Chapter Four Flashcards
Zygote
The fertilized egg; it enters a 2 week period of rapid cell division and develops into an embryo.
Less than 1/2 of all zygotes survive beyond the first 2 weeks.
Developmental Psychology
A branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive, and social change throughout the lifespan.
Focuses on 3 major issues: Nature/Nurture, Continuity/Stages, Stability/Change
Differentiation
When cells begin to specialize in certain areas, such as cells specializing as brain cells or blood cells.
Differentiation begins in zygotes within the first week
Embryo
The developing human organism from about 2 weeks after fertilization through the 2nd month
Fetus
Latin for “offspring” & “little one”
The developing human organism from 9 weeks after conception to birth
Teratogens
Agents, such as chemicals and viruses, that can reach the embryo or fetus during prenatal development and cause harm
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS)
Physical and cognitive abnormalities in children caused by a pregnant person’s heavy drinking. In severe cases, symptoms include noticeable facial misproportions.
FAS affects 1/750 infants and is the leading cause of mental retardation.
Rooting Reflex
A baby’s tendency, when touched on the cheek, to turn toward the touch, open the mouth, and search for a nipple
Habituation
Decreasing responsiveness with repeated stimulation. As infants gain familiarity with repeated exposure to visual stimulus, their interest wanes and they look away sooner
Maturation
Biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in behavior, relatively uninfluenced by experience
ex: We all learn to crawl before we walk, speak nouns before we use adjectives…
Infantile Amnesia
The inability to remember memories made before our 3rd birthday
Schema
A concept or framework that organizes and interprets information
Assimilation
Interpreting one’s new experience in terms of one’s existing schemas
Accommodation
Adapting one’s current understandings (schemas) to incorporate new information
Cognition
All the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating
Piaget’s Sensorimotor Stage of Cognitive Development
Birth - roughly 2 years
Experiencing the world through senses and actions (looking, touching, grasping)
Associated developmental phenomena: Object permanence, stranger anxiety
Piaget’s Preoperational Stage of Cognitive Development
2 years - 6/7 years
Representing things with words and images; using intuitive rather than logical reasoning
Associated developmental phenomena: Pretend play, egocentrism, language development
Piaget’s Concrete Operational Stage of Cognitive Development
7 years - roughly 11 years
Thinking logically a about concrete events; grasping concrete analogies and performing arithmetical operations
Associated developmental phenomena: Conservation, mathematical transformations
Piaget’s Formal Operational Stage of Cognitive Development
12 years - Adulthood
Abstract reasoning
Associated developmental phenomena: Abstract logic, potential for mature moral reasoning
Conservation
The principle (which Piaget believed to be a part of Concrete Operational reasoning) that properties such as mass, volume, and number remain the same despite changes in form ex: Younger children think a tall, skinny glass holds more liquid than a short, wide glass
Egocentrism
In Piaget’s theory, the Preoperational child’s difficulty taking another’s point of view
Theory of Mind
People’s ideas about their own and others’ mental states- about their feelings, perceptions, and thoughts and the behavior these might predict
ex: Putting something other than Bandaids in a Bandaid box, showing it the child, and questioning them as to what others would think was in the box
Autism
A disorder that appears in childhood and is marked by deficient communication, social interaction, and understanding of others’ states of mind
Stranger Anxiety
The fear of strangers that infants commonly display, beginning by about 8 months of age.
Attachment
An emotional tie with another person; shown in young children by their seeking closeness to the caregiver and showing distress on separation
Critical Period
An optimal period shortly after birth when an organism’s exposure to certain stimuli or experiences produces proper development
Imprinting
The process by which certain animals form attachments during a critical period very early in life
Temperament
One’s characteristic emotional reactivity and intensity
Basic Trust
According to Erik Erikson, a sense that the world is predictable and trustworthy; said to be formed during infancy by appropriate experiences with responsible caregivers
Self-Concept
A sense of one’s identity and personal worth.
Authoritarian Parenting
Imposing rules and expecting obedience
“Too hard” style of parenting
Permissive Parenting
Submitting to the child’s desires, making few demands, and using little punishment
“Too soft” parenting style
Authoritative Parenting
Both demanding and responsive; exerting control not only by setting rules and enforcing them but also explaining the reasons and, especially with older kids, encouraging open discussion and allowing exceptions when making the rules
“Just right” parenting style - leads to children with the highest self esteem, self reliance, and social competence
Secure Attachment
In the presence of their mother, children will happily explore their environments. They will show distress when the moth leaves.
Insecure Attachment
Clinging to the mother, unable to explore the environment
Adolescence
The transition period from childhood to adulthood, extending from puberty to independence
Puberty
The period of sexual maturation, during which a person becomes capable of reproducing
Girls start at roughly age 11, boys at roughly 13
Primary Sex Characteristics
The body structures (ovaries, testes, external genitalia) that make sexual reproduction possible
Secondary Sex Characteristics
None productive sexual characteristics, such as body hair, breasts and hips in females, and male voice quality
Menarche
The first menstrual period
Spermarche
The first ejaculation
The frontal lobes mature until age ____, affecting the judgment of younger people
25
Lawrence Kohlberg’s Preconventional Morality Stage
Before age 9.
Egocentric; obeying either to avoid punishment or to gain concrete rewards.
Lawrence Kohlberg’s Conventional Morality Stage
By early adolescence.
People care for others and uphold laws and/or social rules because they are laws/social rules.
Lawrence Kohlberg’s Postconventional Morality Stage
Third level for some who develop the abstract reasoning of formal operational thought.
Affirms people’s agreed upon rights or follows what one personally perceives as basic ethical principles
“I don’t care if it’s against the law- it’s not RIGHT!”
Erik Erikson’s Infancy Stage of Psychosocial Development
To roughly 1 year old.
Trust vs. Mistrust.
If needs are dependably met, infants develop a sense of basic trust.
Erik Erikson’s Toddlerhood Stage of Psychosocial Development
1-2 years.
Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt.
Toddlers learn to exercise will and do things for themselves, or they doubt their abilities
Erik Erikson’s Preschooler Stage of Psychosocial Development
3-5 years.
Initiative vs. Guilt.
Preschoolers learn to initiate tasks and carry out plans, or they feel guilty about efforts to be independent
Erik Erikson’s Elementary School Stage of Psychosocial Development
6 years- Puberty.
Competence vs. Inferiority.
Children learn the pleasure of applying themselves to tasks, or they feel inferior.
Erik Erikson’s Adolescence Stage of Psychosocial Development
Teens- 20s.
Identity vs. Role Confusion.
Teens work at refining a sense of self by testing roles and then integrating them to form a single identity, or they become confused about who they are.
Erik Erikson’s Young Adulthood Stage of Psychosocial Development
20s- Early 40s.
Intimacy vs. Isolation.
Young adults struggle to form close relationships and to gain the capacity for intimate love, or they feel socially isolated.
Erik Erikson’s Middle Adulthood Stage of Psychosocial Development
40s-60s.
Generativity vs. Stagnation.
In middle age, people discover a sense of contributing to the world, usually through family and work, or they may feel a lack of purpose
Erik Erikson’s Late Adulthood Stage of Psychosocial Development
Late 60s- Death.
Integrity vs. Despair.
When reflecting upon his/her life, the older adult may feel a sense of satisfaction or failure.
Identity
One’s sense of self; according to Erikson, the adolescent’s task is to solidify a sense of self by testing and integrating various roles.
Intimacy
In Erikson’s theory, the ability to form close, loving relationships; a primary developmental task in late adolescence and early adulthood.
Emerging Adulthood
New term for 18- mid 20s where people are no longer adolescents but haven’t yet taken on adult level responsibilities and independence
Menopause
The time of natural cessation of menstruation; also refers to the biological changes a woman experiences as her ability to reproduce declines.
Alzheimer’s Disease
A progressive and irreversible brain disorder characterized by gradual deterioration of memory, reasoning, language, and finally, physical functioning.
3% of people are affected by Alzheimer’s by the age of 75
Older people are better with ________ than _________.
Recognition ; Recall
Cross Sectional Study
A study in which people of different ages are compared with one another
Longitudinal Study
Research in which the same people are restudied and retested over a long period of time.
Cross sectional studies suggest a ______ ________ of intelligence with age while longitudinal studies show that intelligence ________ ________ until late in life.
Sharp decline ; Remains stable
Crystallized Intelligence
One’s accumulated knowledge and verbal skills; tends to increase with age
Fluid Intelligence
One’s ability to reason speedily and abstractly; tends to decrease during late adulthood
Social Clock
The culturally preferred timing of social events such as marriage, parenthood, and retirement
Generativity
Being productive and supporting future generations
Freud says the healthy adult is the one who can _____ and _____.
Love ; Work
