Ch. 3 Infancy and Childhood

Developmental psychology

The study of changes that occur as an individual matures

Epigenetics

How behavior and environment affect how your genes are expressed

Grasping reflex

A response to a touch on the palm of the hand

Rooting reflex

If an infant is touched near the mouth, they will move their head and mouth towards the source of the touch

Maturation

Internally programmed growth

Critical period

A specific time in development when certain skills or abilities are most easily learned

Schema

A conceptual framework used to make sense of the world

Assimilation

Trying to fit a new object into an existing schema

Accommodation

Changing the schema to fit the characteristics of the new object

Sensorimotor stage

A stage of cognitive development lasting from birth to age 2, in which children lack object permanence

Object permanence

A child's realization that an object exists even when the child cannot see it

Preoperational stage

A stage of cognitive development lasting from age 2 to 7 in which more complex abilities emerge like object permanence and representational thought

Representational thought

The intellectual ability of a child to picture something in his/her mind

Conservation

The principle that a given quantity does not change when its appearance is changed

Egocentric

A young child's inability to understand another person's perspective

Concrete operations

A stage of cognitive development lasting from age 7 to 11 in which children are able to use some logical thinking, but they are limited to concrete objects and problems

Formal operations

A stage of cognitive development beginning around age 11 in which children are capable of solving abstract problems

Imprinting

The inherited response displayed by newborn animals when they encounter new stimuli in their environment

Attachment

A deep, caring, close, and enduring emotional bond between an infant and caregiver

Authoritarian parenting

A parenting style in which parents are the bosses, do not explain their actions, and do not allow children to question them

Democratic/Authoritative parenting

A parenting style in which parents allow their children to participate in decisions that affect them and allow children to make many decisions, while reserving the right to veto their decisions

Permissive/Laissez-faire parenting

A parenting style in which parents allow their children to have the final say and give in when the child insists on their own way

Uninvolved parenting

A parenting style in which parents are egocentric, uncommitted, and distant in their child-rearing

Socialization

Learning the rules of behavior for the culture in which you are raised

Identification

The process in which a child adopts the values and principles of the same-sex parent

Sublimation

The process, according to Sigmund Freud, of redirecting sexual impulses into learning tasks