Chapter 4

Front 1

Developmental Psychology

Back 1

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

Front 2

Zygote

Back 2

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

Front 3

Embryo

Back 3

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

Front 4

Fetus

Back 4

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

Front 5

Teratogens

Back 5

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

Front 6

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS)

Back 6

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

Front 7

Habituation

Back 7

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

Front 8

Maturation

Back 8

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

Front 9

Critical Period

Back 9

An optimal period early in the life of an organism when exposure to certain stimuli or experiences produces normal development.

Front 10

Cognition

Back 10

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

Front 11

Schema

Back 11

A concept or framework that organizes and interprets information.

Front 12

Assimilation

Back 12

Interpreting our new experiences in terms of our existing schemas.

Front 13

Accommodation

Back 13

1) In developmental psychology, adapting our current understandings (schemas) to incorporate new information. 2) In sensation and perception, the process by which the eye's lens changes shape to focus near or far objects on the retina.

Front 14

Sensorimotor State

Back 14

In Piaget's theory, the stage (from birth to about 2 years old) 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 about 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 the concrete operational reasoning) that properties such as mass, volume, and number remain the same despite changes in the forms of objects.

Front 18

Egocentric

Back 18

Piaget contended that preschool children have difficulty perceiving things from another's point of view.

Front 19

Theory of Mind

Back 19

People's ideas about their own and others' mental states-about their feelings, perceptions, and thoughts, and the behaviors these might predict.

Front 20

Concrete Operational Stage

Back 20

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

Front 21

Formal Operational Stage

Back 21

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 22

Stranger Anxiety

Back 22

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

Front 23

Attachment

Back 23

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

Front 24

Imprinting

Back 24

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

Front 25

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

Adolescence

Back 27

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

Front 28

Puberty

Back 28

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

Front 29

Preconventional Morality

Back 29

First stage of Kohlberg's levels of morality, found in children before age 9. Self-interest; obey the rules to avoid punishment or gain concrete rewards.

Front 30

Conventional Morality

Back 30

Kohlberg's second stage of morality, found in early adolescents. They uphold the laws and rules to gain social approval or maintain social order.

Front 31

Postconventional Morality

Back 31

Kohlberg's final stage of moral thinking, found in late adolescents and beyond. Actions reflect belief in basic rights and self-defined ethical principles.

Front 32

Identity

Back 32

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

Front 33

Social Identity

Back 33

The "we" aspect of our self-concept; the part of our answer to "Who am I?" that comes from our group memberships.

Front 34

Intimacy

Back 34

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

Front 35

Emerging Adulthood

Back 35

For some people in modern cultures, a period from the late teens to mid-twenties, bridging the gap between adolescent dependence and full independence and responsible adulthood.

Front 36

Cross-Sectional Study

Back 36

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

Front 37

Longitudinal Studies

Back 37

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