Unit Eight: Developmental Psychology Flashcards
Developmental psychology
a branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive, and social change throughout the life span
Zygotes
the fertilized egg; it enters a 2-week period of rapid cell division and develops into an embryo
conception to 2 weeks
Embryo
the developing human organism from about 2 weeks after fertilization through the second month
2 to 9 weeks
Fetus
the developing human organism from 9 weeks after conception to birth
Teratogens
(literally, “monster makers”) agents, such as chemicals and viruses, that can reach the embryo or fetus during prenatal development and cause harm
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS)
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
Habituation
decreasing responsiveness with repeated stimulation. As infants gain familiarity with repeated exposure to a visual stimulus, their interest wanes and they look away sooner
Piaget
cognitive development, four stages, focused on growth through physical stages
Kohlburg
moral development, stages of moral thinking
Erikson
psychosocial deveopment, each stage has its own psychosocial task
Rooting reflex
when something touches the cheek of a baby, they turn toward that touch, open their mouth, and vigorously root for a nipple
Maturation
biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in behavior, relatively uninfluenced by experience
Schema
a concept or framework that organizes and interprets information
Sensorimotor stage
in Piaget’s theory, the 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 (sensorimotor)
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 does not yet comprehend the mental operations of concrete logic
Conservation
the principle (concrete operational reasoning) that properties such as mass, volume, and number remain the same despite changes in the forms of objects
Egocentric
difficulty perceiving things from another’s point of view, they think that others see what others see (TV and picture) (preoperational)
Curse of knowledge
teens and adults often overestimate the extent to which others share our opinions and perspectives, everybody should be able to see my way
Theory of mind
people’s ideas about their own and others’ mental states—about their feelings, perceptions, and thoughts, and the behaviors these might predict, little kids assume everybody has the same knowledge they do
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD)
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
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 (conservation and math)
Formal operational stage
in Piaget’s theory, the stage of cognitive development (from about 11 onward) during which children gain the ability to reason abstractly and think hypothetically
Lev Vygotsky
studied how children thought and learned, focused on growth through the social enviorment