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42 Cards in this Set
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developmental psychology
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a branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive, and social change throughout the life span
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zygote
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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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embryo
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the developing human organism from about 2 weeks after fertilization through the second month
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fetus
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the developing human organism from 9 weeks after conception to birth
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teratogens
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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
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physical and cognitive abnormalities in children caused by a pregnant women's heavy drinking. In sever cases, symptoms include noticeable facial misproportions
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habituation
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decreasing responsiveness with repeated simulation. As infants gain familiarity with repeated exposure to a visual stimulus, their interest wanes and they look away sooner
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maturation
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biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in behavior, relatively uninfluenced by experience
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cognition
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all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating
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schema
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a concept or framework that organizes and interprets information
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assimilation
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interpreting our new experience in terms of our existing schemas
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accommodation
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adapting our current understandings (schemas) to incorporate new information
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sensorimotor stage
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in Piaget's theory, the stage from birth to 2 yrs during which infants know the world mostly in terms of their sensory impressions and motor activities
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object permanence
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the awareness that things continue to exist even when not perceived
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preoperational stage
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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
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conservation
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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
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egocentrism
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in Piaget's theory, the preoperational child's difficulty taking another's point of view
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theory of mind
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people's ideas about their own and other's mental states-- about their feelings, perceptions, and thoughts, and the behaviors these might predict
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concrete operational stage
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in Piaget's theory, the stage of cognitive development from 6 or 7 to 11 yrs during which children gain the mental operations that enable them to think logically about concrete events
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formal operational stage
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in Piaget's theory, the stage of cognitive development beginning at 12 yrs during which people begin to think logically about abstract concepts
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autism
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a disorder that appears in childhood and is marked by deficient communication, social interaction, and understanding of others' states of mind
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stranger anxiety
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the fear of strangers that infants commonly display, beginning by about 8 months of age
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attachment
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an emotional tie with another person; shown in young children by their seeking closeness to the caregiver and showing distress n separation
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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
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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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basic trust
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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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self-concept
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our understanding and evaluation of who we are
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adolescence
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the transition period from childhood to adulthood, extending from puberty to independence
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puberty
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the period of sexual maturation, during which a person becomes capable of reproducing
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primary sex characteristics
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the body structures that make sexual reproduction possible
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secondary sex characteristics
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non-reproductive sexual characteristics
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menarche
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the first menstrual period
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identity
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our 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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social identity
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the 'we' aspect of our self-concept; the part of our answer to 'who am i?; that comes from our group memberships
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intimacy
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in Erikson's theory, the ability to form close, loving relationships; primary developmental task in late adolescence and early adulthood
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emerging adulthood
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a period from the late teens to early twenties, bridging the gap between adolescent dependence and full independence and responsible adulthood
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menopause
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the time of natural cessation of mestruation
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cross-sectional study
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a study in which people of different ages are compared with one another
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longitudinal study
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reserach in which the same people are restudied and retested over a long period
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crystallized intelligence
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our accumulated knowledge and verbal skills' tends to increase with age
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fluid intelligence
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our ability to reason speedily and abstractly; tends to decrease durign late adulthood
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social clock
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the culturally preferred timing of social events such as marriage, parenthood, and retirement
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