EXPLORING LIFESPAN & DEVELOPMENT: KEY TERMS
CHAPTER 1 (Laura E. Berk, 4th Edition, 2018)
- developmental science:
• a field of study devoted to understanding constancy and change
throughout the lifespan
- theory:
• an orderly, integrated set of statements the describes, explains, and
predicts behavior
- continuous:
• a process of gradually augmenting the same types of skills that were
there to begin with
- discontinuous:
• a process in which new ways of understanding and responding tho
the world emerge at specific times
- stages:
• qualitative changes in thinking, feeling, and behaving that
characterize specific periods of development
- contexts:
• unique combinations of personal and environmental circumstances
that can result in different paths of change
- nature-nurture controversy:
• nature: the hereditary information we renice from our parents at the
moment of conception
• nurture: the complex forces of the physical and social world that
influence our biological makeup and psychological experiences
before and after birth
- plasticity:
• open to change in response to influential experiences
- developmental systems perspective:
• a perpetually ongoing process, extending from conception to death,
the tis molded by a complex network of biological, psychological,
and social influences
- lifespan perspective:
• four assumptions make up this broader view- that development is:
- lifelong
- multidimensional and multidirectional
- highly plastic
- affected by multiple interacting forces
- multidimensional:
• affected by an intricate blend of biological, psychological ,and social
forces
- multidirectional:
• at every period, development is a joint expression of growth and
decline
- wisdom:
• expertise in practical matters, a quality of reasoning
- 3 MAJOR DOMAINS OF DEVELOPMENT
• physical development:
- changes in body size, proportions, appearance, functioning of body
systems, perceptual and motor capacities, and physical health
• cognitive development:
- changes in intellectual abilities, including attention, memory,
academic and everyday knowledge, problem solving, imagination,
creativity, and language
• emotional and social development:
- changes in emotional communication, self-understanding,
knowledge about other people, interpersonal skills, friendships,
intimate relationships, and moral reasoning and behavior