Psych Midterm

The scientific study of age-related changes in behavior, thinking, emotion, and personality.

Average ages at which developmental milestones are reached.

The gradual unfolding of a genetically programmed sequential pattern of change.

The current view of developmentalists that important changes occur throughout the entire human lifespan and that these changes must be interpreted in terms of the culture and context in which they occur.

Changes in size, shape, and characteristics of the body.

Changes in thinking, memory, problem solving, and other intellectual skills

Change in variables that are associated with the relationship of an individual to other.

2-6

6-12

12-18

18-40

When individuals of all ages possess the capacity for positive change in response to environmental demands.

The debate about the relative contributions of biological processes and experiential factors to development.

Qualitatively distinct periods of development.

Changes that are common to every member of a species.

Changes that occur in most members of a cohort as a result of factors at work during a specific, well-defined historical period.

Changes that result from unique, unshared events.

Divorce.

A group of individuals who are born within some fairly narrow span of years and thus share the same historical experiences at the same times in their lives.  Successive cohorts may have different life experiences.

Tendency toward emotional irritability or alcoholism/allergy/etc.

Protective factors (high intelligence, easy temperament,etc.)

Development that deviates from the typical developmental pathway in a direction harmful to the individual.

Describe -> Explain -> Predict ->Influence

The process of studying people in their normal environments.

An in-depth examination of a single individual.

An observation of behavior under controlled conditions.

Characteristics that vary from person to person (size, intelligence, etc.)

data-collection method in which participants respond to questions.

The entire group that is of interest to a researcher.

Subset of a group that is of interest to a researcher who participates in a study.

A sample that has the same characteristics as the population to which a study's findings apply.

A relationship between two variables that can be expressed as a number ranging from -1.00 to +1.00

The tendency of respondents to answer questions in a manner that will be viewed favorably by others.

A study that tests a causal hypothesis.

The group in an experiment that receives the treatment the experimenter thinks will produce a particular effect.

The group in an experiment that receives either no special treatment or a neutral treatment.

The presumed causal element in an experiment.

The characteristic or behavior that is expected to be affected by the independent variable.

Findings that are the result of historical factors to which one age group in a cross-sectional study has been exposed.

Protection from harm, informed consent, confidentiality, knowledge of results, deception.

He believed in empiricism (blank slate). View that humans possess no innate tendencies.

He believed in innate goodness; children are naturally good and seek out experiences that help them grow.

Believed that the wide variety of life forms that exist on Earth evolved gradually as a result of the interplay between environmental factors/ genetic processes. Studied child's development.

Agreed with Darwin that milestones of childhood were similar to development of human species. Came up with norms.

Suggested the existence of a genetically programmed sequential pattern of change. Used the term maturation

He was devoted to establishing and promoting the life-span orientation of human development. He was also a theorist in the field of the psychology of aging.

Established by Sigmund Freud proposing that developmental change happens because of the influence of internal drives and emotions on behavior.

Part of the personality that comprises a person's basic sexual and aggressive impulses; it contains the libido and motivates a person to seek pleasure and avoid pain.

The thinking element of personality.

Part of the personality that is the moral judge.

Determined by maturation/ libido centered in different body part in each stage:

Oral, Anal, Phallic, Latency, Genital

• Age: Birth to 1 year
• Focus of Libido: Mouth, lips, tongue
• Developmental Task: Weaning
• Fixations as adults: smoking/overeating

• Age: 1-3 years
• Focus of Libido: Anus
• Developmental Task: Toilet Training 
• Fixations as adults: Messiness/ disorganization

• Age: 3 - 6 years
• Focus of Libido: Genitals
• Developmental Task: Resolving Oedipus/ Electra complex
• Fixations as adults: Vanity, recklessness, sexual dysfunction

• Age: 6 - 12
• Focus of Libido: None
• Developmental Task: Developing defense mechanisms
• Fixations as adults: None

• Age: 12 years
• Focus of Libido: Genitals
• Developmental Task: Mature sexual intimacy
• Fixations as adults: If previous stages successful, develops mature sexuality.

Behaviors that reflect unresolved problems and unmet needs.

Involves a conflict between a boy's affection for his mother and his fear of his father.

Pits a girl's bond with her father against her anxiety over the potential loss of her mother's love.

Erik Erikson's eight stages, or crises, of personality development in which inner instincts interact with outer cultural and social demands to shape personality. Individual must resolve a crisis to achieve a healthy personality.

(birth to 1 year) depends on the reliability of the care and affection infants receive from their primary caretaker. (Hope)

(1-3) (Will) express their independence. To resolve: parent must encourage child to function independently with regard to self-care skills (dress themselves).

(3-6) (Purpose) develop a sense of social initiative. Child needs opportunities to interact with peers.

(6-12) (Competence) child focuses on acquiring culturally valued skills. To resolve: children need support and encouragement from adults.

• (12-18) (Fidelity) Transition from childhood to adulthood. To resolve: examine their identity and roles they occupy. 
• Risk: adolescent will suffer from confusion.

(18-30) (Love) Young adult builds on the identity established in adolescence to confront this crisis. 'Fuse identity'.

(30 - late adulthood) (Care) Shaped by the realization that death is inevitable. Rearing of child can achieve sense of generativity. Failing this may result in sense of stagnation.

(late adulthood) (wisdom) The goal is acceptance of one's life in preparation for death in order to avoid a sense of despair.

The view that defines development in terms of behavior changes caused by environmental influences.

Theories asserting that development results from an accumulation of experiences.

John Watson, Ivan Pavlov, B.F. Skinner, Albert Bandura

(Pavlov) learning that results from the association of stimuli.

learning to repeat or stop behaviors because of their consequences. (skinner)

Anything that follows a behavior and causes it to be repeated.

Anything that follows a behavior and causes it to stop.

The gradual elimination of a behavior through repeated nonreinforcement.

Learning that results from seeing a model reinforced or punished for a behavior.

Theories that emphasize mental processes in development, such as logic and memory.

Jean Piaget, Lev Vygotsky.

In Piaget's theory, an internal cognitive structure that provides an individual with a procedure to use in a specific circumstance.

The process of using a scheme to make sense of an event or experience.

Changing a scheme as a result of some new information.

The process of balancing assimilation and accommodation to create schemes that fit the environment.