Piagets Stages' of development

Animism

belief that all things are living, just like oneself.

Attachment

the close emotional bonds of affection that develop between infants and their caregivers.

Centration

tendency to focus on just one feature of a problem and neglect other important aspects.

Cognitive development

transitions in youngsters’ patterns of thinking, including reasoning, remembering, and problem solving.

Conservation

Piaget’s term for the awareness that physical quantities remain constant.

Dementia

an abnormal deterioration of memory and other cognitive functions that interferes with activities of daily living.

Development

the sequence of age-related changes that occur as a person progresses from conception to death.

Developmental norms

typical (median) age at which individuals display various behaviors and abilities.

Egocentrism

thinking characterized by a limited ability to share another person’s viewpoint.

Embryonic stage

second stage of prenatal development, lasting from two weeks until the end of the second month.

Fast mapping

the process by which children map a word onto an underlying concept after only one exposure.

Fetal alcohol syndrome

collection of congenital (inborn) problems associated with excessive alcohol use by the mother during pregnancy.

Fetal stage

the third stage of prenatal development lasting from two months through birth.

Gender differences

disparities between males and females in typical behavior or average ability.

Gender roles

expectations about what constitutes appropriate behavior for each gender.

Germinal stage

first phase of prenatal development, encompassing the first two weeks after conception.

Irreversibility

the inability to envision reversing an action.

Maturation

development that reflects the gradual unfolding of one’s genetic blueprint.

Menarche

first occurrence of menstruation, which reflects the culmination of a series of hormonal changes.

Motor development

the progression of muscular coordination required for physical activities.

Object permanence

when a child recognizes that objects continue to exist even when they are no longer visible.

Overextension

when a child incorrectly uses a word to describe a wider set of objects or actions than intended.

Overregularizations

when grammatical rules are incorrectly generalized to irregular cases where they do not apply.

Placenta

structure that allows oxygen and nutrients to pass into the fetus from the mother’s bloodstream; bodily wastes are passed through the placenta to the mother.

Prenatal period

time from conception to birth, usually encompassing nine months of pregnancy.

Puberty

stage during which sexual functions reach maturity, which marks the beginning of adolescence.

Secondary sex characteristics

physical features that distinguish one sex from the other but are not essential for reproduction such as facial hair and broader shoulders in males and breast growth and wider hips in females.

Separation anxiety

emotional distress seen in many infants when they are separated from people with whom they have formed an attachment.

Spermarche

the first occurrence of male ejaculation; occurs around 13-14 years of age.

Stage

developmental period during which characteristic patterns of behavior are exhibited and certain capacities become established.

Telegraphic speech

speech that consists mainly of content words; articles, prepositions, and other less critical words are omitted.

Underextensions

when a child incorrectly uses a word to describe a narrower set of objects or actions than it is meant to.