AP Psychology- unit 6 Development vocabulary

Crystallized intelligence

our accumulated knowledge and verbal skills; tends to increase with age (through experience)

Fluid Intelligence

our ability to reason speedily and abstractly; tends to decrease during late adulthood (creativity)

prenatal

9 month development period before birth. cells are forming specific organs.

Zygote

the fertilized egg, first stage, 2 week period of rapid cell division, only half survive.

Embryo

2 week to 2nd month, important distinct human organs develop, heart begins to beat, neutral tube (Brain and spinal cord)

Fetus

9 weeks to conception of birth. Development of human organs continue, including stomach, muscle and bones. Dev. enough to survive without mother. Baby is able to hear and recognize sounds and light.

Teratogens

agents, such as chemicals and viruses, that can reach the embryo or fetus during prenatal development and cause harm.

Fetal Alchohol Syndrome

physical and cognitive abnormalities in children caused by a pregnant woman's heavy drinking

Maturation

biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in behavior, relatively uninfluenced by experience

Cognition

all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating

Schema

mental structures/ framework that organizes and interprets information/thinking "Building blocks"

Assimilation

interpreting our new experiences or information in terms of our existing schemas or what we already know

Accommodation (Piaget)

modifying/adapting our current understandings (schemas) to incorporate new information

object permanence

the knowledge/axarness that an object exists even when it is not in sight

conservation

a child's ability to recognize that the volume or amount of a substance or object does not change when its form or shape changes.

Egocentrism

in Piaget's theory, the proportional child's difficulty taking another's point of view. "selfish" "world rotates around you"

Stranger Anxiety

the fear of strangers that infants commonly display, beginning by about 8 months of age, once they are able to recognize familiar faces.

Attachment

an emotional tie with another person; shown in young children by their seeking closeness to the caregiver and showing distress on separation

Critical Period

an optimal period shortly after birth when an organism's exposure to certain stimuli or experiences produces proper development.

Imprinting

the process by which certain animals/humans form attachments during a critical period very early in life

self-concept

idea we have about who we are—physically, emotionally, socially, spiritually, and in terms of any other aspects that make up knowledge about who we are

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

Social Clock

the culturally preferred timing of social events such as marriage, parenthood, and retirement