General Psychology and Human Development

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the foundation of psychology, psychological subfields, prenatal and postnatal physical development, adulthood aging transitions, cognitive stages, intelligence measurement, and memory systems.

Psychology

The scientific study of behavior and mental processes in all their many facets, as well as the study of normal human behaviour.

Psyche and Logos

The two Greek root words of psychology; "Psyche" means soul or spirit, and "Logos" means knowledge or study of, historically defining psychology as the study of the soul.

Scientific Method in Psychology

The framework distinguishing psychology from art and philosophy through the core characteristics of science: objectivity (independence), reliability (consistency), validity (strength/soundness), and predictability (certainty), alongside repeatable and verifiable empirical observations.

Counseling Psychology

A subfield of psychology that works with individuals dealing with milder emotional and personal problems, utilizing standardized tests to evaluate aptitudes, interests, and personality characteristics.

School Psychology

A subfield focused on diagnosing student learning difficulties (such as dyslexia and hyperactivity) through consultations and tests, pinpointing issues to recommend corrective interventions.

Educational Psychology

A subfield concerned with school-based learning that applies psychological principles of learning and motivation directly to educational curricula.

Experimental Psychology

A subfield investigating how behavior is acquired, modified, and retained, examining problems such as drug addiction, alcoholism, and domestic violence.

Physiological Psychology

A subfield that examines the direct relationships between the brain, biological activity, and manifested behavior.

Industrial and Organizational Psychology

A subfield applying psychological principles to business management, staff training, personnel supervision, organizational communication, employee counseling, and resolving workplace conflicts.

Social Psychology

A subfield focused on understanding how individuals are influenced and shaped by other people, with emphasis on attitude change and interpersonal dynamics.

Developmental Psychology

A subfield studying physical, cognitive, and psychosocial growth and development across all lifespan stages from conception to the end of life.

Community Psychology

A subfield applying psychological principles to address social issues and assist individuals in adapting to their working and living group environments.

Fertilization

The biological process in which one ovum ($23$ chromosomes) fuses with one spermatozoon ($23$ chromosomes) in the Fallopian tube to create a single-celled zygote containing $23$ pairs of chromosomes.

Germinal Period

The earliest stage of prenatal development lasting from conception to $2$ weeks, characterized by rapid cell division and ending upon implantation into the uterine wall.

Embryonic Period

The stage of prenatal development extending from implantation to the $8\text{th}$ week, during which all major organ systems, primitive heartbeats, and basic anatomical structures begin to form.

Fetal Period

The prenatal developmental stage extending from $8$ weeks (or the $9\text{th}$ week) until birth, marked by progressive organ functioning, rapid weight gain, and structural refinement.

Placenta

A vascular organ connecting the developing embryo or fetus to the maternal uterine wall via the umbilical cord and chorionic villi, facilitating nutrient and oxygen uptake as well as waste and carbon dioxide removal.

Trisomy 21

A hereditary genetic condition, commonly known as Down's Syndrome, caused by the presence of an extra $21\text{st}$ chromosome.

Genetic Counselling

A consultative healthcare service that assists prospective parents in making informed reproductive decisions by explaining the risks, inheritance patterns, and manifestations of potential genetic disorders.

Thalidomide

A medication historically prescribed to treat maternal nausea during pregnancy that acted as a potent teratogen, causing infants to be born with severe limb defects such as buds and stumps.

Growth

A quantitative increase in the physical size of the whole body or any of its anatomical parts, measurable through metrics such as height, weight, and head circumference.

Development

A progressive qualitative increase in skill, complexity of function, and behavioral capacity, such as acquiring motor control to sit, stand, walk, or perform fine manual tasks.

Skeletal Age

The primary clinical measure used to estimate a child's physical maturity, determined by the hardening, lengthening, and broadening of bone tissue.

Growth Spurt

A rapid and pronounced increase in height, weight, and skeletal dimensions that represents the most prominent physical hallmark of puberty and adolescence.

Primary Sexual Characteristics

Internal and external anatomical structures that are directly involved in human reproduction, including the development of genitalia, menarche, and spermarche.

Secondary Sexual Characteristics

Physical features that emerge during puberty which distinguish the sexes but do not play a direct functional role in reproduction, including breast budding, vocal deepening, and body hair growth.

Sarcopenia

The age-related loss of skeletal muscle mass and strength observed in middle to late adulthood, typically progressing at a rate of $1-2\%$ per year starting around age $50$.

Climacteric

The midlife biological transition marked by a decline in reproductive capacity and the gradual loss of fertility.

Menopause

The permanent cessation of menstrual cycles in women, occurring at an average age of $52$, driven by a decline in estrogen and accompanied by physiological changes such as hot flashes and mood fluctuations.

Midlife Crisis

A period of psychological distress in middle adulthood characterized by feelings of boredom, stagnation, and unfulfillment, often triggering drastic lifestyle, career, or relationship adjustments.

Cognitive Development

The progressive emergence of higher mental operations, encompassing how individuals acquire, store, process, and apply knowledge to interact with and understand their environment.

Mental Content vs. Mental Process

Mental content represents the specific knowledge an individual possesses (concepts, facts, rules, memories), whereas mental process refers to the cognitive operations used to manipulate and interpret that content to resolve dilemmas.

Sensory-Motor Stage

Piaget's initial cognitive stage (birth to $2$ years), in which infants demonstrate intelligence via motor interactions without symbols and acquire object permanence at around $7$ months of age.

Object Permanence

The cognitive realization acquired during infancy (around $7$ months) that objects and people continue to exist even when they are out of direct sensory view.

Pre-Operational Stage

Piaget's second cognitive stage ($2$ to $7$ years), marked by symbolic play and maturing language, where thinking remains predominantly egocentric, non-logical, and irreversible.

Concrete Operational Stage

Piaget's third cognitive stage ($7$ to $11$ years), characterized by reversible operational thinking, reduced egocentrism, and mastery of $7$ types of conservation (number, length, liquid, mass, weight, area, and volume) applied to tangible objects.

Formal Operational Stage

Piaget's final cognitive stage (adolescence through adulthood), defined by the capacity to systematically manipulate and reason about abstract concepts and theoretical possibilities.

Intelligence

The global capacity to acquire knowledge from experience, solve novel problems, and effectively adapt to changing environmental conditions.

Mental Age

An intelligence test metric originated by Alfred Binet that reflects an individual's mental performance level relative to the chronological age group whose performance matches that score.

Intelligence Quotient (IQ)

A standardized measure of cognitive ability originally calculated via the ratio formula $IQ = \frac{\text{MA}}{\text{CA}} \times 100$, where $\text{MA}$ represents mental age and $\text{CA}$ represents chronological age, standardized with an average score of $100$.

Degrees of Mental Retardation

A diagnostic classification from the DSM-IV categorizing intellectual disability into four functional strata: Mild ($IQ\ 50-70$, $85\%$), Moderate ($IQ\ 35-49$, $10\%$), Severe ($IQ\ 20-34$, $3-4\%$), and Profound ($IQ < 20$, $1-2\%$).

Memory Encoding

The initial cognitive phase of memory processing involving the perceptual registration and conversion of external input into a construct stored by the brain.

Memory Storage

The second stage of memory processing responsible for retaining encoded cognitive information over brief or enduring periods.

Memory Retrieval

The cognitive mechanism of locating, accessing, and bringing stored memories into conscious awareness for immediate use.

Sensory Memory

An ultra-brief memory store that holds fleeting representations of environmental stimuli directly as perceived by the sensory organs.

Iconic Memory

The visual component of sensory memory that briefly retains precise photographic or optical images.

Echoic Memory

The auditory sensory memory register that retains perceived sound patterns for slightly longer durations than iconic visual memory.

Short-Term Memory

A temporary working memory buffer lasting approximately one minute with a typical working capacity of roughly $7$ discrete items in adults without rehearsal.

Chunking

A memory strategy that involves recoding or organizing individual informational items into larger, meaningful clusters or sequences to overcome the capacity limit of short-term memory.

Long-Term Memory

A permanent memory storage system characterized by an essentially limitless capacity to preserve knowledge, concepts, and skills throughout a person's life.

Repression

An unconscious psychological defense mechanism that blocks threatening, distressing, or anxiety-inducing ideas and experiences from conscious recollection.

Amnesia

A pathological state characterized by total or significant memory impairment, which can arise from trauma or pervasive psychological repression.