Psyc3313 - Lifespan Development

Front 1

accommodation

Back 1

The process by which people adapt current knowledge structures in response to new experiences

Front 2

achievement motivation

Back 2

Whether children are motivated by learning goals, seeking to improve their competence and master new material, or by performance goals, seeking to receive positive assessments of their competence or to avoid negative assessments

Front 3

activating influences

Back 3

Potential result of certain fluctuation in sex-linked hormone levels affecting the contemporaneous activation of the nervous system and corresponding behavioural responses

Front 4

adrenarche

Back 4

Period prior to the emergence of visible signs of puberty during which the adrenal glands mature, providing a major source of sex steroid hormones; correlates with the onset of sexual attraction

Front 5

adult attachment models

Back 5

Working models of attachment in adulthood that are believed to be based on adults' perceptions of their own childhood experiences - especially their relationships with their parents - and of the influence of these experiences on them as adults

Front 6

affiliation

Back 6

Tendency to affirm connection with others through being emotionally open, empathetic, or cooperative

Front 7

affordances

Back 7

The possibilities for action offered by objects and situations

Front 8

aggression

Back 8

Behaviour aimed at harming or injuring others

Front 9

aggressive- rejected children

Back 9

A category of sociometric status that refers to children who are especially prone to physical aggression, disruptive behaviour, delinquency, and negative behaviour such as hostility and threatening others

Front 10

alleles

Back 10

Two or more different forms of a gene

Front 11

altruistic motives

Back 11

Helping others for reasons that initially include empathy or sympathy for others, and, at later ages, the desire to act in ways consistent with one's own conscience and moral principles

Front 12

amniotic sac

Back 12

A transparent, fluid-filled membrane that surrounds and protects the fetus

Front 13

anal stage

Back 13

The second stage in Freud's theory, lasting roughly from to 3 years of age, in which the primary source of pleasure comes from defecation

Front 14

androgen insensitivity syndrome (AIS)

Back 14

Condition during prenatal development in which androgen receptors malfunction in genetic males, impeding the the formation of male external genitalia; in these cases, the child may be born with female external genitalia

Front 15

androgens

Back 15

Class of steroid hormones that normally occur at higher levels in males than in females and that affect physical development and functioning from the prenatal period onward

Front 16

A-not-B error

Back 16

The tendency to reach for a hidden object where it was last found rather than in the new location where it was last hidden

Front 17

apoptosis

Back 17

Genetically programmed call death

Front 18

assertion

Back 18

Tendency to take action on behalf of the self through competitive, independent, or aggressive behaviours

Front 19

assimilation

Back 19

The process by which people translate incoming information into a form that fits concepts they already understand

Front 20

association areas

Back 20

Parts of the brain that lie between the major sensory and motor areas and that process and integrate input from those areas

Front 21

attachment

Back 21

An emotional bond with a specific person that is enduring across space and time. Usually, attachments are discussed in regard to the relation between infants and specific caregivers, although they can also occur in adulthood.

Front 22

attachment theory

Back 22

Theory based on John Bowlby's work that posits that children are biologically predisposed to develop attachments with caregivers as a means of increasing the chances of their own survival

Front 23

attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

Back 23

A syndrome that involves difficulty in sustaining attention

Front 24

auditory localisation

Back 24

Perception of the location in space of a sound source

Front 25

authoritarian parenting

Back 25

A parenting style that is high in demandingness and low in responsiveness. They are nonresponsive to their children's needs and tend to enforce their demands through the exercise of parental power and the use of threats and punishment. They are oriented toward obedience and authority and expect their children to comply with their demands without question or explanation.

Front 26

authoritative parenting

Back 26

a parenting style that is high in demandingness and high in responsiveness. They set clear standards and limits for their children and are firm about enforcing them; at the same time, they allow their children considerable autonomy within those limits, are attentive and responsive to their children's concerns and needs, and respect and consider their children's perspectives.

Front 27

autobiographical memories

Back 27

Memories of one's own experiences, including one's thoughts and emotions

Front 28

axons

Back 28

Neural fibres that conduct electrical signals away from the cell body to connections with other neurons

Front 29

babbling

Back 29

Repetitive consonant-vowel sequences or hand-shapes (for learners of signed languages) produced during the early phases of language development

Front 30

basic level

Back 30

The middle level, and often the first level learned, within a category hierarchy, such as "dog" in the animal/dog/poodle example

Front 31

basic processes

Back 31

The simplest and most frequently used mental activities

Front 32

behavioural inhibition

Back 32

A temperamentally based style of responding characterised by the tendency to be particularly fearful and restrained when dealing with novel or stressful situations

Front 33

behaviour genetics

Back 33

The science concerned with how variation in behaviour and development results from the combination of genetic and environmental factors

Front 34

behaviour modification

Back 34

A form of therapy based on principle of operant conditioning in which reinforcement contingencies are changed to encourage more adaptive behaviour

Front 35

bidirectionality of parent-child interactions

Back 35

The idea that parents and their children are mutually affected by one another's characteristics and behaviours

Front 36

bilingualism

Back 36

The ability to use two languages

Front 37

binocular display

Back 37

The difference between the retinal image of an object in each eye that results in two slightly different signals being sent to the brain

Front 38

body image

Back 38

An individual's perception of, and feelings about, his or her own body

Front 39

Carolina Abecedarian Project

Back 39

Comprehensive and successful enrichment program for children from low-income families

Front 40

categorical perception

Back 40

The perception of speech sounds as belonging to discrete categories

Front 41

category hierarchy

Back 41

Categories that are related by sub-set relations, such as animal/dog/poodle

Front 42

cell body

Back 42

A component of the neuron that contains the basic biological material that keeps the neuron functioning

Front 43

centration

Back 43

The tendency to focus on a single, perceptually striking feature of an object or event

Front 44

cephalocaudal development

Back 44

The pattern of growth in which areas near the head develop earlier than areas farther from the head

Front 45

cerebral cortex

Back 45

The "grey matter" of the brain that plays a primary role in what is thought to be particularly humanlike functioning, from seeing and hearing to writing and to feeling emotion

Front 46

cerebral hemispheres

Back 46

The two halves of the cortex; for the most part, sensory input from one side of the body goes to the opposite hemisphere of the brain

Front 47

cerebral lateralisation

Back 47

The specialisation of the hemispheres of the brain for different modes of processing

Front 48

child maltreatment

Back 48

Intentional abuse or neglect that endangers the well-being of anyone under the age of 18

Front 49

chromosomes

Back 49

Molecules of DNA that transmit genetic information

Front 50

chronosystem

Back 50

In the bioecological model, historical changes that influence the other systems

Front 51

classical conditioning

Back 51

A form of learning that consists of associating an initially neutral stimulus with a stimulus that always evokes a particular reflexive response

Front 52

clinical interview

Back 52

A procedure in which questions are adjusted in accord with the answers the interviewee provides

Front 53

cliques

Back 53

Friendship groups that children voluntarily form or join themselves

Front 54

cognitive development

Back 54

The development of thinking and reasoning

Front 55

colic

Back 55

Excessive, inconsolable crying by a young infant for no apparent reason

Front 56

collaboration

Back 56

Coordination of assertion and affiliation in behaviour, which is associated with gender-role flexibility and more common among girls than boys

Front 57

collective monologue

Back 57

Conversation between children that involves a series of non sequiturs, the content of each child's turn having little or nothing to do with what the other child has just said

Front 58

comprehension

Back 58

With regard to language, understanding that others say (or sign or write)

Front 59

comprehension monitoring

Back 59

Process of keeping track of one's understanding of a verbal description or text

Front 60

conception

Back 60

The union of an egg from the mother and a sperm from the father

Front 61

concepts

Back 61

General ideas or understandings that can be used to group together objects, events, qualities, or abstractions that are similar in come way

Front 62

concrete operational stage

Back 62

The period (7 to 12 years) within Piaget's theory in which children become able to reason logically about concrete objects and events

Front 63

conditioned response (CR)

Back 63

In classical conditioning, the originally reflexive response that comes to be elicited by the conditioned stimulus

Front 64

conditioned stimulus (CS)

Back 64

In classical conditioning, the neutral stimulus that is repeatedly paired with the unconditioned stimulus

Front 65

conduct disorder (CD)

Back 65

A disorder that involves severe antisocial and aggressive behaviours that inflict pain on others or involve destruction of property or denial of the rights of others

Front 66

cones

Back 66

The light-sensitive neurons that are highly concentrated in the fovea (the central region of the retina)

Front 67

congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH)

Back 67

Condition during prenatal development in which the adrenal glands produce high levels of adrogens; sometimes associated with the masculinisation of external genitalia in genetic females; and sometimes associated with higher rates of masculine-stereotyped play in genetic females

Front 68

connectionism

Back 68

A type of information-processing approach that emphasises the simultaneous activity of numerous interconnected processing units

Front 69

conscience

Back 69

An internal regulatory mechanism that increased the individual's ability to conform to standards of conduct accepted in her or her culture

Front 70

conservation concept

Back 70

The idea that merely changing the appearance of objects does not necessarily change other key properties

Front 71

continuous development

Back 71

The idea that changes with age occur gradually, in small increments

Front 72

contrast sensitivity

Back 72

The ability to detect differences in light and dark areas in a visual pattern

Front 73

control group

Back 73

The group of children in an experimental design who are not presented the experience of interest but in other ways are treated similarly

Front 74

controversial (peer status)

Back 74

A category of sociometric status that refers to children or adolescents who are liked by quite a few peers and are disliked by quite a few others

Front 75

corpus callosum

Back 75

A dense tract of nerve fibres that enable the two hemispheres of the brain to communicate

Front 76

correlation

Back 76

The association between two variables

Front 77

correlational designs

Back 77

Studies intended to indicate how two variables are related to each other

Front 78

co-rumination

Back 78

Extensively discussing and self-disclosing emotional problems with another person

Front 79

counting-on strategy

Back 79

Counting up from the larger addend the number of times indicated by the smaller addend

Front 80

critical period

Back 80

The time during which language develops readily and after which (sometimes between age 5 and puberty) language acquisition is much more difficult and ultimately less successful

Front 81

cross-gender-typed

Back 81

Behaviours associated with the gender other than that of a given person

Front 82

crossing over

Back 82

The process by which sections of DNA switch from one chromosome to the other; crossing over promotes variability among individuals

Front 83

cross-sectional design

Back 83

A research method in which children of different ages are compared on a given behaviour or characteristic over a short period

Front 84

crowds

Back 84

Groups of adolescents who have similar stereotyped reputations

Front 85

crystallised intelligence

Back 85

Factual knowledge about the world

Front 86

Cultural tools

Back 86

The innumerable products of human ingenuity that enhance thinking

Front 87

deferred imitation

Back 87

The repetition of other people's behaviour a substantial time after it originally occurred

Front 88

dendrites

Back 88

Neural fibres that receive input form other cells and conduct it toward the cell body in the form of electrical impulses

Front 89

dependent variable

Back 89

A behaviour that is measured to determine whether it is affected by exposure to the independent variable

Front 90

developmental resilience

Back 90

Successful development in spite of multiple and seemingly overwhelming developmental hazards

Front 91

differential (or discrete) emotions theory

Back 91

A theory in which emotions are viewed as innate and discrete from one another from very early in life, and each emotion is believed to be packaged with a specific and distinctive set of bodily and facial reactions

Front 92

differentiation

Back 92

The extraction from the constantly changing stimulation in the environment of those elements that are invariant, or stable

Front 93

direction-of-causation problem

Back 93

The concept that a correlation between two variables does not indicate which, if either, variable is the cause of the other

Front 94

discontinuous development

Back 94

The idea that changes with age include occasional large shifts (like the transition from caterpillar to cocoon to butterfly)

Front 95

display rules

Back 95

A social group's informal norms about when, where, and how much one should show emotions, and when and where displays of emotions should be suppressed or masked by displays of other emotions

Front 96

distributional properties

Back 96

The phenomenon that in any language, certain sounds are more likely to appear together than others

Front 97

DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid)

Back 97

Molecules that carry all the biochemical instructions involve in the formation and functioning of an organism

Front 98

dominant allele

Back 98

The allele that, if present, gets expressed

Front 99

dose-response relation

Back 99

A relation in which the effect of exposure to an element increases with the extent of exposure (prenatally, the more exposure a fetus has to potential tetarogen, the more severe its effect is likely to be)

Front 100

dual representation

Back 100

The idea that a symbolic artifact must be represented mentally in two ways at the same time - both as a real object and as a symbol for something other than itself

Front 101

dynamic-systems theories

Back 101

A class of theories that focus on how change occurs over time in complex systems

Front 102

dyslexia

Back 102

Inability to read and spell well despite normal intelligence

Front 103

effect size

Back 103

Magnitude of difference between two group's averages and the amount of overlap in their distributions

Front 104

ego

Back 104

In psychoanalytic theory, the second personality structure to develop. It is the rational, logical, problem-solving component of personality

Front 105

egocentrism

Back 105

The tendency to perceive the world solely from one's own point of view

Front 106

Electra complex

Back 106

Freud's term for the conflict experience by girls in the phallic stage when they develop unacceptable romantic feelings for their father and see their mother as a rival

Front 107

embryo

Back 107

The name given to the developing organism from the 3rd to 8th week of prenatal development

Front 108

embryonic stem cells

Back 108

Embryonic cells, which can develop into any type of body cell

Front 109

emotion

Back 109

Characterised by neural and physiological responses, subjective feelings, cognitions related to those feelings, and the desire to take action

Front 110

emotional intelligence

Back 110

A set of abilities that contribute to competence in the social and emotional domains

Front 111

emotional self-regulation

Back 111

The process of initiating, inhibiting, or modulating internal feeling states and related physiological processes, cognitions, and behaviours

Front 112

enactive experience

Back 112

Learning through experiencing the reactions one's behaviour evokes in others

Front 113

encoding

Back 113

The process of representing in memory information that draws attention or is considered important

Front 114

entity/helpless orientation

Back 114

A general tendency to attribute success and failure to enduring aspects of the self and to give up in the face of failure

Front 115

entity theory

Back 115

A theory that a person's level of intelligence is fixed and unchangeable

Front 116

environment

Back 116

Every aspect of an individual and his or her surroundings other than genes

Front 117

epigenesis

Back 117

The emergence of new structures and functions in the course of development

Front 118

epigenetics

Back 118

The study of stable changes in gene expression that are mediated by the environment

Front 119

equilibration

Back 119

The process by which children (or other people) balance assimilation and accommodation to create stable understanding

Front 120

erogenous zones

Back 120

In Freud's theory, areas of the body that become erotically sensitive in successive stages of development

Front 121

essentialism

Back 121

The view that living things have an essence inside them that makes them what they are

Front 122

ethnic identity

Back 122

Individual's sense of belonging to an ethnic or racial group, including the degree to which they associate their thinking, perceptions, feelings, and behaviour with membership in that group

Front 123

ethology

Back 123

The study of the evolutionary bases of behaviour

Front 124

event-related potentials (ERPs)

Back 124

Changes in the brain's electrical activity that occur in response to the presentation of a particular stimulus

Front 125

exosystem

Back 125

In the bioecological model, environmental settings that a person does not directly experience but that can affect the person indirectly

Front 126

experience-dependent plasticity

Back 126

The process through which neural connections are created and reorganised throughout life as a function of an individual's experience

Front 127

experience-expected plasticity

Back 127

The process through which the normal wiring of the brain occurs in part as a result of experiences that every human who inhabits any reasonably normal environment will have

Front 128

experimental control

Back 128

The ability of researchers to determine the specific experiences that children have during the course of an experiment

Front 129

experimental designs

Back 129

A group of approaches that allow inferences about causes and effects to be drawn

Front 130

experimental group

Back 130

A group of children in an experimental design who are presented the experience of interest

Front 131

external validity

Back 131

The degree to which results an be generalised beyond the particulars of the research

Front 132

failure to thrive

Back 132

A condition in which infants become malnourished and fail to grow or gain weight for no obvious reason

Front 133

false-belief problems

Back 133

Tasks that test a child's understanding that other people will act in accord with their own beliefs even when the child knows that those beliefs are incorrect

Front 134

family dynamics

Back 134

The way in which the family operates as a whole

Front 135

fast mapping

Back 135

The process of rapidly learning a new word simply from hearing the contrasting use of a familiar and the unfamiliar word

Front 136

fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD)

Back 136

The harmful effects of maternal alcohol consumption on a developing fetus. It involves a range of effects, including facial deformities, mental retardation, attention problems, hyperactivity, and other defects.

Front 137

fetus

Back 137

The name given to the developing organism from the 9th week to birth

Front 138

fluid intelligence

Back 138

Ability to think on the spot to solve novel problems

Front 139

Flynn effect

Back 139

Consistent rise in average IQ scores that has occurred over the past 80 years in many countries

Front 140

foreclosure status

Back 140

A category of identity status in which the individual is not engaged in any identity experimentation and has established a vocation or ideological identity based on the choices or values of others

Front 141

formal operational stage

Back 141

The period (12 years and beyond)x within Piaget's theory in which people become able to think about abstractions and hypothetical situations

Front 142

fraternal twins

Back 142

Twins that result when two eggs happen to be released into the fallopian tube at the same time and are fertilised by two different sperm, resulting in them having only half their genes in common

Front 143

friendship

Back 143

An intimate, reciprocated positive relationship between two people

Front 144

frontal lobe

Back 144

Part of the brain associated with organising behaviour; thought to be responsible for the human ability to plan ahead

Front 145

functionalist approach

Back 145

A theory of emotion that the basic function of emotions is to promote action toward achieving a goal. In this view, emotions are not discrete from one another and vary somewhat based on the social environment

Front 146

gametes (germ cells)

Back 146

Reproductive cells - egg and sperm - that contain only half the genetic material of all the other cells in the body

Front 147

gang

Back 147

A loosely organised group of adolescents or young adults who identify as a group and often engage in illegal activities

Front 148

gender constancy

Back 148

Realisation that gender is invariant despite superficial changes in a person's appearance or behaviour

Front 149

gender dysphoria disorder

Back 149

Psychiatric diagnosis included in the DSM-5 to refer to children who identify with the other gender and indicate cross-gender-typed interests

Front 150

gender-essentialist statements

Back 150

Remarks about males' and females' activities and characteristics phrased in language that implies they are inherent to the group as a whole

Front 151

gender identity

Back 151

Awareness of oneself as male or female

Front 152

gender-role flexibility

Back 152

Recognition of gender roles as social conventions and adoption of more flexible attitudes and interests

Front 153

gender-role intensification

Back 153

Heightened concerns with adhering to traditional gender roles that may occur during adolescence

Front 154

gender schema filter

Back 154

Initial evaluation of information as relevant for one's own gender

Front 155

gender schemas

Back 155

Organised mental representations (concepts, beliefs, memories) about gender, including gender stereotypes

Front 156

gender segregation

Back 156

Children's tendenciy to associate with same-gender peers and to avoid other0gender peers

Front 157

gender stability

Back 157

Awareness that gender remains the same over time

Front 158

gender-typed

Back 158

Behaviours associated with a given person's gender

Front 159

gender typing

Back 159

The process of gender socialisation and development

Front 160

generativity

Back 160

Refers to the idea that through the use of finite set of words and morphemes in humans' vocabulary, we can put together an infinite number of sentences and express an infinite number of ideas

Front 161

genes

Back 161

Sections of chromosomes that are the basic unit of heredity in all living things

Front 162

genital stage

Back 162

The 5th and final stage in Freud's theory, beginning in adolescence, in which sexual maturation is complete and sexual intercourse becomes a major goal

Front 163

genome

Back 163

Each person's complete set of hereditary information

Front 164

genotype

Back 164

The genetic material an individual inherits

Front 165

gesture-speech mismatches

Back 165

Phenomenon in which hand movements and verbal statements convey different ideas

Front 166

g (general intelligence)

Back 166

Cognitive processes that influence the ability to think and learn on all intellectual tasks

Front 167

glial cells

Back 167

Cells in the brain that provide a variety of critical supportive functions

Front 168

goodness of fit

Back 168

The degree to which an individual's temperament is compatible with the demands and expectations of his or her social environment

Front 169

guided participation

Back 169

A process in which more knowledgeable individuals organise activities in ways that allow less knowledgeable people to learn

Front 170

habituation

Back 170

A simple form of learning that involves a decrease in response to repeated or continued stimulation

Front 171

heritability

Back 171

A statistical estimate of the proportion of the measured variance on a trait among individuals in a given population that is attributable to genetic differences among those individualsh

Front 172

heritable

Back 172

Any characteristics or traits that are influenced by heritability

Front 173

heterozygous

Back 173

Having two different alleles for a trait

Front 174

holophrastic period

Back 174

The period when children begin using the words in their small productive vocabulary one word at a time

Front 175

homozygous

Back 175

Having two of the same alleles for a trait

Front 176

hostile attributional bias

Back 176

The tendency to assume that other people's ambiguous actions stem from a hostile intent

Front 177

hypotheses

Back 177

Educated guesses

Front 178

id

Back 178

In psychoanalytic theory, the earliest and most primitive personality structure. It it unconscious and operates with the goal of seeking pleasure

Front 179

identical twins

Back 179

Twins that result from the splitting in half of the zygote, resulting in each of the two resulting zygotes having exactly the same set of genes

Front 180

identity achievement

Back 180

An integration of various aspects of the self into a coherent whole that is stable over time and across events

Front 181

identity-achievement status

Back 181

A category of identity status in which, after a period of exploration, the individual has achieved a coherent and consolidated identity based on personal decisions regarding occupation, ideology, and the like. The individual believes that these decisions were made autonomously and is committed to them

Front 182

identity confusion

Back 182

An incomplete and sometimes incoherent sense of self that often occurs in Erikson's stage of identity versus identity confusion

Front 183

identity-diffusion status

Back 183

a category of identity status in which the individual does not have firm commitments and is not making progress toward them

Front 184

identity foreclosure

Back 184

Premature commitment to an identity without adequate consideration of other options

Front 185

identity versus identity confusion

Back 185

The psychosocial stage of development, described by Erikson, that occurs during adolescence. During this stage, the adolescent or young adult either develops an identity or experiences an incomplete and sometimes incoherent sense of self

Front 186

imaginary audience

Back 186

The belief, stemming from adolescent egocentrism, that everyone else is focused on the adolescent's appearance and behaviour

Front 187

imprinting

Back 187

A form of learning in which the young of some species of new born birds and mammals become attached to and follow adult members of the species (usually the mother)

Front 188

incremental/mastery orientation

Back 188

A general tendency to attribute success and failure to the amount of effort expended and to persist in the face of failure

Front 189

incremental theory

Back 189

A theory that a person's intelligence can grow as a function of experiencein

Front 190

independent variable

Back 190

The experience that children in the experimental group receive and that children in the control group do not receive

Front 191

infant-directed speech (IDS)

Back 191

The distinctive mode of speech that adults adopt when talking to babies and very young children

Front 192

infant mortality

Back 192

Death during the first year after birth

Front 193

information-processing theories

Back 193

A class of theories that focus on the structure of the cognitive system and the mental activities used to deploy attention and memory to solve problems

Front 194

ingroup assimilation

Back 194

The process whereby individuals are socialised to conform to the group's norms, demonstrating the characteristics that define the ingroup

Front 195

insecure attachment

Back 195

A pattern of attachment in which infants or young children have a less positive attachment to their caregiver than do securely attached children; can be classified as insecure/resistant (ambivalent), insecure/avoidant, or disorganised/disoriented

Front 196

insecure/avoidant attachment

Back 196

A type of insecure attachment in which infants or young children seem somewhat indifferent to their caregiver and may even avoid the caregiver

Front 197

insecure/resistant avoidant

Back 197

A type of insecure attachment in which infants of young children are clingy and stay close to their caregiver rather than exploring their environment

Front 198

instrumental aggression

Back 198

Aggression motivated by the desire to obtain a concrete goal

Front 199

instrumental or operant conditioning

Back 199

Learning the relation between one's own behaviour and the consequences that result from it

Front 200

interest filter

Back 200

Initial evaluation of information as being personally interesting

Front 201

intermittent reinforcement

Back 201

Inconsistent response to the behaviour of another person, for example, sometimes punishing an unacceptable behaviour and sometimes ignoring it

Front 202

intermodal perception

Back 202

The combining of information from two or more sensory systems

Front 203

internalisation

Back 203

The process of adopting as one's own the attributes, beliefs, and standards of another person

Front 204

internal validity

Back 204

The degree to which effects observed within experiments can be attributed to the factor that the researcher is testing

Front 205

internal working model of attachment

Back 205

The child's mental representation of the self, of attachment figure(s), and of relationships in general that is constructed as a result of experiences with caregivers. The working model guides children's interactions with caregivers and other people in infancy and old age

Front 206

interrater reliability

Back 206

The amount of agreement in the observations of different raters who witness the same behaviour

Front 207

intersubjectivity

Back 207

The mutual understanding that people share during communication

Front 208

IQ (intelligence quotient)

Back 208

Quantitative measure, typically with a mean of 100 and a standard deviation of 15, used to indicate a child's intelligence relative to that of other children of the same age

Front 209

joint attention

Back 209

A process in which social partners intentionally focus on a common referent in the external environment

Front 210

latency period

Back 210

The 4th stage in Freud's theory, lasting from age 6 to age 12, in which sexual energy gets channelled into socially acceptable activities

Front 211

lobes

Back 211

Major areas of the cortex associated with general categories of behaviour

Front 212

longitudinal design

Back 212

A method of study in which the same children are studied twice or more over a substantial length of time

Front 213

long-term memory

Back 213

Information retained on an enduring basis

Front 214

low birth weight

Back 214

A birth weight of less than 5.5lb (2500g)

Front 215

macrosystem

Back 215

In the bioecological model, the larger cultural and social context within which the other systems are embedded

Front 216

mathematical equality

Back 216

Concept that the values on each side of the equal side must be equialent

Front 217

meiosis

Back 217

Cell division that produces gametes

Front 218

menarche

Back 218

Onset of maturation (female)

Front 219

mental model

Back 219

Cognitive processes used to represent a situation or sequence of events

Front 220

mesosystem

Back 220

In the bioecological model, the interconnections among immediate, or microsystem, settings.

Front 221

meta-analysis

Back 221

A statistical technique used to summarise average effect size and statistical significance across several research studies

Front 222

metalinguistic knowledge

Back 222

An understanding of the properties and function of language - that is, an inderstanding of language as language

Front 223

methylation

Back 223

A biochemical process that influences behaviour by suppressing gene activity and expression

Front 224

microgenetic design

Back 224

A method of study in which the same children are studied repeatedly over a short period

Front 225

microsystem

Back 225

In the bioecological model, the immediate environment that an individual personally experiences

Front 226

mitosis

Back 226

Cell division that results in two identical daughter cells

Front 227

modularity hypothesis

Back 227

The idea that the human brain contains an innate, self-contained language module that is separate from other aspects of cognitive functioning

Front 228

monocular depth (or pictorial) cues

Back 228

The perceptual cues of depth (such as relative size and interposition) that can be perceived by one eye alone

Front 229

moral judgements

Back 229

Decisions that pertain to issues of right and wrong, fairness, and justice

Front 230

moratorium status

Back 230

A category of identity status in which the individual is in the phase of experimentation with regard to occupational and ideological choices and has not yet made a clear commitment to them

Front 231

morphemes

Back 231

The smallest units of meaning in a language, composed of one of more phonemes

Front 232

multifactorial

Back 232

Refers to traits that are affected by a host of environmental factors as well as genetic onesm

Front 233

multiple intelligences theory

Back 233

Gardner's theory of intellect, based on the view that people possess at least eight types of intelligence

Front 234

mutation

Back 234

A change in a section of DNA

Front 235

myelination

Back 235

The formation of myelin (a fatty sheath) around the axons of neurons that speeds and increases information-processing abilities

Front 236

myelin sheath

Back 236

A fatty sheath that forms around certain axons in the bosy and increases the speed and efficiency of information transmission

Front 237

naive psychology

Back 237

a commonsense level of understanding of other people and onself

Front 238

narratives

Back 238

Descriptions of past events that have the basic structure of a story

Front 239

naturalistic observation

Back 239

Examination of ongoing behaviour in an environment not controlled by the researcher

Front 240

nature

Back 240

our biological endowment; the genes we receive from our parents

Front 241

negative identity

Back 241

Identity that stands in opposition to what is valued by people around the adolescentn

Front 242

neglected (peer status)

Back 242

A category of sociometric status that refers to children or adolescents who are infrequently mentioned as either liked or disliked; they simply are not noticed much by peers

Front 243

neural tube

Back 243

A groove formed in the top layer of differentiated cells in the embryo that eventually becomes the brain and spinal cord

Front 244

neurogenesis

Back 244

The proliferation of neurons through cell division

Front 245

neurons

Back 245

Cells that are specialised for sending and receiving messages between the brain and all parts of the body, as well as within the brain itself

Front 246

neurotransmitters

Back 246

Chemicals involved in communication among the brain cells

Front 247

non-REM sleep

Back 247

A quiet or deep sleep state characterised by the absence of motor activity or eye movements and more regular, slow brain waves, breathing, and heart rate

Front 248

normal distribution

Back 248

Pattern of data in which scores fall symmetrically around a mean value, with most scores falling close to the mean and fewer and fewer scores farther from itn

Front 249

norm of reaction

Back 249

All the phenotypes that can theoretically result from a given genotype in relation to all the environments in which it can survive and develop

Front 250

numerical quality

Back 250

The realisation that all sets of N objects have something in common

Front 251

numerical magnitude representations

Back 251

Mental models of the sizes of numbers, ordered along a less-to-more dimension

Front 252

nurture

Back 252

The environments, both physical and social, that influence our development

Front 253

object permanence

Back 253

The knowledge that objects continue to exist even when they are out of view

Front 254

object segregation

Back 254

The identification of separate objects in a visual arrayo

Front 255

object substitution

Back 255

A form of pretense in which an object is used as something other than itself, for example, using a broom to represent a horse

Front 256

observational learning

Back 256

learning through watching other people and the consequences others experience as a result of their actionso

Front 257

occipital lobe

Back 257

The lobe of the cortex that is primarily involved in processing visual information

Front 258

Oedipus complex

Back 258

Freud's term for the conflict experienced by boys in the phallic period because of their sexual desire for their mother and their fear of retaliation by their father

Front 259

opportunity structure

Back 259

The economic and social resources offered by the macrosystem in the bioecological model, and people's understanding of those resources

Front 260

oppositional defiant disorder (ODD)

Back 260

A disorder characterised by age-inappropriate and persistent displays of angry, defiant, and irritable behaviours

Front 261

optical expansion

Back 261

A depth cue in which an object occludes increasingly more of the background, indicating that the object is approaching

Front 262

oral stage

Back 262

The 1st stage in Freud's theory, occurring during the 1st year, in which the primary source of satisfaction and pleasure is oral activity

Front 263

organising influences

Back 263

Potential result of certain sex-linked hormones affecting brain differentiation and organisation during prenatal development at puberty

Front 264

overextension

Back 264

The use of a given word in a broader context than is appropriate

Front 265

overlapping-waves theory

Back 265

An information processing approach that emphasises the variability of children's thinking

Front 266

overregulation

Back 266

Speech errors in which children treat irregular forms of words as if they were regular

Front 267

parental-investment theory

Back 267

A theory that stresses the evolutionary basis of many aspects of parental behaviour, including the extensive investment parents make in their offspring

Front 268

parental sensitivity

Back 268

An important factor contributing to the security of an infant's attachment. Parental sensitivity can be exhibited in a variety of ways, including responsive caregiving when an infant is distressed or upset and engaging in coordinated play with infant

Front 269

parenting styles

Back 269

Parenting behaviours and attitudes that set the emotional climate in regard to parent-child interactions, such as parental responsiveness and demandingness

Front 270

parietal lobe

Back 270

Governs spatial processing as well as integrating sensory input with information stored in memory

Front 271

peers

Back 271

People of approximately the same age and status

Front 272

perceived self-efficacy

Back 272

An individual's beliefs about how effectively he or she can control his or her own behaviour, thoughts, and emotions in order to achieve a desired goal

Front 273

perception

Back 273

The process of organising and interpreting sensory information

Front 274

perceptual categorisation

Back 274

The grouping together of objects that have similar appearances

Front 275

perceptual constancy

Back 275

The perception of objects as being of constant size, shape, colour, etc., in spite of physical differences in the retinal image of the object

Front 276

permissive parenting

Back 276

A parenting style that is high in responsiveness but low in demandingness. These parents are responsive to their children's needs and do not require their children to regulate themselves or act in appropriate or mature ways

Front 277

personal fable

Back 277

A form of adolescent egocentrism that involves beliefs in the uniqueness of one's own feelings and thoughts

Front 278

personal judgements

Back 278

Decisions that refer to actions in which individual preferences are the main considerationp

Front 279

phallic stage

Back 279

The 3rd stage in Freud's theory, lasting from age 3 to age 6, in which sexual pleasure is focused on the genitalia

Front 280

phenotype

Back 280

The observable expression of the genotype, including both body characteristics and behaviour

Front 281

phenylketonuria (PKU)

Back 281

A disorder related to a defective recessive gene on chromosome 12 that prevents metabolism of phenylalanine

Front 282

phonemes

Back 282

The elementary units of meaningful sound used to produce languages

Front 283

phonemic awareness

Back 283

The ability to identify component sounds within words

Front 284

phonological development

Back 284

The acquisition of knowledge about the sound system of a language

Front 285

phonological recoding skills

Back 285

The ability to translate letters into sounds and to blend sounds into words; informally called 'sounding out'

Front 286

phylogenetic continuity

Back 286

The idea that because of our common evolutionary history, humans share many characteristics, behaviours, and developmental processes with other animals, especially mammals

Front 287

placenta

Back 287

A support organ for the fetus; it keeps the circulatory systems of the fetus and mother separate, but as a semipermeable membrane permits the exchange of some materials between them (oxygen and nutrients from mother to fetus and carbon dioxide and waste products from fetus to mother)

Front 288

plasticity

Back 288

The capacity of the brain to be affected by experience

Front 289

polygenic inheritance

Back 289

Inheritance in which traits are governed by more than one genep

Front 290

popular (peer status)

Back 290

A category of sociometric status that refers to children or adolescents who are viewed positively (liked) by many peers and are viewed negatively (disliked) by few peers

Front 291

positive reinforcement

Back 291

A reward that reliably follows a behaviour and increases the likelihood that the behaviour will be repeated

Front 292

pragmatic development

Back 292

The acquisition of knowledge about how language is used

Front 293

preferential-looking technique

Back 293

A method for studying visual attention in infants that involves showing infants two patterns or two objects at a time to see if the infants have a preference for one over the other

Front 294

premature

Back 294

Any child born at 35 weeks after conception or earlier (as opposed to the normal term of 38 weeks)

Front 295

preoperational stage

Back 295

The period (2 - 7 years) within Piaget's theory in which children become able to represent their experiences in language, mental imagery, and symbolic thought

Front 296

prereaching movements

Back 296

Clumsy swiping movements by young infants toward the general vicinity of objects they see

Front 297

pretend play

Back 297

Make-believe activities in which children create new symbolic relations, acting as if they were in a situation different from their actual one

Front 298

primary mental abilities

Back 298

Seven abilities proposed by Thurstone as crucial intelligence

Front 299

private speech

Back 299

The 2nd phase of Vygotsky's internalisation-of-thought process, in which children develop their self-regulation and problem-solving abilities by telling themselves aloud what to do, much as their parents did in the 1st stage

Front 300

proactive aggression

Back 300

Unemotional aggression aimed at fulfilling a need or desire

Front 301

problem solving

Back 301

The process of attaining a goal by using a strategy to overcome an obstacle

Front 302

production

Back 302

With regard to language, speaking (or writing or signing) to others

Front 303

prosocial behaviour

Back 303

Voluntary behaviour intended to benefit another, such as helping, sharing, and comforting others

Front 304

prosody

Back 304

The characteristic rhythm, tempo, cadence, melody, intonational patterns, and so forth with which a language is spoken

Front 305

psychic energy

Back 305

Freud's term for the collection of biologically based instinctual drives that he believed fuel behaviour, thoughts, and feelingsp

Front 306

psychosocial moratorium

Back 306

A time-out during which the adolescent is not expected to take on adult roles and can instead pursue activities that may lead to self-discovery

Front 307

puberty

Back 307

Developmental period marked by the ability to reproduce and other dramatic bodily changesr

Front 308

random assignment

Back 308

A procedure in which each child has an equal chance of being assigned to each group within an experiment

Front 309

rapid eye movement (REM) sleep

Back 309

An active sleep state characterised by quick, jerky eye movements under closed lids and associated with dreaming in adults

Front 310

rational learning

Back 310

The ability to use prior experiences to predict what will occur in the future

Front 311

reactive aggression

Back 311

Emotionally driven, antagonistic aggression sparked by one's perception that other people's motives are hostile

Front 312

recessive allele

Back 312

The allele that is not expressed if a dominant allele is present

Front 313

reciprocal determinism

Back 313

Bandura's concept that child-environment influences operate in both directions; children are affected by aspects of their environment, but they also influence their environment

Front 314

reciprocated best friendship

Back 314

A friendship in which two children view each other as best or close friendsre

Front 315

reference

Back 315

In language and speech, the associating of words and meaning

Front 316

reflexes

Back 316

Innate, fixed patterns of action that occur in response t particular stimulation

Front 317

regulator genes

Back 317

Genes that control the activity of other genes

Front 318

rehearsal

Back 318

The process of repeating information multiple times to aid memory of it

Front 319

rejected (peer status)

Back 319

A category of sociometric status that are refers to children and adolescents who are liked by few peers and disliked by many peers

Front 320

rejecting-neglecting parenting

Back 320

A disengaged parenting style that is low in both responsiveness and demandingness. These parents do not set limits for or monitor their children's behaviour, are not supportive of them, and sometimes are rejecting or neglectful. They tend to be focused on their own needs rather than their children's needs

Front 321

relational aggression

Back 321

A kind of aggression that involves excluding others from the social group and attempting to do harm to other people's relationships; it includes spreading rumour about peers, withholding friendship to inflict harm, and ignoring peers when angry or frustrated or trying to get one's own way

Front 322

reliability

Back 322

The degree to which independent measurements of a given behaviour are consistent

Front 323

role taking

Back 323

Being aware of the perspective of another person, thereby better understanding that person's behaviour, thoughts, and feelings

Front 324

rumination

Back 324

A perseverative focus on one's own negative emotions and on their causes and consequences, without engaging in efforts to improve one's situation

Front 325

scale error

Back 325

The attempt by a young child to perform an action on a miniature object that is impossible due to the large discrepancy in the relative sizes of the child and the object

Front 326

scientific method

Back 326

An approach to testing beliefs that involves choosing a question, formulating a hypothesis, testing the hypothesis, and drawing a conclusion

Front 327

script

Back 327

Typical sequence of actions used to organise and interpret repeated events, such as eating in restaurants, going to doctors' appointments, and writing reports

Front 328

secular trends

Back 328

Marked changes in physical development that have occurred over generations

Front 329

secure attachments

Back 329

A pattern of attachment in which infants or young children have a high-quality, relatively unambivalent relationship with their relationship.

Front 330

secure base

Back 330

Refers to the idea that the presence of a trusted caregiver provides an infant or toddler with a sense of security that makes it possible for the child to explore the environment

Front 331

selective attention

Back 331

The process of intentionally focusing on the information that is most relevant to the current goal

Front 332

self

Back 332

A conceptual system made up one's thoughts and attitudes about onself

Front 333

self-conscious emotions

Back 333

Emotions such as guilt, shame, embarrassment, and pride, that relate to our sense of self and our consciousness of others' reactions to us

Front 334

self-discipline

Back 334

Ability to inhibit actions, follow rules, and avoid impulsive reactions

Front 335

self-esteem

Back 335

One's overall evaluation of the worth of the self and the feelings that this evaluation engenders

Front 336

self-locomotion

Back 336

The ability to move oneself around in the environment

Front 337

self-socialisation

Back 337

The idea that children play a very active role in their own socialisation through their activity preferences, friendship choices, and so on

Front 338

self-socialisation (with regard to gender)

Back 338

Individuals' use of their beliefs, expectations, and preferences to guide how they perceive the world and the actions that they chooses

Front 339

semantic development

Back 339

The learning of the system for expressing meaning in a language, including word learning

Front 340

sensation

Back 340

The processing of basic information from the external world by the sensory receptors in the sense organs (eyes, ears, skin, etc) and brain

Front 341

sensitive period

Back 341

The period of time during which a developing organism is most sensitive to the effects of external factors; prenatally, when the fetus is maximally sensitive to the harmful effects of teratogens

Front 342

sensorimotor stage

Back 342

The period (birth to 2 years) within Piaget's theory in which intelligence is expressed through sensory and motor abilities

Front 343

separation anxiety

Back 343

Feelings of distress that children, especially infants and toddlers, experience when they are separated, or expect to be separated, from individuals to whom they are emotionally attached

Front 344

sex chromosomes

Back 344

The chromosomes (X and Y) that determine an individual's gender

Front 345

sexual-minority youth

Back 345

Young people who experience same-sex attraction and for whom the question of personal sexual identity is often confusing and painful

Front 346

sexual orientation

Back 346

A person's preference in regard to males or females as objects of erotic feelings

Front 347

small for gestational age

Back 347

Babies who weight substantially less than is normal for whatever their gestational age

Front 348

social comparison

Back 348

The process of comparing aspects of one's own psychological, behavioural, or physical functioning to that of others in order to evaluate oneself

Front 349

social competence

Back 349

The ability to achieve personal goals in social interactions while simultaneously maintaining positive relationships with others

Front 350

social conventional judgements

Back 350

Decisions that pertain to customs or regulations intended to secure social coordination and social organisation

Front 351

socialisation

Back 351

The process through which children acquire the values, standards, skills, knowledge, and behaviours that are regarded as appropriate for their present and future role in their particular culture

Front 352

social referencing

Back 352

The use of a parent's or other adult's facial expression or vocal cues to decide how to deal with novel, ambiguous, or possibly threatening situations

Front 353

social scaffolding

Back 353

A process in which more competent people provide a temporary framework that supports children's thinking at a higher level than children could manage on their own

Front 354

social-skills training

Back 354

Training programs designed to help rejected children gain peer acceptance; they are based on the assumption that rejected children lack important knowledge and skills that promote positive interaction with peers

Front 355

social smiles

Back 355

Smiles that are directed at people. They first emerge as early as 6 to 7 weeks of age

Front 356

sociocultural context

Back 356

The physical, social, cultural, economic, and historical circumstances that make up any child's environment

Front 357

sociocultural theories

Back 357

Approaches that emphasise that other people and the surrounding culture contribute greatly to children's development

Front 358

sociodramatic play

Back 358

Activities in which children enact miniature dramas with other children or adults, such as "mother comforting baby"

Front 359

socioeconomic status (SES)

Back 359

A measure of social class based on income and education

Front 360

sociometric status

Back 360

A measurement that reflects the degree to which children are liked or disliked by their peers as a group

Front 361

spermarche

Back 361

Onset of capacity for ejaculation

Front 362

spines

Back 362

Formations on the dendrites of neurons that increase the dendrites' capacity to form connections with other neurons

Front 363

stage theories

Back 363

Approaches that propose that development involves a series of discontinuous, age-related phases

Front 364

standard deviations (SD)

Back 364

Measure of the variability of scores in a distribution; in a normal distribution, 68% of scores fall within 1 SD of the mean, and 95% of scores fall within 2 SDs of the mean

Front 365

state

Back 365

Level of arousal and engagement in the environment, ranging from deep sleep to intense activity

Front 366

stepping reflex

Back 366

A neonatal reflex in which an infant lifts first one leg and then the other in a coordinated pattern like walking

Front 367

stereopsis

Back 367

The process by which the visual cortex combines the differing neural signals caused by binocular disparity, resulting in the perception of depth

Front 368

Strange Situation

Back 368

A procedure developed by Mary Ainsworth to assess infants' attachment to their primary caregiver

Front 369

strategy-choice process

Back 369

Procedure for selecting among alternative ways of solving problems

Front 370

structured interview

Back 370

A research procedure in which all participants are asked to answer the same questions

Front 371

structured observation

Back 371

A method that involves presenting an identical situation to each child and recording the child's behaviour

Front 372

subitising

Back 372

A perceptual process by which adults and children can look at a few objects and almost immediately know how many objects are present

Front 373

subordinate level

Back 373

The specific level within a category hierarchy, such as "poodle" in the animal/dog/poodle example

Front 374

sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)

Back 374

The sudden, unexpected death of an infant less than 1 year of age that has no identifiable cause

Front 375

superego

Back 375

In psychoanalytic theory, the 3rd personality structure, consisting of internalised moral standards

Front 376

superordinate level

Back 376

The most general level within a category hierarchy, such as "animal" in the animal/dog/poodle example

Front 377

swaddling

Back 377

A soothing technique, used in many cultures, that involves wrapping a baby tightly in cloths or a blanket

Front 378

symbolic numbers

Back 378

Numbers expressed orally or in writing, such as "7" or "seven"

Front 379

symbolic representation

Back 379

The use of one object to stand for another

Front 380

symbols

Back 380

Systems for representing our thoughts, feelings, and knowledge and for communicating them to other people

Front 381

synapses

Back 381

Microscopic junctions between the axon terminal of one neuron and the dendritic branches or cell body of another

Front 382

synaptic pruning

Back 382

The normal developmental process through which synapses that are rarely activated are eliminated

Front 383

synaptogenesis

Back 383

The process by which neurons form synapses with other neurons, resulting in trillions of connections

Front 384

syntactic bootstrapping

Back 384

The strategy of using the grammatical structure of whole sentences to figure out meaning

Front 385

syntactic development

Back 385

The learning of the syntax of a language

Front 386

syntax

Back 386

Rules in a language that specify how words from different categories (nouns, verbs, adjectives, and so on) can be combined

Front 387

systematic desensitisation

Back 387

A form of therapy based on classical conditioning, in which positive responses are gradually conditioned to stimuli that initially elicited a highly negative response. This approach is especially useful in the treatment of fears and phobias

Front 388

task analysis

Back 388

The research technique of identifying goals, relevant information in the environment, and potential processing strategies for a problem

Front 389

telegraphic speech

Back 389

The term describing children's first sentences that are generally two-word utterances

Front 390

temperament

Back 390

Constitutionally based individual differences in emotional, motor, and attentional reactivity and self-regulation that demonstrate consistency across situations, as well as relative stability over time

Front 391

temporal lobe

Back 391

The lobe of the cortex that is associated with memory, visual recognition, and the processing of emotion and auditory information

Front 392

teratogen

Back 392

An external agent that can cause damage or death during prenatal development

Front 393

test-retest reliability

Back 393

The degree of similarity of a child's performance on two or more occasions

Front 394

theory of mind

Back 394

An organised understanding of how mental processes such as intentions, desires, beliefs, perceptions, and emotions influence behaviour

Front 395

theory of mind module (TOMM)

Back 395

A hypothesised brain mechanism devoted to understanding other human beings

Front 396

theory of successful intelligence

Back 396

Sternberg's theory of intellect, based on the view that intelligence is the ability to achieve success in life

Front 397

third-variable problem

Back 397

The concept that a correlation between two variables may stem from both being influenced by some third variable

Front 398

three-stratum theory of intelligence

Back 398

Carroll's model that places 'g' at the top of the intelligence hierarchy, eight moderately general abilities in the middle, and many specific processes at the bottom

Front 399

transgender

Back 399

A person whose gender identity does not match the person's genetic sex; includes individuals who identify either with the other sex, with both sexes, or with neither sex

Front 400

tuition

Back 400

learning through direct teaching

Front 401

umbilical cord

Back 401

A tube containing the blood vessels connecting the fetus and placenta

Front 402

unconditioned response (UCR)

Back 402

In classical conditioning, a reflexive response that is elicited by the unconditioned stimulus

Front 403

unconditioned stimulus (UCS)

Back 403

In classical conditioning, a stimulus that evokes a reflexive response

Front 404

Universal Grammar

Back 404

A proposed set of highly abstract, unconscious rules that are common to all languages

Front 405

validity

Back 405

The degree to which a test measures what it is intended to measure

Front 406

variables

Back 406

Attributes that vary across individuals and situations, such as age, sex, and popularity

Front 407

vicarious reinforcement

Back 407

Observing someone else receive a reward or punishment

Front 408

victimised (peer status)

Back 408

Children who are targets of their peers' aggression and demeaning behaviour

Front 409

violation-of-expectancy

Back 409

A procedure used to study infant cognition in which infants are shown an event that should evoke surprise or interest if it violates something the infant knows or assumes to be true

Front 410

visual acuity

Back 410

The sharpness of visual discrimination

Front 411

visually based retrieval

Back 411

Proceeding directly from the visual form of a word to its meaning

Front 412

voice onset time (VOT)

Back 412

The length of time between when air passes through the lips and when the vocal cords start vibrating

Front 413

Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC)

Back 413

Widely used test designed to measure the intelligence of children 6 year and older

Front 414

withdrawn-rejected children

Back 414

A category of sociometric status that refers to rejected children who are socially withdrawn, wary, and often timid

Front 415

word segmentation

Back 415

The process of discovering where words begin and end in fluent speech

Front 416

working memory

Back 416

Memory system that involves actively attending to, gathering, maintaining, storing, and processing information

Front 417

zygote

Back 417

A fertilised egg cell

Front 418

Longitudinal design

Back 418

research method where the same group of individuals are tested repeatedly atdifferent times (e.g. when they are 3, 6 & 9 years old)

Front 419

Prospective (longitudinal design)

Back 419

research design where yourecord behaviour working forward in time (e.g.assess rates of delinquent behaviour this year, in 2017, and in 2019).

Front 420

Retrospective (longitudinal design)

Back 420

research design where you work back in time (e.g., ask for reports - or collect evidence ofconvictions - on delinquent behaviour for 2011, 2013 and this year)

Front 421

Cross-sectional design

Back 421

research design where data is collected on individuals of different ages(e.g. 3, 6 & 9 yr olds) at roughly the same point in time

Front 422

Microgenetic method

Back 422

(research method) intensive study of a particular area of change asit is happening

Front 423

· genotype

Back 423

genetic material anindividual inherits

Front 424

phenotype

Back 424

observable expression of the genotype

Front 425

Why x-lined recessive genes affect boys more than girls

Back 425

X-linked recessive gene almost never hascounterpart on Y chromosome

Front 426

Heritability

Back 426

a statistical estimate of the proportion ofvariance in a behaviour in a given population estimated to be due to geneticdifferences among those individuals

Front 427

Adoption design

Back 427

subjects have a different biology, but a shared environment

Front 428

Twin-study design

Back 428

comparemonozygotic and dizogotic twins; ie 100% vs. 50% genes + shared environment

Front 429

Adoptive-twin design

Back 429

compare monozygotic and dizygotic twins raisedseparately and apart; ie. 100% genes + shared environment / 100% genes only / 50%genes + shared environment / 50% genes only

Front 430

niche-picking

Back 430

the individual may seek out an environment (e.g.,play activities, friends, type of employment) that suit her/his genetic makeup

Front 431

Ways genetic endowment & environment can interact

Back 431

parents may adapt the environment to suit thechild’s capabilities, niche-picking, reciprocal influences

Front 432

Synaptogenesis

Back 432

process of exuberant generationof neuronal connections, excess and unused synapses are then selectively eliminated or‘pruned’

Front 433

Experience-expectant brain function

Back 433

some brainfunctions require certain basic common experiences in order to develop (e.g.visual stimulation, sounds, movement) synapses that are activated are strengthened, thosethat are rarely activated are ‘pruned’; without these experiences, developmentwill be compromised

Front 434

Whydo we need to use caution when inferring a relationship between characteristicsof the brain, such as brain size, and behaviour?

Back 434

Brain size is a red-herring (causal direction is ambiguous, no-one knows what biological property of the brain is related tointelligence);

Relationship between biologyand behaviour is complex (establishing ‘cause’ is difficult)

Front 435

What evidence is there to support the claim that age-related changes inprocessing speed are limited by a global mechanism?

Back 435

“developmental cascade” (Fry & Hale, 1996); ie. processing speed, WM, and fluidintelligence improve with age

Front 436

developmental cascade

Back 436

co-occurrence offaster processing speed, increased WM, and better performance on test of fluidintelligence with age

Front 437

Caution must be used when interpreting age-relatedcorrelations between processing speed and cognitive performance because....

Back 437

within any system that changes over time,performance on various measures of functioning will necessarily be correlated,even if they are functionally independent; correlation may be due to temporalcoincidence

Front 438

executive functions

Back 438

umbrella term for a range ofcognitive abilities: ie self-regulation & impulse control, reasoning, planning& problem solving, monitoring, cognitive flexibility, inhibition

Front 439

area of the brain associated with executive functions

Back 439

frontal lobes

Front 440

Describehow the development of rule-use can be used to explain changes in executivefunctions across age...

Back 440

There areage-related constraints on the complexity of the rules that children canformulate, and age-related changes in complexity are made possible byage-related changes in reflection

Front 441

Whatare the key constructs in Piaget’s theory?

Back 441

1. Cognitive development consists of thegrowth of knowledge structures (genetic epistemology) through 4 stages

2. Three major processes drive the development ofknowledge structures: organisation; adaptation; equilibration

Front 442

achievement/s of sensorimotor stage

Back 442

object permanence (awareness that objects have acontinuing existence when no longer perceived)

Front 443

achievement/s of preoperational stage

Back 443

commencing translation of knowledge represented inactions toknowledge represented in mental symbols; semiotic function - capacity to use one entity (a signifier) tostand for another; signifiers = words, visual images, another object

Front 444

limitation/s of preoperational stage

Back 444

judgements based on appearance rather than reality;inability to coordinate information; egocentrism (perceiving and interpretingworld from own perspective, unable to adopt perspective of someone else);centration (focusing on single feature of an object or event and ignoring otherfeatures); mental representations not inter-related, they do not form systems

Front 445

achievement/s of concrete operational stage

Back 445

can map operations to objects and events, enabling understanding ofrelationships between those objects and events; conservation of liquid

Front 446

achievement/s of formal operational stage

Back 446

ability to apply operations to operations, eg thoughts can be theobjects of thoughts

Front 447

how do you test object permanence?

Back 447

cover object (eg. toy) with something (eg. a blanket) and see if the infant searches for it

Front 448

how do you test the conservation of liquid?

Back 448

Liquid in 2 identical glasses is adjusted until judged equal;

Contents of one glass poured into a wider glass;

Ask child: still the same or does one have more?

Front 449

key features of Vygotsky’s theory

Back 449

Emphasis on social and historical-cultural influenceson the child’s development:

Inter-mental to intra-mentalshift in cognitive skills (ie. new skill is first developed cooperatively [taught], then thechild internalises the skill)

Development is facilitated bytools provided by the society. (eg language, maths, art, computers, etc)

Language and thought converge through thedevelopment of inner speech

Front 450

Vygotsky's opinion on language and thought

Back 450

Language and thought develop independently, and later converge through thedevelopment of inner speech(thought + language = thinking using internalised speech)

Front 451

Piaget's opinion on language and thought

Back 451

thought comes before language

Front 452

Howdoes Social Learning Theory differ from early learning theories?

Back 452

Emphasised observationallearning and imitation, rather than reinforcement, as primary mechanisms ofdevelopment

Front 453

Self-monitoring

Back 453

Societal standards are incorporated by the childthrough modeling and reinforcement. Behaviour can then be regulated by theself, i.e. without external reinforcement.

Front 454

Describe Brofenbrenner’s Bioecological Model

Back 454

Previous theories don’t fullyacknowledge influence of broader contemporary social structures in the child’sdevelopment. Child’s environment represented as as a set of nested structures (chronosystem; macrosystem; exosystem; microsystem)

Front 455

Chronosystem (Brofenbrenner’s Bioecological Model)

Back 455

changes in person or environment over time

Front 456

Macrosystem (Brofenbrenner’s Bioecological Model)

Back 456

broad ideology, laws, and customs of one’s culture,subculture, or social class

Front 457

Exosystem (Brofenbrenner’s Bioecological Model)

Back 457

extended family, neighbours, friends, community

Front 458

Microsystem (Brofenbrenner’s Bioecological Model)

Back 458

school, church, peers, friends, immediate family

Front 459

Whatis intelligence?

Back 459

Ability to comprehend; Ability to reasonlogically and connect ideas; Capacity to acquire and apply knowledge; Abilityto understand and benefit from experience

Front 460

Gardner's multiple intelligences

Back 460

Linguistic, logical-mathematical, spatial, musical,naturalistic, body-kinesthetic, interpersonal, intrapersonal

Front 461

crystallised intelligence

Back 461

accumulated factual knowledge and skills, includingthose relating to language; increases across the lifespan

Front 462

fluid intelligence

Back 462

ability to think – to discover novel relationsamong stimuli; increases to early adulthood then declines steadily

Front 463

How is IQ tested in WISC-IV?

Back 463

Verbal Comprehension + Perceptual Reasoning + Working Memory +Processing Speed = Full Scale IQ Score

Front 464

What intelligences does Raven’s progressive matrices test?

Back 464

nonverbal and fluid

Front 465

What intelligences does the Peabody picture vocabulary test, test?

Back 465

verbal and crystallised

Front 466

Process of deriving IQ scores

Back 466

Testing continues on increasingly more difficultsubtest items until a string of failures; raw scores computed for each subtest;these are converted to age-adjested scores; age-adjusted scores added acrosssubtests to give IQ score

Front 467

Correlations among IQs ofchildren raised together: identical twins

Back 467

r~.82

Front 468

Correlations among IQs ofchildren raised together: non-identical twins

Back 468

r~.55

Front 469

Correlations among IQs ofchildren raised together: siblings

Back 469

r~.45

Front 470

Correlations among IQs ofchildren raised together: unrelated children

Back 470

r~.3

Front 471

Howcan genotype and environment interact in influencing intellectual development?

Back 471

Environments children encounterare partly influenced by their genotype

Front 472

Passive effects (genotype x environment interaction influencing intellectual development)

Back 472

arising fromthe biological parents (with similar genes) providing an environment compatiblewith the child’s genetic predisposition

Front 473

Evocative effects (genotype x environment interaction influencing intellectual development)

Back 473

the genotypeof the child influences his/her preferences, which influence the environmentprovided to him/her

Front 474

Active effects (genotype x environment interaction influencing intellectual development)

Back 474

the childactively seeks out an environment consistent with his/her geneticpredisposition

Front 475

What home/family factors affect intellectual development?

Back 475

availability, involvement and responsivity of caregivers; supportive rather than restrictive/punishing style of parenting; provision of play and educational materials (eg. books) and a generally stimulating physical environment

Front 476

What evidence is there that schooling affects intellectual development?

Back 476

Jumps in IQ test performance between grade levels

Front 477

What evidence is there that society affects intellectual development?

Back 477

Scores on ability tests have risen over the decades, esp among thosein the lower 10% of the distribution, probably reflecting better nutrition,health care, and access to education

Front 478

numerosity

Back 478

(of a set) cardinal number

Front 479

is there any evidence that infants have any understanding of numerosity?

Back 479

Wynn (1992) Infants looked longer when the result was inconsistent with therules of addition and subtraction. Other studies of infants also showsensitivity to changes in number for small numbers (>3) but not larger ones

Front 480

subsitising

Back 480

Accurate and extremely fast estimation of number ofobjects in a small collection (up to 3 or 4) without counting

Front 481

What are the five principles of counting identified by Gelman and Gallistel?

Back 481

one-to-one correspondence, stable order, cardinality, abstraction, order irrelevance

Front 482

one-to-one correspondence

Back 482

each element of counted set must map on to one and only one number

Front 483

stable order

Back 483

numbers must be ordered in a consistent way

Front 484

cardinality

Back 484

last number represents the numerosity of the set

Front 485

abstraction

Back 485

counting can be applied to any collection

Front 486

order irrelevance

Back 486

elements can be counted in any order

Front 487

do preschoolers have the capability for any of Gelman and Gallistel's five principles?

Back 487

1-to-1 correspondence + orderirrelevance: they have difficulty coordinating pointing and speakingnumbers, but can judge correct/incorrect counting

Front 488

What are three general contributions to development in maths? Give anexample of each...

Back 488

Acquiring general concepts(e.g. counting principles);

Acquiring procedural knowledge(counting skills);

Establishing knowledge base ofnumber facts (e.g. the correct sequence of numbers 1-10)

Front 489

What strategies do children use for addction?

Back 489

count all, sum, count on, min, recall

Front 490

example of count all strategy (for 3+5)

Back 490

"1,2,3" (on one hand), "1,2,3,4,5" (on other hand), then "1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8" (on both)

Front 491

example of sum strategy (for 3+5)

Back 491

"1,2,3" (on one hand), "4,5,6,7,8" (on the other)

Front 492

example of count on strategy (for 3+5)

Back 492

say "3", then on fingers "4,5,6,7,8"

Front 493

example of min strategy (for 3+5)

Back 493

say “5”, then on fingers "6,7,8" (Min is version ofcount on where amount of counting is minimised by counting on from the largernumber)

Front 494

example of recall strategy (for 3+5)

Back 494

answer "8"

Front 495

do children show a consistent progression from one addition strategy to another?

Back 495

Developments include: shiftfrom counting on fingers to verbal counting only, or decomposition, eg 5+7 =5+5+2

BUT strong positive correlation between the difficulty of a problem(reflected in the % of errors it elicits), and the frequency of using an overtstrategy, eg counting on fingers

Front 496

Describe evidence suggesting that speech perception is an innate abilitythat rapidly becomes language specific

Back 496

Werker & Tees 2002: examinedEnglish infants’ ability to discriminate non-English speech contrasts (i.e.ba-da in English); cross-sectional and longitudinal; 6-8, 8-10, 10-12 months ofage; head-turning procedure

Jusczyk & Aslin 1995 – moretime listening to familiar word segments; gap grows across time

Front 497

language production: 2-4mo

Back 497

cooing

Front 498

language production: 4-7 mo

Back 498

vocal play; single syllables with prolonged vowel or consonant sounds

Front 499

language production: 6-10mo

Back 499

babbling (eg, bababa, nanana)

Front 500

language production ~12mo

Back 500

first words: usually people in family (Mama, Dada) or important objects (duck)

Front 501

language production: 18-24 mo

Back 501

short sentences; telegraphic speech; actions (whathappened), possession (what belongs to whom), location (where people andobjects are), recurrence (more, again), naming (familiar people and objects)

Front 502

language production: 2-3yrs

Back 502

language becomes more adult-like

Front 503

language production: by school-age

Back 503

know between 8,000-14,000 words; increase length and content of sentences

Front 504

Howmight you test a child’s understanding of the morphological rules of theirlanguage?

Back 504

Mean Length of Utterances (MLU); "Wug test"

Front 505

Mean Length of Utterances (MLU)

Back 505

average number of morphemes a child uses in anutterance; provides measure of child’s linguistic development; measured byrecoding a child’s speech and computing the average number of morphemes (bothfree and bound)

Front 506

"Wug test"

Back 506

used to test syntax, ie knowledge of grammatical rules;children learn grammar implicitly, despite hearing speech that is imperfect

Front 507

Nativist perspective of language development

Back 507

we are biologically prepared to learn language, innate language learning mechanisms

Front 508

what evidence is there to support the nativist perspective of language development?

Back 508

universal grammar, pidgins and creoles, language is species specific, language is species uniform, language develops in a regular sequence

Front 509

universal grammar

Back 509

basic grammatical rules that typify all languages

Front 510

pidgins and creoles

Back 510

rudimentary form of language with little grammatical structure (a) which can be transformed into full language (b) by children of (a) speakers

Front 511

language is species specific

Back 511

other species do communicate, but only humans possess language

Front 512

language is species uniform

Back 512

virtually all members possess language

Front 513

language develops in a regular sequence

Back 513

language develops in the same way at the same time across cultures

Front 514

Social-interactionist perspective of language development

Back 514

language as a social behaviour; languagedevelopment is influenced by its communicative function; formal structuralproperties of language are mastered through interaction with others; adultsstructure interactions with children in specific ways (ie child-directedspeech); joint attention and pragmatic inference used to explain languageacquisition

Front 515

Phonemic awareness

Back 515

the ability to identify component sounds withinspoken words; critical component in both recoding in reading and foundationspelling skills; blending, segmenting, and manipulating individual phonemes

Front 516

Accordingto Siegler’s adaptive strategy choice model, how do children approach reading?

Back 516

Word identification via eitherphonological recoding or visually-based retrieval;

Children choose adaptivelybetween these approaches through a strategy-choice process in which they choosethe fastest approach that is likely to be correct