Unit 3 — Development & Learning Practice Flashcards Mock

Vocabulary-style flashcards covering the foundations of developmental psychology and the mechanics of learning based on Unit 3 lecture notes.

Nature

Genetic inheritance that sets potentials and constraints for development.

Nurture

Environmental experience that shapes how genetic potentials unfold.

Interaction

The interplay between genetics (nature) and a lifetime of experiences (nurture).

Continuity

The view that development is gradual, cumulative, and smooth, like riding an escalator.

Stages

The view that development occurs in distinct, biologically programmed steps triggered by maturation.

Stage Theorists

Psychologists such as Piaget, Kohlberg, and Erikson who argue development occurs in specific steps.

Stability

Traits that remain consistent across the lifespan, such as temperament.

Change

Traits that shift over time due to experience, environment, and maturation, such as social attitudes.

Temperament

A person’s characteristic emotional reactivity and intensity often visible in infancy.

Nature via Nurture

The concept that nurture works on what nature endows; genes provide the blueprint, but environment determines expression.

Zygote

The fertilized egg that enters a $2$-week period of rapid cell division and attaches to the uterine wall.

Germinal Stage

The first $10-14$ days after conception when the zygote divides and implants in the uterus.

Embryo

The developing organism from $2-8$ weeks where major organs form and the heart starts beating.

Placenta

The life-support system formed from outer zygote cells that transfers nutrients and oxygen to the embryo or fetus.

Fetus

The developing organism from $9$ weeks to birth that continues organ development and looks human.

Teratogens

Harmful agents such as chemicals and viruses that can reach the embryo or fetus and cause damage.

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS)

A disorder caused by heavy maternal drinking leading to physical abnormalities and cognitive impairments.

FAS Physical Symptoms

Includes abnormalities such as a small head and facial deformities.

Rooting Reflex

A newborn reflex where touching the cheek triggers turning and sucking motions to locate a nipple.

Startle Reflex

Also known as the Moro Reflex, where infants fling arms and legs outward when startled, then retract them.

Grasping Reflex

A reflex where infants tightly grasp objects placed in their palms.

Habituation

Decreasing responsiveness to repeated stimulation which shows newborns can learn and remember.

Maturation

Biological growth processes that unfold in a genetically programmed sequence, relatively uninfluenced by experience.

Neural Networks

Rapidly forming connections in infancy that support activities like walking, talking, and remembering.

Pruning

A ‘use it or lose it’ process where unused neural pathways are eliminated and frequently used ones strengthen.

Critical Periods

Optimal windows in early life when exposure to certain stimuli is necessary for normal development.

Motor Development

The sequence of physical milestones such as sitting, crawling, and walking that unfold as the nervous system matures.

Motor Development Sequence

A process that is universal in sequence but variable in timing for each individual.

Back-to-Sleep Position

Putting infants to sleep on their backs to reduce suffocation risk, which slightly delays crawling.

Developmental Stages (Motor)

Typical age ranges for major motor milestones, though some children may be early or late outliers.

Adolescence

The transition from childhood to adulthood marked by puberty, identity formation, and increasing independence.

Puberty

The period of sexual maturation when individuals become capable of reproduction.

Menarche

A girl’s first menstrual period, typically occurring around age $12.5$.

Spermarche

A boy’s first ejaculation, which often occurs during a nocturnal emission.

Menopause

The natural end of menstruation, usually around age $50$, marking the end of reproductive ability.

Death Deferral

The tendency for people to die shortly after significant holidays or events as if holding on.

Empty-Nest Syndrome

Feelings of sadness or identity loss when children leave home, often followed by increased marital satisfaction.

Social Clock

A culture’s preferred timing for major life events like marriage, parenthood, and retirement.

Sex

Biological characteristics such as chromosomes, hormones, and anatomy that define male and female.

Gender

Cultural expectations, roles, and behaviors associated with being male or female.

Intersex

Individuals born with biological traits of both sexes.

X Chromosome

A chromosome contributed by the mother, and also by the father to produce a female offspring.

Y Chromosome

A chromosome contributed by the father that triggers testosterone production and results in a male offspring.

Testosterone

The primary male sex hormone, also present in females, that drives male sexual development.

Estrogen

The primary female sex hormone, also present in males, that regulates female sexual development.

Primary Sexual Characteristics

Reproductive organs including testes, ovaries, and external genitalia.

Secondary Sexual Characteristics

Non-reproductive traits such as breasts, hips, voice changes, and body hair.

Gender Roles

Culturally defined expectations for male and female behavior.

Gender Identity

A person’s internal sense of being male, female, both, or neither.

Social Learning Theory

The theory that children learn gendered behavior by observing, imitating, and receiving rewards or punishments.

Gender Typing

The process of adopting traditional masculine or feminine roles.

Androgyny

A blend of masculine and feminine traits in an individual.

Transgender

A person whose gender identity differs from their assigned sex at birth.

Sexual Orientation

An enduring attraction toward the same sex, opposite sex, or both.

Older-Brother Effect

The phenomenon where each older biological brother increases the likelihood of a male being gay.

Biopsychosocial Approach (Sexuality)

The view that sexual behavior and orientation result from biological, psychological, and social influences.

Schemas

Mental frameworks that organize and interpret information.

Assimilation

Interpreting new experiences using existing schemas.

Accommodation

Adjusting schemas to incorporate new information.

Sensorimotor Stage

Piaget’s stage from birth to $2$ years where infants learn through senses and actions.

Object Permanence

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

Baby Physics

The observation that infants recognize when physical events violate expectations, such as floating objects.

Baby Math

The observation that infants show basic numerical understanding, such as noticing the wrong number of objects.

Preoperational Stage

Piaget’s stage from ages $2-6/7$ where symbolic thinking develops but logic is limited.

Conservation

Understanding that quantity remains the same despite changes in the shape of the container.

Symbolic Thinking

Using words, images, and models to represent objects.

Animism

The belief that inanimate objects have feelings or intentions.

Egocentrism

Difficulty seeing things from another person’s perspective.

Theory of Mind

Understanding other people’s thoughts, beliefs, and feelings.

Concrete Operational Stage

Piaget’s stage from ages $6/7-12$ involving logical thinking about concrete events and mastery of conservation.

Formal Operational Stage

Piaget’s stage for ages $12+$ involving abstract reasoning and hypothetical logic.

Scaffolding

Lev Vygotsky’s concept of support from adults that helps children perform tasks just beyond their ability.

Inner Speech

Self-talk children use to guide behavior and problem-solving.

Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)

The range between what a child can do alone and what they can do with help.

Moral Reasoning (Kohlberg)

A theory describing three levels of moral thinking: preconventional, conventional, and postconventional.

Preconventional Morality

Moral level focused on self-interest and avoiding punishment.

Conventional Morality

Moral level focused on social rules and laws.

Postconventional Morality

Moral level rooted in ethical principles and universal rights.

Moral Intuition

Jonathan Haidt’s view that morality is rooted in quick, automatic gut feelings.

Character Education Programs

Programs that teach empathy, responsibility, and delayed gratification.

Service Learning Programs

Community service integrated with learning that increases competence and prosocial behavior.

Gilligan’s Critique

The argument that Kohlberg’s theory was male-centered and undervalued care-based reasoning.

Language

A system of spoken, written, or signed symbols used to communicate meaning.

Phoneme

The smallest distinctive sound unit in a language.

Morpheme

The smallest unit of meaning in a language, such as a word or prefix.

Grammar

The system of rules that enable communication and understanding.

Semantics

The rules for deriving meaning from words and sentences.

Syntax

The rules for combining words into grammatically correct sentences.

Universal Grammar

Noam Chomsky’s theory of an innate predisposition to learn grammar.

Critical Period (Language)

The optimal window for language learning, which becomes much harder after puberty.

Receptive Language

The ability to understand what is said to and about oneself.

Productive Language

The ability to produce speech and communicate thoughts.

Telegraphic Speech

Early speech stage using two-word combinations like noun-verb pairs.

Aphasia

Language impairment usually caused by left-hemisphere brain damage.

Broca’s Area

An area in the frontal lobe that controls the muscles for speech production.

Wernicke’s Area

An area in the temporal lobe that controls language comprehension.

Linguistic Determinism

Benjamin Lee Whorf’s extreme hypothesis that language determines the way we think.

Linguistic Relativism

The idea that language influences thought and perception.

Executive Control (Bilingual Advantage)

The stronger attention and cognitive control shown by people who speak two languages.

Mental Rehearsal

Imagining actions to activate similar brain areas as performing them, which improves performance.