This chapter outlines the key learning goals and terms related to studying life-span development from a distinctive perspective. The four main goals are to: 1) discuss the life-span perspective and its characteristics; 2) identify important developmental processes, periods, and issues; 3) describe major theories of human development; and 4) explain how research in this field is conducted. Key terms defined include concepts like development, culture, theories, and research methods.

1. Chapter One
Learning Goals
1. Discuss the distinctive features of a life-span perspective on development.
• What is meant by the concept of development?
• Why is the study of life-span development important?
• What are the eight main characteristics of the life-span perspective?
• What are three sources of contextual characteristic?
• What are some contemporary concerns in life-span development?
2. Identify the most important processes, periods, and issues in development.
• What are the three key developmental processes?
• What are eight main developmental periods?
• How is age related to development?
• What are three main developmental issues?
3. Describe the main theories of human development.
• How can theory and hypotheses be defined?
• What are two main psychoanalytic theories?
• What are some contributions and criticisms of the psychoanalytic theories?
• What are three main cognitive theories?
• What are the contributions and criticisms of the cognitive theories?
• What are three main behavioral and social cognitive theories, and how can they be characterized?
• What are the contributions and criticisms of the behavioral and social cognitive theories?
• What is the nature of the ethological theory?
• What are some contributions and criticisms of the theory?
• What characterizes ecological theory?
• What are some contributions and criticisms of the theory?
• What is an eclectic theoretical orientation?
4. Explain how research on life-span development is conducted.
• What methods do researchers use to collect data on life-span development?
• What research designs are used to study human development?
• How is research conducted on the time span of people’s lives?
• What characterizes research journals?
• What are researchers’ ethical responsibilities to the people they study?
• How can gender, cultural, and ethnic bias affect the outcome of a research study?
Key Terms
Development Nature-nurture issue Laboratory
Life-span perspective Stability-change issue Naturalistic observation
Normative age-graded influences Continuity-discontinuity issue Standardized test

2. Normative history-graded Theory Case study
influences
Nonnormative life events Hypotheses Descriptive research
Culture Psychoanalytic theories Correlational research
Cross-cultural studies Erikson’s theory Correlation coefficient
Ethnicity Piaget’s theory Experiment
Socioeconomic status (SES) Vygotsky’s theory Cross-sectional approach
Gender Information-processing theory Longitudinal approach
Social policy Social cognitive theory Cohort effects
Biological processes Ethology Ethnic gloss