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34 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
Developmental psychology |
A branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive, and social change throughout the life span |
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Zygote |
The fertilized egg; it enters a 2 week period of rapid cell division and develops into an embryo |
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Embryo |
The developing human organism from about 2 weeks after fertilization through the second month |
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Fetus |
The developing human organism from 9 weeks to birth |
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Teratogens |
Agents, such as chemicals and viruses, that can reach the embryo or fetus during prenatal development and cause harm |
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Fetal alcohol syndrome |
Physical and cognitive abnormalities in children caused by pregnant women's heavy drinking in severe cases, symptoms include noticeable facial misproportions |
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Rooting reflex |
A baby's tendency, when touched on the cheek to open the mouth and search for the nipple |
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Maturation |
Biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in behavior, relatively uninfluenced by experience |
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Schema |
A concept or frame work that organizes and interprets information |
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Assimilation |
Interpreting ones new experience in terms of one's existing schema |
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Accommodation |
Adapting ones current understanding to incorporate new information |
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Cognition |
All of the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating |
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Sensorimotor stage |
In piagets theory the stage from birth to 2 years where infants know the world mostly in terms of their sensory impressions and motor activities |
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Object permanence |
The awareness that things continue to exist even when not perceived |
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Peroperational stage |
In piagets theory the stage from 2 to 6 years during which a child learns to use language but does not comprehend the mental operations of concrete logic |
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Conservation |
The principle that properties such as mass, volume, and numbers remain the same despite changes in the forms of objects |
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Egocentrism |
In piagets theory the peroperational child's inability to take another point of view |
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Theory of mind |
People's ideas about their own and others mental states about their feeling, perceptions and thoughts and the behaviors they might predict |
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Concrete operational stage |
In piagets theory the stage from 6 to 11 years where children gain the mental operations that enable them to think logically about concrete events |
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Formal operational stage |
In piagets theory the stage of cognitive development around age 12 where people begin to think logically about abstract concepts |
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Critical period |
An optimal period shortly after birth when an organisms exposure to certain Stimuli or experiences produces proper development |
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Imprinting |
The process by which certain animals from attachments during a critical period very early in life |
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Basic trust |
According to Ericksons theory a sense that the world is predictable and trustworthy; said to be formed during infancy by appropriating experiences with responsive caregivers |
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Adolescence |
Th transition period from childhood to adulthood extending from puberty to independence |
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Puberty |
The period of sexual maturation during which a person becomes capable of reproducing |
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Primary sex characteristics |
The body structures that make sexual reproduction possible |
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Identity |
Ones sense of self, according to Erickson, the adolescents tax is to solidify a sense of self by testing and integrating various roles |
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Intimacy |
In Ericksons theory, the ability to form close, loving relationships, a primary developmental task in late adolescence and early adulthood |
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Menopause |
The time of natural cessation of menstruation, also refers to the biological changes a women experiences as her ability to reproduce declines |
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Cross sectional study |
A study in which people of different ages are compared with one another |
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Longitudinal study |
Research in which the same people are restudied and retested over a long period |
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Crystallized intelligence |
Ones accumulated knowledge and verbal skills, tends to increase with age |
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Fluid intelligence |
Ones ability to reason speedily and abstractly, tends to decrease during late adulthood |
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Social clock |
The culturally preferred timing of social events such as marriage, parenthood, and retirement |