Human Development Chapter 1 Study guide Flashcards

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

1. to become better parents and teachers
2. help to interpret our own life experiences
3. gain insight into what we may experience as we age

all kinds of people (young, rich, poor, old, etc) to try to identifiy universalities (beyond birth and death) and differences (beyond unique genetics)

1. lifelong
2. multidementional
3. multidirectional
4. multidisciplinary
5. multicontextual
6. plastic
7. involves growth, maintenance, and regulation
8. constructed through biological, sociocultural and individual factors working together

development is lifelong no age period dominates development studies

no matter what the age, your mind, body, emotions, and relationships are changing and affecting each other. Development has biological, cognitive, and socioemotional dimensions.

change in a person's physical nature

changes in a person's thought, intelligence, and language

changes in a person's relationships with other people, emotions, personality

Change occurs in every direction, not always a straight line.

Throughout life we experience gains and losses

The study of lifespan overlaps many fields, including biology, psychology, religion, anthropology, etc

Human lives are embedded in many contexts including

historical conditions (people born at the same time experiencing the same historical events), economic constraints, family patterns, when you were born

1. normative age graded influence
2. normative history graded influence
3. nonnormative or highly individualized life events

influences that are similar for individuals in a particular age group

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

unusual occurrences that have a major impact on an individual's life

the capacity for change. Every individual and every trait within each individual can be altered at any point in the life span. However, possible, we posses less capacity for change as we grow older.

Development is a co-construction of biological, cultural, and individual factors working together. For example, the brain shapes culture, but it is also shaped by culture and the experiences that individuals have or pursue

these are co constructors of development. As individuals, we can actively choose things from the environment that optimize our lives

1. health and well being
2. parenting and education
3. sociocultural contexts and diversity

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

people whose ancestors were born in the same region and often share a language, culture and religion

a group of people regarded as genetically distinct from others based on physical appearance

1. first age - chilhood and adolesence
2. second age - prime adulthood, 20-59
3. third age - approx 60-79
4. fourth age - approx 80 and older

Nature believes behaviors are innate, hard wired, genetically determined

Nurture believes behaviors are learned, flexible, and not genetically determined

about whether we become older renditions of our early experience or whether we develop into someone different form who we were at an earlier point in development

debate about the extent to which development evolves

gradual cumulative changes or distinct stages

Development reflects the influence of several environmental systems

1. microsystem - persons immediate surroundings
2. mesosystem - relations between microsystems
3. exosystems - settings or events that may indirectly influence a person
4. macrosystems - larger social settings such as cultural values, economic, politics
5. chronosystems - consists of the patterning of environmental events and transitions over the life course, as well as sociohistorical circumstances