Unit 4: Chapter 11: Human Development Across the Lifespan Flashcards
The Prenatal Period
Extend from conception to birth, usually encompassing nine months of pregnancy.
Germinal Stage
First two weeks of prenatal development after conception. Begins when a zygote is created through fertilization.
Embryonic Stage
Second stage of prenatal development, lasting from two weeks until the end of the second month. Vital organs and bodily systems begin to form.
Fetal Stage
Third stage of prenatal development, lasting from two months through birth. Muscles and bones begin to form, and brain cells multiply during the final three months.
Age of Viability
Age at which a baby can survive in the event of a premature birth; between 22 and 26 weeks.
Teratogens
Any external agents, such as drugs or viruses, that can harm an embryo or fetus.
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Disorder (FASD)
A collection of congenital (inborn) problems associated with excessive alcohol use during pregnancy.
Motor Development
The progression of muscular coordination required for physical activities.
Development Norms
The median age at which individuals display various behavior and abilities.
Alexander Thomas and Stella Chess
Conducted a major longitudinal study of temperament, and found that “temperamental individuality is well established by the time the infant is two to three months old.”
Temperment
Characteristic moods, activity level, and emotional reactivity.
Longitudinal Design
Investigators observe one group of participants repeatedly over a period of time; can extend over many years.
Cross-Sectional Design
Investigators compare groups of participants of differing age at a single point in time; more sensitive to developmental changes.
Cohort Effects
Occur when differences between age groups are due to the groups growing up in different time periods.
Attachment
Close, emotional bonds of affections that develop between infants and their caregivers.
Harry Harlow
Studies of attachment in infant rhesus monkeys. Removed monkeys from their mothers at birth and raised them in the laboratory with two types of artificial “substitute mothers.”
John Bowlby
Argued there must be a biological basis for attachment; infants are biologically programmed to emit behavior that triggers an affectionate protective response from adults.
Ainsworth
Method called strange situation procedure; infants-mother attachments follow three patterns: secure attachment, anxious-ambivalent attachment, and avoidant attachment.
Strange Situation Procedure
Where infants are exposed to a series of eight separation and reunion episodes to assess the quality of their attachment.
Stage
Developmental period during which characteristic patterns of behavior are exhibited and certain capacities become established.
Erikson’s Stage Theory
Divided the life span into eight stages-each which brings a psychosocial crisis.
Trust Versus Mistrust
First stage of Erikson’s Stage Theory (age 1); when an infant has to depend on adults.
Autonomy Versus Shame and Doubt
Second stage of Erikson’s Stage Theory (age 2-3); when parents begin toilet training and other efforts to regulate child’s behavior.
Initiative Versus Guilt
Third stage of Erikson’s Stage Theory (age 3-6); when children experiment and take initiative that may conflict with their parents’ rules.
Industry Versus Inferiority
Fourth Stage of Erikson’s Stage Theory (age 6 through puberty); Am I competent or am I worthless?
Identity Versus Confusion
Fifth stage of Erikson’s Stage Theory (adolescence); Who am I and where am I goin?
Intimacy Versus Isolation
Sixth stage of Erikson’s Stage Theory (early adulthood); Shall I share my life with another or live alone?
Generativity Versus Self-Absorption
Seventh stage of Erikson’s Stage Theory (middle adulthood); Will I produce something of real value?
Integrity Versus Despair
Eighth stage of Erikson’s Stage Theory (late adulthood); Have I lived a full life?
Cognitive Development
Theory developed by Jean Piaget. Transitions in youngsters’ patterns of thinking, including reasoning, remembering, and problem solving.
Piaget’s Stage Theory
Jean Piaget proposed that youngsters progress through four major stages of cognitive development.
The Sensorimotor Period
Stage 1 of Piaget’s Stage Theory (birth to age 2); infants are developing the ability to coordinate their sensory input with their motor actions.
Assimilation
Interpreting new experiences in terms of existing mental structures without changing them.
Accommodation
Changing existing mental structures to explain new experiences.
Object Permanence
Develops when a child recognizes that objects continue to exist even when they are no longer visible.
Preoperational Period
Stage 2 of Erikson’s Stage Theory (age 2-7); children improve their use of mental images.
Conservation
Awareness that physical quantities remain constant in spite of changes in their shape or appearance.
Centration
Tendency to focus on just one feature of a problem, neglecting other important aspects.
Irreversibility
Inability to envision reversing an action.
Egocentrism
Limited ability to share another person’s viewpoint.
Animism
Belief that all things are living.
Concrete Operational Period
Stage 3 of Erikson’s Stage Theory (age 7 to 11); Children master reversibility and decentration.
Reversibility
Permits a child to mentally undo an action.
Decentration
Allows the child to focus on more than one feature of a problem simultaneously.
Formal Operational Period
Stage 4 of Erikson’s Stage Theory (begins around 11); Youngsters graduate to relatively adult modes of thinking.
Lev Vygotsky
Russian psychologist; developed the sociocultural theory-asserts that culture exerts great influence over how cognitive growth unfolds.
Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)
Gap between what a learner can accomplish on their own and what they can achieve with guidance from skilled partners.
Habituation
Gradual reduction in the strength of a response when a stimulus of a habituated response.
Dishabituation
Occurs if a new stimulus elicits an increase in the strength of a habituated response.
Kohlberg
Most influential stage theory, which focuses on moral reasoning rather than overt behavior.
Menarche
First occurrence of menstruation.
Spermarche
First occurrence of ejaculation; usually age 13-14.
James Marcia
Proposed that the presence or absence of a sense of commitment and a sense of crisis can combine to produce four different identity statuses.
Cognitive Domain
Aging takes its toll on speed first.
Sex
Refers to the biologically based categories of female and male.
Gender
Refers to culturally constructed distinctions between femininity and masculinity.
False Dichotomy
Creates an either-or-choice between the position one wants to advocate and some horrible outcomes to avoid, while ignoring other possible outcomes in between.
