Psychology 200 Lifespan Developmental Psychology

systematic observation

watching people and carefully recording what they do or say

continuity-discontinuity issue

whether a particular developmental phenomenon represents a smooth progression throughout the life span (continuity) or a series of abrupt shifts (discontinuity)

universal versus context-specific development issue

whether there is just one path of development or several paths

biopsychosocial framework

a useful way to organize the biological, psychological, and sociocultural forces on human development

formal operational thought (Piaget)

adolescence and beyond - adolescent or adult thinks abstractly, deals with hypothetical situations, and speculates about what may be possible

correlation coefficient

an expression of the strength and direction of a relation between two variables

theory

an organized set of ideas that is designed to explain development

operant conditioning

learning paradigm in which the consequences of a behavior determine whether a behavior is repeated in the future

imitation of observational learning

learning that occurs by simply watching how others behave

life-course perspective

description of how various generations experience the biological, psychological, and sociocultural forces of development in their respective historical contexts

longitudinal study

longitudinal study research design in which the same individuals are observed or tested repeatedly at different points in their lives

qualitative research

method that involves gaining in-depth understanding of human behavior and what governs it

selective optimization with compensation (SOC) model

model in which three processes (selection, optimization, and compensation) form a system of behavioral action that generates and regulates development and aging

multidirectionality

development involves both growth and decline; as people grow in one area they may lose in another and at different rates

sequential design

developmental research design based on cross-sectional and longitudinal designs

historical context

each of us develops within a particular set of circumstances determined by the historical time in which we are born and the culture in which we grow up

exosystem

social settings that a person may not experience firsthand but that still influence development

self-reports

people's answer to questions about the topic of interest

self-efficacy

people's beliefs about their own abilities and talents

microsystem

the people and objects in an individual's immediate environment

preoperational thought stage (Piaget)

2 to 6 years - child learns how to use symbols such as words and numbers to represent aspects of the world but relates to the world only through his or her perspective

concrete operational thought (Piaget)

7 years to early adolescence - child understands and applies logical operations to experiences provided they are focused on the here and now

environmental press

demands put on people by the environment

psychosocial theory

Erikson's proposal that personality development is determined by the interaction of an internal maturational plan and external societal demands

punishment

a consequence that decreases the future likelihood of the behavior that it follows

reinforcement

a consequence that increases the future likelihood of the behavior that it follows

competence

a person's abilities

sample

a subset of the population

experiment

a systematic way of manipulating the key factor(s) that the investigator thinks causes a particular behavior

meta-analysis

a tool that enables researches to synthesize the results of many studies to estimate relations between variables

sensorimotor stage (Piaget)

birth to 2 years - infant's knowledge of the world is based on senses and motor skills; by the end of the period, uses mental representation

populations

broad groups of people that are of interest to researchers

validity

extent to which a measure actually assesses what researchers think it does

reliability

extent to which a measure provides a consistent index of a characteristic

epigentic principle

in Erikson's theory, the idea that each psychosocial strength has its own special period of particular importance

multiple causation

how we develop results from the biological, psychological, sociocultural, and life-cycle forces that we mentioned previously

biological forces

include all genetic and health-related factors that affect development

psychological forces

include all internal perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and personality factors that affect development

sociocultural forces

include interpersonal, societal, cultural, and ethnic factors that affect development

correlational study

investigation looking at relations between variables as they exist naturally in the world

plasticity

one's capacity is not predetermined or carved in stone, many skills can be learned or improved with practice, even in late life

cohort effects

problem with cross-sectional designs in which differences between age groups (cohorts) may result as easily from environmental events as from developmental processes

mesosystem

provides connections across microsystems

life-cycle forces

reflect differences in how the same event affects people of different ages

cross-sectional study

study in which developmental differences are identified by testing people of different ages

structured observations

technique in which a researcher creates a setting that is likely to elicit the behavior of interest

naturalistic observation

technique in which people are observed as they behave spontaneously in some real-life situation

dependent variable

the behavior being observed

macrosystem

the cultures and subcultures in which the microsystem, mesosystem, and exosystem are embedded

nature-nurture issue

the degree to which genetic or hereditary influences (nature) and experiential or environmental influences (nurture) determine the kind of person you are

independent variable

the factor being manipulated

human development

the multidisciplinary study of how people change and how they remain the same over time

neuroscience

the study of the brain and nervous system, especially in terms of brain-behavior relationships

psychodynamic theories

theories proposing that development is largely determined by how well people resolve conflicts they face at different ages

ecological theory

theory based on idea that human development is inseparable from the environmental contexts in which a person develops (Bronfenbrenner)

information-processing theory

theory proposing that human cognition consists of mental hardware and mental software

life-span perspective

view that human development is mutiply determined and cannot by understood within the scope of a single framework