age-graded influences
Events that are strongly related to age and therefore fairly predicable in when they occur and how long they last
behavior modification
Procedures that combine condition and modeling to eliminate undesirable behaviors and increase desirable responses
behaviorism
An approach that regards directly observable events - stimuli and responses - as the appropriate focus of study and views the development of behavoir as taking place through classical and operant conditioning
chronosystem
In ecological systems theory, temporal changes in environments, either externally imposed or arising from within the person, that produce new conditions affecting development; distinguished from "microsystem," "mesosystem," "exosystem," and "macrosystem
clinical interview
An interview method in which the researcher uses a flexible conversational style to probe for the participant's point of view; distinguished from "structured interview
clinical (case study) method
A research method in which the aim is to obtain as complete a picture as possible of one individual's psychological functioning by bringing together interview data, observations, and sometimes test scores
cognitive-developmental theory
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
cohort effects
Cultural-historical influences on the accuracy of longitudinal and cross-sectional research findings; results based on one cohort - individuals developing in the same time period, who are influenced by particular historical and cultural conditions - may n
contexts
Unique combinations of personal and environmental circumstances that can result in different paths of development
continuous development
The view that development is a process of gradually adding more of the same types of skill that were there to begin with; distinguished from "discontinuous development
correlation coefficient
A number, ranging from +1.00 to -1.00, that describes the strength and direction of the relationship between two variables
correlational design
A research design in which the investigator gathers information on individuals without altering their experiences and then examines relationships between participants' characteristics and their behavior or development; does not permit inferences about cau
cross-sectional design
A research design in which groups of participants of different ages are studied at the same point in time; distinguished from "longitudinal design
dependent variable
The variable the researcher expects to be influenced by the independent variable in an experiment; distinguished from "independent variable
developmental cognitive neuroscience
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 person's cognitive processing and behavior patterns
developmental science
An interdisciplinary field devoted to the study of all changes humans experience throughout the lifespan
discontinuous development
The view that development is a process in which new ways of understanding and responding to the world emerge at specific times; distinguished form "continuous development
ecological systems theory
Bronfenbrenner's approach, which views the person 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
ethnography
A method in which the researcher attempts to understand unique values and social processes of a culture or a distinct social group through participant observation - living with its members and taking field notes for an extended time
ethology
An approach concerned with the adaptive, or survival, value of behavior and its evolutionary history
evolutionary developmental psychology
An approach that seeks to understand the adaptive value of species-wide cognitive, emotional, and social competencies as those competencies change with age
exosystem
In ecological systems theory, social settings that do not contthe developing person but nevertheless affect experiences in immediate settings; distinguished from "microsystem," "mesosystem," macrosystem," and "chronosystem
experimental design
A research design in which the investigator randomly assigns participants to two or more treatment conditions and studies the effect that manipulating an independent variable has on a dependent variable; permits inferences about cause and effect
history-graded influences
Influences on lifespan development that are unique to a particular historical era and explain why people born around the same time (called a "cohort") tend to be alike in ways that set them apart from people born at other times
independent variable
In an experiment, the variable the investigator expects to cause changes in another variable and that he researcher manipulates by randomly assigning participants to treatment conditions; distinguished form "dependent variable
information processing
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
lifespan perspective
A dynamic systems approach to development that assumes development is lifelong, multidimensional and multidirectional, highly plastic, and affected by multiple interacting forces
longitudinal design
A research design in which participants are studied repeatedly, and changes are noted as they get older; distingushed from "cross-sectional design
macrosystem
In ecological systems theory, cultural values, laws, customs, and resources that influence experiences and interactions at inner levels of the environment; distinguished from "microsystem," "mesosystem," "exosystem," and "chronosystem
mesosystem
In ecological systems theory, connections between a person's microsystems, or immediate settings; distinguished from "microsystem," "exosystem," "macrosystem," and "chronosystem
microsystem
In ecological systems theory, the innermost level of the environment, consisting of activities and interaction patterns in the person's immediate surroundings; distinguished from "mesosystem," "exosystem," "macrosystem," and "chronosystem
naturalistic observation
A research method in which the researcher goes to the natural environment to observe the behavior of interest; distinguished from "structured observation
nature-nurture controversy
Disagreement among theorists about whether genetic or environmental factors are more important influences on development
nonnormative influences
Influences on lifespan development that are irregular, in that they happen to just one or a few individuals and do not follow a predictable timetable
normative approach
An approach in which measures of behavior are taken on large numbers of individuals and age-related averages are computed to represent typical development
psychoanalytic perspective
An approach to personality development introduced by Freud that assumes people move through a series of stages in which they confront conflicts between biological drives and social expectations; the way these conflicts are resolved determines the person's
psychosexual theory
Freud's theory, which emphasizes that how parents manage children's sexual and aggressive drives in the first few years is crucial for healthy personality development
psychosocial theory
Erikson'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; recognizes the lifespan nature of
random assignment
An evenhanded procedure for assigning participants to treatment conditions in an experiment, such as drawing numbers out of a hat or flipping a coin; increase the chances that participants' characteristics will be equally distributed across treatment grou
resilience
The ability to adapt effectively the face of threats to development
sensitive period
A time that is optimal for certain capacities to emerge and in which the individual is especially responsive to environmental influences
sequential designs
Developmental designs in which investigators conduct several similar cross-sectional or longitudinal studies (called sequences) at varying times; some ***** combine longitudinal and cross-sectional strategies
social learning theory
An approach that emphasizes the role of modeling, otherwise known as imitation or observational learning, in the development of behavior
sociocultural theory
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 society
stage
A qualitative change in thinking, feeling, and behaving that characterizes a specific period of development
structured interview
An interview method in which each participant is asked the same questions in the same way; distinguished from "clinical interview
structured observation
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; distinguished from "naturalistic observation
theory
An orderly, integrated set of statements that describes, explains, and predicts behavior