Unit 6 Vocab

Question 1

A branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive, and social change throughout the life span.

Answer 1

Developmental psychology

Question 2

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

Answer 2

Zygote

Question 3

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

Answer 3

Embryo

Question 4

The developing human organism from 9 weeks after conception to birth

Answer 4

Fetus

Question 5

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

Answer 5

Teratogens

Question 6

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

Answer 6

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

Question 7

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

Answer 7

Habituation

Question 8

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

Answer 8

Maturation

Question 9

All mental activities are associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating.

Answer 9

Cognition

Question 10

A concepts or framework that organized and interprets information.

Answer 10

Schema

Question 11

Interpreting our new experiences in terms of our existing schemas

Answer 11

Assimilation

Question 12

Adapting our current understanding to incorporate new information

Answer 12

Accommodation

Question 13

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

Answer 13

Sensorimotor Stage

Question 14

The awareness that things continue to exist even when not perceived

Answer 14

Object Permanence

Question 15

In Piaget’s theory, the stage (from 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

Answer 15

Preoperational Stage

Question 16

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

Answer 16

Conservation

Question 17

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

Answer 17

Egocentricism

Question 18

People’s ideas about their own and other’s mental states - bout their feelings, perceptions, and thoughts, and the behaviors these might predict

Answer 18

Theory of Mind

Question 19

A disorder that appears in childhood and is marked by a significant deficiency in communication and social interaction, and by rigidly fixated interests and repetitive behaviors.

Answer 19

Autism Spectrum Disorder

Question 20

In Piaget’s theory, the stage of cognitive development (from about 6 or 7 to 11 years of age) is during which children gain the mental operations that enable them to think logically about concrete events.

Answer 20

Concrete Operational Stage

Question 21

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

Answer 21

Formal Operational Stage

Question 22

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

Answer 22

Stranger Anxiety

Question 23

An emotional tie with another person; shown in young children by their seeking closeness to the caregiver and showing distress on separation.

Answer 23

Attachment

Question 24

An optimal period early in the life of an organism when exposed to certain stimuli or experiences produces normal development.

Answer 24

Critical Period

Question 25

The process by which certain animals form strong attachments during an early-life critical period.

Answer 25

Imprinting

Question 26

A person’s characteristic emotional reactivity and intensity

Answer 26

Temperament

Question 27

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.

Answer 27

Basic Trust

Question 28

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

Answer 28

Self-Concept

Question 29

The socially constructed roles and characteristics by which a culture defines male and female.

Answer 29

Gender

Question 30

Physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt or destroy.

Answer 30

Aggression

Question 31

A set of unexpected behaviors for males or for females.

Answer 31

Gender Role

Question 32

A set of expectations (norms) about a social position, defining how those in the position ought to behave.

Answer 32

Role

Question 33

Our sense of being male or female.

Answer 33

Gender Identity

Question 34

The theory that we learn social behavior by observing and imitating and by being rewarded or punished

Answer 34

Social Learning Theory

Question 35

The acquisition of a traditional masculine or feminine role.

Answer 35

Gender Typing

Question 36

An umbrella term describing people whose gender identity or expression differs from that associated with their birth sex

Answer 36

Transgender

Question 37

The transition period from childhood to adulthood, extends from puberty to independence.

Answer 37

Adolescence

Question 38

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

Answer 38

Indentity

Question 39

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

Answer 39

Social Identity

Question 40

In Erikson’s theory, the ability to form close, loving relationships; a primary developmental task in late adolescence and early adulthood.

Answer 40

Intimacy

Question 41

For some people in modern cultures, a period from the late teens to mid-twenties, bridging the gap between adolescent dependence and full independence and responsible adulthood.

Answer 41

Emerging adulthood

Question 42

The sex chromosome is found in both men and women. Females have two; males have one.

Answer 42

X chromosome

Question 43

The sex chromosome found only in males. When paired with an - chromosome from the mother, it produces a male child.

Answer 43

Y chromosome

Question 44

The most important of the male sex hormones. Both males and females have it, but additional hormones stimulate the growth of the male sex organs in the fetus and the development of the male sex characteristics during puberty.

Answer 44

Testosterone

Question 45

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

Answer 45

Puberty

Question 46

The body structures that make sexual reproduction possible.

Answer 46

Primary sex characteristics

Question 47

The first menstrual period

Answer 47

Menarche

Question 48

A life threatening, sexually transmitted infection caused by the HIV. Depletes immune system, leaving a person vulnerable to infections.

Answer 48

AIDS

Question 49

An enduring sexual attraction towards members of either one’s own sex, the other, or multiple.

Answer 49

Sexual Orientation

Question 50

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

Answer 50

Menopause

Question 51

A study in which people of different ages are compared with one another.

Answer 51

Cross-sectional study

Question 52

Research in which the same people are restudied and retested over a long period.

Answer 52

Longitudinal Study

Question 53

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

Answer 53

Social Clock