Prenatal Flashcards
Child Development
Scientific study of processes of change and stability in children from conception through adolescence
Physical Development
Growth of body and brain, including biological and physiological patterns of change in sensory capacities, motor skills, and health
Cognitive Development
Pattern of change in mental abilities, such as learning, attention, memory, language, thinking, reasoning, and creativity
Psychosocial Development
Pattern of change in emotions, personality, and social relationships
Social Construction
concept about the nature of reality based on societally shared perceptions or assumptions
Individual differences
differences among children in characteristics, influences, or developmental outcomes
Heredity
Inborn characteristics inherited from the biological parents
Enviroment
totality of nonhereditary, or experimental, influences on development
Maturation
unfolding of a universal natural sequence of physical and behavioral changes
Nuclear Family
Two-generational household unit consisting of one or two parents and their biological children, adopted children, or step children.
Extended family
Multigenerational kinship network of parents, children, and other relatives, sometimes living together in an extended-family household
Culture
a society’s or group’s total way of life, including customs, traditions, beliefs, values, language, or national origin that contributes to a sense of shared identity
Ethnic Group
A group united by ancestry, race, religion, language, or national origin that contributes to a sense of shared identity
Ethnic Gloss
Overgeneralization about an ethic or cultural group that blurs or obscures variations within the group or overlaps with other such groups
Socioeconomic Status
combination of economic and social factors, including income, education, and occupation, that describe an individual or family
Risks Factors
Conditions that increase the likelihood of a negative developmental outcome
Normative
Characteristics of an event that occurs in a similar way for most people in a group
Historical Generation
a group of people strongly influenced by a major historical event during their formative period
Cohort
a group of people born at about the same time
Nonnormative
characteristic of an unusual event that happens to a particular person or a typical event that happens at an unusual time of life
Imprinting
Instinctive form of learning in which, during a critical period in early development, a young animal forms an attachment to the first moving object it sees, usually the mother
Critical Period
specific time when a given event or its absence has a profound and specific impact on development
Plasticity
Modifiability of the brain through experience
Sensitive Periods
times in development when a given event or its absence usually has a strong effect on development