lesson 9 Flashcards
Developmental psychology
Study of continuity and change across the lifespan
Germinal stage
2‐week period that begins at conception
Zygote
Fertilized egg that contains chromosomes from both a sperm and an egg
Embryonic stage
Period that lasts from the 2nd week until about the 8th week
Fetal stage
Period that lasts from the 9th week until birth
Myelination
Formation of a fatty sheath around the axons of a neuron
womb
an environment that affects an unborn baby in many ways.
placenta
the organ that links the blood streams of the mother to the unborn baby that permits the exchange of materials.
Teratogens
Agents that damage the process of development, such as drugs and viruses
Fetal alcohol syndrome
Developmental disorder that stems from heavy alcohol use by the mother during pregnancy
Infancy
Stage of development that begins at birth and lasts between 18 and 24 months
Cephalocaudal rule
‘Top‐to‐bottom’ rule that describes the tendency for motor skills to emerge in sequence from the head to the feet
Proximodistal rule
‘Inside‐to‐outside’ rule that describes the tendency for motor skills to emerge in sequence from the center to the periphery
Cognitive development
Emergence of the ability to think and understand
Jean Piaget
(1896‐1980) created stages of cognitive development.
Sensorimotor stage (birth‐2 years)
Infants acquire information about the world by sensing it and moving around within it
Schemas
Theories about or models of the way the world works
Assimilation
Process by which infants apply their schemas in novel
situations
Accommodation
The process by which infants revise their schemas in light of new information
Object permanence
Idea that objects continue to exist even when they are not visible