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Developmental Psychology
The study of how people grow and change throughout their lives.
Zygote
The cell formed when a sperm and egg combine during fertilization.
Embryo
The early stage of development in a fertilized egg, from about 2 weeks to 2 months.
Fetus
The later stage of development from 9 weeks after fertilization until birth.
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS)
A condition in babies caused by a mother drinking alcohol during pregnancy, leading to developmental problems.
Rooting Reflex
A baby's automatic response to turn its head and suck when its cheek is touched.
Habituation
When a baby gets used to a stimulus and stops reacting to it after a while.
Maturation
The process of growing and developing naturally, often in stages.
Schema
A mental structure or framework to understand the world.
Assimilation
Adding new information into an existing schema.
Accommodation
Changing an existing schema to fit new information.
Cognition
Mental processes involved in gaining knowledge, such as thinking, understanding, and learning.
Sensorimotor Stage
The first stage of cognitive development where infants learn about the world through their senses and actions.
Object Permanence
The understanding that objects continue to exist even when they can’t be seen, heard, or touched.
Preoperational Stage
The stage of cognitive development where children begin to use language and think symbolically, but lack logical thinking.
Conservation
The understanding that quantity doesn't change even when the appearance of something does.
Infantile Amnesia
The inability to remember events from early childhood.
Authoritative
A parenting style that is warm but also sets clear rules and expectations.
Authoritarian
A parenting style that is strict, with little warmth and control over children’s behavior.
Permissive
A parenting style that is indulgent and lenient, with few rules or restrictions.
Egocentrism
The inability of young children to understand that other people have different perspectives or thoughts.
Autism
A developmental disorder affecting social interaction and communication.
Concrete Operational Stage
The stage of cognitive development where children gain logical thinking and can perform mental operations on concrete objects.
Formal Operational Stage
The stage of cognitive development where individuals can think abstractly and solve complex problems.
Stranger Anxiety
The fear or anxiety a baby feels when encountering unfamiliar people.
Attachment
The emotional bond that forms between a child and caregiver.
Critical Period
A specific time in development when certain skills or abilities are most easily learned.
Teratogens
Harmful substances or agents that can cause birth defects when a mother is exposed to them during pregnancy.
Imprinting
A process where certain animals form attachments to the first moving object they see, usually their mother.
Adolescence
The period of life between childhood and adulthood, marked by physical and emotional changes.
Puberty
The stage of development when a child’s body becomes capable of reproduction.
Primary Sex Characteristics
The physical features directly involved in reproduction, such as the ovaries or testes.
Secondary Sex Characteristics
Physical traits that appear during puberty but are not directly involved in reproduction.
Identity
The understanding of who you are, including your values, beliefs, and roles in life.
Social Referencing
Looking to others’ reactions to help determine how to respond in an unfamiliar situation.
Moral Development
The process by which people learn to distinguish right from wrong.
Strange Situation
A research procedure used to study attachment by observing how infants react when separated and reunited with their caregiver.
