Unit 9: Developmental Psychology Flashcards
Schema
A concept or framework that organizes and interprets information
Cognition
All the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating
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, the stage (from birth to about 2 years of age) during which infants know the world most 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, the stage (from about 2 to about 6 or 7 years of age) during which a child learns to use language but foes 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 remain 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
Concrete operational stage
In Piaget’s theory, 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
Formal operational stage
In Piaget’s theory, the stage of cognitive development (normal beginning about age 12) during which people begin to think logically about abstract concepts
Stranger anxiety
The fear of strangers that 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 distress on separation
Critical period
An optimal period early in the life of an organism when exposure to certain stimuli or experiences produces normal development
Imprinting
The process by which certain animals form strong attachments during an early-life critical period
Temperament
A person’s characteristic emotional reactivity and intensity
Adolescence
The transition period from childhood to adulthood, extending from puberty to independence
Identity
Our sense of self; according to Erikson, the adolescent’s 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 Erikson’s theory, the ability to form close, loving relationships; a primary developmental task in late adolescence and early adulthood
Emerging adulthood
For some people in modern cultures, a period from the late teens to mid-twenties, bridging the gal between adolescent dependence and full independence and responsible adulthood
Puberty
The period of sexual maturation, during which a person becomes capable of reproducing
Fetus
The developing human organism from 9 weeks after conception to brith
Embryo
The developing human organism from about 2 weeks after fertilization through the second month
Longitudinal study
Research in which the same people are restudied and retested over a long period
Cross-sectional study
A study in which people of different ages are compared with one another
Developmental psychology
A branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive, and social change throughout the life span
Gender identity
Our sense of being male or female
Maturation
Biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in behavior, relatively uninfluenced by experience
Zygote
The fertilized egg; it enters a 2-week period of rapid cell division and develops into an embryo
Fetal alcohol syndrome
Physical and cognitive abnormalities in children caused by a pregnant woman’s heavy drinking. In severe cases, signs include a small, our-of-proportion head and abnormal facial features
Menarche
The first menstrual period
Menopause
The time of natural cessation of menstruation; also refers to the biological changes a woman experiences as her ability to reproduce declines
Gender
The socially constructed roles and characteristics by which a culture defines male and female
Teratogens
Agents, such as chemicals and viruses, that can reach the embryo or fetus during prenatal development and cause harm
