Ch 9 Psychological Development

Question 0

Nature - nurture issue

Answer 0

The long-standing discussion over the relative importance of nature (heredity) and nature (environment) in their influence on behavior and mental processes

Question 1

Developmental psychology

Answer 1

The psychological specialty that studies how organisms change over time as the results of biological and environmental influences

Question 2

Interaction

Answer 2

A process by which forces work together or influence each other - as in the interaction between the forces of heredity and environment

Question 3

Identical twins

Answer 3

A pair who started life as a single fertilized egg which later split into two distinct individuals. They have the same genes

Question 4

Fraternal twins

Answer 4

A pair who started life as two separate fertilized eggs that happened to share the same womb on average they have about 50% of genetic material in common

Question 5

Continuity view

Answer 5

The perspective that development is gradual and continuos - as opposed to the discontinuity (stage) view

Question 6

Discontinuity view

Answer 6

The perspective that development proceeds in an uneven (discontinuous) fashion - as opposed to the continuity view

Question 7

Prenatal period

Answer 7

The developmental period before birth

Question 8

Zygote

Answer 8

A fertilized egg

Question 9

Embryo

Answer 9

In humans, the name for the developing organism during the first eight weeks after conceptions

Question 10

Fetus

Answer 10

In humans, the term for the developing organism between the embryonic stage and birth

Question 11

Placenta

Answer 11

The organ interface between the embryo or fetus and the mother. The placenta separates the bloodstreams, but it allows the exchange of nutrients and waste products

Question 12

Teratogens

Answer 12

Substances from the environment, including viruses, drugs, and other chemicals, that can damage the developing organism during the prenatal period

Question 13

Neonatal period

Answer 13

In humans, the neonatal (newborn) period extends through the first month after birth

Question 14

Infancy

Answer 14

In humans infancy spans the time between the end of the neonatal period and the establishment of language - usually at about 18 months to 2 years

Question 15

Attachment

Answer 15

The enduring social - emotional relationship between a child and a parent or other regular caregiver

Question 16

Imprinting

Answer 16

A primitive form of learning in which some young animals form an attachment to the first moving object they see and hear

Question 17

Contact comfort

Answer 17

Stimulation and reassurance derived from the physical touch of a caregiver

Question 18

Maturation

Answer 18

The process by which the genetic program manifests itself over time

Question 19

Adolescence

Answer 19

In industrial societies, a developmental period beginning at puberty and ending (less clearly) at adulthood

Question 20

Rite of passages

Answer 20

Social rituals that mark the transition between developmental stages, especially between childhood and adulthood

Question 21

Puberty

Answer 21

The onset of sexual maturity

Question 22

Primary sex characteristics

Answer 22

The sex organs and genitals

Question 23

Secondary sex characteristics

Answer 23

Gender-related physical features that develop during puberty, including facial hair and deepening voice in males, widened hips and enlarged breasts in females and development of public hair in both sexes

Question 24

Formal operation stage

Answer 24

The last of Piaget’s stages, during which abstract thought appears