Chapter Four : Part One Flashcards
branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive, and social change throughout the life span
developmental psychology
the fertilized egg; it entersa two week period of rapid cell division and develops into an embryo
zygote
the developing human organism from about two weeks after fertilization through the second month
embryo
the developing human organism from nine weeks after conception to birth
fetus
agents, such as chemicals and viruses, that can reach the embryo or fetus during prenatal development and cause harm
teratogens
physical and cognitive abnormalities in children caused by a pregnant woman’s heavy drinking; in severe cases, symptoms include noticeable facial misproportions
fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS)
a baby’s tendency, when touched on the cheek, to turn toward the touch, open the mouth, and search for the nipple
rooting reflex
decreasing responsiveness with repeated stimulation; as infants gain familiarity with repeated exposure to a visuals stimulus, their interest wanes and they look away sooner
habituation
biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in behavior, relatively uninfluenced by experience
maturation
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Jean Piaget
a concept or framework that organizes and interprets information
schema
interpreting one’s new experience in terms of one’s existing schemas
assimilation
adapting one’s currents understandings (schemas) to incorporate new information
accomodation
all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating
cognition
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
sensorimotor stage
the awareness that things continue to exist even when not perceived
object permanence
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 comprehend the mental operations of concrete logic
preoperational stage
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 the forms of objects
conservation
in Piaget’s theory, the preoperational child’s difficulty taking another’s point of view
egocentrism
people’s ideas about their own and other’s mental states - about their feelings, perceptions, and thoughts and the behavior these might predict
theory of mind
a disorder that appears in childhood and is marked by deficient communication, social interaction, and understanding of others’ states of mind
autism
in Piaget’s theory, the stage of cognitive development (from about age 6 or 7 to 11 years of age) during which children gain the mental operations that enable them to think logically about concrete events
concrete operational stage
in Piaget’s theory, the stage of cognitive development (normally beginning about age 12) during which people begin to think logically about abstract concepts
formal operational stage
the fear of strangers that infants commonly display, beginning by about 8 months of age
stranger anxiety
