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Chapter 1: Introduction of Human Growth and Development

Terms in this set (71)

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.
Five terms of growth:
+multidirectional
+multicontextual
+multicultural
+multidisciplinary
+plastic
Developmental study is a
science that seeks to understand the changes that occur as people age.
+It depends on theories, data, analysis, critical thinking, and sound methodology--like every other science.
And like all scientists, developmentalists
ask questions and seek answers, trying to ascertain "how and why"--that is, trying to discover the processes of development and the reasons for those processes.
To say something is empirical means it is
based on data, on demonstrations, on facts.
+Empirical sciences enable people to live full lives.
+Without scientific conclusions and then applications, human life would be "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short", as Hobbes wrote before the scientific revolution.
The five basic 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 conclusion--use the evidence to support or refute the hypothesis.
5. Report the results--share the data, conclusions, and alternative explanations.
Replication
is the repetition of a study, using different participants--often becomes a sixth step, needed before the scientific community accepts conclusions.
Although reliance on evidence is intended to eliminate bias, scientists realize that any single study may include unknown distortions; therefore
replication, elaboration, and analysis by other scientists are needed.
Scientific Method
is a way to answer questions using empirical research and data-based conclusions.
Nature
is a general term for the traits, capacities, and limitations that each individual inherits genetically from his or her parents at the moment of conception.
+Refers to the influence of the genes that people inherit.
Nurture
is a general term for all the environmental influences that affect development after an individual is conceived.
+Beginning with the health and diet of the embryo's mother and continuing lifelong, include family, school, culture, and society.
The nature-nurture debate has many other names:
+heredity-environment
+maturation-learning
+nativist-empiricist
Nature-nurture
How much of any characteristic, behavior, or emotion results from genes and how much from experience?
+Note that the quetion is "how much", not "which", because both genes and the environment affect every characteristic.
+Nature always affects nurture, and then nurture affects nature.
Critical period
is a time when a particular type of development growth (in body or behavior) must happen if it is ever going to happen.
A critical period
is a time when something MUST occur to ensure normal development.
+For example, genes normally program the human fetus to develop arms and legs, hands and feet, fingers and toes, each over a specific period between 28 and 54 days after conception.
+For most of development, no critical period is evident, but a sensitive period, when a particular development occurs most easily, is common.
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