Psychology - Development

Developmental Psychology

The study of continuity and change across the life span

Germinal Stage

The period from conception to 2 weeks after when the zygote implants itself on the uterus wall

Embryonic Stage

A period that starts at the 2nd week after conception to the 8th week where the zygote becomes an embryo and its cells differentiate into some limbs and organs

Fetal Stage

A period that lasts from about the 9th week after conception until birth where the embryo becomes a fetus and gains skeleton and muscles as well as axons and dendrites in the brain cells

Zygote

A fertilized egg

Teratogen

Any substance that passes from mother to unborn child and impairs development

Motor Development

The emergence of the ability to execute physical actions

Primary Sex Characteristic

Bodily structures that change at puberty and are directly involved in reproduction

Secondary Sex Characteristic

Bodily structures that change at puberty but are not directly involved in reproduction

Cognitive Development

The process by which infants and children gain the ability to think and understand

Schema

Theories about the way the world works

Assimiliation

The process of applying a schema to novel stimuli

Accomodation

The process of adjusting a schema to incorporate new information

Sensorimotor Stage

A stage of cognitive development that begins at birth and lasts through infancy where babies use their abilities to sense and move to acquire new information about the world

Preoperational Stage

The stage of cognitive development that begins at about 2 years and ends at about 6 years, during which children develop a preliminary understanding of the physical world

Conservation

The understanding that many of the physical properties of an object are conserved by changes in the object’s appearance

Egocentrism

The failure to understand that the world appears different to different people

Theory of Mind

The understanding that the mind produces representations of the world and that these representations guide behavior

Concrete Operational Stage

The stage of cognitive development that begins at about 6 years and ends at about 11 years, during which children learn how actions, or operations, can transform the concrete objects of the physical world

Formal Operational Stage

The final stage of cognitive development that begins around the age of 11, during which children learn to reason about abstract concepts

Secure Attachment

When an infant may or may not be distressed when a caregiver leaves the room, but responds positively when the caregiver returns

Ambivalent Attachment

When an infant is distressed when a caregiver leaves the room, but when the caregiver returns the infant responds negatively to the caregiver

Avoidant Attachment

When an infant is not distressed when a caregiver leaves the room, and ignores the caregiver when they return

Disorganized Attachment

When an infant shows no consistent pattern of response to the caregiver’s absence or return

Preconventional Stage

A stage of moral development mostly seen in children, in which the morality of an action is primarily determined by its consequences for the actor

Conventional Stage

A stage of moral development mostly seen in adolescents, in which the morality of an action is primarily determined by the extent to which it conforms to social rules

Postconventional Stage

A stage of moral development mostly seen in adults, in which the morality of an action is determined by a set of general principles that reflect core value

Cephalocaudal Principle

The tendency for motor skills to emerge in sequence from the head to the feet

Proximodistal Principle

The tendency for motor skills to emerge in sequence from the center to the periphery