Experiencing the Life Span: Ch. 1-15
COMPLETE FINAL GUIDE
Developmentalists
Researchers and practitioners whose professional interest lies in the study of the human
lifespan.
Lifespan development
The scientific field covering all of the human lifespan.
Child development
The scientific study of development from birth through adolescence.
Gerontology
The scientific study of the aging process and older adults.
Adult development
The scientific study of the adult part of life.
Normative transitions
Predictable life changes that occur during development.
Non-normative transitions
Unpredictable or atypical life changes that occur during development.
Contexts of development
Fundamental markers, including cohort, socioeconomic status, culture, and gender, that
shape how we develop throughout the lifespan.
Cohort
The age group with whom we travel through life.
,Baby boom cohort
The huge age group born between 1946 and 1964.
Emerging adulthood
The phase of life that begins after high school, tapers off toward the late twenties, and is
devoted to constructing an adult life.
Average life expectancy
A person's fifty-fifty chance at birth of living to a given age.
Twentieth-century life expectancy revolution
The dramatic increase in average life expectancy that occurred during the first half of the
twentieth century in the developed world.
Maximum lifespan
The biological limit of human life (about 105 years).
Young-old
People in their sixties and seventies.
Old-old
people age 80 and older.
Great Recession of 2008
Dramatic loss of jobs (and consumer spending) that began with the bursting of the U.S.
housing bubble in the late 2007.
Income inequality
The gap between the rich and poor within a nation. Specifically, when income inequality
is wide, a nation has a few very affluent residents and a mass of disadvantaged citizens.
Socioeconomic status (SES)
A basic marker referring to status on the educational and especially income rungs.
,Developed World
The most affluent countries in the world.
Developing World
The more impoverished countries of the world.
Collectivist Cultures
Societies that prize social harmony, obedience, and social obedience and close family
connections over individual achievement.
Theory
Any perspective explaining why people act the way they do. Theories allow us to predict
behavior and also suggest how to intervene to improve behavior.
Nature
Biological or genetic causes of development.
Nurture
Environmental causes of development.
Traditional Behaviorism
The original behavior worldview that focused on charting and modifying only "objective,"
visible behaviors.
Operant Conditioning
According to the traditional behavioral perspective, the law of learning that determines
any voluntary response. Specifically, we act the way we do because we are reinforced for
acting in that way.
Reinforcement
Behavioral term for reward.
Individualistic cultures
Societies that prize individualism, compatition and personal success.
, Cognitive behaviorism (social learning theory)
A behavioral world view that emphasizes that people learn by watching others and that
our thoughts about the reinforces determine our behavior. Cognitive behaviorist focus on
charting and modifying peoples thoughts.
Modeling
Learning by watching and intimiang others.
Self-efficiency
Cognitive behaviorism theory, an internal belief in our confidence that predicts weather
we initiate activates or persist in that face of failure, and predicts that goals that we set.
Attachment theory
John Bowlby centering on the crucial importance of our species survival of being closely
connected with our caregiver during the early childhood and then a significant other for
the other portion of our lives.
Evolutionary psychology
Theory highlighting the role that inborn, specific human tendencies play in human
development and life.
Behavioral genetics
Field devoted to scientifically determining the role that heredity forces play in
determining the individual differences in behavior.
Twin study
Behavioral genetic research strategy, determine genetic contribution of any given trait,
involves comparing identical twins with fraternal twins.
Adoption study
Behavioral genetic research study, designed to determine the genetic contribution given
to a given trait. Involves comparing adopted children to adopted parents v.s. biological
ones.
Twin/Adoption study
COMPLETE FINAL GUIDE
Developmentalists
Researchers and practitioners whose professional interest lies in the study of the human
lifespan.
Lifespan development
The scientific field covering all of the human lifespan.
Child development
The scientific study of development from birth through adolescence.
Gerontology
The scientific study of the aging process and older adults.
Adult development
The scientific study of the adult part of life.
Normative transitions
Predictable life changes that occur during development.
Non-normative transitions
Unpredictable or atypical life changes that occur during development.
Contexts of development
Fundamental markers, including cohort, socioeconomic status, culture, and gender, that
shape how we develop throughout the lifespan.
Cohort
The age group with whom we travel through life.
,Baby boom cohort
The huge age group born between 1946 and 1964.
Emerging adulthood
The phase of life that begins after high school, tapers off toward the late twenties, and is
devoted to constructing an adult life.
Average life expectancy
A person's fifty-fifty chance at birth of living to a given age.
Twentieth-century life expectancy revolution
The dramatic increase in average life expectancy that occurred during the first half of the
twentieth century in the developed world.
Maximum lifespan
The biological limit of human life (about 105 years).
Young-old
People in their sixties and seventies.
Old-old
people age 80 and older.
Great Recession of 2008
Dramatic loss of jobs (and consumer spending) that began with the bursting of the U.S.
housing bubble in the late 2007.
Income inequality
The gap between the rich and poor within a nation. Specifically, when income inequality
is wide, a nation has a few very affluent residents and a mass of disadvantaged citizens.
Socioeconomic status (SES)
A basic marker referring to status on the educational and especially income rungs.
,Developed World
The most affluent countries in the world.
Developing World
The more impoverished countries of the world.
Collectivist Cultures
Societies that prize social harmony, obedience, and social obedience and close family
connections over individual achievement.
Theory
Any perspective explaining why people act the way they do. Theories allow us to predict
behavior and also suggest how to intervene to improve behavior.
Nature
Biological or genetic causes of development.
Nurture
Environmental causes of development.
Traditional Behaviorism
The original behavior worldview that focused on charting and modifying only "objective,"
visible behaviors.
Operant Conditioning
According to the traditional behavioral perspective, the law of learning that determines
any voluntary response. Specifically, we act the way we do because we are reinforced for
acting in that way.
Reinforcement
Behavioral term for reward.
Individualistic cultures
Societies that prize individualism, compatition and personal success.
, Cognitive behaviorism (social learning theory)
A behavioral world view that emphasizes that people learn by watching others and that
our thoughts about the reinforces determine our behavior. Cognitive behaviorist focus on
charting and modifying peoples thoughts.
Modeling
Learning by watching and intimiang others.
Self-efficiency
Cognitive behaviorism theory, an internal belief in our confidence that predicts weather
we initiate activates or persist in that face of failure, and predicts that goals that we set.
Attachment theory
John Bowlby centering on the crucial importance of our species survival of being closely
connected with our caregiver during the early childhood and then a significant other for
the other portion of our lives.
Evolutionary psychology
Theory highlighting the role that inborn, specific human tendencies play in human
development and life.
Behavioral genetics
Field devoted to scientifically determining the role that heredity forces play in
determining the individual differences in behavior.
Twin study
Behavioral genetic research strategy, determine genetic contribution of any given trait,
involves comparing identical twins with fraternal twins.
Adoption study
Behavioral genetic research study, designed to determine the genetic contribution given
to a given trait. Involves comparing adopted children to adopted parents v.s. biological
ones.
Twin/Adoption study
