Psychology Test #2 (Chp. 4-8) Flashcards
developtmental psychology
a branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive, and social change throughout the life span.
Zygote
the fertilized egg; it enters a 2-week period of rapid cell division and develops into an embryo.
Embryo
The developing human organism from about 2 weeks after fertilization through the second month.
Fetus
The developing human organism from about 9 weeks after conception to birth.
Teratogens
(literally, “monster maker”) agents, such as toxins, chemicals and viruses, that can reach the embryo or fetus during prenatal developtment and cause harm
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS)
Phsyical and cognitive abnormalies in children caused by a pregnant woman’s heave drinking. In severe cases, symptoms include noticeable fascial misproportions.
habituation
decreasing responsiveness with repeated stimulation. As infants gain familirity with repeated exposure to a visual stiumulus, their interest wanes and they look away sooner.
Maturation
Biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in behavior, relatively uninfluenced by experience.
Critical Period
an optimal period early in the life of an organism when exposure to certain stimuli or experiences produces normal developtment.
Cognition
all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating.
Schema
A concept or framework that organizes and inteprets information
Assimilation
interpreting our new experiences in terms of our existing schemas.
Accommodation
adapting our current understandings (schemas) to incorporate new information.
Sensorimotor Stage
in Piaget’s theory, that stage (from birth to about 2 years of age) during which infants know the world mostly in terms of their sensory impressions and motor activities
Object permanence
The awareness that things continue to exist even when not perceived.
Preoperational stage
in Piaget’s theory, that stage (from about 2 to about 6 or 7 years of age) during which a child learns to use language but does not yet comprehend the mental operations of concrete logic.
Conservation
the principle (which Piaget believed to be a part of concrete operational reasoning) that properties such as mass, volume, and number reamin as the same despite changes in the forms of objects.
Egocentrism
in Piaget’s theory, the preoperational child’s difficulty taking another’s point of view.
Theory of mind
people’s ideas about their own and others’ mental states-about their feelings, perceptions, and thoughts, and behaviors these might predict.
Concrete Operational Stage
in Piaget’s theory, the stage of cognitive developtment (from about 6 or 7 to 11 years of age) during which children gain the mental operaions that enable them to think logically about concrete events
Formal Operational Stage
in Piaget’s theory, the stage of cognitive developtment (normally beginning at 12 years) during which people begin to think logically about abstract concepts.
Stranger anxiety
the fear of strangers the infants commonly display, beginning by about 8 months of age.
Attachment
an emotional tie with another person; shown in young children by their seeking closeness to the caregiver and showing disress on seperation
Imprinting
the process by which certain animals from attachments during a critical period very early in life.
temperanment
a person’s characteristic emotional reactivity and intensity
Basic trust
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.
Adolescence
the transition period from childhood to adulthood, extending from puberty to independence
Puberty
the period of sexual maturation, during which a person becomes capable of reproducing.
Identity
our sense of self; accoring to Erickson, the adolescents’ task is to solidify a sense of self by testing and integrating various roles.
Social identity
the “we” aspect of our self-concept; the part of our answer to “who am I?” that comes from our group memberships.
Intimacy
in Erickson’s theory, the ability to form close, loving relatinships; a primary developtmental tak in late adolescence and early adulthood.
Emerging adulthood
for some people in modern cultures, a period from the late teens to mid-twenties, bridgin the gap between adolescent dependence and full independce and responsible adulthood.
Menopause
the time of natural cessation of menstruation; also refers to the biological changes a woman experiences as her ability to reproduce declines.
Cross-sectional study
a study in which people of different ages are compared with one another
Longitudinal Study
research in which the same people are restudied and retested over a long period.
Social Clock
the culturallyl preferred timing of social events such as a marriage, parenthood, and retirement.
Gender
socially constructed roles and characteristics by which a culture defines male and female
Aggresion
physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt someone
X chromosome
the sex chromosome found in both men and women. Females have two XX chromoes by males have one XY. An X chromosome from each parent makes a female child.
Y chromosome
The sex chromosome found in men. When paired with and X chromosome from the mother, it makes a male child.
Testosterone
the most important of the male sex hormones. Both males and females have it, but the additional testosterone in males stimulates the growth of the male sex organs in the fetus and developtment of the male sex characteristic during puberty.
Puberty
The period of sexual maturation, during which a person becomes capable of reproducing.
Primary sex characteristics
the body structures (ovaries, testes, and external genitalia) that make sexual reproduction possible.
Seconday sex Characteristics
non reproductive sexual traits, such as female breasts and hips, male voice quality and body hair.
Menarch
the first menstrual period
Gender Role
a set of expected behaviors for male or females
Role
a set of expectations (norms) about a social position, defining how those in the position ought to behave
Gender Identity
our sense of being male or female
Social learning theory
the theory tha twe learn socal behavior by observing and imitating and by being rewarded or punished
Gender typing
the acquisition of traditional masculine or feminine role.
Transgender
an umbrella term describing people whose gender identity or expression differs from that associated with their birth sex.
Estrogens
sex hormones, such as estradiol, secreted in greater amounts by females than by males and contributing to female sex characteristics. In nonhuman females mammals, estrogen levels peak during ovulation, promoting sexual receptivity.
Sexual Response Cycle
the four stages of sexual responding described by Masters and Johnson- excitement, plateau, orgasm, and resolution.
Refractory Period
a resting period after orgasm, during which a man cannot achieve another orgasm.
