An Introduction To Lifespan Development Questions With Complete Solutions

Define the field of lifespan development and describe what it encompasses. correct answer: Lifespan development is a scientific approach to questions about growth, change, and stability in the physical, cognitive, social, and personality characteristics at all ages from conception to death. Describe the areas that lifespan development specialists cover. correct answer: Some developmentalists focus on physical development, examining the ways in which the body's makeup helps determine behavior. Other developmental specialists examine cognitive development, seeking to understand how growth and change in intellectual capabilities influence a person's behavior. Still other developmentalists focus on personality and social development. In addition to choosing to specialize in a particular topical areas, developmentalists also typically look at a particular age range. Describe some of the basic influences on human development. correct answer: Each individual is subject to normative history-graded influences, normative age-graded influences, normative sociocultural-graded influences, and non-normative life events. Culture--both broad and narrow--is an important issue in lifespan development. Many aspects of development are influenced not only by broad cultural differences but also by ethnic, racial, and socioeconomic differences within a particular culture. Summarize four key issues in the field of lifespan development. correct answer: Four key issues in lifespan development are (1) whether developmental change is continuous or discontinuous; (2) whether development is largely governed by critical periods during which certain influences or experiences must occur for development to be normal; (3) whether to focus on certain particularly important periods in human development or on the entire life span; and (4) the nature-nurture controversy, which follows on the relative importance of genetic virus environmental influences. Describe how the psychodynamic perspective explains lifespan development. correct answer: the psychodynamic perspective is exemplified by the psychoanalytic theory of Freud and the psychosocial theory of Erikson. Frued focused attention on the unconscious and on stages through which children must pass successfully to avoid harmful fixations. Erikson identified 8 distinct stages of development, each characterized by a conflict, or crisis, to work out. Describe how the behavioral perspective explains lifespan development. correct answer: The behavioral perspective typically concerns stimulus response learning, exemplified by classical conditioning, the operant conditioning of Skinner, and Bandura's social-cognitive learning theory. Describe how the cognitive perspective explains lifespan development. correct answer: Within the cognitive perspective, the most notable theories is Piaget, who identified developmental stages through which all children are assumed to pass. Each stage involves qualitative differences in thinking. In contrast, information processing approaches attribute cognitive growth to quantitative changes in mental processes and capacities, and cognitive neuroscience approaches focus on biological brain processes. Describe how the humanistic perspective explains lifespan development. correct answer: The humanistic perspective contends that people have a natural capacity to make decisions about their lives and control their behavior. The humanistic perspective emphasizes free will and the natural desire of humans to reach their full potential. Describe how the contextual perspective explains lifespan development. correct answer: The contextual perspective considers the relationship between individuals and their physical, cognitive, personality, and social worlds. The bioecological approach stresses the interrelatedness of developmental areas and the importance of broad cultural factors in human development. Vygotsky's sociocultural theory emphasizes the central influence on cognitive development exerted by social interactions between members of a culture. Describe how the evolutionary perspective explains lifespan development. correct answer: The evolutionary perspective attributes behavior to genetic inheritance from our ancestors, contending that genes determine not only traits such as skin and eye color, but certain personality traits and social behaviors as well. Discuss the value of applying multiple perspectives to lifespan development. correct answer: The various theoretical perspectives provide different ways of looking at development. An eclectic approach paints a more complete picture of the ways humans change over the life span. Describe the role that theories and hypotheses play in the study of development. correct answer: Theories are broad explanations of facts or phenomena of interest, based on a systematic interaction of prior findings and theories. Hypotheses are theory-based predictions that can be tested. The process of using and answering questions systematically is called the scientific method. Describe the two major categories of lifespan development research. correct answer: Researchers test hypotheses by correlational research (to determine whether two factors are associated) and experimental research (to discover cause-and-effect relationships). Identify different types of correlational studies and their relationship to cause and effect. correct answer: Correlational studies use naturalistic observation, case studies, and survey research to investigate whether certain characteristics of interest are associated with other characteristics. Some developmental researchers also make use of psychophysiological methods. Correlational studies lead to no direct conclusions about cause and effect. Explain the main features of an experiment. correct answer: Typically, experimental research studies are conducted on participants in a treatment group who receive the experimental treatment and participants in a control group who do not. Following the treatment, differences between the two groups can help the experimenter to determine the effects of the treatment. The independent variable is the variable that researchers measure in an experiment and expect to change as a result of the experimental manipulation. Experiments may be conducted in a laboratory or in a real-world setting. Distinguish. between theoretical research and applied research. correct answer: Theoretical research is designed specifically to test some developmental explanation and expand scientific knowledge, while applied research is meant to provide practical solutions to immediate problems. Compare longitudinal research, cross-sectional research, and sequential research. correct answer: To measure change across human ages. researches use longitudinal studies of the same participants over time, cross-sectional studies of different-age participants conducted at one time, and sequential studies of different-age participants at several points in time. Describe some ethical issues that affect psychological research. correct answer: Ethical issues that affect psychological research include the protection of participants from harm, informed consent of participants, limits on the use of deception, and the maintenance of privacy. Lifespan Development correct answer: The field of study that examines patterns of growth, change, and stability in behavior that occur throughout the entire life span. Physical development correct answer: Examining the ways in which the body's makeup-the brain. nervous system, muscles, and senses, and the need for food, drink, and sleep-helps determine behavior. Cognitive development correct answer: Seeking to understand how growth and change in intellectual capabilities influence a person's behavior. Cognitive developmentalists examine learning, memory, problem-solving skills, and intelligence. Personality development correct answer: The study of stability and chef in the enduring characteristics that differentiate one person from another over the life span. Social development correct answer: The way in which individual's interactions with others and their social relationships grow, change and remain stable over the course of life. Cohort correct answer: A group of people born around the same time and the same place. Continuous change correct answer: Gradual development in which achievements at one level build on those of previous levels. Discontinuous change correct answer: Development that occurs in distance steps ir safes, with each stage bringing about behavior that is assumed to be qualitatively different from behavior at earlier stages. Critical period correct answer: A specific time during development when a particular event has tis greatest consequence and the presence of certain kinds of environmental stimuli is necessary for development to proceed normally. Sensitive period correct answer: A point in development when organisms are particularly susceptible to certain kinds of stimuli in their environments, but the absence of those stimuli does not always produce irreversible consequences. Maturation correct answer: The predetermined unfolding of genetic information. Psychodynamic perspective correct answer: The approach stating that behavior is motivated by inner forces, memories, and conflicts that are generally beyond people's awareness and control. Psychoanalytic theory correct answer: The theory proposed by Freud that suggests that unconscious forces act to determine personality and behavior. Psychosexual development correct answer: According to Freud, a series of stages that children pass through in which pleasure, or gratification, focuses on a particular biological function and body part. Psychosocial development correct answer: The approach that encompasses changes in our interactions with and understandings of one another, as well as un our knowledge and understanding of ourselves as members of society. Behavioral perspective correct answer: The approach suggesting that the keys to understanding development are observable behavior and outside stimuli in the environment. Classical conditioning correct answer: A type of learning in which an organism responds in a particular way to a neutral stimulus that normally does not bring about that type of response. Operant conditioning correct answer: A form of learning in which a voluntary response is strengthened or weakened by its association with positive or negative consequences. Behavior modification correct answer: A formal technique for promoting the frequency of desirable behaviors and decreasing the incidence of unwanted ones. Social-cognitive learning theory correct answer: Learning by observing the behavior of another person, called. a model. Cognitive perspective correct answer: The approach that focuses on the processes that allow people to know, understand, and think about the world. Information processing correct answer: Models that seek to identify the ways individuals take in, use, and store information. Cognitive neuroscience approaches correct answer: Approaches that examine cognitive development through the lens of brain processes. Contextual Perspective correct answer: The theory that considers the relationship between individuals and their physical, cognitive, personality, and social worlds. Bioecological perspective correct answer: The perspective suggesting that different levels of the environment simultaneously influence individuals. Sociocultural theory correct answer: The approach that emphasizes how cognitive development proceeds as a result of social interactions between members of a culture. Evolutionary perspective correct answer: The theory that seeks to identify behavior that is a result of our genetic inheritance from our ancestors. Scientific method correct answer: The process of posing and answering questions using careful, controlled techniques that include systematic, orderly observation and the collection of data. Theories correct answer: Explanations and predictions concerning phenomena of interest, providing a framework for understanding the relationships among an organized set of facts or principles. Hypothesis correct answer: A prediction stated in a way that permits it to be tested. Correlational research correct answer: Research that seeks to identify whether an association or relationship between two factors exists. Experimental research correct answer: Research designed to discover causal relationships between various factors. Naturalistic observation correct answer: A type of correlational study in which some naturally occurring behavior is observed without intervention in the situation. Case study correct answer: Study that involves extensive, in-depth interviews with a particular individual or small group of individuals. Survey research correct answer: A type of study where a group of people chosen to represent some larger population are asked questions about their attitudes, behavior, or thinking on a given topic. Psychophysiological methods correct answer: Research that focuses on the relationship between physiological processes and behavior. Experiment correct answer: A process in which an investigator, called an experimenter, daisies two different experiences for participants and then studies and compares the outcomes. Independent variable correct answer: The variable that researchers manipulate in an experiment. Dependent variable correct answer: The variable that researchers measure in an experiment and expect to change as a result of the experimental manipulation. Sample correct answer: The group of participants chosen for the experiment. Field study correct answer: A research investigation carried out in a naturally occurring setting. Laboratory study correct answer: A research investigation conducted in a controlled setting explicitly designed to hold events constant. Theoretical research correct answer: Research designed specifically to test some developmental explanation and expand scientific knowledge. Applied research correct answer: Research meant to provide practical solutions to immediate problems. Longitudinal study correct answer: Research in which the behavior of one or more participants in a study measured as they age. Cross-sectional research correct answer: Research in which people of different ages are compared at the same point in time. Sequential studies correct answer: Research in which researchers examine a number of different age groups over several points in time.A AQ123QHumanistic perpsective correct answer: 1The theory contending that people have a natural capacity to make decisions about their lives and control their behavior.