CHAPTER 3 DEFINITIONS PSYC 1F90

Developmental psychology

The study of the normal changes in behavior that occur across the lifespan.

Heredity ("nature")

The transmission of physical and psychological characteristics from parents to offspring through genes.

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)

A molecular structure that contains coded genetic information.

Chromosomes

Rodlike structures in the cell nucleus that house an individual's genes.

Genes

Areas on a strand of DNA that carry hereditary information.

Genetic disorders

Problems caused by defects in the genes or by inherited characteristics.

Dominant gene

A gene whose influence will be expressed each time that the gene is present.

Recessive gene

A gene whose influence will be expressed only when it is paired with a second recessive gene of the same type.

Polygenic characteristics

Personal traits or physical properties that are influenced by many genes working in combination.

Environment ("nurture")

The sum of all external conditions affecting development, including especially the effects of learning.

Teratogen

A harmful substance that can cause birth defects.

Congenital problems

Defects that originate during prenatal development in the womb.

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD)

A collection of conditions occurring in children whose mothers consumed alcohol during pregnancy.

Sensitive period

During development, a period of increased sensitivity to environmental influences.

Deprivation

In development, the loss or withholding of normal stimulation, nutrition, comfort, love, and so forth; a condition of absence.

Enrichment

In development, deliberately making an environment more stimulating, nutritional, comforting, loving, and so forth.

Epigenetics

The study of changes in organisms that are caused by modifications to gene expression rather than alteration of the genetic code itself.

Maturation

The physical growth and development of the body, brain, and nervous system.

Puberty

Biologically defined period during which a person matures sexually and becomes capable of reproduction.

Adolescence

The culturally defined period between childhood and adulthood.

Socioemotional development

Area of psychology concerned with changes in emotions and social relationships.

Social smile

Smiling elicited by a social stimulus, such as seeing a parent's face.

Psychosocial dilemma

A conflict between personal impulses and the social world.

Affection needs

Emotional needs for care, love, and positive relationships with others.

Surrogate mother

A substitute mother (in animal research, often an inanimate object or a dummy).

Contact comfort

A pleasant and reassuring feeling that human and animal infants get from touching or clinging to something soft and warm, usually their mothers.

Separation anxiety

Distress displayed by infants when they are separated from their parents or principal caregivers.

Temperament

General pattern of attention, arousal, and mood that is evident from birth.

Attachment

Emotional bonding between an infant and its caregivers that results from infants' feelings of security with the caregiver in times of stress or uncertainty.

Secure attachment

A stable and positive emotional bond.

Insecure-avoidant attachment

An anxious emotional bond marked by a tendency to avoid reunion with a parent or caregiver.

Insecure-ambivalent attachment

An anxious emotional bond marked by both a desire to be with a parent or caregiver and some resistance to being reunited.

Parental styles

Identifiable patterns of parental caretaking and interaction with children.

Authoritarian parents

Parents who enforce rigid rules and demand strict obedience to authority.

Power assertion

The use of physical punishment or coercion to enforce child discipline.

Withdrawal of love

Withholding affection to enforce child discipline.

Self-esteem

Regarding oneself as a worthwhile person; a positive evaluation of oneself.

Permissive parents

Parents who give little guidance, allow too much freedom, or do not require the child to take responsibility.

Authoritative parents

Parents who supply firm and consistent guidance combined with love and affection.

Emerging adulthood

A socially accepted period of extended adolescence that is now quite common in Western and Westernized societies.

Biological predisposition

The presumed hereditary readiness of humans to learn certain skills, such as how to use language or a readiness to behave in particular ways.

Signals

In early language development, behaviors, such as touching, vocalizing, gazing, or smiling, that allow nonverbal interaction and turn-taking between parent and child.

Motherese (parentese)

A pattern of speech used when talking to infants, marked by a higher-pitched voice; short, simple sentences; repetition; slower speech; and exaggerated voice inflections.

Schema

A mental structure composed of an organized learned body of knowledge or skills about a particular topic, according to Piaget.

Assimilation

The application of an established schema to new objects or problems, according to Piaget.

Accommodation (learning)

Modification of an established schema to fit a new object or problem, according to Piaget.

Sensorimotor stage

Piaget's initial stage of development, when the infant's mental activity is only sensory perception and motor skills.

Object permanence

Recognizing that physical things continue to exist, even when they are no longer visible.

Preoperational stage

Piaget's second stage of cognitive development, characterized by the use of symbols and illogical thought.

Transformation (Piagetian)

The mental ability to change the shape or form of a substance (such as clay or water) and to perceive that its volume remains the same.

Egocentrism

The belief that everyone sees exactly what you see in the physical world, or that they think about the world in the same way that you do.

Theory of mind

The understanding that people have mental states, such as thoughts, beliefs, and intentions and that other people's mental states can be different from one's own.

Concrete operational stage

Piaget's third stage of cognitive development, characterized by logical thought.

Conservation

Piaget's term for the awareness that physical quantities stay constant despite changes in shape or appearance.

Formal operational stage

Piaget's fourth stage of cognitive development, characterized by the ability to engage in thinking that includes abstract, theoretical, and hypothetical ideas.

Zone of proximal development

A term referring to the range of tasks that a child cannot yet master alone, but that she or he can accomplish with the guidance of a more capable partner.

Scaffolding

The process of adjusting instruction so that it is responsive to a beginner's behavior and supports the beginner's efforts to understand a problem or gain a mental skill.

Moral development

The development of values that, along with appropriate emotions and cognitions, guide responsible behavior.

Preconventional moral reasoning

Moral thinking based on the consequences of one's choices or actions (punishment, reward, or an exchange of favors).

Conventional moral reasoning

Moral thinking based on a desire to please others or to follow accepted rules and values.

Postconventional moral reasoning

Moral thinking based on carefully examined and self-chosen moral principles.