Chapter 15 – Physical and Cognitive Development: Key Vocabulary

Vocabulary flashcards covering major terms and concepts from Chapter 15 on physical and cognitive development across the lifespan.

Developmental Psychology

The scientific study of how humans grow, develop, and change across the life-span.

Nature–Nurture Interaction

The combined, inseparable influences of genetic factors and environmental experience on development.

Maturation

Biologically based changes that follow an orderly, age-related sequence, preparing the individual for new functions.

Critical Period

A narrowly defined window in development when certain experiences must occur for typical development to proceed.

Sensitive Period

A time when environmental input is especially influential, though not absolutely required, for later development.

Stage View of Development

The idea that development occurs in discrete, qualitatively different steps that everyone follows in the same order.

Continuous View of Development

The perspective that development involves gradual, cumulative change rather than abrupt stages.

Cross-Sectional Study

A research design that compares different age groups at one point in time to reveal age differences.

Longitudinal Study

A research design that follows the same individuals over time to track age-related changes.

Sequential Study

A combination of cross-sectional and longitudinal designs that follows multiple cohorts over time to separate age and cohort effects.

Cohort Effect

Differences among age groups caused by unique historical or cultural factors rather than age itself.

Prenatal Period

The time from conception to birth, subdivided into germinal, embryonic, and fetal stages.

Germinal Stage

The first two weeks after conception, when the fertilised egg (zygote) implants in the uterus.

Embryonic Stage

Weeks 3–8 of gestation, marked by organ formation and rapid CNS development.

Fetal Stage

Week 9 to birth, characterised by rapid growth, movement, and viability by about 28 weeks.

Teratogen

Any environmental agent (e.g., alcohol, drugs, radiation) that can harm the developing embryo or fetus.

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD)

A range of physical, cognitive, and behavioural abnormalities resulting from prenatal alcohol exposure.

Rooting Reflex

An infant’s automatic turning of the head toward a cheek touch, preparing to suck.

Sucking Reflex

Rhythmic sucking elicited when an object is placed 3–4 cm inside an infant’s mouth.

Motor Development

The gradual control of muscles and coordinated movement, typically progressing head-to-toe.

Object Permanence

Understanding that objects continue to exist even when out of sight.

Sensorimotor Stage

Piaget’s first stage (0–2 yrs) when cognition is based on sensory and motor interactions with the world.

Egocentrism (Piagetian)

Inability to distinguish one’s own perspective from that of others.

Preoperational Stage

Piaget’s second stage (≈2–7 yrs) marked by symbolic thought but limited logical reasoning.

Centration

Focusing on one salient aspect of a situation while neglecting others.

Concrete Operational Stage

Piaget’s third stage (≈7–12 yrs) in which children perform reversible mental operations on concrete objects.

Conservation

Recognition that quantity remains the same despite changes in shape or appearance.

Transitivity

Logical understanding that if A < B and B < C, then A < C.

Formal Operational Stage

Piaget’s fourth stage (12 yrs +) featuring abstract, hypothetical, and systematic reasoning.

Schema

An organised pattern of thought or behaviour used to interpret and respond to information.

Assimilation

Integrating new information into existing schemas without changing the schema.

Accommodation

Modifying existing schemas to incorporate new information that doesn’t fit.

Equilibration

Piaget’s term for the balancing of assimilation and accommodation to create stable understanding.

Information-Processing Approach

A perspective that views cognitive development as continuous improvements in mental hardware and software.

Processing Speed

The rate at which individuals can perceive, interpret, and respond to information; increases with age in childhood.

Automatisation

Executing mental operations with minimal conscious effort through practice.

Knowledge Base

An individual’s accumulated store of information in long-term memory.

Cognitive Strategy

A deliberate mental operation, such as rehearsal or categorisation, used to solve problems or remember information.

Metacognition

Awareness and regulation of one’s own thinking processes; ‘thinking about thinking.’

Metamemory

Knowledge about one’s own memory capabilities, processes, and strategies.

Working Memory

Short-term mental workspace for holding and manipulating information; linked to the prefrontal cortex.

Implicit Memory

Unconscious memory expressed through performance rather than conscious recall.

Explicit Memory

Conscious recollection of facts and events.

Representational Flexibility

Ability to retrieve a memory despite changes in retrieval cues from those present at encoding.

Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)

Vygotsky’s range between what a child can do alone and what can be achieved with guidance.

Sociocultural Theory

Vygotsky’s view that cognitive development is driven by social interaction and cultural tools.

Transactional Model

A framework emphasising dynamic, reciprocal influences between children and their environments (especially parents).

Neo-Piagetian Theory

Approaches, such as Robbie Case’s, that integrate Piagetian stages with information-processing concepts like working-memory growth.

Fluid Intelligence

Ability to solve novel problems quickly and flexibly; declines gradually in adulthood.

Crystallised Intelligence

Accumulated knowledge and verbal skills; often increases through mid-adulthood and plateaus later.

Psychomotor Slowing

Age-related increase in time needed to perceive, process, and act on information.

Dementia

A broad category of disorders marked by severe, global cognitive decline that interferes with daily life.

Alzheimer’s Disease

A progressive, incurable neurodegenerative disorder causing memory loss and cognitive impairment; most common cause of dementia.

Presbycusis

Age-related loss of hearing, especially high-frequency sounds.

Menopause

The cessation of menstruation, typically between ages 45–55, marking end of female reproductive capacity.

Teratogen – Alcohol

Alcohol acts as a teratogen causing FASD, characterised by physical deformities and cognitive deficits.

Teratogen – Maternal Stress

High stress during pregnancy linked to low birth weight and later attentional problems in offspring.

Adaptive Reflex

Automatic, inborn responses (e.g., rooting, sucking) that aid infant survival.

Intermodal Processing

Ability to integrate information across sensory modalities (e.g., matching sights and sounds).

Infantile Amnesia

Inability of adults to recall episodic memories from the first 3–4 years of life.

Working Memory Capacity

The amount of information that can be simultaneously held and manipulated; expands in childhood, declines in late adulthood.

Processing Speed Theory of Ageing

Proposes that many cognitive declines in older adults stem from slower basic processing speed.

Everyday Memory

Memory performance in real-world tasks, which often shows smaller age declines than laboratory tests.

Object Permanence Game

Peek-a-boo; delights infants as they grasp that hidden persons still exist.

Centration Example

Judging a taller, thinner glass as ‘more’ liquid despite equal volume.

Conservation of Number

Understanding that rearranging objects (e.g., chips spread out) doesn’t change their quantity.

Automatisation Example

Reading common words without sounding them out.

Metacognitive Skill

Knowing when you don’t understand and need to ask a question.

Knowledge Base Example

A 10-year-old chess expert out-remembering adults on chessboard layouts.

Fluid vs. Crystallised

Fast, flexible problem solving versus accumulated factual knowledge.

Sequential Design Advantage

Separates true age changes from cohort differences by tracking multiple cohorts over time.

Cohort

A group of individuals born in the same period, sharing historical experiences.

Sensitive Period Example

Early childhood as the optimal time for first-language acquisition.

Assimilation Example

Calling a zebra ‘a horse’ because it fits the existing schema for four-legged, hoofed animals.

Accommodation Example

Learning that zebras are a distinct animal and adjusting the animal schema accordingly.

Equilibration Example

Balancing new zebra information with existing animal knowledge to restore cognitive stability.