Human Development

Vocabulary flashcards for human development lecture notes.

Developmental Psychology

The study of physical, cognitive, social, emotional, sexual, and moral changes from conception to death.

Nature/Nurture

The debate on how genetic inheritance (nature) and experience (nurture) influence our behavior.

Continuity/Stages

Addresses whether development is a gradual, continuous process or a sequence of separate stages.

Stability/Change

Examines whether early traits persist through life or if we change significantly as we age.

Cross-Sectional Study

A study that compares different groups at the same time.

Longitudinal Study

A study that compares the same group over a period of time.

Zygote

Fertilized egg, a mass of multiplying cells during the germinal stage (2 weeks).

Embryo

The developing human from 2 weeks through the second month; organs form and function.

Placenta

Transfers nutrients and oxygen from the mother's bloodstream to the embryo.

Fetus

The developing human from 9 weeks to birth; chance of survival if born prematurely after 6 months.

Teratogens

Harmful drugs and viruses that can get past the placenta and damage the embryo/fetus.

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS)

Physical and cognitive abnormalities caused by a mother's drinking during pregnancy.

Maturation

The process of growing.

Infant Reflexes

Innate reflexes that infants are born with to help them through life; these reflexes disappear as infants mature.

Fine Motor Skills

Coordination of hands and fingers, involving precision.

Gross Motor Skills

Coordination of arms, legs, and torso, involving power.

Attachment

A deep and enduring emotional bond to primary caregivers.

Imprinting

A process where some species bond to the first moving object they encounter.

Critical Period

A specific window during which a skill must develop, or it may never fully form; it is rigid.

Sensitive Period

An optimal window where learning occurs more easily, but skills can still develop later with difficulty; it is flexible.

Schema

Mental structure which helps to organize knowledge.

Assimilation

Placing new information into a pre-existing schema.

Accommodation

Modifying existing schemas to fit new information.

Sensorimotor Stage

Piaget's first stage (0-2 years) where infants know the world through senses and actions; object permanence develops.

Object permanence

The understanding that objects continue to exist even when they are out of sight

Preoperational Stage

Piaget's second stage (2-7 years) where children learn to use language but do not yet comprehend the mental operations of concrete logic.

Magical Thinking

Belief that all things are living, just like self

Egocentrism

Difficulty seeing things from another's point of view.

Theory of Mind

People's ideas about their own and others' mental states (feelings, perceptions, thoughts, behaviors.)

Lack conservation

Not recognizing that basic properties (weight & mass) remain the same when other features change

Lack reversibility

Cannot envision the reverse of an action.

Concrete Operational Stage

Piaget's third stage (7-11 years) where children start to grasp conservation and reversibility.

Formal Operational Stage

Piaget's fourth stage (12+ years) where cognitive maturity allows for abstract thought and hypothetical reasoning.

Scaffolding

A framework that offers children temporary support as they develop higher levels of thinking (Vygotsky).

What provokes the response?

Something that is placed in the infant's hand

Zone of Proximal Development

The range of skills that are too difficult for a person to master alone, but can be learned with assistance (Vygotsky).

Phonemes

Smallest distinctive sound units in a language (ex: b-a-t).

Morpheme

Smallest unit that carries meaning; can be a phoneme, root word, prefix, or suffix.

Syntax

The arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences in a language.

Semantics

The study of meaning in language.

Babbling Stage

Stage around 4 months where infants utter random sounds; not culturally specific.

One-Word Speech

Stage (1-2 years) where children speak mostly in single words to communicate meaning.

Telegraphic Speech

Stage (around 2 years) using mostly nouns and verbs to form short phrases.

Overgeneralization

Applying a grammatical rule in cases where it doesn't apply.

Language Acquisition Device (LAD)

Chomsky's concept of an innate ability to understand and acquire language.

Linguistic Determinism

The idea that language determines thought and culture.

Linguistic Relativity Theory

The idea that language influences how we see the world (Whorf's hypothesis).

Ecological Systems Theory

Theory emphasizing how environment shapes human development through interactions between individuals and their surroundings over time (Bronfenbrenner).

Authoritarian Parenting

High parental control, low warmth. Strict demands, relies on force, communicates poorly.

Authoritative Parenting

High parental control, high warmth. Strict but expresses love and respect, reasons with children.

Permissive Parenting

Low parental control, high warmth. Easygoing, few rules or expectations, warm but poor communication.

Rejecting/Neglecting Parenting

Low parental control, low warmth. Distracted, children have freedom but lack a real relationship, lack emotional connection.

Strange Situation

A standardized procedure devised by Mary Ainsworth to observe attachment security in children within the context of caregiver relationships. It applies to infants between the age of nine and 18 months.

Identity Achievement

High Exploration, High Commitment - Individuals have actively explored different identities and made a firm commitment to a set of values, beliefs, and goals.

Identity Diffusion

Low Exploration, Low Commitment - Individuals have neither explored nor committed to an identity. They may feel directionless or indifferent about their future.

Identity Foreclosure

Low Exploration, High Commitment - Individuals commit to an identity without exploring alternatives, often adopting beliefs from parents or authority figures without questioning them.

Identity Moratorium

High Exploration, Low Commitment - Individuals are actively exploring different identities but have not yet made a commitment. This stage often involves questioning and seeking new experiences.

Social Clock

Socially determined timing of events

Sensory Adaptation

Decreased responsiveness to stimuli due to constant stimulation

Sensory Habituation

Similar to sensory adaptation, but not continuous stimuli