BA 3rd Year – Child Psychology (L.H. Berk) Unit 1: Foundations of Child Development

Exactly 50 vocabulary-style flashcards covering the foundations of child development based on the lecture notes from L.H. Berk.

Child development

The scientific study of changes that occur from conception to adolescence.

Social development

One of the four major areas of development, alongside physical, cognitive, and emotional development.

Theory

A systematic explanation of development.

Predict

One of the three core goals of child development study regarding behavior, alongside understanding and explaining.

Environment

A major influence on development that interacts with heredity.

Scientific

The nature of the study of child development.

Gene–environment interaction

The term for the interaction between genes and the environment.

Epigenetics

Changes in gene activity that occur without changing the DNA sequence.

Prenatal period

The period of growth and development that occurs before birth.

Germinal stage

The first stage of prenatal development.

Embryonic stage

The second stage of prenatal development.

Fetal stage

The third stage of prenatal development.

Zygote

The term for a fertilized egg.

Gene

The basic unit of heredity.

Chromosomes

Structures in human body cells that contain genetic information, totaling $46$ in humans.

Mother

The parent from whom half of a child's chromosomes are inherited.

Father

The parent from whom half of a child's chromosomes are inherited.

Prenatal environment

The environment provided for the fetus by the mother's uterus.

Brain plasticity

The capability of the brain to change through experience.

Prenatal brain development

The specific period during which development of the brain begins.

Neurogenesis

The biological process of forming new brain cells.

Synapses

Structures through which communication between nerve cells occurs.

Synaptogenesis

The formation of connections between neurons.

Myelin

The covering around nerve fibers that functions to speed up communication.

Synaptic pruning

The process of removing unused neural connections.

Brain development

An area of growth that can be influenced by experiences received before birth.

Fetal stage response

The stage during which the fetus begins to respond to sounds.

Prenatal learning

The term used to describe learning that takes place before birth.

Mother's voice

The specific sound that the fetus becomes familiar with before birth.

Temperament

Consistent individual differences in emotional reactions.

Biological basis

The type of basis that strongly influences a child's temperament.

Mental processes

The processes whose growth is referred to as cognitive development.

Cognitive development

Development involving thinking, reasoning, and memory.

Emotional development

Development that involves understanding and expressing emotions.

Social development interaction

Development that includes learning how to interact with others.

Lifespan

The timeframe throughout which development occurs.

Discontinuous

A characteristic of development where it occurs in distinct stages, alongside being continuous.

Physical changes

The type of changes in the body mainly referred to as growth.

Qualitative changes

Development includes both quantitative changes and these types of changes.

Observation

An important research method used in the field of child psychology.

Independent variable

The variable that is changed or manipulated by the researcher.

Dependent variable

The variable that is measured by the researcher to determine effects.

Naturalistic observation

Research conducted by observing subjects in a natural setting.

Longitudinal study

A study design that follows the same participants over a period of time.

Cross-sectional study

A study design that compares participants of different age groups at a single point in time.

Informed consent

An ethical requirement where participants agree to take part in research after being informed.

Confidentiality

An ethical principle that protects the personal information of participants.

Biology and environment

According to Berk, these two factors work together to result in development.

Child psychology

The scientific study of how children grow and change.

Unique pace

As emphasized by L.H. Berk, the individual rate at which every child develops.