Cumulative

Puberty

Puberty

the time between the first onrush of hormones and full adult physical development. Usually lasts three to five years, many more years are required to achieve psychosocial maturity.

Menarche

the first menstrual period, signaling that she has begun ovulation. Pregnancy is biologically possible, but ovulation and menstruation are often irregular for years after.

Spermarche

the first ejaculation of sperm that signals sperm production.

Pituitary

a gland in the brain that responds to a signals from the hypothalamus by producing many hormones, including those that regulate growth and that control other glands, among them the adrenal and sex gland.

Adrenal glands

two glands, located above the kidneys, that respond to the pituitary, producing hormones.

HPA (hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal) axis

a sequence of hormones production originating in the hypothalamus and moving to the pituitary and then to the adrenal glands.

Gonads

the paired sex glands (ovaries in females, testicles in males) that produce hormones and mature gametes.

HPG (hypothalamus-pituitary-gonad) axis

a sequence of hormone production originating int he hypothalamus and moving to the pituitary and then to the gonads.

Circadian rhythm

a day-night cycle of biological activity that occurs approximately every 24 hours.

Growth spurt

the relatively sudden and rapid physical growth that occurs during puberty. Each body part increases in size on a schedule

Body image

a person’s idea of how their body looks.

Anorexia nervosa

an ED characterized by restrictive food intake. Individuals voluntarily undereat and often overexercise.

Bulimia nervosa

an ED characterized by binge eating and purging, induced by vomiting, laxatives, or overexercising.

BED (binge eating disorder)

an ED characterized by frequent episodes of uncontrollable overeating, individual often feels shame and guilt.

Primary sex characteristics

the parts of the body that are directly involved in reproduction, including the vagina, uterus, ovaries, and testicles.

Secondary sex characteristics

physical traits that are not directly involved in reproduction but that indicate sexual maturity, such as facial hair and breast maturation.

Adolescents egocentrism

a characteristic of adolescent thinking that leads young people (10 to 13) to focus on themselves to the exclusion of others.

Rumination

thinking obsessively about self-focused concerns. Some may worry so much about what they might say or do that they are fearful to do anything.

Imaginary audience

the other people who, in an adolescent's egocentric belief, are watching and taking note of their appearance, ideas, and behavior. This belief makes teenagers very self-conscious.

Personal fable

an aspect of adolescent egocentrism that is characterized by a belief that their thoughts, feelings, and experiences are unique or are more wonderful or more awful than anyone else’s.

Invincibility fable

an adolescent’s egocentric conviction that they cannot be overcome or harmed by anything that might defeat a normal person; such as unprotected sex, drug abuse, or high-speed driving.

Formal operational thought

Piaget’s fourth and final stage of cognitive development, characterized by more systematic logical thinking and by the ability to understand and systematically manipulate abstract concepts.

Hypothetical thought

reasoning that includes propositions and possibilities that may not reflect reality. “If-then reasoning”

Deductive reasoning

reasoning from a general statement, premise, or principle, through logical steps, to figure out specifics. “Top-down reasoning”

Inductive reasoning

reasoning from one or more specific experiences or facts to reach a general conclusion. “Bottom-up reasoning”

Intuitive thought

thought that arises from an emotion beyond rational explanation, and is influenced by past experiences and cultural assumptions.

Analytical thought

thought that results from analysis, such as systematic ranking of pros and cons, risks and consequences, possibilities and facts. Depends on logic and rationality.

High-stakes tests

an evaluation that is critical in determining success or failure. If a single test determines whether a student will graduate or be promoted, it is a high-stakes test.

Identity vs role confusion

Erikson’s fifth stage of development, when people wonder “Who am I?” but are confused about which of many possible roles to adopt.

Identity achievement

Erikson’s term for the attainment of identity, when people know who they are as unique individuals, combining past experiences and future plans.

Role confusion

when adolescents have no clear identity, instead fluctuating from one persona to another.

Foreclosure

Erikson’s term for premature identity formation, when adolescents adopt their parents’ or society’s roles and values without questioning or analysis.

Gender identity

a person’s acceptance (or not) of the roles and behaviors that society associates with a particular gender.

Parental monitoring

parents’ ongoing knowledge of what their children are doing, where, and with whom.

Familism

the belief that family members should support one another, sacrificing individual freedom and success, if necessary, in order to preserve family unity and protect the family.

Coercive joining

when others strongly encourage someone to join in their activity, usually when the activity is not approved by authorities.

Sexual orientation

a person’s romantic or sexual attraction, which can be to others of the same gender, the other gender, or every gender.

Major depressive disorder

feelings of hopelessness, lethargy, and worthlessness that last two weeks or more.

Suicidal ideation

serious thinking about suicide, often including extreme emotions and thoughts.

Parasuicide

also called attempted suicide.

Cluster suicides

several suicides committed by members of a group within a brief period.

Adolescence-limited offenders

a person who breaks the law as a teenager but whose criminal activity stops by age 20.

Life-course-persistent offenders

a person whose criminal activity begins in adolescence and continues throughout life; a “career” criminal.

Generational forgetting

the idea that each new generation forgets what the previous generation learned.

Emerging adulthood

the distinct developmental stage and period of life between the ages of 18 and 25.

Organ reserve

the capacity of organs to allow the body to cope with stress, via extra, unused functioning ability.

Homeostasis

the adjustment of all of the body’s systems to keep physiological functions in a state of equilibrium.

Allostasis

a dynamic body adjustment, that affects overall physiology over time.

Postformal thought

a proposed adult stage of cognitive development that goes beyond adolescent thinking by being more practical, flexible, and dialectical (o.e., more capable of combining contradictory elements into a comprehensive whole).

Massification

the idea that establishing institutions of higher learning and encouraging college enrollment can benefit everyone.

Moratorium

an adolescent’s choice of a socially acceptable way to postpone making identity-achievement decisions.

Situational couple violence

fighting between romantic partners that is brought on more by the deep personality problems of the individuals. Both partners are typically victims and abusers.

Intimate terrorism

a violent and demeaning form of abuse in a romantic relationship, in which the victim is frightened to fight back, seek help, or withdraw. The victim is in danger of physical and psychological harm.

Linked lives

lives in which the success, health, and well-being of each family member are connected to those of other members.

Differential susceptibility

the idea that people vary in sensitivity to various experiences based on their genetics or past life experiences.

Critical period

a time when something must occur for normal development, or the only time when an abnormality might arise.

Sensitive period

certain time periods where particular developments occur more easily, but not exclusively.

Cohort

people born within the same historical period that experience — experiencing new events, technologies, and cultural shifts at the same time.

Socioeconomic status (SES)

a persons position in society determined by income, occupation, education, and place of residence

Difference-equals-deficit error

the mistaken idea that a deviation from some norm is necessarily inferior.

Intersectionality

the idea that various identities need to be combined to highlight how power and inequality are structed differently for oppressed groups based on their varied interlocking demographics.

Plasticity

the idea that abilities, personality, and other human characteristics are moldable and thus can be changed. It states that (1) people can change over time and (2) new behavior is affected by what has already happened.

Dynamic-systems approach

the view of human development as an ongoing, everchanging interaction between the physical, cognitive, and psychosocial influences.

Developmental theories

a systematic statement of principles and generalizations, providing a framework for understanding how and why people change over the life span.

Cross-sectional research

research design that compares people who differ in age but no in other important characteristics

Longitudinal research

research design that follows the same individuals over time

Cross-sequential research

hybrid research design that includes cross-sectional and longitudinal research (also called cohort-sequential or time-sequential research)

Gamete

a reproductive cell. In humans it is a sperm or an ovum.

Zygote

the single cell formed from the union of two gametes, a sperm and an ovum.

Genome

the full set of genes that are the instructions to make an individual member of a certain species.

Allele

a variation that makes a gene different in some way from other genes for the same characteristics. Many genes never vary; other have several possible alleles.

Epigenetics

the study of how environmental factors affect genes and genetic expression — enhancing, haulting, shaping, or altering the expression of genes.

Phenotype

the observable characteristics of a person, including appearance, personality, intelligence, and all other traits.

Genotype

an organism’s entire genetic inheritance, or genetic potential.

Methylation

a chemical modification of DNA and other molecules that may be retained as cells divide to make more cells; can alter gene expression

Microbiome

all the microbes (bacteria, viruses, etc) with all their genes in a community.

Carrier

a person whose genotype included a gene that is not expressed in the phenotype. The carried gene occurs in half of the carrier’s children. If such a gene is inherited from both parents, the characteristics appears in the phenotype.

X-linked

a gene carried on the X chromosome.

Monozygotic twins

thins who originate from one zygote that splits apart very early in development.

Dizygotic twins

twins who are formed when two separate ova are fertilized by two separate sperm at roughly the same time.

Germinal period

the first two weeks of prenatal development after conception, characterized by rapid cell division and the beginning of cell differentiation.

Embryonic period

the stage of prenatal development from approximately the third week through the eighth week after conception, during which the basic forms of all body structures, including internal organs, develop.

Fetal period

the stage of prenatal development from the ninth week after conception until birth, during which the fetus gains about 7lbs and organs become more mature, gradually able to function on their own.

Embryo

the name for a developing human organism from about the third week through the eight week after conception.

Fetus

the name for a developing human organism from the start of the ninth week after conception until birth.

Age of viability

the age (~22 weeks after conception) at which a fetus might survive outside the mother’s uterus if specialized medical care is available.

Down syndrome

a condition in which a person has 47 chromosomes instead of the usual 46, with 3 rather than 2 chromosomes at the 21st site.

Fragile X syndrome

a genetic disorder in which part of the X chromosome seems to be attached to the rest of it by a very thin string of molecules. The cause is a single gene that has more than 200 repetitions of one triplet.

Teratogen

an agent or condition, including viruses, drugs, and chemicals, that can impair prenatal development and result in birth defects or even death.

Fetal Alcohol syndrome

a cluster of birth defects, including abnormal facial characteristics, slow physical growth, and reduced intellectual ability, that may occur in the fetus of a woman who drinks alcohol while pregnant.

LBW

a body weight of <2,500 grams (<5.5lbs)

VLBW

a body weight of <1,500 grams (<3.3lbs)

ELBW

a body weight of <1,000 grams.

Preterm

a birth that occurs two or more weeks before the full 38 weeks of the typical pregnancy.

Small for gestational age (SGA)

a term for a baby whose birthweight is significantly lower than expected, given the time since conception.

The Immigrant Paradox

the surprising, paradoxical fact that low-SES immigrant women tend to have fewer birth complications than native-born peers with higher incomes.

Doula

a woman who helps with the birth process.

Cesarean section

a surgical birth in which incisions through the mother’s abdomen and uterus allow the fetus to be removed quickly instead of being delivers through the vagina.

APGAR scale

a quick assessment of a newborn’s health, from 0 to 10. Below 5 is an emergency, most babies are at 7, 8, or 9 — almost never a perfect 10.

Brazelton Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale (NBSA)

a test that is often administered to newborns, which measures responsiveness and records 46 behaviors, including 20 reflexes.