unit 6

• Developmental Psychology


  the branch of psychology that studies the social and mental development of children, a branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive, and social change throughout the life span.
• Zygote


  the fertilized egg; single cell
• Embryo


  the developing human organism from about 2 weeks after fertilization through the second month: Week 2-8 (3rd month of pregnancy)amniocentesis can be performed
• Fetus


  the developing human organism from 9 weeks after conception to birth.
• Fetal Alcohol Syndrome


  physical and cognitive abnormalities in children caused by a pregnant woman's heavy drinking. In severe cases, symptoms include noticeable facial misproportions
• Teratogens


  agents, such as chemicals and viruses, that can reach the embryo or fetus during prenatal development and cause harm
• Rooting Reflex


  a baby's tendency, when touched on the cheek, to turn toward the touch, open the mouth, and search for the nipple
• Maturation


  biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in behavior, relatively uninfluenced by experience
• Schema


  a concept or framework that organizes and interprets information
• Assimilation


  interpreting one's new experience in terms of one's existing schemas
• Accommodation


  adapting one's current understandings (schemas) to incorporate new information
• Cognition


  all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating
• Sensorimotor Stage


  1st stage 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
• Object Permanence


  The awareness that things continue to exist even when not perceived, developed at 2 years of age
• Stranger Anxiety


  The fear of strangers that infants commonly display, beginning by about 8 months of age.
• Attachment


  an emotional tie with another person; shown in young children by their seeking closeness to the caregiver and showing distress on separation
• Critical Period


  an optimal period shortly after birth when an organism's exposure to certain stimuli or experiences produces proper development, develops familiarity and contactF
• Imprinting


  The process by which certain animals form attachments during a critical period very early in life.
• Basic Trust


  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
• Self-Concept


  a sense of one's identity and personal worth.
• Preoperational Stage


  2nd stage in Piaget's theory, the stage (from about 2 to 6 years of age) during which a child learns to use language but does not yet comprehend the mental operations of concrete logic
• Conservation


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


  in Piaget's theory, the preoperational child's difficulty taking another's point of view
• Theory of Mind


  developed in stage 2, people's ideas about their own and others' mental states -- about their feelings, perceptions, and thoughts and the behavior these might predict

  - Kissing up to dad because you think he might be mad
• Concrete Operational Stage


  3rd stage in Piaget's theory, the stage of cognitive development (from about 6 or 7 to 11 years of age) during which children gain the mental operations that enable them to think logically about concrete events, conservation is developed
• Habituation


  decreasing responsiveness with repeated stimulation. As infants gain familiarity with repeated exposure to a visual stimulus, their interest wanes and they look away sooner
• Formal Operational Stage


  4th stage in Piaget's theory, the stage of cognitive development (normally beginning about age 12-end of life) during which people begin to think logically about abstract concepts
• Autism


  a disorder that appears in childhood and is marked by deficient communication, social interaction, and understanding of others' states of mind
• Adolescence


  teenage years, the time period between the beginning of puberty and adulthood
• Puberty


  the period of sexual maturation, during which a person becomes capable of reproducing
• Primary Sex Characteristics


  the body structures (ovaries, testes, and external genitalia) that make sexual reproduction possible.
• Secondary Sex Characteristics


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


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


  the time of natural cessation of menstruation; also refers to the biological changes a woman experiences as her ability to reproduce declines
• Alzheimer's Disease


  an irreversible, progressive brain disorder, characterized by the deterioration of memory, language, and eventually, physical functioning
• Cross-sectional study


  a study in which people of different ages are tested or observed at the same point in time.
• Longitudinal Study


  research in which the same people are restudied and retested over a long time period.
• Crystallized Intelligence


  one's accumulated knowledge and verbal skills; tends to increase with age
• Fluid Intelligence


  one's ability to reason speedily and abstractly; tends to decrease during late adulthood
• social clock


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