Unit 4 Vocabulary Flashcards
The fertilized egg; it enters into a two week period of rapid cell division and develops into an embryo.
Zygote
A branch of psychology that studies physical cognitive and social change throughout the lifespan
Developmental psychology
The developing human organism from about two weeks after fertilization through the second month
Embryo
The developing human organism from nine weeks after conception to birth
Fetus
Agents such as chemicals and viruses that can reach the embryo or fetus during prenatal development and cause harm
Teratogens
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
Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS)
Decreasing responsiveness with repeated stimulation as infants gain familiarity with repeated exposure to a visual stimulus their interest wanes and they look away sooner
Habituation
Biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in behavior relatively uninfluenced by experience.
Maturation
All the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating
Cognition
A concept or framework that organizes and interprets information
Schema
Interpreting our new experiences in terms of our existing schemas
Assimilation
In developmental psychology, adapting our current understandings (schemas) to incorporate new information
Accommodation
The stage from birth to about two years of age during which infants know the world mostly in terms of their sensory impressions and motor activities
Sensorimotor stage
The awareness that things continue to exist even when not perceived
Object permanence
The stage from about two to about six or seven years of age during which a child learns to use language but does not yet comprehend the mental operations of concrete logic
Preoperational stage
The principle that properties such as mass, volume, and number remain the same despite changes in the forms of objects.
Conservation
The preoperational child’s difficulty of taking another’s point of view
Egocentrism
People’s ideas about their own and others’ mental states about their feelings,perceptions, and thoughts and behaviors these might predict
Theory of mind
A disorder that appears in childhood and is marked by significant deficiencies in communication and social interaction and by rigidly fixated interests and repetitive behaviors
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD)
The stage of cognitive development from about 6 or 7 to 11 years of age during which children gain the mental operations that enable them to think logically about concrete events
Concrete operational stage
The stage of cognitive development normally beginning about age 12 during which people begin to think logically about abstract concepts
Formal operational stage
The fear of strangers that infants commonly display, beginning by about eight months of age
Stranger anxiety
An emotional tie with another person; shows in young children by their seeking closeness to the caregiver and showing distress on separation
Attachment
An optimal period early in the life of an organism when exposure to certain stimuli or experiences produces normal development
Critical period
The process by which certain animals form strong attachment during an early life critical period
Imprinting
A persons characteristic emotional reactivity and intensity
Temperament
A sense that the world is predictable and trustworthy; said to be formed during infancy by appropriate experiences with responsive caregivers
Basic trust
All our thoughts and feelings about ourselves in answer to the question “who am I?”
Self concept
The socially constructed roles and characteristics by which a culture defines male and female
Gender
Any physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt or destroy
Aggression
A set of expected behaviors for males or females
Gender role
A set of expectations(norms) about a social position defining how those in the position ought to behave
Role
Our sense of being male or female
Gender identity
The theory that we learn social behavior by observing and imitating and by being rewarded or punished
Social learning theory
The acquisition of a traditional masculine or feminine role
Gender typing
An umbrella term describing people whose gender identity or expressions differs from that associated with their birth sex
Transgender
The transition period from childhood to adulthood, extending from puberty to independence
Adolescence
Our sense of self; according to Erikson the adolescent’s task is to solidify a sense of self by testing and integrating various roles
Identity
The “we” aspect of our self-concept; the part of our answer to “who am I?” that comes from our group memberships
Social identity
The ability to form close loving relationships; a primary developmental task in late adolescence and early adulthood
Intimacy
For some people in modern cultures a period from the late teens to mid 20s, bridges the gap between adolescent dependence and full independent and responsible adulthood
Emerging adulthood
The sex chromosome found in both men and women females have 2 of these and males have one. One of these from each parent produces a female child
X chromosome
The sex chromosome found only in ; when paired with an X chromosome from the mother it produces a male child
Y chromosome
The most important of the male sex hormones; both males and females have it but the additional amount of this in males stimulates the growth of the male sex organs in the fetus and the development of the male sex characteristics during puberty
Testosterone
The period of sexual maturation during which a person becomes capable of reproducing
Puberty
The body structures (ovaries, testes,and externals genitalia) that make sexual reproduction possible
Primary sex characteristics
Non-reproductive sexual traits such as female breasts and hips, male voice quality, and body hair
Secondary sex characteristics
The first menstrual period
Menarche
A life-threatening sexually-transmitted infection caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) this depletes the immune system, leaving the person vulnerable to infections
AIDS (acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome)
And enduring sexual attraction toward members of either one’s own sex, the other sex,or both sexes
Sexual orientation
The time of natural cessation of menstruation; also refers to the biological changes a woman experiences as her ability to reproduce declines
Menopause
A study in which people of different ages are compared with one another
Cross-sectional study
Research in which the same people are restudied and retested over a long period
Longitudinal study
The culturally preferred timing of social events such as marriage, parenthood, and retirement
Social clock
Studied children’s cognitive development all the mental activities associated with thinking knowing remembering and communicating
Jean Piaget
Studied how children think and learn. emphasized how a child’s mind grows through interaction with the social environment
Lev Vygotsky
Explored the rigid attachment process called imprinting
Konrad Lorenz
An American psychologist who provided a new understanding of human nature and development through studies of social behavior of monkeys
Harry Harlow
An American psychologist who low-bred monkeys for their learning studies
Margaret Harlow
Designed the strange situation experiment; she observed mother-infant pairs at home during the first six months
Mary Ainsworth
Psychologist who developed the theory that there are four main types of parenting styles that accounted for the way children function socially emotionally and cognitively
Diana Baumrind
Believed females tend to differ from males both in being less concerned with viewing themselves separate individuals and being more concerned with “making connections”
Carol Gilligan
Believed that humans are active information processors and think about the relationship between there behavior and its consequences
Albert Bandura
Sought to describe the development of moral reasoning, the thinking that occurs as we consider right and wrong
Lawrence Kohlberg
A theorist who contended that each stage of life has its own psychological task, a crisis that needs resolution
Erik Erikson
Founder of psychoanalysis;a new approach to understanding human personality
Sigmund Freud
