Human development takes place within a changing social and physical world. This lesson introduces the contextual perspective and explains why development cannot be understood by looking at an individual in isolation.
A contextual perspective examines how development is shaped by the interaction of a person with the settings, relationships, institutions, and ideas around them. People are not passive recipients of environmental influence: they participate in and affect their surroundings as they grow.
All flashcards
Contextual perspective
An approach to development that considers interactions between a person and their surrounding settings and influences.
Ecological systems model
A framework for organizing connected environmental influences around a developing person.
Proximal influence
An influence close to a person that tends to affect them directly.
Cohort effect
The influence of shared experiences on people who were approximately the same age at the same time.
Generalizability
The extent to which research findings, methods, or theories apply beyond the people and settings studied.
Quiz questions
A caregiver's workplace changes their schedule, affecting the time they can spend at home with a child. Which ecological system includes the workplace?Answer: The exosystem, because it affects the child indirectly.
A parent and teacher discuss a child’s progress without the child present. Which ecological system does this interaction illustrate?Answer: The mesosystem, because it connects two parts of the child's microsystem.
Which ecological system includes broad cultural values, laws, political arrangements, and economic conditions?Answer: The macrosystem.
Which ecological system concerns historical and individual changes over time, including when events occur in a person's life?Answer: The chronosystem.
What concern does the term WEIRD highlight in psychological research?Answer: Research has often relied on Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic populations.
Based on Lifespan Development by Diana Riser, Rose Spielman, David Biek (OpenStax), licensed CC BY 4.0. Adapted into a summary, flashcards and quizzes.