Life-Span Development: Introduction Flashcards

• the pattern of movement or change that begins at conception and continues through the human life span

• the average number of years that a person born in a particular year can expect to live

• views development as lifelong, multidimensional, multidirectional, plastic, multidisciplinary, and contextual, and as a process that involves growth, maintenance, and regulation of loss

• the capacity for change

1. Normative Age-Graded
2. Normative History-Graded
3. Nonnormative Life Events

• similar for individuals in a particular group
• Ex: menopause, puberty, commencement of education

• common to people of a particular generation because of historical circumstances
• Ex: assassination of JFK and the great depression

• unusual occurrences that have a major impact on a individuals life
• Ex: pregnancy at a very young age or winning the lottery

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

• comparison of one culture with one or more other cultures
• provides information about the degree to which development is similar, or universal, across cultures.

• a characteristic based on cultural heritage, nationality characteristics, race, religion, and language

• grouping of people with similar occupational, educational, and economic characteristics

• Characteristics of people as males or females

• national government's course of action designed to promote the welfare of its citizens
• Ex: values, economics, and politics

• changes in an individual's physical nature
• Ex: genes from parents, the development of the brain, height, and weight, nutrition, exercise, and hormonal changes

• changes in an individual's thought, intelligence, and language

• changes in an individual's relationships with others, emotions, and personality

• conception to birth
• involves tremendous growth from a single cell to an organism with brain and behavioral capabilities

• the development period from birth to 18 or 24 months
• extremely dependent on adults
• psychological activities are just beginning

• the developmental period from about 3 through 5 years
• sometimes called preschool years
• develop school readiness skills

• the developmental period from about 6 to 10 years

• the developmental period of transition from childhood to early adulthood
• approx. 10 to 18 years
• rapid physical change

• the developmental period that begins in the early 20s and lasts to through the 30s
• time of establishing personal and economic independence

• the developmental period from approx. 40 to about 60 years of age

• the developmental period that begins in the 60s and lasts until death
• time of life review and retirement

1. first age
2. second age
3. third age
4. fourth age

• childhood and adolscence

• prime adulthood
• ages 20 through 39

• approx. 60 through 79 years of age

• approx. 80 years and older

• the number of years that have elapsed since birth

• a person's age in terms of biological health

• an individual's adaptive capacities compared with those of other individuals of the same chronological age

• connectedness with others and the social roles individuals adopt

• debate about whether development is primarily influenced by nature or nurture

• refers to an organism's biological inheritance

• refers to environmental experiences

• involves the degree to which early traits and characteristics persist through life or change

• debate about the extent to which development involves gradual cumulative change (continuity) or distinct stages (discontinuity)

• 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
  4. revise research conclusions and theory

• an interrelated, coherent set of ideas that helps to explain phenomena and facilitate predictions

• specific assumptions and predictions that can be tested to determine their accuracy

1. psychoanalytic theories
2. cognitive theories
3. behavioral theories
4. ethological theory
5. ecological theory
6. an eclectic theoretical orientation

• describe development as primarily unconscious (beyond awareness) and heavily colored by emotion

behavior is merely a a surface for characteristics

• A controlled setting where many of the complex factors of the "real world" are absent

• observing behavior in real-world settings, making no effort to manipulate or control the situation

• a test with uniform procedures for administration and scoring
• allows a person performance to be compared with performance of other individuals

• an in depth look at a single individual

• studies designed to observe and record behavior

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

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

• a manipulated, influential, experimental factor
• is the potential cause

• a factor that can change in an experiment, in response to changes in the independent variable

• a group whose experience is manipulated

• a comparison group that is as similar to the experimental group as possible

• a research strategy in which individuals of different ages are compared at one time

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

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

1. informed consent
2. confidentiality
3. debriefing
4. deception

• All participants must know what their research participation will involve and what risks might develop

• researchers are responsible for keeping all of the data they gather on individuals completely confidential

• participants should be informed of the study's purpose and methods that were used