Growth and Lifespan Development Flashcards

Which term describes the tendency for children raised in the same family to become increasingly different from one another due to unique experiences within the shared environment?

Answer: Nonshared environmental influence

Nonshared environmental influences are experiences unique to each child within the family (e.g., different peer groups, birth order effects) that make siblings different despite similar rearing.

A 4-year-old child insists that her stuffed bear wants a cookie because she herself is hungry. This best illustrates which Piagetian concept?

Answer: Egocentrism

Egocentrism in Piagetian theory is the inability to distinguish one's own perspective from others', leading the child to assume others share her feelings and needs.

Harlow's research with rhesus monkeys demonstrated that infant attachment is primarily driven by which factor?

Answer: Contact comfort and warmth

Harlow showed that infant monkeys preferred the cloth 'mother' for contact comfort over the wire 'mother' that provided food, demonstrating that attachment is not based solely on feeding.

According to Baltes's lifespan developmental psychology framework, which principle states that development involves both gains and losses throughout life, and no age period is exclusively positive or negative?

Answer: Multidirectionality

Multidirectionality means development involves gains and losses simultaneously across the lifespan, with different abilities showing different trajectories at different ages.

The concept of 'theory of mind' refers to which developmental achievement?

Answer: The ability to understand that others have beliefs, desires, and mental states different from one's own

Theory of mind is the capacity to attribute independent mental states (beliefs, desires, intentions) to others, typically emerging around age 4, assessed via false-belief tasks.

Which of the following best characterizes the concept of 'emerging adulthood' as defined by Jeffrey Arnett?

Answer: A distinct developmental period roughly ages 18-25 marked by identity exploration and instability before adult commitments

Arnett proposed emerging adulthood (roughly 18-25) as a distinct period in industrialized societies characterized by identity exploration, instability, self-focus, feeling in-between, and a sense of possibilities.

Selective optimization with compensation (SOC) is a lifespan developmental model associated with which theorist and primarily addresses which challenge?

Answer: Baltes; adapting to age-related losses by focusing on fewer goals with greater resources

Baltes's SOC model proposes that successful aging involves selecting fewer goals, optimizing available resources, and compensating for losses, allowing continued effective functioning despite decline.