developmental psychology

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 rapid cell division and develops into an embryo

Question 3

embryo

Answer 3

the developing human organism from about 3 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

(literally, “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, signs include a small, out-of-proportion head and abnormal facial features.

Question 7

habituation

Answer 7

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

Question 8

maturation

Answer 8

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

Question 9

cognition

Answer 9

all 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 understanding (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 most 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 percieved

Question 15

preoperational stage

Answer 15

in piaget’s theory, the stage (from about 2 to about 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 16

conservation

Answer 16

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.

Question 17

egocentrism

Answer 17

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

Question 18

theory of mind

Answer 18

people’s ideas about their own and other’s mental states- about their feelings, perception and thoughts, and the behaviors they might predict.

Question 19

autism spectrum disorder (ASD)

Answer 19

a disorder that appears in childhood and is marked by significant deficiencies in communication and social interaction, and by rigidly fixated interests and repetitive behaviors.

Question 20

concrete operational stage

Answer 20

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 21

formal operational stage

Answer 21

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 22

stranger anxiety

Answer 22

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

Question 23

attachment

Answer 23

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

Question 24

critical period

Answer 24

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

Question 25

imprinting

Answer 25

the process by which certain animals form strong attachments during an early-life critical period

Question 26

temperament

Answer 26

a person’s characteristic emotional reactivity and intensity

Question 27

basic trust

Answer 27

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 28

self-concept

Answer 28

all our thoughts and feelings about ourselves, in answer to the question, “who am I?”

Question 29

gender

Answer 29

the socially constructed roles and characteristics by which a culture defines male and female

Question 30

gender role

Answer 30

a set of expected behaviors for males or for females

Question 31

role

Answer 31

a set of expectations (norms) about a social position, defining how those in the position ought to behave.

Question 32

gender identity

Answer 32

our sense of being male or female

Question 33

social learning theory

Answer 33

the theory that we learn social behavior by observing and imitating and by being rewarded or punished

Question 34

gender typing

Answer 34

the acquisition of a traditional masculine or feminine role

Question 35

transgender

Answer 35

an umbrella term describing people whose gender identity or expression differs from that associated with their birth sex