CHAPTER 1 GLOSSARY influenced by particular cultural and

historical conditions. Results based on

1. APPLIED BEHAVIOR ANALYSIS (P.
one cohort may not apply to children
18) consists of observations of
developing at other times.
relationships between behavior and
environmental events, followed by
9. CONTEXTS (P. 8) unique combinations
systematic changes in those events
of personal and environmental
based on procedures of conditioning
circumstances that can result in
and modeling. The goal is to eliminate
different paths of change.
undesirable behaviors and increase
10. CONTINUOUS DEVELOPMENT (P. 8)
desirable responses.
a process of gradually adding more of
2. BEHAVIORISM (P. 17) behaviorism,
the same types of skills that were there
directly observable events—stimuli and
to begin with
responses—are the appropriate focus
11. CORRELATIONAL DESIGN (P. 38)
of study.
researchers gather information on
3. CHILD DEVELOPMENT (P. 4) child
individuals, generally in natural life
development, an area of study devoted
circumstances, and make no effort to
to understanding constancy and change
alter their experiences. Then they look
from conception through adolescence.
at relationships between participants’
4. CHRONOSYSTEM (P. 29)
characteristics and their behavior or
chronosystem (the pre- fix chrono-
development
means “time”). Life changes can be
12. CORRELATION COEFFICIENT (P. 38)
imposed on the child, as in the
—a number that describes how two
examples just given. Alternatively, they
measures, or variables, are associated
can arise from within the child, since as
with one another.
children get older they select, modify,
13. CROSS-SECTIONAL DESIGN (P. 42)
and create many of their own settings
groups of people differing in age are
and experiences.
studied at the same point in time.
5. CLINICAL INTERVIEW (P. 34) clinical
14. DEPENDENT VARIABLE (P. 38)
interview, a flexible, conversational
investigator expects to be influenced by
style is used to probe for the
the independent variable
participant’s point of view.
15. DEVELOPMENTAL COGNITIVE
6. CLINICAL, OR CASE STUDY,
NEUROSCIENCE (P. 23) It brings
METHOD (P. 35) the clinical, or case
together researchers from psychology,
study, method brings together a wide
biology, neuroscience, and medicine to
range of information on one child,
study the relationship between changes
including interviews, observations, and
in the brain and the developing child’s
sometimes test scores.
cognitive processing and behavior
7. COGNITIVE-DEVELOPMENTAL
patterns
THEORY (P. 19) children actively
construct knowledge as they
manipulate and explore their world
8. COHORT EFFECTS (P. 41) The most
widely discussed threat to the accuracy
of longitudinal findings is cultural–
historical change, commonly called
cohort effects. Longitudinal studies
examine the development of cohorts—
children born at the same time, who are

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