DevPsy Shaffer: P Flashcards
an early self-representation in which 2- and 3-year-olds recognize current representations of self but are unaware that past self-representations or self-relevant events have implications for the present.
present self
Piaget’s second stage of cognitive development, lasting from about age 2 to age 7, when children are thinking at a symbolic level but are not yet using cognitive operations.
preoperational period
development that occurs between
the moment of conception and the beginning of the
birth process.
prenatal development
in Piaget’s theory, the first 5 years of
life, when children are said to have little respect for or
awareness of socially defined rules.
premoral period
the period before children utter their first meaningful words.
prelinguistic phase
a method used to gain information about infants’ perceptual abilities by presenting two (or more) stimuli and observing which stimulus the infant prefers.
preference method
Kohlberg’s term for the first
two stages of moral reasoning, in which moral judgments are based on the tangible punitive consequences
(Stage 1) or rewarding consequences (Stage 2) of an act for the actor rather than on the relationship of that act
to society’s rules and customs.
preconventional morality
an attribute that is a product
of evolution and serves some function that increases
the chances of survival for the individual and the
species.
preadapted characteristic
principles that underlie the effective and ap
propriate use of language in social contexts.
pragmatics
changes in participants’ natural responses
as a result of repeated testing.
practice effect
a form of discipline in which an adult
relies on his or her superior power (for example, by
administering spankings or withholding privileges) to
modify or control a child’s behavior.
power assertion
strong feelings of sadness,
resentment, and despair that may appear shortly after
childbirth and can linger for months.
postpartum depression
Kohlberg’s term for the fifth
and sixth stages of moral reasoning, in which moral
judgments are based on social contracts and democratic
law (Stage 5) or on universal principles of ethics and
justice (Stage 6).
postconventional morality
a social construction by children, with popu
lar children being well-known and accepted by other
(especially popular) children, and having high-status
attributes such as attractiveness, athleticism, and desirable possessions.
popularity
children who are liked by many members of their peer group and disliked by
very few.
popular children
a characteristic that is influenced by the action of many genes rather than a single
pair.
polygenic trait
capacity for change; a developmental state that
has the potential to be shaped by experience.
plasticity
an organ, formed from the lining of the uterus
and the chorion, that provides for respiration and
nourishment of the unborn child and the elimination
of its metabolic wastes.
placenta
a “master gland” located at the base of the
brain that regulates the endocrine glands and produces
growth hormone.
pituitary
a grasp in which the thumb is used in oppo
sition to the fingers, enabling an infant to become more
dexterous at lifting and fondling objects.
pincer grasp
a structurally simple communication system that
arises when people who share no common language
come into constant contact.
pidgin
moderate to vigorous play activities such as running, jumping, climbing, play fighting, or game playing that raise a child’s metabolic rate far above resting levels.
physically active play
development over evolutionary time.
phylogenetic development
the sound system of a language and the rules
for combining these sounds to produce meaningful
units of speech.
phonology
the basic units of sound that are used in a spo
ken language; the smallest meaningful sound units that
make up a spoken language.
phonemes
a genetic disease in which the child is unable to metabolize phenylalanine; if left untreated, it soon causes hyperactivity and mental
retardation.
phenylketonuria (PKU)
the ways in which a person’s genotype is ex
pressed in observable or measurable characteristics.
phenotype
the period between 7 and
9 months of age when infants are attached to one close
companion (usually the mother).
phase of specific attachment
the period when infants
are forming attachments to companions other than
their primary attachment object.
phase of multiple attachments
the period be
tween 6 weeks and 6 to 7 months of age in which
infants prefer social to nonsocial stimulation and are
likely to protest whenever any adult puts them down or
leaves them alone.
phase of indiscriminate attachments
Freud’s third stage of psychosexual devel
opment (from 3 to 6 years of age), in which children
gratify the sex instinct by fondling their genitals and
developing an incestuous desire for the parent of the
other sex.
phallic stage
praise focusing on desirable personality traits such as intelligence; this praise fosters performance goals in achievement contexts.
person praise
recognition that one can be the cause of an event.
personal agency
a pattern of parenting in which
otherwise accepting adults make few demands of
their children and rarely attempt to control their
behavior.
permissive parenting
the first phase of prenatal
development, lasting from conception until the devel
oping organism becomes firmly attached to the wall of
the uterus.
period of the zygote
the third phase of prenatal
development, lasting from the 9th prenatal week until
birth; during this period, all major organ systems begin
to function and the fetus grows rapidly
period of the fetus
the second phase of prenatal
development, lasting from the 3rd to the 8th prenatal
week, during which the major organs and anatomical
structures take shape
period of the embryo
the environment surrounding
birth (perinatal refers to the time around birth, both
before and after birth).
perinatal environment
a state of affairs in which one’s primary objective in an achievement context is to
display one’s competencies (or to avoid looking
incompetent).
performance goal
changes in one’s ability to extract
information from sensory stimulation that occur as a
result of experience.
perceptual learning
the process by which we categorize and interpret sensory input.
perception
two or more persons who are operating at similar
levels of behavioral complexity.
peers
a confederation of peers who interact regularly, that defines a sense of membership and formulates norms that specify how members are supposed to look, think, and act.
peer group
a measure of a person’s likability (or dislikability) in the eyes of peers.
peer acceptance
socially withdrawn,
anxious children with low self-esteem whom bullies
torment, even though they appear to have done little to
trigger such abuse.
passive victims (of aggression)
the notion that the rearing environments that biological
parents provide are influenced by the parents’ own genes, and hence are correlated with the child’s own genotype.
passive genotype/environment correlations
a model of family influence in
which parents (particularly mothers) are believed to
influence their children rather than vice versa.
parental effects model
largely noninteractive play in which players
are in close proximity but do not often attempt to influence each other.
parallel play
