Life Span Development Exam 1 2024
Update!!
What is Development? - ANSWERthe pattern of movement or change that begins at conception and
continues through the human life span.
What is central to the life-span perspective o human development? - ANSWERThe belief that
development occurs throughout life. This perspective has other characteristics as well. According to
life-span development expert Paul Baltes (1939-2006), the life-span perspective views development
as lifelong, multidimensional, multi-directional, plastic, multidisciplinary, and contextual, and as a
process that involves growth, maintenance, and regulation of loss.
How is development multidimensional? - ANSWERAt every age, your body, your mind, your
emotions, and your relationships change and affect each other. Development has biological,
cognitive, and socioemotional dimensions. Within each of these dimensions are many components—
for example, attention, memory, abstract thinking, speed of processing information, and social
intelligence are just a few of the components of the cognitive dimension.
What does plasticity mean? - ANSWERIt is a persons capacity for change.
**It is more difficult to learn new skills, languages, ect. in a later age which may suggest that the
older we are he less plasticity we have.
What is a nonnormative life event? - ANSWERA nonnormative life event is an unusual occurrence
that has a major influence on a persons life.
The term _____ comes from the Greek word for "nation" - ANSWEREthnic
What is Normative age-graded influences? - ANSWERIt is shared by a particular age group
Ex.) 911 (singular event)
What are Normative history-graded influences? - ANSWERShared by a specific generation?
Ex.) WWII and the Great Depression (time periods)
,what are Nonnormative life events ? - ANSWEREvents that are unique to the individual.
What three processes work together in someone's development? - ANSWERBiological Processes,
Cognitive Processes, Socioemotional processes.
What are the periods of development? - ANSWERPrenatal Period • Infancy • Early Childhood •
Middle and Late Childhood • Adolescence • Early Adulthood • Middle Adulthood • Late Adulthood
Continuity Development - ANSWERThe development is a gradual continuous process.
Ex.) an acorn growing into a tree.
What is Discontinuity in development? - ANSWERpeople pass through stages of life that are
qualitatively different from each other.
Ex.) a caterpillar turning into a butterfly
What are the two types of changes in human development? - ANSWERQuantitative, and Qualitative
what is quantitative development? - ANSWERweight, height and number of words.
what is qualitative development? - ANSWERProgressive continuous development that cannot be
defined by numerical growth.
Ex.) moving from a beginning reader to an emergent reader to a full reader.
Five aspects of development - ANSWER- Physical Development - Intellectual or Cognitive
Development - Personality Development - Social Development - Moral Development
What is Freud's theory? - ANSWERId, ego, and superego create personality - Defense mechanisms
and repression - Anxiety and defense mechanisms - Five stages of psychosexual development -
Criticisms: overemphasized sexual instincts, unconscious is more important today
Erikson's psychosocial theory - ANSWER- Primary motive for human behavior is social; desire to
affiliate with others - Developmental changes throughout life span - Experiences at all ages are
important - Criticisms: stages have positive/negative poles, crisis in each stage needs resolution
, Piaget's cognitive developmental theory - ANSWER- Children actively construct their knowledge -
Each of the four stages • Age-related • Has a distinct way of thinking • Has different way of
understanding the world • Child's cognition is "qualitatively" different
What are Piaget's Four Stages? - ANSWER1.) Sensorimotor Stage (Birth- 2 years old)
- The infant constructs an understanding of the world by coordinating sensory experiences with
physical actions.
2.) Preoperational Stage ( 2-7 years old)
- The child begins to represent the world with words and images. These words represent increased
symbolic thinking.
3.) Concrete Operational Stage (7-11)
- The child can now reason logically about concrete events and classify objects into different sets.
4.) Formal Operational Stage (11- adult hood)
- The adolescent reasons in more abstract, idealistic and logical ways.
Vygotsky's sociocultural cognitive theory - ANSWERChildren actively construct their knowledge -
Culture and social interaction guide cognitive development • Learning to use inventions of society •
Learning from social interactions with more skilled adults and peers • Interaction creates tools to
adapt to culture
What is the Human Genome Project? - ANSWERThe Human Genome Project (HGP) is an
international scientific research project with the goal of determining the sequence of chemical base
pairs which make up human DNA, and of identifying and mapping all of the genes of the human
genome from both a physical and a functional standpoint.
**Study of Genetics***
Single transmission versus multifactorial/polygenetic transmission - ANSWERpolygenic traits are
caused by more than one gene, and multifactorial traits are caused by one or more genes as well as
environmental influences.
Jean Piaget - ANSWERSwiss psychologist who studied the cognitive development of children. Taught
us how children learn and what they are capable of learning at what age.
**He is most famously known for his theory of cognitive development that looked at how children
develop intellectually throughout the course of childhood.
Update!!
What is Development? - ANSWERthe pattern of movement or change that begins at conception and
continues through the human life span.
What is central to the life-span perspective o human development? - ANSWERThe belief that
development occurs throughout life. This perspective has other characteristics as well. According to
life-span development expert Paul Baltes (1939-2006), the life-span perspective views development
as lifelong, multidimensional, multi-directional, plastic, multidisciplinary, and contextual, and as a
process that involves growth, maintenance, and regulation of loss.
How is development multidimensional? - ANSWERAt every age, your body, your mind, your
emotions, and your relationships change and affect each other. Development has biological,
cognitive, and socioemotional dimensions. Within each of these dimensions are many components—
for example, attention, memory, abstract thinking, speed of processing information, and social
intelligence are just a few of the components of the cognitive dimension.
What does plasticity mean? - ANSWERIt is a persons capacity for change.
**It is more difficult to learn new skills, languages, ect. in a later age which may suggest that the
older we are he less plasticity we have.
What is a nonnormative life event? - ANSWERA nonnormative life event is an unusual occurrence
that has a major influence on a persons life.
The term _____ comes from the Greek word for "nation" - ANSWEREthnic
What is Normative age-graded influences? - ANSWERIt is shared by a particular age group
Ex.) 911 (singular event)
What are Normative history-graded influences? - ANSWERShared by a specific generation?
Ex.) WWII and the Great Depression (time periods)
,what are Nonnormative life events ? - ANSWEREvents that are unique to the individual.
What three processes work together in someone's development? - ANSWERBiological Processes,
Cognitive Processes, Socioemotional processes.
What are the periods of development? - ANSWERPrenatal Period • Infancy • Early Childhood •
Middle and Late Childhood • Adolescence • Early Adulthood • Middle Adulthood • Late Adulthood
Continuity Development - ANSWERThe development is a gradual continuous process.
Ex.) an acorn growing into a tree.
What is Discontinuity in development? - ANSWERpeople pass through stages of life that are
qualitatively different from each other.
Ex.) a caterpillar turning into a butterfly
What are the two types of changes in human development? - ANSWERQuantitative, and Qualitative
what is quantitative development? - ANSWERweight, height and number of words.
what is qualitative development? - ANSWERProgressive continuous development that cannot be
defined by numerical growth.
Ex.) moving from a beginning reader to an emergent reader to a full reader.
Five aspects of development - ANSWER- Physical Development - Intellectual or Cognitive
Development - Personality Development - Social Development - Moral Development
What is Freud's theory? - ANSWERId, ego, and superego create personality - Defense mechanisms
and repression - Anxiety and defense mechanisms - Five stages of psychosexual development -
Criticisms: overemphasized sexual instincts, unconscious is more important today
Erikson's psychosocial theory - ANSWER- Primary motive for human behavior is social; desire to
affiliate with others - Developmental changes throughout life span - Experiences at all ages are
important - Criticisms: stages have positive/negative poles, crisis in each stage needs resolution
, Piaget's cognitive developmental theory - ANSWER- Children actively construct their knowledge -
Each of the four stages • Age-related • Has a distinct way of thinking • Has different way of
understanding the world • Child's cognition is "qualitatively" different
What are Piaget's Four Stages? - ANSWER1.) Sensorimotor Stage (Birth- 2 years old)
- The infant constructs an understanding of the world by coordinating sensory experiences with
physical actions.
2.) Preoperational Stage ( 2-7 years old)
- The child begins to represent the world with words and images. These words represent increased
symbolic thinking.
3.) Concrete Operational Stage (7-11)
- The child can now reason logically about concrete events and classify objects into different sets.
4.) Formal Operational Stage (11- adult hood)
- The adolescent reasons in more abstract, idealistic and logical ways.
Vygotsky's sociocultural cognitive theory - ANSWERChildren actively construct their knowledge -
Culture and social interaction guide cognitive development • Learning to use inventions of society •
Learning from social interactions with more skilled adults and peers • Interaction creates tools to
adapt to culture
What is the Human Genome Project? - ANSWERThe Human Genome Project (HGP) is an
international scientific research project with the goal of determining the sequence of chemical base
pairs which make up human DNA, and of identifying and mapping all of the genes of the human
genome from both a physical and a functional standpoint.
**Study of Genetics***
Single transmission versus multifactorial/polygenetic transmission - ANSWERpolygenic traits are
caused by more than one gene, and multifactorial traits are caused by one or more genes as well as
environmental influences.
Jean Piaget - ANSWERSwiss psychologist who studied the cognitive development of children. Taught
us how children learn and what they are capable of learning at what age.
**He is most famously known for his theory of cognitive development that looked at how children
develop intellectually throughout the course of childhood.
