u3a

developmental psychology

a branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive, and social change throughout the life span.

zygote

the fertilized egg; it enters a 2-week period of rapid cell division and develops into an embryo.

embryo

the developing human organism from about 2 weeks after fertilization through the second month

fetus

the developing human organism from 9 weeks after conception to birth.

teratogens

(literally, "monster makers") agents, such as chemicals and viruses, that can reach the embryo or fetus during prenatal development and cause harm.

fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS)

physical and cognitive abnormalities in children caused by a pregnant woman's heavy drinking. In severe cases, signs include a small, out-of-proportion head and abnormal facial features.

habituation

decreasing responsiveness with repeated stimulation. As infants gain familiarity with repeated exposure to a stimulus, their interest wanes and they look away sooner.

maturation

biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in behavior, relatively uninfluenced by experience.

cognition

all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating.

schema

a concept or framework that organizes and interprets information.

accommodation

in developmental psychology, adapting our current understandings (schemas) to incorporate new information.

sensorimotor stage

in Piaget's theory, the stage (from birth to nearly 2 years of age) during which infants know the world mostly in terms of their sensory impressions and motor activities.

object permanence

the awareness that things continue to exist even when not perceived.

preoperational stage

in Piaget's theory, the stage (from about 2 to 6 or 7 years of age) during which a child learns to use language but does not yet comprehend the mental operations of concrete logic

conservation

the principle (which Piaget believed to be a part of concrete operational reasoning) that properties such as mass, volume, and number remain the same despite changes in the forms of objects.

egocentrism

in Piaget's theory, the preoperational child's difficulty taking another's point of view.

theory of mind

people's ideas about their own and others' mental states—about their feelings, perceptions, and thoughts, and the behaviors these might predict.

concrete operational stage

in Piaget's theory, the stage of cognitive development (from about 7 to 11 years of age) during which children gain the mental operations that enable them to think logically about concrete events.

formal operational stage

in Piaget's theory, the stage of cognitive development (normally beginning about age 12) during which people begin to think logically about abstract concepts.

scaffold

in Vygotsky's theory, a framework that offers children temporary support as they develop higher levels of thinking.

autism spectrum disorder (ASD)

a disorder that appears in childhood and is marked by significant deficiencies in communication and social interaction, and by rigidly fixated interests and repetitive behaviors.

stranger anxiety

the fear of strangers that infants commonly display, beginning by about 8 months of age.

attachment

an emotional tie with another person; shown in young children by their seeking closeness to their caregiver and showing distress on separation.

critical period

an optimal period early in the life of an organism when exposure to certain stimuli or experiences produces normal development.

imprinting

the process by which certain animals form strong attachments during early life.

basic trust

according to Erik Erikson, a sense that the world is predictable and trustworthy; said to be formed during infancy by appropriate experiences with responsive caregivers.

self-concept

all our thoughts and feelings about ourselves, in answer to the question, "Who am I?

adolescence

the transition period from childhood to adulthood, extending from puberty to independence.

puberty

the period of sexual maturation, during which a person becomes capable of reproducing.

identity

our sense of self; according to Erikson, the adolescent's task is to solidify a sense of self by testing and integrating various roles.

social identity

the "we" aspect of our self-concept; the part of our answer to "Who am I?" that comes from our group memberships.

intimacy

in Erikson's theory, the ability to form close, loving relationships; a primary developmental task in young adulthood.

emerging adulthood

a period from about age 18 to the mid-twenties, when many in Western cultures are no longer adolescents but have not yet achieved full independence as adults.

menopause

the time of natural cessation of menstruation; also refers to the biological changes a woman experiences as her ability to reproduce declines.

neurocognitive disorders

acquired (not lifelong) disorders marked by cognitive deficits; often related to Alzheimer's disease, brain injury or disease, or substance abuse. In older adults, neurocognitive disorders were formerly called dementia.

Alzheimer's disease

a neurocognitive disorder marked by neural plaques, often with onset after age 80, and entailing a progressive decline in memory and other cognitive abilities.

social clock

the culturally preferred timing of social events such as marriage, parenthood, and retirement.

temperament

a person's characteristic emotional reactivity and intensity.

social script

a culturally modeled guide for how to act in various situations.

norm

an understood rule for accepted and expected behavior.

sex

in psychology, the biologically influenced characteristics by which people define male and female.

gender

in psychology, the socially influenced characteristics by which people define boy, girl, man, and woman.

X chromosome

the sex chromosome found in both males and females. Females typically have two X chromosomes; males typically have one. An X chromosome from each parent produces a female child.

Y chromosome

the sex chromosome typically found only in males. When paired with an X chromosome from the mother, it produces a male child.

testosterone

the most important male sex hormone.

primary sex characteristics

the body structures (ovaries, testes, and external genitalia) that make sexual reproduction possible.

secondary sex characteristics

nonreproductive sexual traits, such as female breasts and hips, male voice quality, and body hair.

intersex

a condition present at birth due to unusual combinations of male and female chromosomes, hormones, and anatomy; possessing biological sexual characteristics of both sexes.

role

a set of expectations (norms) about a social position, defining how those in the position ought to behave.

gender role

a set of expected behaviors, attitudes, and traits for males or for females.

gender identity

our sense of being male, female, or some combination of the two.

social learning theory

the theory that we learn social behavior by observing and imitating and by being rewarded or punished.

gender typing

the acquisition of a traditional masculine or feminine role.

androgyny

displaying both traditional masculine and feminine psychological characteristics.

transgender

an umbrella term describing people whose gender identity or expression differs from that associated with their birth-designated sex.

language

our spoken, written, or signed words and the ways we combine them to communicate meaning

phoneme

in a language, the smallest distinctive sound unit.

morpheme

in a language, the smallest unit that carries meaning; may be a word or a part of a word (such as a prefix).

grammar

in a language, a system of rules that enables us to communicate with and understand others. Semantics is the language's set of rules for deriving meaning from sounds, and syntax is its set of rules for combining words into grammatically sensible sentences.

babbling stage

beginning around 4 months, the stage of speech development in which an infant spontaneously utters various sounds at first unrelated to the household language.

one-word stage

the stage in speech development, from about age 1 to 2, during which a child speaks mostly in single words.

two-word stage

beginning about age 2, the stage in speech development during which a child speaks mostly in two-word statements.

telegraphic speech

early speech stage in which a child speaks like a telegram—"go car"—using mostly nouns and verbs

aphasia

impairment of language, usually caused by left hemisphere damage either to Broca's area (impairing speaking) or to Wernicke's area (impairing understanding).

Broca's area

helps control language expression—an area of the frontal lobe, usually in the left hemisphere, that directs the muscle movements involved in speech.

Wernicke's area

a brain area involved in language comprehension and expression; usually in the left temporal lobe.

linguistic determinism

Whorf's hypothesis that language determines the way we think.