Chapter 5 Flashcards
Prenatal development
Zygote, embryo, fetus
Developmental psychology
Examines how people continually developing from infancy through old age
(Physically, cognitively, socially)
Teratogens
Harmful agents (drugs, viruses) harmful to the baby that slip by the placenta
Fetal alcohol syndrome
Small, misproportioned head, lifelong brain abnormalities
(Competent newborn)
Brain development
Increase in neurons
Association areas develop last
Maturation (biological growth)
(Competent newborn)
Motor development
6 mos: sitting unsupported
8-9 mos: crawling
12 mos: beginning to walk
15 mos: walking independently
Infantile amnesia
We don’t consciously remember things before four years of age
Cognition
All mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, communicating
(Competent newborn)
Cognitive development
Maturing brain builds schema
Schema
Mental molds into which we pour our experiences
Assimilation and accommodation
(Piagets theory)
Sensorimotor stage
(Birth to 2 yrs)
Take in world through senses and actions; lack object permanence and stranger anxiety
(Piagets theory)
Preoperational stage
(Until 6-7yrs)
Too young to perform mental operations; lack concept of conservation
Egocentric; theory of mind
Egocentric
Have difficulty perceiving something from another’s point of view
Theory of mind
Able to infer another’s mental states
(Piagets theory)
Concrete operational stage
(By 6-7 yrs)
Can grasp conservation; change in form doesn’t mean change in quantity
