Exam 1 Flash Cards
Preformationism
The belief that adultlike capacities, desires, interests, and emotions are present in early childhood.
Plasticity
Capacity for change
Sensitive Period
A time in an organism’s development when a particular experience has an especially profound effect
continuity/discontinuity
A fundamental issue concerning the process of development that addresses the extent to which development tends to be continuous,
consisting of the gradual accumulation of small changes, and the extent to which it is discontinuous, involving a series of abrupt, radical
transformations.
developmental stage
A qualitatively distinctive, coherent pattern of behavior emerges during the course of development.
psychodynamic theories
Theories, such as those of Freud and Erikson, that explore the influence on development and developmental stages of universal biological
drives and the life experiences of individuals.
behaviorism
Theories that focus on development as a result of learning and on changes in behavior as a result of forming associations between behavior and its consequences.
constructivist theory
Piaget’s theory, in which cognitive development results from children’s active construction of reality, based on their experiences with the
world.
equilibration
The main source of development, consisting of a process of achieving a balance between the child’s present understanding and the child’s
new experiences.
sociocultural theory
The theory associated with Vygotsky that emphasizes the influence of culture on development.
social learning theories
Theories that emphasize the behavior–consequences associations that children learn by observing and interacting with others in social
situations.
systems theories
Theories that envision development in terms of complex wholes made up of parts and that explore how these wholes and their parts are
organized and interact and change over time.
objectivity
The requirement that scientific knowledge not be distorted by the investigator’s preconceptions.
material tools
Cultural tools, including physical objects and observable patterns of behavior such as family routines and social practices.
symbolic tools
Cultural tools, such as abstract knowledge, beliefs, and values.
microbiome
The millions of microorganisms that live on and in our bodies, some of which are pathogenic but many of which are essential to the healthy
functioning of critical systems.
Apgar scale
A quick, simple test used to diagnose the physical state of a newborn infant.
preterm
The term for babies born before the 37th week of pregnancy.
Prolepsis
describes the ways in which one projects ideas about a child into the future
fontanels
“Soft spots,” or spaces, that separate the bones of the skull prenatally and in early infancy.
myelin
An insulating material that forms a sheath around certain axons and speeds the transmission of nerve impulses from one neuron to the next.
brain stem
The base of the brain, which controls such elementary reactions as blinking and sucking, as well as such vital functions as breathing and
sleeping.
cerebral cortex
The brain’s outermost layer. The networks of neurons in the cerebral cortex integrate information from several sensory sources with
memories of past experiences, processing them in a way that results in human forms of thought and action.
experience-expectant
Processes of brain development that seem to anticipate experiences that are universal in all normally developing members of our species.
experience-dependent
Development of neural connections that is initiated in response to experience.
habituation
The process in which attention to novelty decreases with repeated exposure.
dishabituation
The term used to describe the process in which an infant’s interest is renewed after a change in the stimulus.
phonemes
The smallest sound categories in human speech that distinguish meanings. Phonemes vary from language to language.
sensorimotor stage
Piaget’s term for the stage of infancy during which the process of adaptation consists largely of coordinating sensory perceptions and simple
motor behaviors to acquire knowledge of the world.
primary circular reaction
The term Piaget used to describe the infant’s tendency to repeat pleasurable bodily actions for their own sake.
classical conditioning
Learning in which previously existing behaviors come to be elicited by new stimuli.
operant conditioning
Learning in which changes in behavior are shaped by the consequences of that behavior, thereby giving rise to new and more complete
behaviors.
temperament
The term for the individual modes of responding to the environment that appear to be consistent across situations and stable over time.
Temperament includes such characteristics as children’s activity level, their intensity of reaction, the ease with which they become upset,
their characteristic responses to novelty, and their sociability.
prefrontal cortex
The part of the cortex that is located directly behind the forehead and is important to the development of voluntary behaviors.
fine motor skills
Motor skills related to the development and coordination of small muscles, such as those that move the fingers and eyes.
gross motor skills
Motor skills related to the development and coordination of large muscles; important for locomotion.
locomotion
The ability to move around on one’s own.
social referencing
Infants’ tendency to look to their caregiver for an indication of how to feel and act in unfamiliar circumstances.
secondary circular reactions
The behavior characteristic of the third substage of Piaget’s sensorimotor stage, in which babies repeat actions to produce interesting
changes in their environment.
intentionality
The ability to engage in behaviors directed toward achieving a goal.
object permanence
The understanding that objects have substance, maintain their identity when their location is changed, and ordinarily continue to exist when
out of sight
tertiary circular reactions
The fifth stage of the sensorimotor period, characterized by the deliberate variation of action sequences to solve problems and explore the
world
representations
Internal, mental symbols of experience; according to Piaget, the ability to form mental symbols emerges during sensorimotor substage 6.
symbolic play
Play in which one object stands for, or represents, another.
A-not-B error
A pattern of reacting in the object permanence task, in which the infant looks for the hidden object in location A, where the infant had previously found the object, instead of location B, where the infant has just observed it being hidden.
Stages of Development
Prenatal period (conception to birth)
Infancy (birth through 2)
Early childhood (ages 2 to 6)
Middle childhood (ages 6 through 12)
Adolescence (ages 12 through 18)
Domains of development
Social
Emotional
Cognitive (Intellectual)
Physical
Contexts of development
Physical environments
Cultural beliefs and practices
Families and peers
Neighborhoods and communities
Institutions (e.g., schools, government)
cumulative cultural evolution
he process by which beneficial modifications are culturally transmitted and progressively accumulated over time
