HPS121-T2-Ch12-Development Over the Lifespan

Question 1

Accommodation

Answer 1

in cognitive development, the process by which new experiences cause existing schemas to change.

Question 2

Adolescence

Answer 2

The period of development that involves gradual transition between childhood and adulthood.

Question 3

Adolescent egocentrism

Answer 3

highly self-focused thinking, particularly in early teenage years.

Question 4

Assimilation

Answer 4

in cognitive development, the process by which new experiences are incorporated into existing schemas.

Question 5

Attachment

Answer 5

the strong emotional bond that develops between two people; developmentally, the bond between children and their primary caregivers.

Question 6

Authoritative parents

Answer 6

caregivers who are controlling but warm; they establish and enforce clear rules within a caring, supportive atmosphere.

Question 7

Cephalocaudal principle:

Answer 7

the tendency for physical development to proceed in a-head-to-foot direction.

Question 8

Concrete operational stage:

Answer 8

in Piaget’s theory, the stage of cognitive development during which children can perform basic mental operations concerning problems that involve tangible (i.e. ‘concrete’) objects and situations.

Question 9

Conservation

Answer 9

the principle that basic properties of objects, such as their mass or quantity, stay the same (are ‘conserved’) even though their outward appearance may change.

Question 10

Conventional moral reasoning:

Answer 10

according to Kohlberg, the stage at which moral judgements are based on conformity to social expectations, laws and duties.

Question 11

Critical period

Answer 11

limited time periods during which plasticity can occur as a result of experience or in response to injury; in development, a time period in which exposure to particular kinds of stimulation is required for normal growth to occur.

Question 12

Cross-sectional design:

Answer 12

a research design that simultaneously compares people of different ages at a particular point in time.

Question 13

Egocentrism

Answer 13

difficulty in viewing the world from someone else’s perspective.

Question 14

Embryo

Answer 14

a scientific term for the prenatal organism during the 2nd week through the 8th week after conception.

Question 15

Emotion regulation:

Answer 15

processes by which we evaluate and modify our emotional reactions.

Question 16

Epigenetics

Answer 16

changes in gene expression that are independent of the DNA itself and are caused instead by environmental factors.

Question 17

Foetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD):

Answer 17

a range of mild to severe developmental abnormalities produced by prenatal exposure to alcohol.

Question 18

Foetal alcohol syndrome (FAS):

Answer 18

a severe group of abnormalities resulting from prenatal exposure to alcohol.

Question 19

Foetus

Answer 19

a scientific term for the prenatal organism from the 9th week after conception until birth.

Question 20

Formal operational stage:

Answer 20

in Piaget’s theory, the period in which individuals are able to think logically and systematically about both concrete and abstract problems, form hypotheses and test them in a thoughtful way.

Question 21

Gender constancy:

Answer 21

the understanding that being male or being female is a permanent part of a person.

Question 22

Gender identity:

Answer 22

the sense of ‘femaleness’ or ‘maleness’ that is an integral part of our identity.

Question 23

Imprinting

Answer 23

in some species, a sudden, biologically primed form of attachment.

Question 24

Indulgent parents:

Answer 24

caregivers who give warm and caring relationships with their children but do not provide much guidance or discipline.

Question 25

Longitudinal design:

Answer 25

a research approach in which the same people are repeatedly tested as they grow older.

Question 26

Maturation

Answer 26

a genetically programmed biological process that governs our growth.

Question 27

Neglectful parents

Answer 27

caregivers who provide neither warmth nor rules or guidance.

Question 28

Object permanence:

Answer 28

the recognition that an object continues to exist even when it no longer can be seen.

Question 29

Post conventional moral reasoning:

Answer 29

according to Kohlberg, the stage at which moral judgements are based on a system of internalised, well thought-out moral principles.

Question 30

Preconventional moral reasoning:

Answer 30

according to Kohlberg, the stage at which moral judgements are based on anticipated punishments or rewards.

Question 31

Preoperational stage:

Answer 31

in Piaget’s theory, the stage of cognitive development in which children represent the world symbolically through words and mental images but do not yet understand basic mental operations and rules.

Question 32

Proximodistal principle:

Answer 32

the tendency for physical development to begin along the innermost parts of the body and continue toward the outermost parts.

Question 33

Psychosocial stages:

Answer 33

a sequence of eight developmental stages proposed by Erikson, each of which involves a different ‘crisis’ (i.e. conflict) over how we view ourselves in relation to other people and the world.

Question 34

Puberty

Answer 34

a period of rapid biological maturation in which the person becomes capable of sexual reproduction.

Question 35

Reflexes

Answer 35

automatic, inborn behaviours triggered by specific stimuli.

Question 36

Schema

Answer 36

a mental framework; an organised pattern of thought about some aspect of the world, such as a class of people, events, situations or objects.

Question 37

Senile dementia:

Answer 37

dementia (a gradual loss of cognitive abilities due to normal brain deterioration) that begins after age 65.

Question 38

Sensitive period:

Answer 38

an optimal age range for certain experiences, but if those experiences occur at another time, normal development will still be possible.

Question 39

Sensorimotor stage:

Answer 39

in Piaget’s theory, the stage of cognitive development in which children understand their world primarily through sensory experiences and physical (motor) interactions with objects.

Question 40

Separation anxiety:

Answer 40

distressed experienced by infants when they are separated from a primary caregiver, peaking between ages 12 and 16 months and disappearing between ages 2 and 3 years.

Question 41

Sequential design:

Answer 41

a research approach that involves repeatedly testing several age cohorts as they grow older.

Question 42

Stranger anxiety:

Answer 42

distress over contact with strangers that typically develops in the first year of infancy and dissipates in the second year.

Question 43

Strange situation:

Answer 43

a standardised procedure used to determine the type of emotional attachment between infant and caregiver.

Question 44

Temperament

Answer 44

a biologically based general style of reacting emotionally and behaviourally to the environment.

Question 45

Teratogens

Answer 45

environmental (non-genetic) agents that cause abnormal prenatal development.

Question 46

Theory of mind:

Answer 46

a person’s beliefs about the ‘mind’ and the ability to understand other people’s mental states.

Question 47

Zone of proximal development:

Answer 47

the difference between what a child can do independently and what the child can do with assistance from adults or more advanced peers.

Question 48

Zygote

Answer 48

the fertilised egg.

Question 49

‘Natural’ experiment:

Answer 49

A natural experiment is an empirical study in which individuals (or clusters of individuals) exposed to the experimental and control conditions are determined by nature or by other factors outside the control of the investigators, yet the process governing the exposures arguably resembles random assignment.