Chapter 4

Front 1

Developmental psychology

Back 1

a branch of psychology that studies physical,
cognitive, and social changes throughout the human lifespan.
Examines how people are continually developing, from infancy through old age.

Front 2

Nature/nurture

Back 2

How much do genetic inheritance (nature) and experience (nurture) influence our development?

Front 3

Continuity/stages

Back 3

Is development a gradual, continuous process like riding an escalator, or does it proceed through a sequence of separate stages, like climbing rungs on a ladder?

Front 4

Stability/change

Back 4

Do our early personality traits persist through life, or do we become different persons as we age?

Front 5

Zygote

Back 5

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

Front 6

Embryo

Back 6

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

Front 7

Fetus

Back 7

the developing human organism from 9 weeks after conception to birth.

Front 8

Teratogens

Back 8

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

Front 9

Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS)

Back 9

physical and cognitive abnormalities in children
caused by a pregnant women’s heavy drinking. In severe cases, symptoms
include noticeable facial misproportions. Marked by misproportioned head
and mental abnormalities. FAS is the leading cause of mental retardation.

Front 10

Rooting reflex

Back 10

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

Front 11

Habituation

Back 11

decreasing responsiveness with repeated stimulation. As infants
gain familiarity with repeated exposure to a visual stimulus, their interest
wanes and they look away sooner. A novel stimulus gets attention when
first presented. But the more it is presented, the weaker the response becomes, seeming boredom with familiar stimuli.

Front 12

Maturation

Back 12

biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in behavior, relatively uninfluenced by experience.
Sets the course of development, experience adjusts it.

Front 13

Schema

Back 13

a concept or framework that organizes and interprets information. Pliable mental molds into which we pour our experience.

Front 14

Assimilation

Back 14

interpreting one’s new experience in terms of one’s existing schemas(understandings).

Front 15

Accommodation

Back 15

adjust / adapting one’s current understandings (schemas) to incorporate new information.

Front 16

Cognition

Back 16

refers to all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, and
Remembering and communicating.

Front 17

Sensorimotor stage

Back 17

in Piaget’s theory, the stage (from birth to about 2 yrs old) during which the infants know the world mostly in terms of their sensory impressions and motor activities/interactions with objects – through looking,
hearing, touching, mouthing, and grasping.

Front 18

Object permanence

Back 18

the awareness that things continue to exist even when not Perceived.

Front 19

Preoperational stage

Back 19

– in Piaget’s theory, the stage (from 2 to 6 or 7) during which a child learns to use language but does not yet comprehend the mental operations of concrete logic. Too young to perform mental operations.

Front 20

Conservation

Back 20

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

Front 21

Egocentrism

Back 21

in Piaget’s theory, the inability of the preoperational child to
take another’s point of view.
Cannot perceive things from another’s point of view.

Front 22

Theory of mind

Back 22

people’s ideas about their own and others’ mental states – about
their feelings, perceptions, and thoughts and the behavior these might predict.
Rather than think of people as breathing wind-up dolls, they come to realize that
people have minds.

Front 23

Autism

Back 23

a disorder characterized by deficient communication and social interaction,
is marked by an impaired theory of mind.

Front 24

Concrete operational stage

Back 24

in Piaget’s theory, the stage of cognitive development
(from 6 to 11) during which children fain the mental operations that enable
them to think logically about concrete events.Given concrete materials, they begin to grasp that change in shape does not mean
change in quantity.

Front 25

Formal operational stage

Back 25

in Piaget’s theory, the stage of cognitive development (normally beginning about age 12) during which people begin to think logically about abstract concepts. Systematic reasoning, capable of solving hypothetical propositions and
deducing consequences.

Front 26

Stranger anxiety

Back 26

the fear of strangers that infants commonly display.

Front 27

Attachment

Back 27

an emotional tie with another person, shown in young children by seeking closeness to the caregiver and showing distress on separation.
Infant-parent bond, survival impulse that keeps infants close to their caregivers.

Front 28

Critical period

Back 28

an optimal period shortly after birth when an organism’s exposure to certain stimuli or experiences produces proper development. When ceratin events must take place to facilitate proper development.

Front 29

Imprinting

Back 29

the process by which certain animals form attachments during a critical period very early in life. (attachment process)

Front 30

Secure attachment

Back 30

in their mother’s presence they play comfortably, happily exploring their new environment. When she leaves, they are distressed; when
she returns, they seek contact with her.

Front 31

Insecure attachment

Back 31

they are less likely to explore their surroundings, they may cling to their mother. When she leaves, they either cry loudly and remain upset or
seem indifferent to their mother’s going and returning.

Front 32

Basic Trust

Back 32

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.
Said that securely attached children approach life with a sense of basic trust – a sense that the world is predictable and reliable.

Front 33

Self-concept

Back 33

a sense of one’s identity and person worth. Develops by the end of childhood about 12 yrs.

Front 34

Parenting Styles: Authoritarian

Back 34

parents impose rules and expect obedience. “Don’t interrupt.” “Do Keep your room clean.” “Don’t stay out late or you’ll be grounded.”
“Why? Because I said so.”

Front 35

Parenting Styles:Permissive

Back 35

parents submit to their children’s desires, make few demands, and use little punishment.

Front 36

Parenting Styles:Authoritative

Back 36

parents are both demanding and responsive. They exert control not only by setting rules and enforcing them but also by explaining the reasons and, especially with older children, encouraging open discussion and allowing exceptions when making the rules.

Front 37

Adolescence

Back 37

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

Front 38

Puberty

Back 38

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

Front 39

Primary sex characteristics

Back 39

the body structures (ovaries, testes, and external
genitalia) that makes sexual reproduction possible. Develop dramatically.