Chapter 5: Developing Life Span

Question 1

developmental psychology

Answer 1

studies physical, cognitive, and social change throughout the lifespan

Question 2

zygote
embryo
fetus

Answer 2

• fertilized egg; two week period of rapid cell division
• developing human organism; 2 weeks through to second month
• developing human organism; 9 weeks through to birth

Question 3

teratogens

Answer 3

(monster maker) agents that can reach the embryo and cause harm

Question 4

fetal alcohol syndrome

Answer 4

FAS, physical/cognitive abnormalities caused by heavy drinking during pregnancy

Question 5

habituation

Answer 5

decreasing responsiveness with repeated stimulation, new thing isn’t as interesting anymore

Question 6

3 issues to engage developmental psychologists

Answer 6

nature and nurture; continuity and stages; stability and change

Question 7

continuity vs. stages

Answer 7

continuity: gradual development –> growing taller
stages: sudden changes in development –> caterpillar to butterfly

Question 8

nature vs nurture

Answer 8

nature: genetic inheritance
nurture: experiences/upbringing

Question 9

stability vs change

Answer 9

stability: traits that persist through life
change: change as we age

Question 10

course of prenatal development and teratogens

Answer 10

zygote, embryo, fetus. teratogens cause harm to the fetus

Question 11

newborns abilities? how do researchers explore infants’ mental abilities?

Answer 11

rooting, breathing, sucking, crying, preference for mothers smell
habituation, senses

Question 12

maturation

Answer 12

biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in behaviour, relatively uninfluenced by experiences

Question 13

cognition

Answer 13

mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating

Question 14

schema

Answer 14

concept of framework that organizes and interprets new information

Question 15

assimilation

Answer 15

interpreting new experiences in terms of our existing schemas

Question 16

accomadation

Answer 16

adapting out current understandings (schemas) to incorporate new information

Question 17

sensorimotor stage

Answer 17

piaget’s theory, the stage (birth-2 years) during which infants know the world mostly in terms of their sensory impressions and motor activities

Question 18

object permanence

Answer 18

the awareness that things continue to exist even when they are not percieved

Question 19

preoperational stage

Answer 19

piaget’s theory, the stage (2-6/7years) during which a child learns to use language but does not yet comprehend the mental operations of concrete logic

Question 20

conservation

Answer 20

the principle that properties such as mass, volume, and number remain the same despite changes in the form of the objects (flipping a triangle shaped container of water)

Question 21

egocentrism

Answer 21

piaget’s theory, the preoperational child’s difficulty taking another’s point of view (jim is my brother but jim doesn’t have a brother)

Question 22

theory of mind

Answer 22

people’s ideas about their own and others’ mental states - about their feeling, perceptions, and thoughts, and the behaviours these might predict

Question 23

concrete operational stage

Answer 23

piaget’s theory, the stage of cognitive development (7-11 years) during which children gain the mental operations that enable them to think logically about concrete events

Question 24

formal operational stage

Answer 24

piaget’s theory, the stage of cognitive development (12+) during which people begin to think logically about abstract concepts

Question 25

stranger anxiety

Answer 25

the fear of strangers that infants commonly display, beginning by about 8 months of age

Question 26

attachment

Answer 26

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

Question 27

critical period

Answer 27

an optimal period early in the life of an organism when exposure to certain stimuli or experiences produces normal development

Question 28

imprinting

Answer 28

the process by which certain animals form strong attachments during early life

Question 29

basic trust

Answer 29

erik erikson, a sense that the world is predictable and trustworthy; said to be formed during infancy by appropriate experiences with responsible caregivers

Question 30

self concept

Answer 30

all out thoughts and feelings about ourselves. in answer to the question, “who am i?”

Question 31

puberty

Answer 31

the period of sexual maturation, during which a person becomes capable of reproducing

Question 32

identity

Answer 32

our sense of self; according to erikson, the adolescent’s task is to solidify a sense of self by testing and integrating various roles

Question 33

social identity

Answer 33

the ‘we’ aspect of our self-concept; the part of our answer to the “who am I?” that comes from our group memberships

Question 34

intimacy

Answer 34

erikson, the ability to form close, loving relationships; a primary developmental task in young adulthood

Question 35

emerging adulthood

Answer 35

a period from about age 18 to the mid-twenties, when many in Western cultures are no longer adolescents but have not yet achieved full independence as adults

Question 36

menopause

Answer 36

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

Question 37

cross-sectional study

Answer 37

a study in which people of different ages are compared with one another

Question 38

longitudinal study

Answer 38

research in which the same people are restudied and retested over a long period of time

Question 39

neurocognitive disorders

Answer 39

(NCDs) acquired (not lifelong) disorders marked by cognitive deficits; often related to Alzheimer’s disease, brain injury or disease, or substance abuse. In older adults neurocognitve disorders were formerly called dementia

Question 40

Alzheimer’s disease

Answer 40

an NCD marked by neural plaques, often with an onset after age 80, and entailing a progressive decline in memory and other cognitive abilities

Question 41

social clock

Answer 41

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