Chapter 11- Development Flashcards
Developmental Psychology
study of continuity and change across the life span
Zygote
single cell that contains chromosomes from both sperm and egg
Germinal Stage
2 week period of prenatal development that begins at conception
Embryonic stage
period of prenatal development that lasts from the 2nd week until about the 8th week
Fetal stage
period of prenatal development that lasts from 9th week until birth
Myelination
formation of fatty sheath around axons of brain cell
Teratogens
agents that damage the process of development, such as drugs and viruses
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
developmental disorder that stems from heavy alcohol use by the mother during pregnancy
Infancy
stage of development that begins at birth and lasts between 18 and 24 months
Motor development
emergence of the ability to execute physical action
Reflexes
specific patterns of motor response that are triggered by specific patterns of sensory stimulation
Cephalocaudal Rule
“top-to-bottom” rule that describes the tendency for motor skills to emerge in sequence from the head to the feet
Proximodistal Rule
“inside-to-outside” rule that describes the tendency for motor skills to emerge in sequence from the center to the periphery
Cognitive development
emergence of the ability to understand the world
Sensorimotor stage
stage of development that begins at birth and lasts through infancy in which infants acquire information about the world by sensing it and moving around within it
schemas
theories about or models of the way the world works
assimilation
process by which infants apply their schemas in novel situations
accommodation
process by which infants revise their schemas in light of new information
object permanence
idea that objects continue to exist even when they are not visible
childhood
stage of development that begins at about 18-24 months and lasts until adolescence
Preoperational stage
stage of development that begins at about 2 years and ends at about 6 years, in which children have preliminary understanding of the physical world
Concrete operational stage
stage of development that begins at about 6 years and ends about 11 years, in which children acquire a basic understanding of the physical world and a preliminary understanding of their own and others’ minds
conservation
notion that the quantitative properties of an object are invariant despite changes in the object’s appearance
formal operational stage
stage of development that begins around the age of 11 and lasts through adulthood, in which children gain a deeper understanding of their own and others’ minds and learn to reason abstractly
egocentricism
failure to understand that the world appears differently to different observers (–> False belief test with marble, box & drawer)
theory of mind
idea that human behavior is guided by mental representation, which gives rise to the realization that the world is not always the way it looks and that different people see it differently
attachment
emotional bond that forms between newborns and their primary caregivers
strange situation
behavioral developed by Mary Ainsworth that is used to determine a child’s attachment style (4 attachment styles: secure, avoidant, ambivalent, disorganized)
internal working model of relationships
!!…(internal working model of attachment: a set of expectations about how the primary caregiver will respond when the child feels insecure)
temperaments
characteristic patterns of emotional reactivity
pre-conventional stage
a stage of moral development in which the morality of an action is primarily determined by its consequences for the actor
conventional stage
stage of moral development in which the morality of an action is primarily determined by the extent to which it conforms to social rules
postconventional stage
a stage of moral development at which the morality of an action is determined by a set of general principles that reflect core values.
adolescence
period of development that begins with the onset of sexual maturity (about 11 to 14 years of age) and lasts until the beginning of adulthood (about 18 to 21 years of age)
puberty
bodily changes associated with sexual maturity
primary sex characteristics
bodily structures that are directly involved in reproduction
secondary sex characteristics
bodily structures that change dramatically with sexual maturity but that are not directly involved in reproduction
adulthood
stage of development that begins around 18-21 years old and ends at death
Piaget’s 4 stages of cognitive development
1) sensorimotor stage
2) pre operational stage
3) concrete-operational stage
4) formal-operational stage
Kohlberg’s view of moral development (3 stages)
1) preconventional
2) conventional
3) postconventional
4 common expectations of the physical world (what babies know)
1) occlusion
2) support
3) solidity
4) kinetic transfer
impetus theory
ball move A or B? physics experiment where ball will move in perpendicular direction of being hit by a spinning stick (tangential)
spotlight effect
when one tends to feel embarrassed due to an overestimation of the significance something had on other people’s memory of him/her (wearer’s estimate vs. actual of remembering ugly t-shirt)
change in physical vs. societal adulthood between past & present
past: physical shortly before societal
present: earlier physical and later societal, therefore large gap = longer adolescence
