Chapter 1 Flashcards
Amblyopia
“Lazy eye”, loss of visual acuity in an otherwise healthy eye
Analytic research
focused on the processes/variables that are responsible for the changes in abilities and needs from age to age, the “why” questions
Androgen insensitivity syndrome
when an individual has male sex organs, but is resisted to male hormones (known as androgens), typically this can result in the lack of male sex traits
Chromosome
structure composed of acids/proteins, found in the nucleus, contains genetic information
Cohort effect
disadvantage of the cross-sectional design, the difference in age groups of the experiment may be due to generational/societal differences and not indicative of normal developmental patterns
Critical period
now refined as a “sensitive” period
Cross-sectional design
developmental research design in which individuals from different age groups are studied at the same point in time
Crystallized intelligence
individual’s accumulated knowledge over their lifespan, may increase with age
Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)
building blocks of chromosomes, contain genes
Dominant genes
allele that is expressed over the other allele, always results in that phenotype
Experience-dependent
neural system that only develops typically if it receives appropriate input
Experience-expectant
neural system whose development is critically dependant on inputs that are stable across sources
Fetus
once an embryo has passed 8weeks of development
Fluid intelligence
involves abstract thinking/quick reasoning, tends to decline with age
Genes
molecular unit of heredity
Genome
complete set of instructions contained in every cell of an organism
Genotype
genetic blueprint, this and the environment produce an organism’s phenotype
Longitudinal design
developmental research design where the same individuals are studied repeatedly over a subset of their lifespan
Neural plate
developmental component of the nervous system, composed of primitive neural tissue, will develop into the neural tube
Neural tube
when the neural plate folds/closes to become a hollow structure
Neurogenesis
development/growth of neurons
Normative/descriptive research
investigates how things normally change as a person ages
Ocular dominance columns
columns of neurons in the visual cortex, respond preferentially to one eye
Phenotype
observable traits resulting from the genotype/environment
Polygenic inheritance
when a trait is governed by multiple gene pairs
Quasi-experiment
similar to traditional experiments, lacks the random assignment of individuals to groups, the ones here are specified
Recessive
only express if both alleles are recessive
Sensitive period
stage of development when a person is MOST responsive to certain inputs, when new skills are learned quicker
Synaptic pruning
changes in neural structures that results in the reduction of the number of synapses in the brain
Teratogens
agent that causes malformation of an embryo
Within-subjects design
the same group of participants is exposed to all the different conditions in an experiment
