Ap Psychology Ch. 3

Front 1

Developmental psychology

Back 1

A branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive, and social change throughout

Front 2

X chromosome

Back 2

The sex chromosome found in both men and women

Front 3

Y chromosome

Back 3

The sex chromosome found only in males.

Front 4

Testosterone

Back 4

The most important of the male sex hormones. Both male and females have it

Front 5

Gender

Back 5

In psychology, the characteristics, whether biologically or social influenced, by which people define male and female

Front 6

Zygote

Back 6

The fertilized egg; it enters a 2-week period of rapid cell division and develops into an embryo

Front 7

Embryo

Back 7

The developing human organism from about 2 weeks after fertilization through the second month

Front 8

Fetus

Back 8

The developing human organism from 9 weeks after conception to birth

Front 9

Teratogens

Back 9

Agents, such as chemicals and viruses, that can reach the embryo or fetus during prenatal development and cause harm

Front 10

Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS)

Back 10

Physical and cognitive abnormalities in children caused by a pregnant woman’s heavy drinking

Front 11

Rooting reflex

Back 11

A baby’s tendency, when touched on the cheek, to open the mouth and search for the nipple

Front 12

Maturation

Back 12

Biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in behavior, relatively uninfluenced by experience

Front 13

Cognition

Back 13

All the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating

Front 14

Sensorimotor stage

Back 14

In Piaget’s theory, the stage (from birth to about 2 years of age) during which infants know the world mostly in terms of their sensory impressions and motor activities

Front 15

Object permanence

Back 15

The awareness that things continue to exist even when not perceived

Front 16

Preoperational stage

Back 16

In Piaget’s theory, the stage (from about 2 to 6 or 7 years of age) during which a child learns to use language but does not yet comprehend the mental operations of concrete logic

Front 17

Conservation

Back 17

The principle (which Piaget believed to be a part of concrete operational reasoning) that properties such as mass, volume, and number remain the same despite changes in the forms of objects

Front 18

Egocentrism

Back 18

In Piaget’s theory, the inability of the preoperational child to take another’s point of view

Front 19

Concrete operational stage

Back 19

In Piaget’s theory, the stage of cognitive development (from about 6 or 7 to 11 years of age) during which children gain the mental operations that enable them to think logically about concrete events

Front 20

Formal operational stage

Back 20

In Piaget’s theory, the stage of cognitive development (normally beginning about age 12) during which people begin to think logically about abstract concepts

Front 21

Stranger anxiety

Back 21

The fear of strangers that infants commonly display, beginning by about 8 months of age.

Front 22

Attachment

Back 22

An emotional tie with another person

Front 23

Critical period

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An optimal period shortly after birth when an organism’s exposure to certain stimuli or experiences produces proper development

Front 24

Imprinting

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The process by which certain animals form attachments during a critical period very early in life

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Temperament

Back 25

A person’s characteristic emotional reactivity and intensity

Front 26

Basic trust

Back 26

According to Erik Erikson, a sense that the world is predictable and trustworthy; said to be formed during infancy by appropriate experiences with responsive caregivers

Front 27

Gender identity

Back 27

One’s sense of being male or female

Front 28

Gender-typing

Back 28

The acquisition of a traditional masculine or feminine role

Front 29

Social learning theory

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The theory that we learn social behavior by observing and imitating and by being rewarded or punished

Front 30

Gender schema theory

Back 30

The theory that children learn from their cultures a concept of what it means to be male and female and that they adjust their behavior accordingly

Front 31

Adolescence

Back 31

The transition period from childhood to adulthood, extending from puberty to independence

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Puberty

Back 32

The period of sexual maturation, during which a person becomes capable of reproducing

Front 33

Primary sex characteristics

Back 33

The body structures that make sexual reproduction possible

Front 34

Secondary sex characteristics

Back 34

Nonreproductive sexual characteristics, such as female breasts and hips, male voice quality, and body hair

Front 35

Menarche

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The first menstrual period

Front 36

Identity

Back 36

One’s sense of self

Front 37

Intimacy

Back 37

In Erikson’s theory, the ability to form close, loving relationships; a primary development task in late adolescence and early adulthood

Front 38

Menopause

Back 38

The time of natural cessation of menstruation; also refers to the biological changes a woman experiences as her ability to reproduce declines

Front 39

Alzheimer’s disease

Back 39

A progressive and irreversible brain disorder characterized by gradual deterioration of memory, reasoning, language, and, finally, physical functioning

Front 40

Cross-sectional study

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A study in which people of different ages are compared with one another

Front 41

Longitudinal study

Back 41

Research in which the same people are restudies and retested over a long period

Front 42

Crystallized intelligence

Back 42

One’s accumulated knowledge and verbal skills; tends to increase with age

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Fluid intelligence

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One’s ability to reason speedily and abstractly; tends to decrease during late adulthood

Front 44

Social clock

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The culturally preferred timing of social events such as marriage, parenthood, and retirement