Lifespan Development Glossary Flashcards
The process in which modeling paves the way for the development of more general rules and principles
Abstract Modeling
Special programs that allow gifted students to move ahead at their own pace, even if this means skipping to higher grade levels
Acceleration
Changes in existing ways of thinking that occur in response to encounters with new stimuli or events
Accomodation
The point reached by young adults in which intelligence is applied to specific situations involving the attainment of long term goals regarding careers, family, and societal contributions
Achieving Stage
According to Schaie, the first stage of cognitive development, encompassing all of childhood and adolescence
Acquisitive Stage
The theory suggesting that successful aging occurs when people maintain the interests, activities, and social interactions with which they were involved during middle age
Activity Theory
Drugs that produce a biological or psychological dependence in users, leading to increasingly powerful cravings for them
Addictive Drugs
The developmental stage that lies between childhood and adulthood
Adolescence
A state of self absorption in which the world is viewed from one’s own point of view
Adolescent Egocentrism
A facility in which elderly individuals receive care only during the day but spend nights and weekends in their own homes
Adult Day Care Facilities
The action possibilities that a given situation or stimulus provides
Affordances
The view that an unequal distribution of economic resources, power, and privilege exists among people at different stages of life
Age Stratification Theories
Prejudice and discrimination directed at older people
Ageism
Occupations that are associated with getting things accomplished, such as carpentry
Agentic Professions
Intentional injury or harm to another person
Aggression
A sequence of staged episodes that illustrate the strength of attachment between a child and (typically) his or her mother
Ainsworth Strange Situation
People with alcohol problems who have learned to depend on alcohol and are unable to control their drinking
Alcoholics
A progressive brain disorder that produces loss of memory and confusion
Alzheimer’s Disease
A style of attachment in which children display a combination of positive and negative reactions to their mothers
Ambivalent Attachment Pattern
The process of identifying genetic defects by examining a small sample of fetal cells drawn by a needle inserted into the amniotic fluid surrounding the unborn fetus
Amniocentesis
A state in which gender roles encompass characteristics thought typical of both sexes
Androgynous
A severe eating disorder in which individuals refuse to eat, while denying that their behavior and appearance, which may become skeletal, are out of the ordinary
Anorexia Nervosa
A restriction of oxygen to the baby, lasting a few minutes during the birth process, which can produce cognitive defects
Anoxia
A standard measurement system that looks for a variety of indications of good health in newborns
Apgar Scale
Research meant to provide practical solutions to immediate problems
Applied Research
A process of fertilization in which a man’s sperm is placed directly into a woman’s reproductive tract by a physician
Artificial Insemination
The process in which people understand an experience in terms of their current stage of cognitive development and way of thinking
Assimilation
Play in which two or more children actually interact with one another by sharing or borrowing toys or materials, although they do not do the same thing
Associative Play
The positive emotional bond that develops between a child and a particular individual
Attachment
A learning disorder marked by inattention, impulsiveness, a low tolerance for frustration, and generally a great deal of inappropriate activity
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
A special need that involves the loss of hearing or some aspect of hearing
Auditory Impairment
Parents who are controlling, punitive, rigid, and cold, and whose word is law
- They value strict, unquestioning obedience from their children and do not tolerate expressions of disagreement
Authoritarian Parents
Parents who are firm, setting clear and consistent limits, but who try to reason with their children, giving explanations for why they should behave in a particular way
Authoritative Parents
Memory of particular events from one’s own life
Autobiographical Memory
Having independence and a sense of control over one’s life
Autonomy
The period during which, according to Erik Erikson, toddlers (age 18 months to 3 years) develop independence and autonomy if they are allowed the freedom to explore, or shame and self doubt if they are restricted and overprotected
Autonomy Versus Shame and Doubt Stage
A style of attachment in which children do not seek proximity to the mother; after the mother has left, they seem to avoid her when she returns as if they are angered by her behavior
Avoidant Attachment Pattern
Making speechlike but meaningless sounds
Babbling
A measure that evaluates an infant’s development from 2 to 42 months
Bayley Scales of Infant Development
A formal technique for promoting the frequency of desirable behaviors and decreasing the incidence of unwanted ones
Behavior Modification
The study of the effects of heredity on behavior
Behavioral Genetics
The approach that suggests that the keys to understanding development are observable behavior and outside stimuli in the environment
Behavioral Perspective
Acknowledgement of the objective fact that one has experienced a death
Bereavement
Maintaining one’s original cultural identity while integrating oneself into the dominant culture
Bicultural Identity
The use of more than one language
Bilingualism
The perspective suggesting that levels of the environment simultaneously influence individuals
Bioecological Approach
Remarried couples who have at least one stepchild living with them
Blended Families
A period in which people must learn to cope with and move beyond changes in physical capabilities as a result of aging
Body Transcendence Versus Body Preoccupation
Close physical and emotional contact between parent and child during the period immediately following birth
Bonding
Young adults who return, after leaving home for some period, to live in the homes of their middle aged parents
Boomerang Children
A diagnosis of death based on the cessation of all signs of brain activity, as measured by electrical brain waves
Brain Death
A measure designed to determine infants’ neurological and behavioral responses to their environment
Brazelton Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale (NBAS)
An eating disorder characterized by binges on large quantities of food, followed by purges of the food through vomiting or the use of laxatives
Bulimia Nervosa
A situation that occurs when workers experience dissatisfaction, disillusionment, frustration, and weariness from their jobs
Burnout
According to Vailant, a stage that is entered between the ages of 20 and 40, when young adults become centered on their careers
Career Consolidation
Studies that involve extensive, in depth interviews with a particular individual or small group of individuals
Case Studies
The process of concentrating on one limited aspect of a stimulus and ignoring other aspects
Centration
The principle that growth follows a pattern that begins with the head and upper body parts and then proceeds down to the rest of the body
Cephalocaudal Principle
The upper layer of the brain
Cerebral Cortex
A birth in which the baby is surgically removed from the uterus, rather than traveling through the birth canal
Cesarean Delivery
Substantial disruption in the rhythm and fluency of speech; the most common speech impairment
Childhood Onset Fluency Disorder (Stuttering)
A test used to find genetic defects that involves taking samples of hairlike material that surrounds the embryo
Chorionic Villus Sampling (CVS)
Rod shaped portions of DNA that are organized in 23 pairs
Chromosomes
The actual age of the child taking the intelligence test
Chronological (or Physical) Age
A type of learning in which an organism responds in a particular way to a neutral stimulus that normally does not bring about that type of response
Classical Conditioning
Groups of from 2 to 12 people whose members have frequent social interactions with one another
Cliques
Development involving the ways that growth and change in intellectual capabilities influence a person’s behavior
Cognitive Development
Approaches that examine cognitive development through the lens of brain processes
Cognitive Neuroscience Approaches
The approach that focuses on the processes that allow people to know, understand, and think about the world
Cognitive Perspective
Couples living together without being married
Cohabitation
A group of people born at around the same time in the same place
Cohort
A philosophy that promotes the notion of interdependence
Collectivistic Orientation
Occupations that are associated with relationships, such as nursing
Communal Professions
The strong affection for those with whom our lives are deeply involved
Companionate Love
The period of cognitive development between 7 and 12 years of age, which is characterized by the active, and appropriate, use of logic
Concrete Operational Stage
The knowledge that quantity is unrelated to the arrangement and physical appearance of objects
Conservation
Play in which children manipulate objects to produce or build something
Constructive Play
The theory that considers the relationship between individuals and their physical, cognitive, personality and social worlds
Contextual Perspective
A community that offers an environment in which all the residents are of retirement age or older
Continuing Care Community
The theory suggesting that people need to maintain their desired level of involvement in society to maximize their sense of wellbeing and self esteem
Continuity Theory
Gradual development in which achievements at one level build on those of previous levels
Continuous Change
Children who are liked by some peers and disliked by others
Controversial Adolescents
Play in which children genuinely interact with one another, taking turns, playing games, or devising contests
Cooperative Play
The effort to control, reduce, or learn to tolerate the threats that lead to stress
Coping
A period in which parents and children jointly control children’s behavior
Coregulation
Research that seeks to identify whether an association or relationship between two factors exists
Correlational Research
The combination of responses or ideas in novel ways
Creativity
A specific time during development when a particular event has its greatest consequences and the presence of certain kinds of environmental stimuli are necessary for development to proceed normally
Critical Period
Research in which people of different ages are compared at the same point in time
Cross Sectional Research
Larger groups than cliques, composed of individuals who share particular characteristics but who may not interact with one another
Crowds
The accumulation of information, skills, and strategies that people have learned through experience and that they can apply in problem solving situations
Crystallized Intelligence
The model in which the goal was to assimiliate individual cultural identities into a unique, unified American culture
Cultural Assimilation Model
The theory that the abuse and neglect that children suffer predispose them as adults to abuse and neglect their own children
Cycle of Violence Hypothesis
The ability to take multiple aspects of a situation into account
Decentering
According to Sternberg, the third aspect of love that embodies both the initial cognition that one loves another person and the longer term determination to maintain that love
Decision/Commitment Component
Coping that involves unconscious strategies that distort or deny the true nature of a situation
Defensive Coping
The variable that researchers measure to see if it changes as a result of the experimental manipulation
Dependent Variable
An overall developmental score that relates to performance in four domains: motor skills, language use, adaptive behavior, and personal - social
Developmental Quotient
Babies who have negative moods and are slow to adapt to new situations; when confronted with a new situation, they tend to withdraw
Difficult Babies
Development that occurs in distinct steps or stages, with each stage bringing about behavior that is assumed to be qualitatively different from behavior at previous stages
Discontinuous Change
The theory that late adulthood marks a gradual withdrawal from the world on physical, psychological, and social levels
Disengagement Theory
A style of attachment in which children show inconsistent, often contradictory behavior, such as approaching the mother when she returns but not looking at her
Disorganized - Disoriented Attachment Pattern
Twins who are produced when two separate ova are fertilized by two separate sperm at roughly the same time
Dizygotic Twins
The substance that genes are composed of that determines the nature of every cell in the body and how it will function
DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid) Molecules
Rankings that represent the relative social power of those in a group
Dominance Hierarchy
The one trait that is expressed when two competing traits are present
Dominant Trait
A disorder produced by the presence of an extra chromosome the 21st pair; once referred to as mongolism
Down Syndrome
Babies who have a positive disposition; their body functions operate regularly, and they are adaptable
Easy Babies
The period in which elderly people must come to grips with their coming death
Ego Transendence Versus Ego Preoccupation
Thinking that does not take into account the viewpoints of others
Egocentric Thought
Erikson’s final stage of life, characterized by a process of looking back over one’s life, evaluating it, and coming to terms with it
Ego Integrity Versus Despair Stage
The physical or psychological mistreatment or neglet of elderly individuals
Elder Abuse
The period from 2 to 8 weeks following fertilization during which significant growth occurs in the major organs and body systems
Embryonic Stage
The period from the late teenage years extending to the mid 20s in which people are still sorting out their options for the future
Emerging Adulthood
The set of skills that underlie the accurate assessment, evaluation, expression, and regulation of emotions
Emotional Intelligence
The capability to adjust emotions to a desired state and level of intensity
Emotional Self Regulation
An emotional response that corresponds to the feelings of another person
Empathy
The experience that relates to parents’ feelings of unhappiness, worry, loneliness, and depression resulting from their children’s departure from home
Empty Nest Syndrome
An approach through which students are kept at grade level but are enrolled in special programs and given individual activities to allow greater depth of study on a given topic
Enrichment
An incision sometimes made to increase the size of the opening of the vagina to allow the baby to pass
Episiotomy
The theory that considers how individuals come to understand themselves and the meaning of others’ - and their own - behavior
Erikson’s Theory of Psychosocial Development
The practice of assisting people who are terminally ill to die more quickly
Euthanasia
The theory that seeks to identify behavior that is a result of our genetic inheritance from our ancestors
Evolutionary Perspective
The period in middle adulthood when people take a broader perspective than previously, including concerns about the world
Executive Stage
A process in which an investigator, called an experimenter, devises two different experiences for participants and then studies and compares the outcomes
Experiment
Research designed to discover causal relationships between various factors
Experimental Research
The acquisition of skill or knowledge in a particular area
Expertise
A style of language use in which language is used primarily to express feelings and needs about oneself and others
Expressive Style
Motivation that drives people to obtai tangible rewards, such as money and prestige
Extrinsic Motivation
According to Ginzberg, the period, lasting until about age 11, when career choices are made, and discarded, without regard to skills, abilities, or available job opportunities
Fantasy Period
Instances in which new words are associated with their meaning after only a brief encounter
Fast Mapping
The period that marks the transition from being able to bear children to being unable to do so
Female Climacteric
The process by which a sperm and an ovum - the male and female gametes, respectively - join to form a single new cell
Fertilization
A condition in which children display some, but not all, of the problems of FASD as a result of the mother’s consumption of alcohol during pregnancy
Fetal Alcohol Effects (FAE)
A disorder caused by the pregnant mother consuming substantial quantities of alcohol during pregnancy, potentially resulting in mental retardation and delayed growth in the child
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD)
A device that measures the baby’s heartbeat during labor
Fetal Monitor
The stage that begins at about 8 weeks after conception and continues until birth
Fetal Stage
A developing child, from 8 weeks after conception until birth
Fetus
A research investigation carried out in a naturally occurring setting
Field Study
A cluster of psychological symptoms, including loneliness, anxiety, withdrawal, and depression, relating to the college experience suffered by first year college students
First Year Adjustment Reaction
Reflects the ability to solve and reason about novel problems
Fluid Intelligence
The period at which people develop the ability to think abstractly
Formal Operational Stage
A disorder produced by injury to a gene on the X chromosome, producing mild to moderate intellectual disability
Fragile X Syndrome
The absence of a heartbeat and breathing
Functional Death
Play that involves simple, repetitive activities typical of 3 year olds
Functional Play
The sense of being male or female
Gender
The belief that people are permanently males or females, depending on fixed, unchangeable biological factors
Gender Constancy
The perception of oneself as male or female
Gender Identity
A cognitive framework that organizes information relevant to gender
Gender Schema
A cognitive framework that organizes information relevant to gender
Gender Schema
The theory that processing in all parts of the nervous system, including the brain, is less efficient as we age
Generalized Slowing Hypothesis
A divide between parents and adolescents in attitudes, values, aspirations, and worldviews
Generation Gap
According to Erikson, the stage during middle adulthood in which people consider their contributions to family and society
Generativity Versus Stagnation
The basic unit of genetic information
Genes
The discipline that focuses on helping people deal with issues relating to inherited disorders
Genetic Counseling
Theories that suggest that our body’s DNA genetic code contains a built in time limit for the reproduction of human cells
Genetic Programming Theories of Aging
The underlying combination of genetic material present (but not outwardly visible) in an organism
Genotype
The first - and shortest - stage of the prenatal period, which takes place during the first two weeks following conception
Germinal Stage
Specialists who study aging
Gerontologists
Children who show evidence of high performance capability in areas such as intellectual, creative, artisitic, leadership capacity, or specific academic fields
Gifted and Talented
A condition in which pressure in the fluid of the eye increases, either because the fluid cannot drain properly or because too much fluid is produced
Glaucoma
The notion that development is dependent on the degree of match between children’s temperament and the nature and demands of the environment in which they are being raised
Goodness of Fit
The system of rules that determine how our thoughts can be expressed
Grammar
The emotional response to one’s loss
Grief
The decrease in the response to a stimulus that occurs after repeated presentations of the same stimulus
Habituation
The preference of using one hand over another
Handedness
Inheriting different forms of a gene for a given trait from each parent
Heterozygous
One word utterances that stand for a whole phrase, the meaning of which depends on the particular context in which they are used
Holophrases
An alternative to hospitalization in which dying people stay in their homes and receive treatment from their families and visiting medical staff
Home Care
The tendency to marry someone who is similar in age, race, education, religion, and other basic demographic characteristics
Homogamy
Inheriting similar genes for a given trait from both parents
Homozygous
Care provided for the dying in institutions devoted to those who are terminally ill
Hospice Care
The theory that contends that people have a natural capacity to make decisions about their lives and control their behavior
Humanistic Perspective
A prediction stated in a way that permits it to be tested
Hypothesis
The status of adolescents who commit to a particular identity following a period of crisis during which they consider various alternatives
Identity Achievement
The status of adolescents who consider various identity alternatives, but never commit to one or never even consider identity options in a conscious way
Identity Diffusion
The status of adolescents who prematurely commit to an identity without adequately exploring alternatives
Identity Foreclosure
According to Erik Erikson, the period during which teenagers seek to determine what is unique and distinctive about themselves
Identity Versus Identity Confusion Stage
An adolescent’s belief that his or her own behavior is a primary focus of others’ attention and concerns
Imaginary Audience
A procedure in which a woman’s ova are removed from her ovaries, and a man’s sperm are used to fertilize the ova in a laboratory
In Vitro Fertilization (IVF)
The variable that researchers manipulate in an experiment
Independent Variable
A philosophy that emphasizes personal identity and the uniqueness of the individual
Individidualistic Orientation
According to Erik Erikson, the period from age 6 to 12 characterized by a focus on efforts to attain competence in meeting the challenges presented by parents, peers, school, and the other complexities of the modern world
Industry Versus Inferiority Stage
Death within the first year of life
Infant Mortality
A type of speech directed toward infants, characterized by short, simple sentences
Infant Directed Speech
The lack of memory for experiences that occurred before three years of age
Infantile Amnesia
The inability to conceive after 12 to 18 months of trying to become pregnant
Infertility
The model that seeks to identify the ways individuals take in, use, and store information
Information Processing Approaches
According to Erik Erikson, the period during which children age 3 to 6 years experience conflict between independence of action and the sometimes negative results of that action
Initiative Versus Guilt Stage
A psychological stage in which people in nursing homes develop apathy, indifference, and a lack of caring about themselves
Institutionalism
Aggression motivated by the desire to obtain a concrete goal
Instrumental Aggression
A disability characterized by significant limitations both in intellectual functioning and in adaptive behavior, which covers many everyday social and practical skills
Intellectual Disability
A score that accounts for a student’s mental and chronological age
Intelligent Quotient (IQ)
The capacity to understand the world, think with rationality, and use resources effectively when faced with challenges
Intelligence
According to Sternberg, the component of love that encompasses feelings of closeness, affection, and connectedness
Intimacy Component
According to Erikson, the period of postadolescence into the early 30s that focuses on developing close, intimate relationships with others
Intimacy Versus Isolation Stage
Motivation that causes people to work for their own enjoyment, for personal rewards
Intrinsic Motivation
Thinking that reflects preschoolers’ use of primitive reasoning and their avid acquisition of knowledge about the world
Intuitive Thought
An intelligence test that measures children’s ability to integrate different stimuli simultaneously and to use sequential thinking
Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children, Second Edition (KABC-II)
A disorder resulting from the prescence of an extra X chromosome that produces underdeveloped genitals, extreme height, and enlarged breasts
Klinefelter’s Syndrome
The theory that individuals experience romantic love when two events occur together: intense physiological arousal and situational cues suggesting that the arousal is a result of love
Labeling Theory of Passionate Love
A research investigation conducted in a controlled setting explicitly designed to hold events constant
Laboratory Study
The systematic, meaningful arrangement of symols, which provides the basis for communication
Language
A neural system of the brain hypothesized to permit understanding of language
Language Acquisition Device (LAD)
The process in which certain cognitive functions are located more in one hemisphere of the brain than in the other
Lateralization
Difficulties in the acquisition and use of listening, speaking, reading, writing, reasoning, or mathematical abilities
Learning Disabilities
The theory that language acquisition follows the basic laws of reinforcement and conditioning
Learning Theory Approach
The setting that is most similar to that of children without special needs
Least Restrictive Environment
The approach to personality development that is based on the timing of particular events in an adult’s life rather than on age per se
Life Events Theories
The average age of death for members of a population
Life Expectancy
The point in life in which people examine and evaluate their lives
Life Review
The field of study that examines patterns of growth, change, and stability in behavior that occur throughout the entire life span
Lifespan Development
Legal documents designating what medical treatments people want or do not want if they cannot express their wishes
Living Wills
Research in which the behavior of one or more participants in a study is measured as they age
Longitudinal Research
Infants who weigh less than 2,500 grams (around 5.5 pounds) at birth
Low Birthweight Infants
The most common mental disorder of the elderly, it covers several diseases, each of which includes serious memory loss accompanied by declines in other mental functioning
Major Neurocognitive Disorder
An educational approach in which exceptional children are integrated to the extent possible into the traditional educational system and are provided with a broad range of educational alternatives
Mainstreaming
The period of physical and psychological change relating to the male reproductive system that occurs during late middle age
Male Climacteric
Sexual self stimulation
Masturbation
The predetermined unfolding of genetic information
Maturation
The process by which information is initially recorded, stored, and retrieved
Memory
The onset of menstruation
Menarche
The cessation of menstruation
Menopause
The typical intelligence level found for people at a given chronological age
Mental Age
The knowledge that people have about their own thinking processes and their ability to monitor their cognition
Metacognition
An understanding of one’s own use of language
Metalinguistic Awareness
An understanding about the processes that underlie memory, which emerges and improves during middle childhood
Metamemory
A stage of uncertainty and indecision brought about by the realization that life is finite
Midlife Crisis
Intellectual disability in which IQ scores fall in the range of 50 or 55 to 70
Mild Intellectual Disability
Formal strategies for organizing material in ways that make it more likely to be remembered
Mnemonics
Intellectual disability in which IQ scores range from 35 or 40 to 50 or 55
Moderate Intellectual Disability
Twins who are genetically identical
Monozygotic Twins
The changes in people’s sense of justice and of what is right and wrong, and in their behavior related to moral issues
Moral Development
The status of adolescents who may have explored various identity alternatives to some degree, but have not yet committed themselves
Moratorium
A form of education in which the goal is to help minority students develop confidence in the culture of the majority group while maintaining positive group identities that build on their original cultures
Multicultural Education
The determination of traits by a combination of both genetic and envrionmental factors in which a genotype provides a range within which a phenotype may be expressed
Multifactorial Transmission
The approach that considers how information that is collected by various individual sensory systems is integrated and coordinated
Multimodal Approach to Perception
Protective insulation that surrounds parts of neurons - which speeds the transmission of electrical impulses along brain cells but also adds to brain weight
Myelin
The theory that a genetically determined, innate mechanism directs language development
Nativist Approach
A type of correlational study in which some naturally occurring behavior is observed without intervention in the situation
Naturalistic Observation
Children who receive relatively little attention from their peers in the form of either positive or negative interactions
Neglected Adolescents
The term used for newborns
Neonates
The basic nerve cell of the nervous system
Neuron
A disorder in which infants stop growing due to a lack of stimulation and attention as the result of inadequate parenting
Nonorganic Failure to Thrive
The approach to personality development that is based on fairly universal stages tied to a sequence of age related crises
Normative Crisis Theories
The average performance of a large sample of children of a given age
Norms
Body weight more than 20 percent higher than the average weight for a person of a given age and height
Obesity
The realization that people and objects exist even when they cannot be seen
Object Permanence
Action in which children simply watch others at play, but do not actually participate themselves
Onlooker Play
A form of learning in which a voluntary response is strengthened or weakened by its association with positive or negative consequences
Operant Conditioning
Organized, formal, logical mental processes
Operations
A condition in which the bones become brittle, fragile, and thin, often brought about by a lack of calcium in the diet
Osteoporosis
The overly broad use of words, overgeneralizing their meaning
Overextension
Action in which children play with similar toys, in a similar manner, but do not interact with each other
Parallel Play
According to Sternberg, the component of love that comprises the motivational drives relating to sex, physical closeness, and romance
Passion Component
A state of powerful absorption in someone
Passionate (or Romantic) Love
The influence of one’s peers to conform to their behavior and attitudes
Peer Pressure
The sorting out, interpretation, analysis, and integration of stimuli involving the sense organs and brain
Perception
The theory that suggests that overall processing speed declines in the peripheral nervous system with increasing age
Peripheral Slowing Hypothesis
Parents who provide lax and inconsistent feedback and require little of their children
Permissive Parents
The view held by some adolescents that what happens to them is unique, exceptional, and shared by no one else
Personal Fables
Development involving the ways that the enduring characteristics that differentiate one person from another change over the life span
Personality Development
The sum total of the enduring characteristics that differentiate one individual from another
Personality
An observable trait; the trait that is actually seen
Phenotype
Development involving the body’s physical makeup, including the brain, nervous system, muscles, and senses, and the need for food, drink, and sleep
Physical Development
A conduit between the mother and fetus, providing nourishment and oxygen via the umbilical cord
Placenta
The degree to which a developing structure or behavior is modifiable as a result of experience
Plasticity
The concept that American society is made up of diverse, coequal cultural groups that should preserve their individual cultural features
Pluralistic Society Model
Inheritance in which a combination of multiple gene pairs is responsible for the production of a particular trait
Polygenic Inheritance
Thinking that acknowledges that adult predicaments must sometimes be solved in relativistic terms
Postformal Thought
Infants still unborn two weeks after the mother’s due date
Postmature Infants
According to Sternberg, intelligence that is learned primarily by observing others and modeling their behavior
Practical Intelligence
The aspect of language that is related to communicating effectively and appropriately with others
Pragmatics
According to Piaget, the stage from approximately age 2 to age 7 in which children’s use of symbolic thinking grows, mental reasoning emerges, and the use of concepts increases
Preoperational Stage
Loss of the ability to hear sounds of high frequency
Presbycusis
A nearly universal change in eyesight during middle adulthood that results in some loss of near vision
Presbyopia
Infants who are born prior to 38 weeks after conception
Preterm Infants
Aging that involves universal and irreversible changes that, because of genetic programming, occur as people get older
Primary Aging
The assessment of an event to determine whether its implications are positive, negative, or neutral
Primary Appraisal
Characteristics associated with the development of the organs and structures of the body that directly relate to reproduction
Primary Sex Characteristics
The principle that simple skills typically develop separately and independently but are later integrated into more complex skills
Principle of Heirarchical Integration
The principle that different body systems grow at different rates
Principle of the Independence of Systems
Speech by children that is spoken and directed to themselves
Private Speech
Intellectual disability in which IQ scores fall below 20 or 25
Profound Intellectual Disability
Helping behavior that benefits others
Prosocial Behavior
The principle that development proceeds from the center of the body outward
Proximodistal Principle
The theory proposed by Freud that suggets that unconscious forces act to determine personality and behavior
Psychoanalytic Theory
The approach that states that behavior is motivated by inner forces, memories, and conflicts that are generally beyond people’s awareness and control
Psychodynamic Perspective
Abuse that occurs when parents or other caregivers harm children’s behavioral, cognitive, emotional, or physical functioning
Psychological Maltreatment
The study of the relationship among the brain, the immune system, and psychological factors
Psychoneuroimmunology (PNI)
Research that focuses on the relationship between physiological processes and behavior
Psychophysiological Methods
According to Freud, a series of stage that children pass through in which pleasure, or gratification, is focused on a particular biological function and body part
Psychosexual Development
According to Erik Erikson, development that encompasses changes in the understandings individuals have of themselves as members of society and in their comprehension of the meaning of others’ behavior
Psychosocial Development
The period during which the sexual organs mature
Puberty
The phenomenon in which minority children indicate preferences for majority values or people
Race Dissonance
The period of sleep that is found in older children and adults and is associated with dreaming
Rapid Eye Movement (REM) Sleep
The third stage of Ginzberg’s theory, which occurs in early adulthood, when people begin to explore specific career options, either through actual experience on the job or through training for a profession, and then narrow their choices and make a commitment
Realistic Period
A trait within an organism that is present but is not expressed
Recessive Trait
The theory that those in old age must redefine themselves in ways that do not relate to their work roles or occupations
Redefinition of Self Versus Preoccupation with Work Role
Groups of people with whom one compares oneself
Reference Groups
A style of language use in which language is used primarily to label objects
Referential Style
Unlearned, organized involuntary responses that occur automatically in the presence of certain stimuli
Reflexes
The period of late adulthood during which the focus is on tasks that have personal meaning
Reintegrative Stage
Children who are actively disliked, and whose peers may react to them in an obviously negative manner
Rejected Adolescents
Nonphysical aggression that is intended to hurt another person’s psychological well being
Relational Aggression
The ability to overcome circumstances that place a child at high risk for psychological or physical damage
Resilience
The stage where the major concerns of middle aged adults relate to their personal situations, including protecting and nourishing their spouses, families, and careers
Responsible Stage
Repetitive, cyclical patterns of behavior
Rhythms
The group of participants chosen for the experiment
Sample
Couples who in middle adulthood must fulfill the needs of both their children and their aging parents
Sandwich Generation
The support for learning and problem solving that encourages independence and growth
Scaffolding
Organized bodies of information stored in memory
Schemas
Organized patterns of functioning that adapt and change with mental functioning
Schema
The process of posing and answering questions using careful, controlled techniques that include systematic, orderly observation and the collection of data
Scientific Method
Broad representations in memory of events and the order in which they occur
Scripts
Changes in physical and cognitive functioning that are as a result of illness, health habits, and other individual differences, but are not the result of increased age itself and are not inevitable
Secondary Aging
The assessment of whether one’s coping abilities and resources are adequate to overcome the harm, threat, or challenge posed by the potential stressor
Secondary Appraisal
The visible signs of sexual maturity that do not directly involve the sex organs
Secondary Sex Characteristics
A pattern of change occurring over several generations
Secular Trend
A style of attachment in which children use the mother as a kind of home base and are at ease when she is present; when she leaves, they become upset and go to her as soon as she returns
Secure Attachment Pattern
The process by which people concentrate on selected skill areas to compensate for losses in other areas
Selective Optimization
Knowledge of oneself
Self Awareness
Children who let thmselves into their homes after school and wait alone until their caretakers return from work; previously known as latchkey children
Self Care Children
A person’s identity, or set of beliefs about what one is like as an individual
Self Concept
An individual’s overall and specific positive and negative self evaluation
Self Esteem
The natural physical decline brought about by aging
Senescence
The physical stimulation of the sense organs
Sensation
A point in development when organisms are particularly susceptible to certain kinds of stimuli in their environments, but the absence of those stimuli does not always produce irreversible consequences
Sensitive Period
Piaget’s initial major stage of cognitive development, which can be broken down into six substages
Sensorimotor Stage (of Cognitive Development)
The distress displayed by infants when a customary care provider departs
Separation Anxiety
Research in which researchers examine a number of different age groups over several points in time
Sequential Studies
Intellectual disability in which IQ scores range from 20 or 25 to 30 or 40
Severe Intellectual Disability
Sex segregation in which boys interact primarily with boys and girls primarily with girls
Sex Cleavage
An infection that is spread through sexual contact
Sexually Transmitted Infection (STI)
A blood disorder that gets its name from the shape of the red blood cells
Sickle Cell Anemia
A facility that provides full time nursing care for people who have chronic illnesses or are recovering from a temporary medical condition
Skilled Nursing Facilities
Babies who are inactive, showing relatively calm reactions to their environment; their moods are generally negative, and they withdraw from new situations, adapting slowly
Slow to Warm Babies
Infants who, because of delayed fetal growth, weigh 90 percent (or less) of the average weight of infants of the same gestational age
Small for Gestational Age Infants
The collection of social skills that permit individuals to perform successfully in social settings
Social Competence
The way in which individuals’ interactions with others and their social relationships grow, change, and remain stable over the course of life
Social Development
The use of strategies for solving social conflicts in ways that are satisfactory both to oneself and to others
Social Problem Solving
The intentional search for information about others’ feelings to help explain the meaning of uncertain circumstances and events
Social Referencing
Speech directed toward another person and meant to be understood by that person
Social Speech
Assistance and comfort supplied by another person or a network of caring, interested people
Social Support
Learning by observing the behavior of another person, called a model
Social Cognitive Learning Theory
Adolescent delinquents who know and subscribe to the norms of society and who are fairly normal psychologically
Social Delinquents
The approach that emphasizes how cognitive development proceeds as a result of social interactions between members of a culture
Sociocultural Theory
Speech that deviates so much from the speech of others that it calls attention to itself, interferes with communication, or produces maladjustment in the speaker
Speech Impairment
A test that consists of a series of items that vary according to the age of the person being tested
Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales, Fifth Edition (SB5)
The degree of awareness an infant displays to both internal and external stimulation
State
Different degrees of sleep and wakefulness through which newborns cycle, ranging from deep sleep to great agitation
States of Arousal
The evaluation of a role or person by other relevant members of a group
Status
Obstacles to performance that come from awareness of the stereotypes held by society about academic abilities
Stereotype Threat
The delivery of a child who is not alive, occurring in fewer than 1 delivery in 100
Stillbirth
The caution and wariness displayed by infants when encountering an unfamiliar person
Stranger Anxiety
The physical and emotional response to events that threaten or challenge us
Stress
The unexplained death of a seemingly healthy baby
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome
A type of study where a group of people chosen to represent some larger population are asked questions about their attitudes, behavior, or thinking on a given topic
Survey Research
The gap at the connection between neurons, through which neurons chemically communicate with one another
Synapse
The elimination of neurons as the result of nonuse or lack of stimulation
Synaptic Pruning
The way in which an individual combines words and phrases to form sentences
Syntax
A disorder that produces blindness and muscle degeneration before death; there is no treatment
Tay-Sachs Disease
Speech in which words not critical to the message are left out
Telegraphic Speech
Patterns of arousal and emotionality that represent consistent and enduring characteristics of an individual
Temperament
The second stage of Ginzberg’s theory, which spas adolescence, when people begin to think more practically about the requirements of various jobs and how their own abilities might fit with them
Tentative Period
A factor that produces a birth defect
Teratogen
People who study death and dying
Thanatologists
Research designed specifically to test some developmental explanation and expand scientific knowledge
Theoretical Research
Broad explanations, and predictions about phenomena of interest
Theories
Knowledge and beliefs about how the mind works and how it affects behavior
Theory of Mind
The process in which one state is changed into another
Transformation
Sternberg’s theory that intelligence is made up of three major components: componential, experiential, and contextual
Triarchic Theory of Intelligence
According to Erik Erikson, the period during which infants develop a sense of trust or mistrust, largely depending on how well their needs are met by their caregivers
Trust Versus Mistrust Stage
A process in which high frequency sound waves scan the mother’s womb to produce an image of the unborn baby, whose size and shape can then be assessed
Ultrasound Sonography
The overly restrictive use of words, common among children just mastering spoken language
Underextension
Adolescent delinquents who are raised with little discipline or with harsh, uncaring parental supervision
Undersocialized Delinquents
Parents who show almost no interest in their children and indifferent, rejecting behavior
Uninvolved Parents
Noam Chomsky’s theory that all the world’s languages share a similar underlying structure
Universal Grammar
Infants who weigh less than 1,250 grams (around 2.25 pounds) or, regardless of weight, have been in the womb less than 30 weeks
Very Low Birthweight Infants
A difficulty in seeing that may include blindness or partial sightedness
Visual Impairment
The theory that the mechanical functions of the body simply wear out with age
Wear and Tear Theories of Aging
A test for children that provides separate measures of verbal and performance (or nonverbal) skills, as well as a total score
Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Fifth Edition (WISC-V)
Expert knowledge in the practical aspects of life
Wisdom
Genes that are considered recessive and located only on the X chromosome
X Linked Genes
According to Vygotsky, the level at which a child can almost, but not fully, perform a task independently, but can do so with the assistance of someone more competent
Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)
The new cell formed by the process of fertilization
Zygote
