Psy Chapter Four

Front 1

Developmental Psychology

Back 1

a branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive and social changes 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 chemicals and viruses, that can reach the embryo or fetus during prenatal development and cause harm.

Front 6

Fetus Alcohol Syndrome (FAS)

Back 6

physical and cognitive abnormalities in children caused by a pregnant woman's heavy drinking. in severe cases symptems include noticeable facial misproportions.

Front 7

Maturation

Back 7

biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in behaviour relatively uninfluenced by experience.

Front 8

Cognition

Back 8

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

Front 9

Schema

Back 9

a concept or framework that organizes and interprets information.

Front 10

Assimilation

Back 10

interpreting one's new experience in terms of one's existing schemas.

Front 11

Accomodation

Back 11

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

Front 12

Sensorimotor Stage

Back 12

in Piaget's theory, the stage (from birth to about 2yrs of age) during which infants know the world mostly in terms of their sensory impressions and motor activities.

Front 13

Object Permanence

Back 13

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

Front 14

Preoperational Stage

Back 14

in Piaget's theory, the stage from about 2 to 6 or 7yrs, during which a child learns to use language but does not yet comprehend the mental operations of concrete logic.

Front 15

Conservation

Back 15

the principle that properties such as mass, volume, and number remain the same despite changes in the forms of objects

Front 16

Egocentrism

Back 16

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

Front 17

Theory of Mind

Back 17

people's ideas about their own and other's mental states-about their feelings, perceptions, and the thoughts and the behaviour these might predict.

Front 18

Concrete Operational Stage

Back 18

in Piaget's theory, the stage of cognitive development during which children gain the mental operations that enable them to think logically about concrete events.

Front 19

Formal Operational Stage

Back 19

in Piaget's theory, the stage of cognitive development during which people begin to thik logically about abstract concepts.

Front 20

Autism

Back 20

a disorder that appears in childhood and is marked by deficient communication, social interaction, and understanding of other's states of mind.

Front 21

Stranger Anxiety

Back 21

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

Front 22

Attachment

Back 22

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

Front 23

Critical Period

Back 23

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

Front 24

Imprinting

Back 24

the processes by which certain animals form attachmetns during a critical period very early in life.

Front 25

Basic Trust

Back 25

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 26

Adolescence

Back 26

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

Front 27

Puberty

Back 27

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

Front 28

Primary Sex Characteristics

Back 28

the body structures that make sexual reproduction possible.

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Secondary Sex Characteristics

Back 29

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

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Menarche

Back 30

the first menstrual period.

Front 31

Identity

Back 31

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

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Intimacy

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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.

Front 33

Menopause

Back 33

the time of natural cessation of menstruation; also refers to the biological changes a woman experiences as her ability to reproduce declines.

Front 34

Crystallized Intelligence

Back 34

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

Front 35

Fluid Intelligence

Back 35

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

Front 36

Social Clock

Back 36

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