psychology chapter 1.2 setting the context

Contrast cross-sectional and longitudinal studies.

Cross-sectional studies—tests different age groups at the same timeLongitudinal studies—tests one specific age group repeatedly over many years.

What are evocative forces?

Evocative forces refer to the fact that our inborn talents and temperamental tendencies naturally evoke, or produce, certain responses from the human world.

What are the criteria for a true experiment?

Needed: A group of participants—an experimental group and a control group.

Is random assignment always possible?

No. The population could be too small.

What is SES, and why is it important in both the developed and developing world?

a term referring to education and income—affects development even before we leave the womb. Low-income children are often vulnerable to a cascade of problems—from being born less healthy to attending lower-quality schools, from living in more dangerous neighborhoods to being less likely to finish college than their middle-class peers. Not only do developmentalists rank children within nations by socioeconomic status, they rank nations, too. Socioeconomic status is important because it classifies us in to two groups: poverty and another being well off.

What are Erikson's psychosocial tasks?

n Erik Erikson's theory, each challenge that we face as we travel through the eight stages of the lifespan. 1. Infancy (birth to 1 year) --------->Basic trust versus mistrust2.Toddlerhood (1 to 2 years) --------->Autonomy versus shame and doubt

Can you determine the cause of a certain behavior from a correlational study?

no

How does behaviorism explain why our best intentions (e.g., parenting) sometimes fail?

- John Watson- B.F. Skinner- According to Skinner, the reinforcements are operating as they should. The problem is that instead of reinforcing positive behavior, we often reinforce the wrong things.-if you were in a nursing home and weren't being reinforced for remembering or walking, wouldn't your memory or physical abilities decline?

What are the criteria for a representative sample?

A group that reflects the characteristics of the overall population

Give an example of Piaget's assimilation and of accommodation.

0-2-Sensorimotor: The baby manipulates objects to pin down the basics of physical reality. This stage, ending with the development of language2-7 Preoperational: Symbolic thought. Children begin to think symbolically and learn to use words and pictures to represent objects.

What does a correlational study tell you?

A correlational study tells us how active an outside source is, in promoting the topic.

What are active forces?

Active forces refer to the fact that we actively select our environments based on our genetic tendencies.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of naturalistic observation?

Advantages: you are seeing the behavior as it occurs "nature," or real lifeDisadvantages: the need to travel to each home to observe each family on many occasions for an extended amount of time. Plus, as we watch parent-child interactions, they tend to act their best.

Does attachment theory argue for nature, nurture, or both?

Attachment theory argues for both, nature and nurture

What is the ecological, developmental systems approach?

Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory focuses on the quality and context of the child's environment. He states that as a child develops, the interaction within these environments becomes more complex. This complexity can arise as the child's physical and cognitive structures grow and mature.

How does a collectivist culture differ from an individualistic culture

Collectivist cultures place a premium on social harmony. The family generations live together, even as adults. Children are taught to obey their elders, to suppress their feelings, to value being respectful, and to subordinate their needs to the good of the wider group. Individualistic cultures emphasize independence, competition, and personal success. Children are encouraged to openly express their emotions, to assert themselves, and to stand on their own as self-sufficient and independent adults.

What is heritability?

Heritability is a statistic used by behavior geneticists to summarize the extent to which a given behavior is shaped by genetic forces.Ranges from 1=totally genetic, to 0=no genetic contribution.

How are twin and adoption studies used in research and what is an example of one such twin/adoption study?

In twin studies, researchers typically compare identical and fraternal twins on a particular trait of interest.-Identical twins are genetic clones.-Fraternal twins share 50 percent of their genes.The idea is that if a given trait is highly influenced by genetics, identical twins should be much more alike in that quality than fraternal twins

What is the impact of gender on development?

Obviously, our culture's values shape our development as boys and girls. Does a society promote gender-neutral roles or forbid females from having an education and force girls to get married at a young age? The fact that, at this moment in history, a few young people balk at labeling themselves according to the binary categories of male or female offers a compelling twenty-first-century lesson in the theoretical fluidity of gender roles. But statistically speaking, males and females still behave differently—and we can see these gender differences early in life.Throughout the developed world, females outlive males by more than 4 years. Because they must survive childbearing and carry an extra X chromosome, women are the physiologically hardier sex.

Contrast quantitative and qualitative research.

Quantitative—STANDARD developmental science data-collection strategy that involves testing groups of people and using numerical scales and statistics.Qualitative—OCCASIONAL developmental science data-collection strategy that involves interviewing people to obtain info that cannot be quantified on a numerical scale.

Why are relationships bidirectional?

Relationships are bidirectional—who we are as people causes other people to react to us in specific ways, driving our development for the good and the bad.

What is self-efficacy and why is it important?

Self-efficacy refers to our belief in competence. It gives us a sense that we can be successful at a given task.

What is the main approach that researchers use with children and adolescents?

Self-reports

How do self-reports differ from observer reports?

Self-reports collect data through questionnaires, whereas observer reports collect their data from a trained observer.

What is another name for cognitive behaviorism?

Social learning theory.

What does attachment theory say about the importance of the caregiver during early childhood?

That it either permits us to be loving, successful adults or produces lasting emotional scars—early life experiences with caregivers shape our lifelong ability to love..

How does the environment modify the effects of genetics?

The environment tailors to our biological tendencies and talents—person-environment fit.

Why does emerging adulthood take place?

The phase of life that begins after high school, lasts through the late twenties, and is devoted to constructing an adult life. lasting from age 18 through the twenties, is devoted to exploring our place in the world.

What do theories do?

Theories explain what causes us to act as we do. They may allow us to predict the future. Ideally, they tell us how to improve the quality of children's lives. Theories in developmental science may offer explanations of behavior that apply to all children, or describe changes that occur at particular stages of development.

What are four ways in which demographic shifts made the twentieth century unique for children?

an extension in life expectancy, escalation in education, decrease in family size, decline in traditional western two parent family

Are our personalities, talents, and traits shaped mainly by biological (nature) or environmental (nurture) factors, or a combination of both?

both

what is a cohort

people born during the same historical time period

What makes baby boomers so influential?

refers to a member of the demographically large generation born between the end of WWII and the mid-1960s. Because of their high numbers and the relative prosperity of the U.S. economy during their careers, the baby boomers are an economically influential generation. magnified its impact on society: the growth of families led to a migration from cities to suburbs in the postwar years, prompting a building boom in housing, schools, and shopping malls.