Unit 3.2

longitudinal study

research in which the same people are restudied and retested over a long period

impriniting

period in development that is biologically based form of attachment

puberty

period of sexual maturation, during whic a person beacomes capable of reproducing

adolescence

the transition perdiod from childhood to adulthood, extending from puberty to indpendence

assimiliation

interpreting our new experience in terms of our existing schemas

theory of ind

poeople’s ideas about their own and others’ mental states

gender identity

our sense of being male or female

social learning theory

the theory that we learn social behavior by observing and imitating and by being rewarded/punished

temperament

biological basis of personality. how a baby reacts to the world

accomodation

adapting our current understanding to incororate new information

conservation

the prinicple that properties such as mass, volume, and number reamin the same despite changes in form

dementua

synfrom chacterized by a progressive decline in cognitive abilites

self-concept

out thought and feelings about ourselves in rersponse to the question ‘who am i “

zone of proximal development

point in learning where a child can accomplish a task with some guidance from a mote iskilled person

naturation

biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in beahvior, relativley uninfluneced by experience

preoperational stage

stage from ages 2-7 when a child uses language but cant comprhend mental operations/logic

critical period

optimal period early in life when exposure to certian stimulu or expreineves produves noraml developmenta

animism

inanimate objects have feelingsi

imprinting

process by which certian animals from strong attachments durning an early critical period

primary sex charcteristics

body structures that make reproduction possible

schema

a cocept or framework that organizes and intrepets information

sensorimotor stage

stage from about birth-age 2 where infants know that world mostly through sensory interactions

attchment

emotional tie with another person - espically between a child and his/her caregiver

teratogens

agents like chemicals and viruses that can reach the mbry or fetus durning prenatal development

egocentrism

the properational child’s difficulty taking another’s point of veiw

concrete operational stage

stage of cognitive developent from 6-11 years of age; can think logically about concreate events

aviodant insecure attachment

child is emotionally distant and does not seek comfortse

secondary sex chacteristics

non-reproductive secual traits like femal breats/hips, male voice quiality, and body hair

object permanance

awarness that things continue to exist even when not percived

stranger anxiety

fear of stangers that infants commonly experiece beginning at 8 months of age

menopause

natural cessation of menstration; a womans’s ability to reproduce declines

scaffolding

structerd learning process by helping hild reach just beyond current abilites. Like riding a bikem

menarche

the first menstrual period

formal operational stage

stage of cognitive development; can think about abstract concepts

cross-sectional study

a study in which peopel of different ages compared with one another