Human Development and Educational Psychology Vocabulary

Vocabulary flashcards covering key definitions across lifespan human development, prenatal stages, teratology, educational learning principles, ecological systems, and cognitive and moral development theories.

Maturation

The biological unfolding of an individual according to a plan contained in the genes passed down from parents at conception.

Learning

The process through which experience brings about relatively permanent change in thoughts, feelings, or behavior.

Traditional Approach to Development

A developmental view assuming that children show extensive change from birth to adolescence, little or no change in adulthood, and decline in late old age.

Lifespan Approach

A developmental view associated with Paul Baltes asserting that developmental change takes place during adulthood as it does during childhood, making development lifelong.

Plasticity

The potential for change throughout the lifespan, emphasizing that development and learning are possible at any age.

Germinal Period

The initial 14-day stage of prenatal development from conception and fertilization to the implantation of the zygote in the uterus.

Mitosis

The process of cell division in which a zygote divides and multiplies from a single cell into multiple specialized cells.

Embryonic Period

The stage of prenatal development lasting from the third through the eighth week after conception, during which major body structures and organs form.

Placenta

A structure connected to the uterine wall that provides nourishment and oxygen from the mother to the developing embryo via the umbilical cord.

Cephalocaudal Development

Prenatal growth and physical development that progresses in a direction from head to tail.

Proximodistal Development

Prenatal growth and physical development that progresses from the midline of the body outward toward the extremities.

Fetal Period

The prenatal stage lasting from week 9 after conception until birth (weeks 9–40).

Viability

The first chance of survival outside the womb, reached at approximately 22 to 26 weeks of gestation.

Teratology

The scientific study of factors and environmental agents that contribute to birth defects.

Teratogen

Any environmental factor, disease, drug, chemical, or stressor that can cause birth defects during prenatal development.

Phocomelia

A congenital malformation caused by maternal exposure to thalidomide in which hands and feet are attached to abbreviated arms and legs.

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD)

A collective terminology describing the range of physical, neurocognitive, and behavioral effects resulting from prenatal alcohol exposure.

Scaffolding

In Lev Vygotsky's sociocultural theory, the process by which a more competent individual provides temporary support and guidance to a learner, gradually reducing assistance as the learner gains independence.

Assimilation

In Jean Piaget's cognitive theory, the process of incorporating new information into pre-existing mental structures or schemas.

Accommodation

In Jean Piaget's cognitive theory, the process of modifying existing mental schemas to adapt to new experiences and information.

Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)

The distance between a learner's current independent performance level and their potential development level when guided by a more knowledgeable peer or teacher.

Microsystem

In Urie Bronfenbrenner's ecological theory, the immediate settings and environments directly encountered by an individual.

Mesosystem

In Urie Bronfenbrenner's ecological theory, the connections and relationships between an individual's immediate settings or microsystems.

Exosystem

In Urie Bronfenbrenner's ecological theory, social settings that an individual does not experience directly but which nonetheless influence their development.

Macrosystem

In Urie Bronfenbrenner's ecological theory, the overarching cultural, subcultural, or societal context in which development takes place.

Chronosystem

In Urie Bronfenbrenner's ecological theory, the temporal dimension encompassing environmental changes and socio-historical events over time.

Heteronomous Morality

In Jean Piaget's moral development theory, the stage in which children view rules set by authority figures as sacred and unalterable.

Autonomous Morality

In Jean Piaget's moral development theory, the stage in which children realize that rules are arbitrary agreements created by people and can be changed with mutual consent.

Information Processing Theory

A psychological framework comparing the human mind to a computer to study how information is attended to, encoded, stored, and retrieved.

Sensory Memory

The initial stage of memory storage that retains a brief, unprocessed copy of incoming sensory information.

Short-Term Memory

A memory storage component that holds a small quantity of information temporarily for immediate cognitive use.

Long-Term Memory

The vast repository of information, knowledge, and experiences accessible over an extended period.