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Developmental psychology
a branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive, and social change throughout the life span
Longitudinal studies
research in which the same people are restudied and retested over a long period
Cross-sectional studies
a study in which people of different ages are compared with one another
Rooting
a reflex in which a newborn turns its head in response to a gentle stimulus on its cheek
Startle reflex
a series of movements in which an infant flings out the arms and fans the fingers in response to a sudden noise
Grasping reflex
an infant's clinging response to a touch on the palm of his or her hand
Habituation
decreasing responsiveness with repeated stimulation. As infants gain familiarity with repeated exposure to a visual stimulus, their interest wanes and they look away sooner.
Maturation (stage model)
A model of human development based on the idea that people go through predictable stages of development, but each person's rate of development is unique.
Critical periods
the optimal period when an baby's exposure to certain stimuli or experiences produces proper development
Fine motor development
smaller movements, such as reaching and grasping
Gross motor development
development of motor abilities including balance and posture as well as whole-body movements such as crawling
Visual cliff experiment
Infants as young as 6 months usually hesitate to crawl past the apparent edge of a visual cliff, which suggests that they are able to perceive depth.
Adolescence
the transition period from childhood to adulthood, extending from puberty to independence
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
Sensory abilities
as one ages, visual sharpness diminishes, and adaptation to changes in light level shows. Muscle strength, reaction time, and stamina also diminish noticeably, as do hearing, distance perception, and the sense of smell
Strength/stamina
Muscle strength, reaction time, and stamina diminish in late adulthood.
Cognitive abilities as you age
Decline: fluid intelligence, processing speed, memory
Stable/Improve: Semantic memory, vocabulary
Gender
the socially constructed roles and characteristics by which a culture defines male and female
Sex
the biological distinction between females and males
primary sex characteristics
the body structures that make sexual reproduction possible
secondary sex characteristics
nonreproductive sexual characteristics, such as female breasts and hips, male voice quality, and body hair
Spermarche
first occurrence of ejaculation
Menarche
the first occurrence of menstruation
Schema
a concept or framework that organizes and interprets information
Assimilation
interpreting our new experiences in terms of our existing schemas
Accommodation
adapting our current understandings (schemas) to incorporate new information
Object permanence
the awareness that things continue to exist even when not perceived
Pretend play
make-believe activities in which children create new symbolic relations, acting as if they were in a situation different from their actual one
Parallel play
action in which children play with similar toys, in a similar manner, but do not interact with each other
Conservation
the principle that properties such as mass, volume, and number remain the same despite changes in the forms of objects
Reversibility
principle that objects can be changed, but then returned back to their original form or condition
Egocentrism
the inability to see the world through anyone else's eyes
Animism
Belief that objects, such as plants and stones, or natural events, like thunderstorms and earthquakes, have a discrete spirit and conscious life.
Theory of mind
an awareness that other people's behavior may be influenced by beliefs, desires, and emotions that differ from one's own
Scaffolding
Adjusting the support offered during a teaching session to fit the child's current level of performance
zone of proximal development
In Vygotsky's theory, the range between children's present level of knowledge and their potential knowledge state if they recieve proper guidance and instruction
Imaginary audience
adolescents' belief that they are the focus of everyone else's attention and concern
Personal fable
type of thought common to adolescents in which young people believe themselves to be unique and protected from harm
Fluid intelligence
our ability to reason speedily and abstractly; tends to decrease during late adulthood
Crystallized intelligence
our accumulated knowledge and verbal skills; tends to increase with age
Universal grammar
Noam Chomsky's theory that all the world's languages share a similar underlying structure
Phoneme
the smallest distinctive sound unit
Morpheme
the smallest unit that carries meaning; may be a word or a part of a word (such as a prefix)
Semantics
the set of rules by which we derive meaning from morphemes, words, and sentences in a given language; also, the study of meaning
Babbling
stage of language development at about 4 months when an infant spontaneously utters nonsense sounds
One word stage
the stage in speech development, from about age 1 to 2, during which a child speaks mostly in single words
Telegraphic speech
early speech stage in which a child speaks like a telegram—"go car"—using mostly nouns and verbs.
Over-extension
applying a word to a wider collection of objects and events than is appropriate
Under-extension
defining a word too narrowly
Over-regularization
speech errors in which children treat irregular forms of words as if they were regular
Ecological systems theory
views the child as developing within a complex system of relationships affected by multiple levels of the surrounding environment
Microsystem
the people and objects in an individual's immediate environment
Mesosystem
connections between microsystems
Exosystem
social settings that a person may not experience firsthand but that still influence development
Macrosystem
consists of cultural values, laws, customs, and resources
Chronosystem
historical changes that influence the other systems
Attachment
the positive emotional bond that develops between a child and a particular individual
Separation anxiety
the distress displayed by infants when a customary care provider departs
Permissive indifferent
parents set few limits and give little attention or support
Permissive indulgent
permissive parenting in which parents are so involved that children are allowed to behave without set limits (spoiling)
Authoritarian
Parenting style in which parents are demanding and unresponsive toward their children's needs or wishes.
Authoritative
Parenting style in which parents set clear standards for their children's behavior but are also responsive to their children's needs and wishes.
Trust vs. Mistrust
0-1
Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt
1-3
Initiative vs. Guilt
3-5
Industry vs. Inferiority
5-12
Identity vs. Role Confusion
Adolescence (12-20)
Intimacy vs. Isolation
Young adult (20's-40's)
Generativity vs. Stagnation
Middle adulthood (40's-60's)
Integrity vs. Despair
60+
Identity
our sense of self
Social Identity
the "we" aspect of our self-concept; the part of our answer to "Who am I?" that comes from our group memberships
Possible selves
representations of what we could become, what we would like to become, and what we are afraid of becoming
Diffusion stage
No clear commitment to a particular identity
Foreclosure stage
a career is chosen without much thought - usually following parents expectations - and other options are closed off
Moratorium stage
Teens more actively seek a meaningful identity
Achievement stage
needing to learn and successfully use your abilities
Gender identity
one's sense of being male or female
Social learning theory
the theory that we learn social behavior by observing and imitating and by being rewarded or punished
Gender typing
The process of developing the behaviors, thoughts, and emotions associated with a particular gender.
Androgyny
displaying both traditional masculine and feminine characteristics
Learning
an enduring change in an organism's behavior due to experience
Habituation
an organism's decreasing response to a stimulus with repeated exposure to it
Adaption
Becoming used to an unchanging stimulus
Associative learning
learning that certain events occur together
Operant conditioning
a type of learning in which behavior is strengthened if followed by a reinforcer or diminished if followed by a punisher
Cognitive learning
the acquisition of mental info, whether by observing events, by watching others, or through language
Classical conditioning
a type of learning in which one learns to link two or more stimuli and anticipate events
neutral stimulus (NS)
in classical conditioning, a stimulus that elicits no response before conditioning
unconditioned stimulus (UCS)
in classical conditioning, a STIMULUS that unconditionally—naturally and automatically—triggers a response.
unconditioned response (UCR)
in classical conditioning, the unlearned, naturally occurring RESPONSE to the unconditioned stimulus (UCS), such as salivation when food is in the mouth.
conditioned stimulus (CS)
in classical conditioning, an originally irrelevant STIMULUS that, after association with an unconditioned stimulus (US), comes to trigger a conditioned response.
conditioned response (CR)
in classical conditioning, the learned RESPONSE to a previously neutral (but now conditioned) stimulus (CS)
Acquisition
In classical conditioning, the initial stage, when one links a neutral stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus so that the neutral stimulus begins triggering the conditioned response. In operant conditioning, the strengthening of a reinforced response.
Higher-order conditioning
the conditioned stimulus in one conditioning experience is paired with a new neutral stimulus, creating a second (often weaker) conditioned stimulus. For example, an animal that has learned that a tone predicts food might then learn that a light predicts the tone and begin responding to the light alone. (Also called second-order conditioning.)
Extinction
the diminishing of a conditioned response; occurs in classical conditioning when an unconditioned stimulus (US) does not follow a conditioned stimulus (CS); occurs in operant conditioning when a response is no longer reinforced.
Stimulus generalization
the tendency to respond to a stimulus that is only similar to the original conditioned stimulus with the conditioned response
stimulus discrimination
a differentiation between two similar stimuli when only one of them is consistently associated with the unconditioned stimulus
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