Exam Flashcards
A-not-B error
The tendency of 8- to 12-month-old infants to search for a hidden object in the place they last found it (A) rather than in its new hiding place (B).
acceptance–responsiveness
A dimension of parenting capturing the extent to which parents are supportive, sensitive to their children’s needs, and willing to provide affection and praise when their children meet their expectations.
Accommodation
In Piaget’s cognitive developmental theory, the process of modifying existing schemes to incorporate or adapt to new experiences. Contrast with assimilation. In vision, a change in the shape of the eye’s lens to bring objects at differing distances into focus.
Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS)
The life-threatening disease in which the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) destroys the immune system and makes victims susceptible to rare, so-called opportunistic, infections that eventually kill them. AIDS is transmitted through sexual activity, drug needle sharing, and from mother to child before or during birth.
active gene-environment correlation
Phenomenon in which children’s genotypes influence the kinds of environments they seek out and therefore experience. Contrast with evocative gene–environment correlation and passive gene–environment correlation.
Activity–passivity issue
The issue in developmental theory centering on whether humans are active contributors to their own development or are passively shaped by forces beyond their control.
Adaptation
In Piaget’s cognitive developmental theory, a person’s inborn tendency to adjust to the demands of the environment, consisting of the complementary processes of assimilation and accommodation.
Adolescence
The transitional period between childhood and adulthood that begins with puberty and ends when the individual has acquired adult competencies and responsibilities; roughly ages 10 to 18 or later.
adolescent egocentrism
A characteristic of adolescent thought that involves difficulty differentiating between the person’s own thoughts and feelings and those of other people; evident in the personal fable and imaginary audience phenomena.
adolescent growth spurt
The rapid increase in physical growth that occurs during adolescence.
adoption study
Method of studying genetic and environmental influence that involves determining whether adopted children are more similar to their biological parents (whose genes they share) or adoptive parents (who shaped their environment).
Adrenarche
A period of increased production of adrenal hormones, starting around 6–8 years of age, that normally precedes increased production of gonadal hormones associated with puberty.
Affordances
In Eleanor and James Gibson’s ecological theory of perception, characteristics of an object that reveal what it has to offer humans and how it might be used by them.
Age effects
In developmental research, the effects of getting older or of developing. Contrast with cohort effects and time of measurement effects.
age grade
Socially defined age groups or strata, each with different statuses, roles, privileges, and responsibilities in society.
age norms
Expectations about what people should be doing or how they should behave at different points in the life span.
age of viability
A point (around the 24th prenatal week) when a fetus may survive outside the uterus if the brain and respiratory system are well enough developed and if excellent medical care is available.
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD)
Damage to cells in the retina responsible for central vision.
Ageism
Prejudice and discrimination against elderly people.
Agency
An orientation toward individual action and achievement that emphasizes traits of dominance, independence, assertiveness, and competitiveness; considered masculine.
Aging
To most developmentalists, positive, negative, and neutral changes in the mature organism; different from biological aging.
alphabetic principle
The idea that the letters in printed words represent the sounds in spoken words.
Alzheimer’s disease
A pathological condition of the nervous system that results in an irreversible loss of cognitive capacities; the leading cause of dementia, or neurocognitive disorder, in later life.
Amniocentesis
A method of extracting amniotic fluid from a pregnant woman so that fetal body cells within the fluid can be tested for chromosomal abnormalities and other genetic defects.
Amnion
A watertight membrane that surrounds the developing embryo, regulating its temperature and cushioning it against injuries.
Amoral
Lacking any sense of morality; without standards of right and wrong.
analytic component
In Sternberg’s triarchic theory of intelligence, the information-processing skills such as thinking critically and analytically.
androgenized female
A genetic female who was exposed to male sex hormones during the prenatal period and therefore developed malelike external genitals and some masculine behaviors.