Chapter 5 developing through the life span recall

Question 1

developmental psychology

Answer 1

a branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive, and social change throughout the life span.

Question 2

zygote

Answer 2

the fertilized egg; it enters a 2-week period of a rapid cell division and develops into an embryo.

Question 3

embryo

Answer 3

the developing human organism from about 2 weeks after fertilization through the second month.

Question 4

fetus

Answer 4

the developing human organism from 9 weeks after conception to birth.

Question 5

teratogens

Answer 5

(lit monster maker) agents, such as chemicals and viruses, that can reach the embryo or fetus during prenatal development and cause harm.

Question 6

fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS)

Answer 6

physical and cognitive abnormalities in children caused by a pregnant woman’s heavy drinking. In severe cases, symptoms include noticeable facial disproportions.

Question 7

habituation

Answer 7

decreasing responsiveness with repeated stimulation. As infants gain familiarity with repeated exposure to a visual stimulus, their interest wanes and they look away sooner

Question 8

maturation

Answer 8

biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in behavior ,relatively uninfluenced by experience.

Question 9

cognition

Answer 9

all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating.

Question 10

schema

Answer 10

a concept or framework that organizes and interprets information.

Question 11

assimilation

Answer 11

interpreting our new experiences in terms of our existing schemas.

Question 12

accommodation

Answer 12

adapting our current understandings (schemas) to incorporate new information.

Question 13

sensorimotor stage

Answer 13

in Piaget’s theory, the stage (from birth to about 2 years of age) during which infants know the world mostly in terms of their sensory impressions and motor activities.

Question 14

object permanence

Answer 14

the awareness that things continue to exist even when not perceived.

Question 15

egocentrism

Answer 15

in Piaget’s theory, the preoperational child’s difficulty taking another’s point of view.

Question 16

preoperational stage

Answer 16

in Piaget’s theory, the stage (from about 2 to 6 or 7 years of age) during which a child learns to use language but does not yet comprehend the mental operations of concrete logic.

Question 17

conservation

Answer 17

the principle (which Piaget believed to be a part of concrete operational reasoning) that properties such as mass, volume, and number remains the same despite changes in the forms of objects.

Question 18

theory of mind

Answer 18

people’s ideas about their own and others’ mental state – about their feelings, perceptions, and thoughts, and the behaviors these might predict.

Question 19

concrete operation stage

Answer 19

in Piaget’s theory, the stage of cognitive development (from about 6 or 7 to 11 years of age) during which children gain the mental operations that enable them to think logically about concrete events.

Question 20

formal operation stage

Answer 20

in Piaget’s theory, the stage of cognitive development (normally beginning about age 12) during which people begin to think logically about abstract concepts.

Question 21

stranger anxiety

Answer 21

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

Question 22

attachment

Answer 22

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

Question 23

critical period

Answer 23

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

Question 24

imprinting

Answer 24

the process by which certain animals form attachments during a critical period very early in life.

Question 25

basic trust

Answer 25

according to Erik Erikson, a sense that the world is predictable and trustworthy; said to be formed during infancy by appropriate experiences with responsive caregivers.

Question 26

Self-concept

Answer 26

our understanding and evaluation of who we are.

Question 27

adolescence

Answer 27

the transition from childhood to adulthood, extending from puberty to independence.

Question 28

puberty

Answer 28

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

Question 29

primary sex characteristics

Answer 29

the body structures (ovaries, testes, and external genitalia) that make sexual reproduction possible.

Question 30

secondary sex characteristics

Answer 30

Non-reproductive sexual characteristics, such as female breasts and hips, male voice quality, and body hair.

Question 31

menarche

Answer 31

the first menstrual period.

Question 32

identity

Answer 32

our sense of self; according to Erikson, the adolescent’s task is to solidity 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 “Who am I?” that comes from our group membership.

Question 34

intimacy

Answer 34

in Erikson’s theory, the ability to form close, loving relationships; a primary developmental task in late adolescence and early adulthood.

Question 35

emerging adulthood

Answer 35

for some people in modern cultures, a period from late teens to mid-twenties, bridging the gap between adolescent dependence and full independence.

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 to one another

Question 38

longitudinal study

Answer 38

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

Question 39

social clock

Answer 39

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