Ap Psychology: Unit 3, Developing Through The Life Span

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

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developmental psychology

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

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zygote

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

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embryo

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the developing human organism from 9 weeks after conception to birth

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fetus

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

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teratogens

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physical and cognitive abnormalities in children caused by a pregnant woman's heavy drinking. In several cases, symptoms include noticeable facial misproportions.

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Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS)

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A baby's tendency, when touched on the cheeck, to turn toward the touch, open the mouth, and search for the nipple

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rooting reflex

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Decreasing resonsiveness with repeated stimulation. As infants gain familiarity with repeated exposure to visual stimulus, their interest wanes and they look away sooner.

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habituation

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biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in bahvior, relatively uninfluenced by experience

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maturation

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a concept or framework that organizes and interprets information

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schema

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interpreting one's new experience in terms of one's exitging schemas

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assimilation

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adapting one's current understandings (schemas) to incorporate new information

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accomodation

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

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cognition

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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

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sensorimotor

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the awareness that things continue to exist when not perceived

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object permanence

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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 operationsof concrete logic

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preoperational stage

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

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conservation

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in Piaget's theory, the preoperational child's difficulty taking another's point of view

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egocentrism

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people's ideas about their own and others' mental states--about their feelings, perceptions, and thoughts and the behavior these might predict

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theory of mind

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a disorder that apperas in childhood and is marked by deficient communitcation, social interaction, and understanding of others' states of mind

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autism

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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

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concrete operational stage

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

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formal operational stage

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the fear of strangers that infacts commonly display, beginning by about 8 months of age

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stranger anxiety

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an emotional tie with another person; shown in young children by their seeking closeness to the caregiver and showing distress on separation

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attachment

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

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critical period

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the process by which certain animals form attachments during a critical period very earlin in life

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imprinting

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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

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basic trust

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a sense of one's identity and personal worth

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self-concept

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

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adolescence

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

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puberty

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the body structures (ovaries, testes, and external genitalia) that make sexual reproduction possible

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primary sex characteristics

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

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secondary sex characteristics

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the first menstrual period

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menarche

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one's sense of self; according to Erikson, the adolescent's task is to solidify a sense of self by testing and integrating various roles

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identity

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

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intimacy

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the time of natural cessationg of mestruation; also refers to the biological changes a woman experiences as her ability to reproduce declines

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menopause

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

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Alzheimer's disease

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

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cross-sectional study

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research in which the same people are restudied and retested over a long period

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longitudal study

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one's accumulated knowledge and verbal skills; tends to increase with age

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crystallized intelligence

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one's ability to reason speedily and abstractly; tens to decrease during late adulthood

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fluid intelligence

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

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social clock