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PSYC 243 Ch. 1

Terms in this set (27)

Science of Human Development
The science that seeks to understand how and why people of all ages and circumstances change or remain the same over time.
Scientific Method
A way to answer questions that requires empirical research and data-based conclusions.
Five steps of the Scientific Method
1. Begin with curiosity - on the basis of theory, prior research, or a personal observation, pose a question.
2. Develop a hypothesis - shape the question into a hypothesis, a specific prediction that can be tested.
3. Test the hypothesis - design and conduct research to gather empirical evidence (data).
4. Draw conclusions - use the evidence to support or refute the hypothesis.
5. Report the results - share the data, conclusions, and alternative explanations.
6. Replication - repeating the procedures and methods of a study with different participants - is often a sixth and crucial step.
Hypothesis
A specific prediction that can be tested.
Empirical Evidence
Evidence based on data from scientific observation or experiments; not theoretical.
Replication
Repetition of a study, using different participants. Conclusions are revised, refined, and confirmed after replication.
Nature
The influence of the genes that people inherit. The traits, capacities, and limitations that each individual inherits genetically from his or her parents at the moment of conception.
Nurture
Environmental influences that affect development after an individual is conceived. Begins with the health and diet of the embryo's mother and continues a lifetime, including family, school, community, and society.
Nature-Nurture debate
How much of any characteristic, behaviour, or emotion is the result of genes and how much is the result of specific experiences?
Nature always affects nurture and nurture affects nature.
"How much" is misleading because it implies that nature and nurture each contribute a fixed amount when actually their dynamic interaction is crucial.
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)
An infant's unexpected death; when a seemingly healthy baby, usually between 2 and 6 months old, suddenly stops breathing and dies unexpectedly while asleep.
Life-span perspective
Takes into account all phases of life, not just the first two decades, which were once the sole focus of developmental study (or not just childhood or adulthood).
Multidirectional
Multiple changes, in every direction, characterize the lifespan. If any particular human trait were to be charted over time, it would be apparent that some traits appear and disappear, with increases, decreases, and zigzags.
Sometimes discontinuity is evident: change can occur rapidly and dramatically - ex. caterpillars to butterflies
Sometimes continuity is found: growth can be gradual - ex. redwoods growing taller over hundreds of years.
Some characteristics don't seem to change at all.
Although linear or non-linear progress seems most common, scientists now find that almost no aspect of human change follows the linear pattern exactly.
Critical period
A time when a particular type of developmental growth (in body or behaviour) must happen if it is ever going to happen.
Either a time when something must occur to ensure normal development or the only time when an abnormality might occur.
Sensitive period
A time when a certain type of development is most likely to happen or happens most easily although it may still happen later with more difficulty.
A particular development occurs more easily - but not exclusively - at a certain time.
Multicontextual
Development takes place within many contexts, including physical surroundings (climate, noise, population density, etc.) and family configurations (married couple, single parent, same-sex couple, extended family, and more). Examining these contexts provides researchers a better understanding of what may be universal or developmental, relevant and similar for all individuals, or dependent on cultural context.
Ecological Systems/Bioecological Theory
The person should be considered in all the contexts and interactions that constitute a life. Each person is affected by many social contexts and interpersonal relations.
Systems within the body (such as the sexual reproductive system and the cardiovascular system) affect all the external systems.
All the relationships the individual person has with other people and with various social contexts are interconnected.
Cohort
A group defined by the shared age of its members, who, because they were born at about the same time, move through life together, experiencing the same historical events and cultural shifts.
Socioeconomic status
A person's position in society as determined by income, wealth, occupation, education, and place of residence. Annual income alone does not determine poverty.
Culture
A system of shared beliefs, norms, behaviours, and expectations that persist over time and prescribe social behaviour and assumptions (or social rules of conduct).
Social Construction
A concept constructed by a society. An idea that is based on shared perceptions, not an objective reality. Many age-related terms, such as childhood, adolescence, yuppie, and senior citizen, are social constructions.
Difference-equals-deficit error
The assumption that people unlike us (different) are inferior (deficit). The mistaken belief that a deviation from some norm is necessarily inferior to behaviour or characteristics that meet the standard.
Acculturation
The process of cultural and psychological change that occurs when individuals come into contact with a new culture.
Ethnic group
People whose ancestors were born in the same region and who often share a language, culture, and religion.
Race
A group of people regarded as distinct from other groups on the basis of appearance, typically skin colour. Social scientists think race is a misleading concept, as biological differences are not signified by outward appearance.
Epigenetic
Referring to the effects of environmental forces on the expression of an individual's, or a species', genetic inheritance.
Refers to the environmental factors that surround the genes, affecting genetic expression.
Dynamic-systems approach
A view of human development as an ongoing, ever-changing interaction between a person's physical and emotional being and between the person and every aspect of his or her environment, including the family and society.
Differential sensitivity
The idea that some people are more vulnerable than others are to certain experiences, usually because of genetic differences.
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