psyc 221 child development

child develpoment

The sequence of phsyical cognitive, psychological, and social changes that children undergo as they grow older

theory

A broad framework or set of principles that can be used to guide the collection and interpertation of a set of facts

phylogeny

The evolutionary history of a species

culture

A peoples design for living as encoded in their language and seen in the physical artifacts, beleifs, values, customs, and activites that have been passes down from one generation to the next.

ontogeny

The development of an individual organism during its lifetime.

development stage

A qualiativley distincitve, coherent pattern of behavior that emerges during the course of deveopment

nature

The inherited biological predisposition of the individual

nuture

The influences of the social and culture enviroment on the individual

plasticity

The degree the which and the condition under which, development is open the change and intervention

critical period

A peroid during which specific biological or enviromental events are required for normal develpomental or occur.

sensitive peroid

A time in an organism's develoment when a particular experience has an especially profound effect.

objectivity

The requirment that scientific knowledge not be distorted be the investgators preconsecptions

reliablity

The scientific requirment that when that some behavior is measured on two or more occation by that same of diffrent observors, the measurments be consistant with each other

replicability

the scientifc requirement that other reaseachers can use the same procedure as an initial investigator did and obtain the same results

validity

The scientific requirement that the data being collected actually refelect the phonomenon being studied

triangulation

When two of more methods are combined to confirm conclusions about factors causing a particualar behavior

natualisitic oberservation

Oberservation of the actual behavior of people in the course of their everyday life

ethology

An interdisciplinary science that studies the biological and evolutionary foundations of behavior

enthnography

The study of the cultulre organization of behavior

ecology

The range of situation in which people are actors the roles they play the predicaments they encounters and the consequences of those encounters.

development niche

The physical and social context in which a childlives, including the child rearing and educational practices of the society and the psychological charatersitics of hte parents

experiment

In psychology, research in which change is introduced in a person's experience and the effect of that change is measured

scientific hypothesis

An assumption that is precise enough to be tested as true or false through properly planned comparison

experimental group

The persons in an experiment whose experience is changed as part of the experiment

control group

The group in an experiment that is treated as much as possible like the experimental group except that it does not participate in the experimental manipulation.

ecological validity

The extent the which behavior studied in one enviroment is chararateristic of behavior exhibited by the same person in a range of other enviroments

clinical method

A research method in which questions are tailored to the individual, with each question depending on the answer to the preceding one.

research design

The overall plan describing how a study is put together it is developed before conducting research

longitudinal design

A research design in which data are gathered about the sme group of children as they grow older over an extended peroid of time

cross-sectional design

A research design in which children of various ages are studied at the same time

microgenetic design

A research method in which children deveoplment is studied intensively over a relatively short period of time.

cohort

A group of persons born about the same time who are therfore likely to share certain experiences

cohort sequential design

An experimental design in which the longitudinal method is replicated with several cohorts

endogenous

The term applied to causes of devepoment that arise as a consequences of the organims biological heritage

maturation

a sequence of changes that are strongly influenced by gentic inheritence and that occur as individual grow older

exogenous

The term applied the cause of development that come from the enviroment that come from the enviorment particularly from the adults who shape childrens behavior and beliefs

bio-social behavioral shift

A transition point in development during which a convergence of biological social and behavioral changes rise to cause distinctively new forms of behaviors

chromosome

The threadlike structure made up of genes. In humans there are 46 chromosomes in every cell except sperm and ova

deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)

A long double stranded molecule that makes up chromosomes

genes

The segments on a DNA molecule that make up chromosomes

zygotes

The single cell formed as conception from the union of the sperm and the ovum.

mitosis

The process of cell duplication and division that generates all the indiviuals cells except sperm and ova

somatic (body) cells

All the cells in the body except the germ cells (ova and sperm)

germ cells

The sperm and ova, which are specialized for sexual reproduction nad have half the number of chromosomes normal for a species

meiosis

The process that produces sperm and ova of which contains onle half the parents cells' origianl complement of 46 chromosomes

crossing over

The process in which gentic material is exchanged between chromosomes containing genes for the same charteristics

monozygotic twins

twins that come from one zygote therefor identical twins ( genotypes)

dizygoptic

Twins that come from two zygotes