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Child Development
Test 1
98
Psychology
Undergraduate 2
09/21/2009

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Term
Child Development
Definition
A field of study devoted to understanding all aspects of human consistancy and change from conception through adolescence.
Term
Developmental science
Definition
An interdisciplinary field devoted to the study of all changes we experience throughout the lifespan.
Term
Theory
Definition
An orderly, integrated set of statements that describes, explains, and predicts behavior.
Term
Continous development
Definition
A view that regards development as a cumulative process of gradually augmenting the same types of skills that were there to begin with.
Term
Discontinuous development
Definition
A view of development as a process in which new ways of understanding and responding the world emerge at specific times.
Term
Stage
Definition
A qualitative change in thinking, feeling, and behaving that characterizes a specific period of development.
Term
Contexts
Definition
Unique combinations of personal and environmental circumstances that can result in markedly different paths of change.
Term
Nature-Nurture controversy
Definition
Debate among theorists about whether genetic or environmental factors are more important in development.
Term
Resilence
Definition
The ability to adapt effectively in the face of threats to development.
Term
Tabula rasa
Definition
Locke's view of the child as a "blank slate" whose character is shaped entirely by experience
Term
Noble Savages
Definition
Rousseau's view of the child as naturally endowed with a sense of right and wrong and an innate plan for orderly, healthy growth.
Term
Maturation
Definition
A genetically determined, naturally unfolding course of growth.
Term
Normative approach
Definition
An approach in which age-related averages are computed to represent typical development.
Term
Psychoanalytic perspective
Definition
Freud's view of personality development, in which children move through a series of stages in which they confront conflicts between biological drives and social expectations. The way these conflicts are resolved determines psychological adjustments.
Term
Psychosexual theory
Definition
Freud's theory, which emphasizes that how parents manage children's sexual and aggressive drives in the first few years of life is crucial for healthy personality development.
Term
Psycholosocial Theory
Definition
Erickson's theory, which emphasizes that at each Freudian stage, individuals not only develop a unique personality but also acquire attitudes and skills that help them become active, contributing members of their society.
Term
Behaviorism
Definition
An approach that regards directly observable events - stimuli and responses - as the appropriate focus of study and that views the development of behavior as taking place through classical and operant conditioning.
Term
Social learning theory
Definition
An approach that emphasizes the role of modeling, or observational learning, in the development of behavior.
Term
Behavior modification
Definition
Procedures that combine conditioning and modeling to eliminate undesirable behaviors and increase desirable responses.
Term
Cognitive-developmental theory
Definition
An approach introduced by Piaget that views children as actively constructing knowledge as they manipulate and explore their world and that regards cognitive development as taking place in stages.
Term
Information Processing
Definition
An approach that views the human mind as a symbol-manipulating system through which information flows and that regards cognitive development as a continuous process.
Term
Developmental cognitive neuroscience
Definition
An area of investigation that brings together researchers from psychology, biology, neuroscience, and medicine to study the relationship between changes in the brain and the developing child's cognitive processing and behavior patterns.
Term
Ethology
Definition
An approach concerned with the adaptive, or survival, value of behavior and its evolutionary history.
Term
Sensitive period
Definition
A time that is optimal for certain capacities to emerge and in which the individual is espcially responsive to environmental influences.
Term
Evolutionary developmental psychology
Definition
An approach that seeks to understand the adaptive value of species-wide cognitive, emotional, and social competencies as those competencies change with age.
Term
Sociocultural theory
Definition
Vygotsky's theory, in which children acquire the ways of thinking and behaving that make up a community's culture through cooperative dialogues with more knowledgeable members of their society.
Term
Ecological systems theory
Definition
Bronfenbrenner's approach, which views the child as developing within a complex system of relationships affected by multiple levels of the surrounding environment, from immediate settings of family and school to broad cultural values and programs.
Term
Microsystem
Definition
In ecological systems theory, the innermost level of the environment, consisting of activities and interaction patterns in the child's immediate surroundings.
Term
Mesosystem
Definition
In ecological systems theory, connections between children's immediate settings.
Term
Exosystem
Definition
In ecological systems theory, social settings that do not contain children but that affect children's experiences in immediate settings. Examples are parents' workplace, health and welfare services available in the community, and parents' social networks.
Term
Macrosystem
Definition
In ecological systems theory, cultural values, laws, customs, and resources that influence experiences and interactions at inner levels of the environment.
Term
Chronosystem
Definition
In ecological systems theory, temporal changes in children's environments, which produce new conditions that affect development. These changes can be imposed externally or arise from within the child.
Term
Dynamic systems perspective
Definition
A view that regards the child's mind, body, and physical and social worlds as a dynamic, integrated system. A change in any part of the system leads the child to reorganize his behavior so the various components of the system work together again but in a more complex and effective way.
Term
Naturalistic observation
Definition
A method in which the researcher goes into the natural environment to observe the behavior of interest.
Term
Structed observation
Definition
A method in which the investigator sets up a laboratory situation that evokes the behavior of interest so that every participant has an equal opportunity to display the response.
Term
Clinical interview
Definition
An interview method in which the researcher uses a flexiable, converstional style to probe for the participant's point of view.
Term
Structured interview
Definition
An interview method in which each participant is asked the same questions in the same way.
Term
Clinical, or case-study, method
Definition
A method in which the researcher attempts to understand an individual child by combining interview data, observations, and sometimes test scores.
Term
Ethnography
Definition
A method in which the researcher attempts to understand the unique values and social processes of a culture or a distinct social group through participant observation - living with its members and taking field notes over an extended period of time.
Term
Correlation design
Definition
A researcher design in which the researcher gathers information on individuals without altering participants' experiences and then examines relationships between variables. Does not permit inferences about cause and effect.
Term
Correlation coefficient
Definition
A number, ranging from +1.00 to -1.00, that describes the strength and direction of the relationship between two variables.
Term
Experimental design
Definition
A research design in which the investigator randomly assigns participants to treatment conditions. Permits inferences about cause and effect.
Term
Independent Variable
Definition
The variable the researcher expects to cause changes in another variable in an experiment.
Term
Dependent Variable
Definition
The variable the investigator expects to be influenced by the independent variable in an experiment.
Term
Random Assigment
Definition
An unbiased procedure for assigning participants to treatment groups, which increases the chances that participants' characteristics will be equally distributed across treatment conditions in an experiment.
Term
Longitudinal design
Definition
A research design in which participants are studied repeatedly at different ages.
Term
Cohort effect
Definition
The effects of cultural-historical change on the accuracy of longitudinal and cross-sectional findings. Children born in a particular time period are influenced by a particular set of cultural and historical conditions.
Term
Cross-sectional design
Definition
A research design in which groups of people differing in age are studied at the same point in time.
Term
Sequential Design
Definition
A research design in which similar cross-sectional or longitudinal studies (called sequences) are conducted at varying times.
Term
Microgenetic design
Definition
A research design in which investigators present children with a novel task and follow their mastery over a series of closely spaced sessions.
Term
phenotype
Definition
The individual's physical and behavioral characteristics, which are determined by both genetic and environmental factors.
Term
Genotype
Definition
An individual's genetic makeup.
Term
Chromosomes
Definition
Rodlike strucutres in the cell nucleus that store and transmit genetic information.
Term
Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)
Definition
Long, double-stranded molecules that make up chromosomes
Term
Gene
Definition
A segment of a DNA molecule that contains hereditary instructions
Term
Mitosis
Definition
The process of cell duplication, in which each new cell receives an exact copy of the original chromosomes.
Term
Gametes
Definition
Human sperm and ova, which contain half as many chromosomes as regular body cells.
Term
Meiosis
Definition
The process of cell dividion through which gametes are formed and in which the number of chromosomes in each cell is halved.
Term
Zygote
Definition
The newly fertilized cell formed by the union of sperm and ovum at conception
Term
Genetic imprinting
Definition
A pattern of inheritance in which alleles are imprinted, or chemically marked, in such a way that one pair memeber is activated, regardless of its makeup.
Term
Mutation
Definition
A sudden but permanent change in a segment of DNA
Term
Sex chromosomes
Definition
The twenty-third pair of chromosomes, which determines the sex of the child - in females, called XX; in males, called XY.
Term
Fraternal, or dizygotic, twins
Definition
Twins resulting from the release and fertilization of two ova. They are gentically no more alike than ordinary siblings.
Term
Identical, or monozygotic, twins
Definition
Twins that result when a zygote, during the early stages of cell duplication, divids in two. They have the same genetic makeup.
Term
Allele
Definition
Each of two forms of a gene located at the same place on the autosomes.
Term
Homozygous
Definition
Having two identical alleles at the same place on a pair of chromosomes.
Term
Heterozygous
Definition
Having two different alleles at the same place on a pair of chromosomes.
Term
Dominant-recessive inheritance.
Definition
A pattern of inheritance in which, under heterozygous conditions, the influence of only one allele is apparent.
Term
Carrier
Definition
A heterozygous individual who can pass a recessive trait to his or her children.
Term
Modifier genes
Definition
Genes that can enhance or dilute the effects of other genes.
Term
Incomplete dominance
Definition
A pattern of inheritance in which both alleles are expressed in the phenotype, resulting in a combined trait, or one that is intermediate between the two.
Term
X-Linked inheritance
Definition
A pattern of inheritance in which a recessive gene is carried on the X chromosome, so that males are more likely to be affected.
Term
Polygenic inheritance
Definition
A pattern of inheritance in which many genes affect the characteristic in question.
Term
Genetic counseling
Definition
A communication process designed to help couples assess their chances of giving birth to a baby with a hereditary disorder and choose the best course of action in view of risks and family goals.
Term
Prenatal diagnostic methods
Definition
Medical procedures that permit detection of developmental problems before birth.
Term
Socioeconomic status (SES)
Definition
A measure of a family's social position and economic well-being that combines three related variables: years of education, the prestige of and skill required by one's job, and income.
Term
Subculture
Definition
A group of people with beliefs and customs that differ from those of the larger culture.
Term
Extended-family household
Definition
A household in which parent and child live with one of more adult relatives.
Term
Collective societies
Definition
Societies in which people define themselves as part of a group and stress group over individual goals.
Term
Individualistic societies
Definition
Societies in which people think of themselves as separate entities and are largely concerned with their own personal needs.
Term
Public policies
Definition
Laws and government programs designed to improve current conditions.
Term
Behavioral genetics
Definition
A field devoted to uncovering the contributions of nature and nurture to the diversity in human traits and abilities.
Term
Heritability estimate
Definition
A statistic that measures the extent to which individual differences in complex traits in a specific population are due to genetic factors.
Term
Kinship studies
Definition
Studies comparing the characteristics of family members to determine the importance of heredity in complex human characteristics.
Term
Concordance rate
Definition
The percentage of instances in which both members of a twin pair show a trait when it is present in one pair member, used to study the contribution of heredity to emotional and behavior disorders.
Term
Range of reaction
Definition
Each person's unique, genetically determined response to a range of environmental conditions.
Term
Canalization
Definition
The tendency of heredity to restrict the development of some characteristics to just one or a few outcomes.
Term
Genetic-environmental correlation
Definition
The idea that heredity influences the environments to which individuals are exposed.
Term
Niche-picking
Definition
A type of genetic-environmental correlation in which individuals actively choose environments that complement their heredity.
Term
Epigenesis
Definition
Development of the individual resulting from ongoing, bidirectional exchanges between heredity and all levels of the environment.
Term
Blastocyst
Definition
The zygote 4 days after fertilization, when the tiny mass of cells forms a hollow, fluid-filled ball.
Term
Embryonic disk
Definition
A small cluster of cells on the inside of the blastocyst, from which the new organism will develop.
Term
Trophoblast
Definition
The thin outer ring of cells of the blastocyst, which will become the structures that provide protective covering and nourishment to the new organism.
Term
Implantation
Definition
Attachment of the blastocyst to the uterine lining, which occurs 7 to 9 days after fertilization
Term
Amnion
Definition
The inner membrane that encloses the prenatal organism
Term
Amniotic fluid
Definition
The fluid that fills the amnion, helping to keep temperature constant and to provide a cushion against jolts caused by the mother's movement.
Term
Chorion
Definition
The outer membrane that surrounds the amnion and sends out tiny, fingerlike villi, from which the placenta begins to develop.
Term
Placenta
Definition
The organ that permits exchange of nutrients and waste products between the bloodstreams of the mother and the embryo, while also preventing the mother's and embryo's blood from mixing directly.
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