CAS PS 101 Chapter Notes - Chapter Module 4: Tabula Rasa, Eyelid, Universal Grammar

• School: Boston University
• Department: Psychological & Brain Sciences
• Course: CAS PS 101
• Professor: Martha Tompson

Document Summary

Nature: our genetic endowment is what makes us who we are. Nurture: john locke said that a baby is a blank slate, shaped by experiences. Interaction: genetics and experience interact to form our behaviors and abilities. Developmental psychologists believe the only important difference between young and old people is experience and maturity - development is seen as a discontinuous process occurring in stages. Critical periods: periods in the developmental sequence during which an organism must experience certain social or sensory experiences for normal development to take place. Imprinting: process by which certain infant animals (like duckings) learn to follow or approach the first moving object they see. Cross-sectional design: research design in which groups of subjects of different ages are assessed and compared at one point in time, so researchers can draw conclusions about behavior differences that may be related to age differences.