"Life-span Development" (Santrock), Human Development

Natural selection:

evolutionary process by which individuals of a species that are best adapted are the ones that survive and reproduce

Continuity and discontinuity

focuses on the degree to which development involves either gradual, cumulative change (continuity) or distant stages (discontinuity). Continuity: giant oak tree growing from seedling to tree is continuous (Quantitative). Discontinuity: caterpillar to chrysalis to butterfly, sequence of stages (Qualitative).

Scientific method

An approach that can be used to obtain accurate information. It includes the following steps: (1) conceptualize the problem, (2) collect data, (3) draw conclusions, and (4) revise research conclusions and theory.

Bronfenbrenner's ecological theory

An environmental systems theory that focuses on five environmental systems: microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, and chronosystem.

Case study

An in-depth look at a single individual. Dangers of generalizing from one person to everyone

Theory

An interrelated, coherent set of ideas that helps to explain phenomena and facilitate predictions.

Eclectic theoretical orientation

An orientation that does not follw any one theoretical approach but rather selects from each theory whatever is considered the best in it.

Erikson's theory's second stage

Autonomy versus shame and doubt - infancy (1 to 3 years).

What does evolutionary psychology not dictate?

Behavior, people have used their biological capacities to produce diverse cultures

Biological processes

Changes in an individual's physical nature.

Socioemotional processes

Changes in an individual's relationships with other people, emotions, and personality.

Cognitive processes

Changes in an individual's thought, intelligence, and language.

Cross-cultural studies

Comparison of one culture with one or more other cultures. These provide information about the degree to which development is similar, or universal, across cultures, and the degree to which it is culture-specific.

Nature-nurture issue

Debate about whether development is primarily influenced by nature or nurture. Nature refers to an organism's biological inheritance, nurture to its environmental experiences.

Next-generation sequencing:

Describes the vast increase in genetic data generated at a reduced cost and in a shorter period of time

Psychoanalytic Theories emphasize:

Developmental framework Family relationships unconscious aspects of the mind

Early childhood

Developmental period from 3 to 5 years of age. Called the preschool years.young children learn to become more self-sufficient and to care for themselves, develop school readiness skills, and spending many hours playing with peers. First grade usually marks the end of early childhood.

Infancy

Developmental period from birth to 18 or 24 months. Is a time of extreme dependency on adults. many psychological, activities- language, symbolic thought, sensorimotor coordination, and social learning- are just beginning

Middle and late childhood

Developmental period front about 6 to 10 or 11 years f Loren master fundamental skills of reading, writing, and arithmetic. Achievement becomes a more central theme of the child's world and self control increases.

Adolescence

Developmental period of transition from childhood to early adulthood entered at about 10 to 12 years and ending at 18 to 21 years of age. Rapid physical changes (weight and height gains, changes in body contour, development of sexual characteristics) and pursuit of independence and identity. Thought is logical, abstract, and idealistic.

Middle adulthood

Developmental period that begins from approximately 40 to about 60 years of age. It is a time of expanding personal and social involvement and responsibility; of assisting the next generation in becoming competent mature individuals end of reaching in maintaining satisfaction in a career.

Early adulthood

Developmental. That begins in the early 20s and lasts through the 30s. It is a time of establishing personal and economic independence in a career and for selecting a mate, learning to live with that person in an intimate way, starting a family, and rearing children

Cohort effects

Effects due to a person's time of birth, era, or generation rather than the person's actual age.

Information-processing theory

Emphasizes that individuals manipulate information, monitor it, and strategize about it. Central to this theory are the processes of memory and thinking.

Evolutionary psychology

Emphasizes the importance of adaptation, reproduction, and "survival of the fittest" in shaping behavior.

Four Ages

First age: childhood and adolecences Second age: prime adulthood ages 20 to 59 Third age: approx 60 to 79 years of age Fourth age: approx 80 years and older

Erikson's theory's seventh stage

Generativity versus stagnation - middle adulthood (40s, 50s).

Linkage analysis:

Helps discover the location of a gene or genes in relation to a maker gene. Used in the search for a disease-related genes

Physiological measures:

Hormones, MRI, EEG/ERP, hear rate

Erikson's theory's fifth stage

Identity versus identity confusion - (10 to 20 years).

Erikson's theory's fourth stage

Industry versus inferiority - middle and late childhood (elementary school years, 6 years to puberty).

Normative history-graded influences

Influences that are common to people of a particular generation because of historical circumstances.

Normative age-graded influences

Influences that are similar for individuals in a particular age group.

Conducting Ethical Research:

Informed Consent Confidentiality Debriefing Deception

Erikson's theory's third stage

Initiative versus guilt - early childhood (preschool years, 3 to 5 years).

Erikson's theory's eighth stage

Integrity versus despair - late adulthood (60s onward).

Erikson's theory's sixth stage

Intimacy versus isolation - early adulthood (20s, 30s).

Biological Age

Is a person's age in terms of biological age in terms of the biological health. involves knowing the functional capacities of a person's vital organs.

Late adulthood

Is the developmental period that begins during the 60s or 70s unless until death. It is a time of life review, retirement, an adjustment to new social roles and diminishing strength and health. It is the longest span of development. Can be young-old, old-old, or oldest-old

Criticisms of psychoanalytic theories:

Lack of scientific support Too much emphasis on sexual underpinnings Image of people that is too negative

Exosystem:

Links between a social setting in which the individual does not have an active role and the individual's immediate context (neighbors)

Piaget Stage Three

The Concrete operational stage (7 to 11 years)- Children can perform operations that involve objects and they can reason logically when the reasoning can be applied to specific or concrete examples.

Piaget Stage Two

The Preoperational stage (2 to 7 years)- children begin to go beyond simply connecting sensory information with physical action and represent the world with words, images, and drawings.

Piaget Stage One

The Sensorimotor stage (birth to 2 years)- infants construct an understanding of the world by coordinating sensory experiences (seeing and hearing) with physical, motor actions.

Culture

The behavior patterns, beliefs, and all other products of a group that are passed on from generation to generation.

Gender

The characteristics of people as males or females.

Piaget Stage Four

The formal operational stage (11 to 15 years through adulthood)- individuals move beyond concrete experiences and begin to think in abstract and more logical terms. adolescents develop images of ideal circumstances. Problems solving becomes more systematic.

Development

The pattern of change that begins at conception and continues through the life span. Involves growth, although it also includes decline brought on by aging and dying.

Life-span perspective

The perspective that development is lifelong, multidimensional, multidirectional, plastic, multidisciplinary, and contextual; involves growth, maintenance, and regulation; and is constructed through biological, sociocultural, and individual factors working together.

Bandora's Social cognitive theory

The view of psychologists who emphasize behavior, environment, and cognition as the key factors in development. Observational learning (aka imitation or modeling--> bobo doll)

Frued's Theory

The way we resolve conflicts and the demands of reality between sources of pleasure at each stage of human development.

Psychoanalytic theories

Theories that describe development as primarily unconscious and heavily colored by emotion. Behavior is merely a surface characteristic, and the symbolic workings of the mind have to be analyzed to understand behavior. Early experiences with parents are emphasized.

Piaget's theory

Theory stating that children actively construct their understanding of the world and go through four stages of cognitive development.

What happens to the benefits of evolutionary selection with age?

They decrease, natural selection primarily operates during the first half of life

Chromosomes

Threadlike structurs that come in 23 pairs, with one member of each pair coming from each parent. They contain the genetic substance DNA.

Prenatal period

Time from conception to birth

Erikson's theory's first stage

Trust versus mistrust - infancy (first year).

Genes

Units of hereditary information composed of DNA. They help cells to reproduce themselves and help manufacture the proteins that maintain life.

Non normative life event

Unusual occurrences that have a major impact on the lives of individual people. (Ex. Death of a parent when a child, pregnancy in early adolescence)

Ethnic gloss

Using an ethnic label such as African American or Latino in a superficial way that portrays an ethnic group as being more homogeneous than it really is.

Adaptive behavior:

promotes an organism's survival in the natural habitat

Social Age

refers to connectedness with others and the social roles individuals adopt. Individuals who have better social relationships with others are happier and more likely to live longer than individuals who are lonely.

Piaget's Cognitive Development Theory Stages (4).

1. The Sensorimotor stage 2. The preoperational stage 3. The concrete operational stage 4. The formal operational stage

Experiment

A carefully regulated procedure in which one or more of the factors believed to influence the behavior being studied are manipulated while all other factors are held constant.

Ethnicity

A characteristic based on cultural heritage, nationality characteristics, race, religion, and language.

Toddler

A child from 1 1/2 to 3 years of age.

DNA

A complex molecule that contains genetic information.

Laboratory

A controlled setting in which many of the complex factors of the "real world" are removed. (ie watching parent with a child behind a mirror) Negative: artificial

Social policy

A national government's course of action designed to promote the welfare of its citizens.

Correlation coefficient

A number based on statistical analysis that is used to describe the degree of association between two variables. (ranges from -1 to 1) CORRELATION DOES NOT EQUAL CAUSATION

Cross-sectional approach

A research strategy in which individuals of different ages are compared at one time. (beliefs against war, now vs. wwii)

Longitudinal approach

A research strategy in which the same individuals are studied over a period of time, usually several years or more.

Vygotsky's theory

A sociocultural cognitive theory that emphasizes how culture and social interaction guide cognitive development.

Standardized test

A test with uniform procedures for administration and scoring. Many of these tests allow a person's performance to be compared with the performance of other individuals.

Erikson's theory

A theory made up of eight stages of human development. Each stage consists of a unique developmental task that confronts individuals with a crisis that must be resolved.

Thousand Genomes Project:

Most detailed study of human genetic variation to date. Aims to determine the genomic sequences of at least 1,000 individuals from different ethnic groups around the world

Disadvantage to studying evolutionary psychology:

Occurs on a time scale that does not lend itself to empirical study

B.F.Skinner

Operant Conditioning- a behavior followed by a rewarding stimulus is more likely to recur, whereas a behavior followed by a punishing stimulus is less likely to recur.

Dependent variable:

Outcome measured

Chronosystem:

Patterning of environmental events and transitions over the life course and sociohistorical circumstances. Adding the time dynamic to all of the other systems (ie peoples views on interracial couples)

Pros of Cognitive Theory Evaluations:

Positive view of development Emphasis on the active construction of understanding

Socioeconomic status (SES)

Refers to the grouping of people with similar occupational, educational, and economic characteristics.

Criticisms fo cognitive theories:

Skepticism about the pureness of Piaget's stages Little attention to individual variations

Hypotheses

Specific assumptions and predictions that can be tested to determine their accuracy.

Ethology

Stresses that behavior is strongly influenced by biology, is tied to evolution, and is characterized by critical or sensitive periods.

Descriptive research

Studies designed to observe and record behavior.

Correlational research

Studies in which the goal is to describe the strength of the relationship between two or more events or characteristics.

Naturalistic observation

Studies that involve observing behavior in real-world settings. (ie observing kids in a classroom) Negative: can't control environment

Biological, cognitive, and socioemotional processes are...

bidirectional and inextricably intertwined

Macrosystem:

culture or society at large, not necessarily told to us but learned through experience (ie girls like pink, boys like blue)

Pros of behavioral and social cognitive theories:

emphasis on scientific research and environmental determinants of behavior

Genome-wide association method:

identify genetic variations linked to a particular disease

Stability- Change issue

involves the degree to which early traits and characteristics persists through life or change.

Psychological Age

is an individual adaptive capacities compared with those of other individuals of the same chronological age. Older adults who continue to learn, are flexible, are motivated, have positive personality traits, control their emotions, and thing clearly are engaging in more adaptive behaviors than their chronological age-mates who do not continue to learn, are rigid, are unmotivated, do not control their emotions and do not think clearly.

Chronological Age

is the number of years that have elapsed since birth

Criticisms of behavioral and social cognitive theories:

little emphasis on cognition in Skinner's view Inadequate attention paid to developmental changes

Gender bias:

men an women are more alike than they are different, and looking for sex differences can significant add to sexist beliefs

Microsystem:

the direct context the person lives in daily life: family, school, etc

Mesosystem:

the interactions between microsystems (classroom environment mixing with social)

Independent variable:

variable controlled