Developmental Psychology & Child Attachment: Key Concepts and Theories

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.

Lifespan

The precise length of an individual's life.

Continuous Stages of Development

Ways in which development occurs in a gradual incremental manner, rather than through sudden jumps.

Discontinuous Stages of Development

A theory that development occurs in distinct stages that cannot be skipped.

Teratogens

(Literally, 'monster makers') agents, such as chemicals and viruses, that can reach the embryo or fetus during prenatal development and cause harm.

Overgeneralization

A cognitive distortion in which an individual views a single event as an invariable rule.

Phoneme

In linguistics, a speech sound that plays a meaningful role in a language and cannot be analyzed into smaller meaningful sounds.

Syntax

The set of rules for combining words into grammatically sensible sentences.

Semantics

The set of rules for deriving meaning from sounds.

Grammar

In a language, a system of rules that enables us to communicate with and understand others.

Babbling Stage

Beginning at about 4 months, the stage of speech development in which the infant spontaneously utters various sounds at first unrelated to the household language.

One-word Stage

The stage in speech development, from about age 1 to 2, during which a child speaks mostly in single words.

Cooing (Stage)

Vowel-like sounds produced by young infants when they are seemingly happy and content.

Telegraphic Speech (Stage)

Early speech stage in which a child speaks like a telegram—'go car'—using mostly nouns and verbs.

Visual Cliff

A laboratory device for testing depth perception in infants and young animals.

Rooting Reflex

An automatic, unlearned response of a newborn to a gentle stimulus applied to the corner of the mouth or to the cheek.

Gross Motor (Skills)

Describing activities or skills that use large muscles to move the trunk or limbs and control posture to maintain balance.

Critical (sensitive) period

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

Pubescent (Adolescent) Growth Spurt

The rapid development of bone and muscle in response to increased secretion of growth hormone at puberty.

Puberty

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

Menopause

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

Primary Sex Characteristics

Directly involved in reproduction of the species.

Secondary Sex Characteristics

Nonreproductive sexual traits, such as female breasts and hips, male voice quality, and body hair.

Menarche

The first menstrual period.

Spermarche

A male's first ejaculation of semen.

Reversibility

In Piagetian theory, a mental operation that reverses a sequence of events or restores a changed state of affairs to the original condition.

Sensorimotor Stage

In Piaget's theory, the stage 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.

Conservation

The principle that properties such as mass, volume, and number remain the same despite changes in the forms of objects.

Preoperational stage

In Piaget's theory, the stage during which a child learns to use language but does not yet comprehend the mental operations of concrete logic.

Egocentrism

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

Animism

The belief that natural phenomena or inanimate objects are alive or possess lifelike characteristics.

Concrete Operational stage

In Piaget's theory, the stage of cognitive development during which children gain the mental operations that enable them to think logically about concrete events.

Developmental Psychology

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

Scaffolding

A teaching style that supports and facilitates the student as they learn a new skill or concept.

Zone of Proximal Development

The difference between a child's actual level of ability and the level of ability that they can achieve when assisted by older or more experienced partners.

Dementia

A generalized, pervasive deterioration of memory and at least one other cognitive function.

Ecological Systems Theory

An evolving body of theory and research concerned with the processes and conditions that govern the course of human development.

Mesosystem

In ecological systems theory, the groups and institutions outside the home (e.g., day care, school, a child's peer group) that influence the child's development and interact with aspects of the microsystem (e.g., relations in the home).

Exosystem

In ecological systems theory, those societal structures that function largely independently of the individual but nevertheless affect the immediate context within which they develop. They include the government, the legal system, and the media.

Macrosystem

In ecological systems theory, the level of environmental influence that is most distant to the developing individual and that affects all other systems. It includes the values, traditions, and sociocultural characteristics of the larger society.

Chronosystem

In ecological systems theory, changes and continuities occurring over time that influence an individual's development. These influences include normative life transitions (e.g., school entry, marriage, retirement), nonnormative life transitions (e.g., divorce, winning the lottery, relocation), and the cumulative effects of the entire sequence of transitions over the life course.

Authoritarian Parenting Style

The parent or caregiver stresses obedience, deemphasizes collaboration and dialogue, and employs strong forms of punishment.

Authoritative Parenting Style

In which the parent or caregiver encourages a child's autonomy yet still places certain limitations on behavior.

Permissive Parenting Style

In which the parent or caregiver is accepting and affirmative, makes few demands, and avoids exercising control.

Attachment Theory

A theory of an evolutionarily advantageous need to form close emotional bonds with significant others: specifically, a need for the young to maintain close proximity to and form bonds with their caregivers; and (b) characterizes the different types of relationships between human infants and caregivers, which affects the individual's later emotional development and emotional stability.

Secure Attachment

The positive parent-child relationship, in which the child displays confidence when the parent is present, shows mild distress when the parent leaves, and quickly reestablishes contact when the parent returns.

Insecure Attachment

One of several patterns of a generally negative parent-child relationship in which the child fails to display confidence when the parent is present, sometimes shows distress when the parent leaves, and reacts to the returning parent by avoidance or with ambivalence.

Avoidant (Insecure) Attachment

A form of insecure attachment in which infants do not seek proximity to their parent after separation. Instead, the infant does not appear distressed by the separation and avoids the returning parent.

Anxious-Avoidant (Insecure) Attachment

A form of insecure attachment in which an infant explores only minimally and tends to avoid or be indifferent to the parent.

Anxious-Resistant (Insecure) Attachment

A form of insecure attachment in which an infant appears anxious in the parent's presence, distressed in the parent's absence, and angry upon the parent's return, often resisting contact with them.

Disorganized (Insecure) Attachment

Form of insecure attachment in which infants show no coherent or consistent behavior during separation from and reunion with their parents.

Separation Anxiety

Normal apprehension experienced by a young child when away (or facing the prospect of being away) from the person or people to whom they are attached (particularly parents). Most active between 6 and 10 months of age.

Social (Parallel) Play

The lowest level of this system is solitary play, in which a preschool-age child is near others but focused on their own activity; it progresses to parallel play, in which a child is next to others and using similar objects but still engaged in their own activity.

Fantasy (Pretend) Play

Pretend or make-believe play that includes an as-if orientation to actions, objects, and peers. It often involves playing a distinct role, such as mother, teacher, or doctor.

Formal Operational stage

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

Imaginary Audience

The belief of an adolescent that others are constantly focusing attention on them, scrutinizing behaviors, appearance, etc.

Adolescent Egocentrism

The feeling of personal uniqueness often experienced in adolescence; that is, the conviction that one is special and is or should be the constant focus of others' attention.

Personal Fable

A belief in one's uniqueness and invulnerability, which is an expression of adolescent egocentrism and may extend further into the lifespan.

Emerging Adulthood

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.

Social Clock

In a given culture, the set of norms governing the ages at which particular life events—such as beginning school, leaving home, getting married, having children, and retiring—are expected to occur.

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)

Traumatic events that happen between ages 1 and 17. These negative experiences affect a child's brain and health as they grow into adults. ACEs can lead to mental health or chronic health conditions.

Achievement (Identity Process)

Characterized by evidence of both identity exploration and commitment; this status is related to stable self-esteem and healthy psychological functioning.

Diffusion (Identity Process)

Characterized by the lack of both identity exploration and commitment.

Foreclosure (Identity Process)

Depicted by commitment to an identity that adults have set forth for an individual but by failure to explore different options before that commitment is made.

Moratorium (Identity Process)

Characterized by evidence of identity exploration but a lack of commitment.