Exam 1 Flash Cards

Question 1

Preformationism

Answer 1

The belief that adultlike capacities, desires, interests, and emotions are present in early childhood.

Question 2

Plasticity

Answer 2

Capacity for change

Question 3

Sensitive Period

Answer 3

A time in an organism’s development when a particular experience has an especially profound effect

Question 4

continuity/discontinuity

Answer 4

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.

Question 5

developmental stage

Answer 5

A qualitatively distinctive, coherent pattern of behavior emerges during the course of development.

Question 6

psychodynamic theories

Answer 6

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.

Question 7

behaviorism

Answer 7

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.

Question 8

constructivist theory

Answer 8

Piaget’s theory, in which cognitive development results from children’s active construction of reality, based on their experiences with the
world.

Question 9

equilibration

Answer 9

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.

Question 10

sociocultural theory

Answer 10

The theory associated with Vygotsky that emphasizes the influence of culture on development.

Question 11

social learning theories

Answer 11

Theories that emphasize the behavior–consequences associations that children learn by observing and interacting with others in social
situations.

Question 12

systems theories

Answer 12

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.

Question 13

objectivity

Answer 13

The requirement that scientific knowledge not be distorted by the investigator’s preconceptions.

Question 14

material tools

Answer 14

Cultural tools, including physical objects and observable patterns of behavior such as family routines and social practices.

Question 15

symbolic tools

Answer 15

Cultural tools, such as abstract knowledge, beliefs, and values.

Question 16

microbiome

Answer 16

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.

Question 17

Apgar scale

Answer 17

A quick, simple test used to diagnose the physical state of a newborn infant.

Question 18

preterm

Answer 18

The term for babies born before the 37th week of pregnancy.

Question 19

Prolepsis

Answer 19

describes the ways in which one projects ideas about a child into the future

Question 20

fontanels

Answer 20

“Soft spots,” or spaces, that separate the bones of the skull prenatally and in early infancy.

Question 21

myelin

Answer 21

An insulating material that forms a sheath around certain axons and speeds the transmission of nerve impulses from one neuron to the next.

Question 22

brain stem

Answer 22

The base of the brain, which controls such elementary reactions as blinking and sucking, as well as such vital functions as breathing and
sleeping.

Question 23

cerebral cortex

Answer 23

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.

Question 24

experience-expectant

Answer 24

Processes of brain development that seem to anticipate experiences that are universal in all normally developing members of our species.

Question 25

experience-dependent

Answer 25

Development of neural connections that is initiated in response to experience.

Question 26

habituation

Answer 26

The process in which attention to novelty decreases with repeated exposure.

Question 27

dishabituation

Answer 27

The term used to describe the process in which an infant’s interest is renewed after a change in the stimulus.

Question 28

phonemes

Answer 28

The smallest sound categories in human speech that distinguish meanings. Phonemes vary from language to language.

Question 29

sensorimotor stage

Answer 29

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.

Question 30

primary circular reaction

Answer 30

The term Piaget used to describe the infant’s tendency to repeat pleasurable bodily actions for their own sake.

Question 31

classical conditioning

Answer 31

Learning in which previously existing behaviors come to be elicited by new stimuli.

Question 32

operant conditioning

Answer 32

Learning in which changes in behavior are shaped by the consequences of that behavior, thereby giving rise to new and more complete
behaviors.

Question 33

temperament

Answer 33

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.

Question 34

prefrontal cortex

Answer 34

The part of the cortex that is located directly behind the forehead and is important to the development of voluntary behaviors.

Question 35

fine motor skills

Answer 35

Motor skills related to the development and coordination of small muscles, such as those that move the fingers and eyes.

Question 36

gross motor skills

Answer 36

Motor skills related to the development and coordination of large muscles; important for locomotion.

Question 37

locomotion

Answer 37

The ability to move around on one’s own.

Question 38

social referencing

Answer 38

Infants’ tendency to look to their caregiver for an indication of how to feel and act in unfamiliar circumstances.

Question 39

secondary circular reactions

Answer 39

The behavior characteristic of the third substage of Piaget’s sensorimotor stage, in which babies repeat actions to produce interesting
changes in their environment.

Question 40

intentionality

Answer 40

The ability to engage in behaviors directed toward achieving a goal.

Question 41

object permanence

Answer 41

The understanding that objects have substance, maintain their identity when their location is changed, and ordinarily continue to exist when
out of sight

Question 42

tertiary circular reactions

Answer 42

The fifth stage of the sensorimotor period, characterized by the deliberate variation of action sequences to solve problems and explore the
world

Question 43

representations

Answer 43

Internal, mental symbols of experience; according to Piaget, the ability to form mental symbols emerges during sensorimotor substage 6.

Question 44

symbolic play

Answer 44

Play in which one object stands for, or represents, another.

Question 45

A-not-B error

Answer 45

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.

Question 46

Stages of Development

Answer 46

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)

Question 47

Domains of development

Answer 47

Social

Emotional

Cognitive (Intellectual)

Physical

Question 48

Contexts of development

Answer 48

Physical environments

Cultural beliefs and practices

Families and peers

Neighborhoods and communities

Institutions (e.g., schools, government)

Question 49

cumulative cultural evolution

Answer 49

he process by which beneficial modifications are culturally transmitted and progressively accumulated over time