| accommodation | Piaget's term for changes in a cognitive structure to include new information. 33
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| adaptation | Piaget's term for adjustment to new information about the environment. 33
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| assimilation | Piaget's term for incorporation of new information into an existing cognitive structure. 33
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| behaviorism | Learning theory that emphasizes the predictable role of environment in causing observable behavior. 29
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| bioecological theory | Bronfenbrenner's approach to understanding processes and contexts of child development that identifies five levels of environmental influence. 35
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| case study | Study of a single subject, such as an individual or family. 43
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| chronosystem | Bronfenbrenner's term for effects of time on other developmental systems. 36
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| classical conditioning | Learning based on association of a stimulus that does not ordinarily elicit a particular response with another stimulus that does elicit the response. 30, 169
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| cognitive neuroscience | Study of links between neural processes and cognitive abilities. 42
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| cognitive perspective | Perspective that looks at the development of mental processes such as thinking. 32
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| cognitive-stage theory | Piaget's theory that children's cognitive development advances in a series of four stages involving qualitatively distinct types of mental operations. 32
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| contextual perspective | View of child development that sees the individual as inseparable from the social context. 35
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| control group | In an experiment, a group of people, similar to those in the experimental group, who do not receive the treatment under study. 46
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| correlational study | Research design intended to discover whether a statistical relationship between variables exists. 44
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| cross-sectional study | Study designed to assess age-related differences, in which people of different ages are assessed on one occasion. 48
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| dependent variable | In an experiment, the condition that may or may not change as a result of changes in the independent variable. 46
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| equilibration | Piaget's term for the tendency to seek a stable balance among cognitive elements; achieved through a balance between assimilation and accommodation. 33
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| ethnographic study | In-depth study of a culture, which uses a combination of methods including participant observation. 44
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| ethology | Study of distinctive adaptive behaviors of species of animals that have evolved to increase survival of the species. 36
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| evolutionary psychology | Application of Darwinian principles of natural selection and survival of the fittest to human psychology. 37
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| evolutionary/sociobiological perspective | View of human development that focuses on evolutionary and biological bases of social behavior. 36
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| exosystem | Bronfenbrenner's term for linkages between two or more settings, one of which does not contain the child. 36
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| experiment | Rigorously controlled, replicable procedure in which the researcher manipulates variables to assess the effect of one on the other. 46
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| experimental group | In an experiment, the group receiving the treatment under study. 46
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| hypotheses | Possible explanations for phenomena, used to predict the outcome of research. 24
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| independent variable | In an experiment, the condition over which the experimenter has direct control. 46
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| information-processing approach | Approach to the study of cognitive development by observing and analyzing the mental processes involved in perceiving and handling information. 34, 169
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| laboratory observation | Research method in which all participants are observed under the same controlled conditions. 41
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| learning perspective | View of human development that holds that changes in behavior result from experience. 29
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| longitudinal study | Study designed to assess changes in a sample over time. 48
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| macrosystem | Bronfenbrenner's term for a society's overall cultural patterns, including values, customs, and social systems. 36
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| mechanistic model | Model that views human development as a series of predictable responses to stimuli. 25
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| mesosystem | Bronfenbrenner's term for linkages between two or more microsystems. 36
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| microsystem | Bronfenbrenner's term for a setting in which a child interacts with others on an everyday, face-to-face basis. 36
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| naturalistic observation | Research method in which behavior is studied in natural settings without intervention or manipulation. 41
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| observational learning | Learning through watching the behavior of others. 32
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| operant conditioning | Learning based on association of behavior with its consequences. 31, 169
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| operational definition | Definition stated solely in terms of the operations or procedures used to produce or measure a phenomenon. 42
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| organismic model | Model that views human development as internally initiated by an active organism, and as occurring in a sequence of qualitatively different stages. 25
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| organization | Piaget's term for the creation of categories or systems of knowledge; Mnemonic strategy of categorizing material to be remembered. 33, 343
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| participant observation | Research method in which the observer lives with the people or participates in the activity being observed. 44
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| psychoanalytic perspective | View of human development as being shaped by unconscious forces. 27
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| psychosexual development | In Freudian theory, an unvarying sequence of stages of personality development during infancy, childhood, and adolescence, in which gratification shifts from the mouth to the anus and then to the genitals. 27
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| psychosocial development | (1) Pattern of change in emotions, personality, and social relationships; (2) In Erikson's eight-stage theory, the socially and culturally infl uenced process of development of the ego, or self. 8, 28
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| punishment | In operant conditioning, a process that decreases the likelihood that a behavior will be repeated. 31
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| qualitative change | Change in kind, structure, or organization, such as the change from nonverbal to verbal communication. 26
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| qualitative research | Research that involves the interpretation of nonnumerical data, such as subjective experiences, feelings, or beliefs. 39
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| quantitative change | Change in number or amount, such as in height, weight, or size of vocabulary. 26
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| quantitative research | Research that deals with objectively measurable data. 38
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| random assignment | Assignment of participants in an experiment to groups in such a way that each person has an equal chance of being placed in any group. 47
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| random selection | Selection of a sample in such a way that each person in a population has an equal and independent chance of being chosen. 39
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| reciprocal determinism | Bandura's term for bidirectional forces that affect development. 31
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| reinforcement | In operant conditioning, a process that increases the likelihood that a behavior will be repeated. 31
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| sample | Group of participants chosen to represent the entire population under study. 39
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| scaffolding | Temporary support to help a child master a task. 34, 270
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| schemes | Piaget's term for organized patterns of thought and behavior used in particular situations. 33, 173
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| scientific method | System of established principles and processes of scientific inquiry, which includes identifying a problem to be studied, formulating a hypothesis to be tested by research, collecting data, analyzing the data, forming tentative conclusions, and disseminating findings. 39
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| self-efficacy | Sense of one's capability to master challenges and achieve goals. 32
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| sequential study | Study design that combines cross-sectional and longitudinal techniques. 49
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| social learning theory | Theory that behaviors also are learned by observing and imitating models. Also called social cognitive theory. 31
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| sociocultural theory | Vygotsky's theory of how contextual factors affect children's development. 33
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| theory | Coherent set of logically related concepts that seeks to organize, explain, and predict data. 24
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| zone of proximal development (ZPD) | Vygotsky's term for the difference between what a child can do alone and what the child can do with help. 34, 270
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