students (grades 6 to 8, grades 9 to 10, and grades 11 to 12) and focused on the frequency and amount of their alcohol use over a five-year period. They collected useful information about age-related changes, changes within the same individuals as they aged, and were able to account for the possibility of cohort and/or time of measurement effects. This is an example of