Deck 2: Concepts and Theories of Human Development

Question 1

According to Lerner, Lewin-Bizan, and Warren, what two characteristics distinguish development and change?

Answer 1

Although both development and change may have a systematic, organized character, development involves organized change that is also successive in character.

Question 2

As conceptual splits, what is the difference between continuity-discontinuity and stability-instability?

Answer 2

Behaviors that are represented in the same way at different points in the life span reflect continuity, whereas behaviors that cannot be represented in the same way reflect discontinuity. Instability refers to changes in a person's position relative to his or her reference group with development, whereas a lack of change refers to stability. The former involves making intraindividual comparisons over time and the latter involves making both intraindividual and interindividual comparisons over time.

Question 3

Which of the following is NOT a conceptual split characterizing traditional developmental theories?

A) Brain and behavior
B) Nature and nurture
C) Basic science and application
D) Stability and change

Answer 3

Brain and behavior

Question 4

The primary unit of analysis for developmental systems theories is typically:

A) Relational
B) Individual
C) Biological
D) Historical

Question 5

Explanations of discontinuity in development involves:

A) Either quantitative or qualitative change
B) Quantitative change
C) Qualitative change
D) Comparing qualitative and quantitative change

Question 6

According to Lerner, Lewin-Bizan, and Warren, _____ represents the broadest level of the person-context system encompassing all other levels of organization in human development:

A) History
B) Biology
C) Culture
D) Evolution

Question 7

Who among the following developmental systems theorists is most closely identified with a conceptual approach that stresses individual development from conception to old age?

A) Paul Baltes
B) Richard Lerner
C) Esther Thelen
D) Urie Bronfenbrenner

Question 8

Which of the following is NOT a central feature of life-course theory of human development?

A) Social reciprocity
B) Age-related role transitions
C) Intergenerational linkages
D) Generational or birth cohort differences

Question 9

Which of the following developmental systems theories stresses the dynamic regulation of person-context relations?

A) Jochen Brandtstädter's Action Theory
B) Paul Baltes' Life-Span Theory
C) Urie Bronfenbrenner's Bioecological Theory
D) Glen Elder's Life-Course Theory

Question 10

Who among the following developmental systems theorists is most closely identified with a conceptual approach that emphasizes multiple levels of context that influence individual development?

A) Urie Bronfenbrenner
B) Paul Baltes
C) Richard Lerner
D) Esther Thelen

Question 11

Which of the following developmental systems theories is most closely identified with a conceptual approach that combines ideas from biology, psychology, physics, and mathematics?

A) Esther Thelen and Linda Smith's Dynamic Systems Theory
B) Jochen Brandtstädter's Action Theory
C) Paul Baltes' Life-Span Theory
D) Urie Bronfenbrenner's Bioecological Theory

Question 12

By emphasizing a person-centered view of development, David Magnusson's Holistic Person-Context Interaction Theory challenges conventional approaches to human development that:

A) Rely on the operationalization and measurement of discrete variables
B) Seek to combine biological and social contexts for development
C) Stress continuity over discontinuity in developmental processes
D) Argue for the fundamental role of context in human development

Question 13

Compare and contrast the role of relationism in two of the developmental systems theories discussed by Lerner, Lewin-Bizan, and Warren.