Chapter 2: Theory and Research Test
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theory - Answer coherent set of logically related concepts that seeks to organize, explain, and
predict data
hypothesis - Answer possible explanations for phenomena, used to predict the outcome of
research
mechanistic model - Answer Locke: model that views human development as a series of
predictable responses to stimuli - do not operate of their own will, react automatically to
physical forces or inputs
organismic model - Answer model that views human development as internally initiated by an
active organism and as occurring in a sequence of qualitatively different stages - environmental
influences do not cause devt, but they can speed or slow it
quantitative change - Answer changes in number or amount or frequency of a behavioral
characteristic - mechanistic model
qualitative change - Answer discontinuous changes in kind, structure, or organization -
organismic model
psychoanalytic perspective - Answer view of human development as shaped by unconscious
forces that motivate human behavior
psychosexual development - Answer in Freudian theory, an unvarying sequence of stages of
childhood personality development in which gratification shifts from the mouth to the anus and
then the genitals
psychosocial development - Answer in Erickson's eight-stage theory the socially and culturally
influenced process of development of the ego, or self - each stage requires a balancing of a
positive tendency and a corresponding negative tendency - successful outcome = a virtue, or
strength
, behaviorism - Answer learning theory that emphasizes the predictable role of environment in
causing observable behavior - focuses on associative learning, in which a mental link is formed
between 2 events
classical conditioning - Answer Pavlov/Watson: learning based of associating a stimulus that
does not ordinarily elicit a response with another stimulus that does elicit the response
operant conditioning - Answer Skinner: learning based on association of behavior with its
consequences - the individual learns from the consequences of "operating" on the environment
reinforcement - Answer the process by which a behavior is strengthened, increasing the
likelihood that the behavior will be repeated
punishment - Answer the process by which a behavior is weakened, decreasing the likelihood
of repetition
social learning theory - Answer Bandura: theory that behaviors are learned by observing and
imitating models - impetus for devt is bidirectional. Also called social cognitive theory
reciprocal determinism - Answer Bandura's term for bidirectional forces that affect
development - the person acts on the world as the world acts on the person
observational learning - Answer learning through watching the behavior of others
aka modeling
self-efficacy - Answer sense of one's capability to master challenges and achieve goals
cognitive perspective - Answer view that thought processes are central to development
Piaget's Cognitive-stage Theory - Answer theory that children's cognitive development
advances in a series of four stages involving qualitatively distinct kinds of mental operations
organization - Answer Piaget: the tendency to create categories by observing the
characteristics that individual members of a category have in common - sparrows and robins in
birds category