Term
| developmental psychologists |
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Definition
| a branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive, and social change throughout the life span |
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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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| the developing human organism from about 2 weeks after fertilization through the second month (2nd - 8th week) |
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| the developing human organism from 9 weeks after conception to birth. |
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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 (FAS) |
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Definition
| physical and cognitive abnormalities in children caused by a pregnant woman's heavily drinking. In severe cases, symptom include noticeable facial disproportion. |
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| biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in behavior, relatively uninfluenced by experience. |
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| a baby's tendency, when touched on the cheek, to turn toward the touch, open the mouth, and search for the nipple |
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| decreasing responsiveness with repeated stimulation. As infants gain familiarity with repeated exposure to a visual stimulus, their interest wanes and they look away sooner |
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| a concept or framework that organizes and interprets information |
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Definition
| all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating. |
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| when we take in new information and make it fit into our existing schemas. |
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| adapting our current understandings (schemas) to incorporate new information; building new framework for new information. |
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| in Piaget's theory, the stage (from birth to about 2 years of age) during which infants know the world mostly in terms of their sensory impressions and motor activities. |
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| the awareness that things continue to exist even when not perceived. |
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| in Piaget's theory (from about 2 to 6 or 7 years old) during which a child learns to use language but does not yet comprehend the mental operations of concrete logic |
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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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| in Piaget's theory, the preoperational child's difficulty taking another's point of view, they believe that their view of the world is everybody's view of the world. |
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| people's ideas about their own and others; mental states -- about their feelings, perceptions, and thoughts, and the behaviors these might predict. |
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Term
| Concrete operational stage |
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Definition
| n Piaget's theory, the stage of cognitive development (from about 6 or 7 to 12 years of age) during which children gain the mental operations that enable them to think logically about concrete events. |
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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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Definition
| in Piaget's theory, the stage of cognitive development (normally beginning about age 12 to adulthood) during which people begin to think logically about abstract concepts. |
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| the fear of strangers that infants commonly display, beginning by about 8 months of age. |
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| an emotional tie with another person; shown in young children by their seeking closeness to the caregiver and showing distress on separation. |
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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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| the process by which certain animals form attachments during a critical period very early in life. |
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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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| he transition period from childhood to adulthood, extending from puberty to independence. |
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| a sense of one's identity and personal worth |
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| the period of sexual maturation, during which a person becomes capable of reproducing. |
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Term
| Primary sex characteristics |
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Definition
| the body structures (ovaries, testes, and external genitalia) that make sexual reproduction possible. |
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Term
| Secondary sex characteristics |
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Definition
| nonreproductive sexual characteristics, such as female breasts and hips, male voice quality, and body hair. |
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Definition
| the first menstrual period. |
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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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| n Erikson's theory, the ability to form close, loving relationships; a primary developmental task in late adolescence and early adulthood. |
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| the time of natural cessation of menstruation; also refers to the biological changes a woman experiences as her ability to reproduce declines. |
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Term
| Crystallized intelligence |
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Definition
| our accumulated knowledge and verbal skills; tends to INCREASE with age. |
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| our ability to reason speedily and abstractly; tends to DECREASE during late adulthood. |
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| the culturally preferred timing of social events such as marriage, parenthood, and retirement. |
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| a progressive and irreversible brain disorder characterized by gradual deterioration of memory, reasoning, language, and, finally, physical functioning |
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Definition
| a study in which people of different ages are compared with one another |
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| research in which the same people are restudied and retested over a long period |
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