Modules 13-16 (Lecture 5)

Question 1

Developmental Psychology

Answer 1

A branch of Psychology that studies physical, cognitive, and social development throughout the lifespan

Question 2

Cross-sectional Study

Answer 2

Research that compares people of different ages at the same point in time.

Question 3

Longitudinal Study

Answer 3

Research that follow and retests the same people over time.

Question 4

Zygote

Answer 4

The fertilized egg; it enters a 2-week period of rapid cell division and develops into an embryo.

Question 5

Embryo

Answer 5

The developing human organism from about 2 weeks after fertilization through the second month.

Question 6

Fetus

Answer 6

The developing human organism from 9 weeks after conception to birth

Question 7

Teratogens

Answer 7

Agents, such as chemicals and viruses, that can reach the embryo or fetus during prenatal development and cause harm

Question 8

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS)

Answer 8

Physical and cognitive abnormalities in children caused by a pregnant woman’s heavy drinking. In severe cases, signs include a small out-of-proportion head and abnormal facial features.

Question 9

Habituation

Answer 9

Decreasing responsiveness with repeated stimulation. As infants gain familiarity with repeated exposure to a stimulus, their interest wanes and they look away sooner.

Question 10

Maturation

Answer 10

Biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in behavior, relatively uninfluenced by experience

Question 11

Cognition

Answer 11

All the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating

Question 12

Schema

Answer 12

A concept or framework that organizes and interprets information.

Question 13

Assimilation

Answer 13

Interpreting our new experiences in terms of our existing schemas

Question 14

Accommodation

Answer 14

Adapting our current understandings to incorporate new information.

Question 15

Sensorimotor stage

Answer 15

In Piaget’s theory, the stage (from birth to nearly 2 years) at which infants know the world mostly in terms of their sensory impressions and motor activities. (1)

Question 16

Object Permanence

Answer 16

The awareness that things continue to exist even when not perceived.

Question 17

Preoperational Stage

Answer 17

In Piaget’s theory, the stage (from about 2 to 6 or 7 years) at which a child learns to use language but does not yet comprehend the mental operations of concrete logic. (2)

Question 18

Conservation

Answer 18

The principle (which Piaget believed to be part of operation reasoning) that properties such as mass, volume, and number remain the same despite the changes in the forms of objects.

Question 19

Egocentrism

Answer 19

In Piaget’s theory, the preoperational child’s difficulty taking another’s point of view

Question 20

Concrete Operational Stage

Answer 20

In Piaget’s theory; the stage of cognitive development (from about 7 to 11 years) at which children gain the mental operations that enable them to think logically about concrete events. (3)

Question 21

Formal Operational Stage

Answer 21

In Piaget’s theory, the stage of cognitive development (normally beginning about 12) at which people begin to think logically about abstract concepts. (4)

Question 22

Scaffold

Answer 22

In Vygotsky’s theory, a framework that offers children temporary support as they develop higher levels of thinking.

Question 23

Theory of Mind

Answer 23

People’s ideas about their own and others’ mental states–about their feelings, perceptions, and thoughts, and the behaviors these might predict.

Question 24

Stranger Anxiety

Answer 24

The fear of strangers that infants commonly display, beginning by about 8 months of age.

Question 25

Attachment

Answer 25

An emotional tie with others; shown in young children by their seeking closeness to caregivers and showing distress on separation.

Question 26

Critical Period

Answer 26

An optimal period early in the life of an organism when exposure to certain stimuli or experiences produce normal development

Question 27

Imprinting

Answer 27

The process by which certain animals from strong attachments during early life

Question 28

Basic Trust

Answer 28

According to Erik Erikson, a sense that the world is predictable and trustworthy; said to be formed during infancy by appropriate experiences with responsive caregivers.

Question 29

Self-Concept

Answer 29

All our thoughts and feelings about ourselves, in answer to the question, “Who am I?”

Question 30

Adolescence

Answer 30

The transition period from childhood to adulthood, extending from puberty to independence

Question 31

Puberty

Answer 31

The period of sexual maturation, during which a person usually becomes capable of reproducing.

Question 32

Identity

Answer 32

Our sense of self; according to Erikson, the adolescent;s task is solidify a sense of self by testing and integrating various roles.

Question 33

Social Identity

Answer 33

The “we” aspect of sour self-concept; the part of our answer to “Who am I?” that comes from our group membership

Question 34

Intimacy

Answer 34

In Erikson’s theory, the ability to form close, loving relationships; a primary developmental task in young adulthood

Question 35

Emerging Adulthood

Answer 35

A period from about age 18 to the mid-twenties, when many in Western culture are no longer adolescents but have not yet achieved full independence as adults.

Question 36

Menopause

Answer 36

The time of natural cessation of menstruation; also refers to the biological changes a woman experiences as her ability to reproduce declines.

Question 37

Neurocognitive Disorders (NCDs)

Answer 37

Acquired (not lifelong) disorders marked by cognitive deficits; often related to Alzheimer’s disease, brain injury or disease, or substance abuse. In older adults, neurocognitive disorders are also called Dementia

Question 38

Alzheimer’s Disease

Answer 38

A neurocognitive disorder marked by neural plaques, often with onset after age 80, and entailing a progressive decline in memory and other cognitive abilities.

Question 39

Social Clock

Answer 39

The culturally preferred timing of social events such as marriage, parenthood, and retirement

Question 40

Power of Attorney

Answer 40

The authority to act for a another person in specified or all legal or financial matters

Question 41

Advanced Medical Directive (living will)

Answer 41

A written statement detailing a person’s desires regarding their medical treatment in circumstances in which they are no longer able to express informed consent.

Question 42

Last Will and Testament

Answer 42

A written statement regarding a person’s assets after their death

Question 43

Kubler-Ross’ Five Stages of Dying

Answer 43

Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance

Question 44

Hospice Care

Answer 44

A program that provides care and support for people who are nearing the end of their life

Question 45

Nest Syndrome

Answer 45

Refers to the grief that many parents feel when their children move out of home.

Question 46

Senescence

Answer 46

The condition or process of deterioration with age.

Question 47

Apoptosis

Answer 47

A type of cell death in which a series of molecular steps in a cell lead to its death

Question 48

Harry Harlow’s contribution

Answer 48

Contact Comfort. The infants need for physical closeness and touching. Confirms that babies have social as well as physical needs.

Question 49

Importance of having Fathers

Answer 49

Statistics are staggering as to the negative effects of not having fathers around to help raise and care for children

Question 50

Fluid Intelligence

Answer 50

Is the ability to learn, asses, and navigate new situations. (used more so in early life)

Question 51

Crystalized Intelligence

Answer 51

Is accumulated knowledge you can recall as needed (used more so in later life)