Psychology Ch. 5 Pt. 1 Bocab

Developmental Psychology

nature, nurture, continuity vs. stages, and stability vs. change

Zygote

newly fertilized egg that undergoes a 2-week period of cell division

Embryo

developing human organism from 2 weeks-9 weeks

Fetus

developing human organism from 9 weeks-birth

Placenta

protective barrier, transfers nutrients and oxygen from mom to embryo

Teratogen

chemical or virus that can reach embryo during prenatal develop. and cause harm

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS)

cluster of phys/cog abnormalities that appear in children born to women who drink during pregnancy

Habituation

a decreasing responsiveness with repeated stimulation

Maturation

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

Infantile Amnesia

inability of adults to retrieve episodic or autobiog. memories from 1st 3-4 years of life

Cognition

mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating info

Schema

concept or framework that organizes and interprets information

Assimilation

interpreting our new experiences in terms of our existing schemas (kid sees cat and calls it “dog” bc it furry and have 4 legs)

Accommodation

when new info fails to fit into a pre-exist category mind must expand; (kid learns “dog” meows, creates new schema for “cats”)

Sensorimotor Stage

Jean Piaget’s 1st stage of cog. development, birth - 2 years, infants construct understanding of world by relating sense exp. with motor actions

Object Permanence

awareness that objects continue to exist even when they can’t be seen, heard, or touched

Preoperational Stage

Jean Piaget, 2-7 years of age, child learns language but not logic

Egocentrism

preoperational child’s difficulty taking another person’s perspective

Theory of Mind

people’s ideas about their own and others' mental states, and the behaviors these might predict

Concrete Operational Stage

Jean Piaget, 7-11 years old, children gain mental operations that enable them to think logically about concrete events

Conservation

cognitive understanding that certain properties of an obj. remain the same even when its outward looks changes

Attachment

an emotional bond with another person, shown in children by their seeking closeness to the caregiver/distress on separation

Stranger Anxiety

the fear of strangers that infants commonly display, at 8 months of age

Authoritative

a child-rearing style that is both demanding and responsive

Authoritarian

where parents are coercive and impose strict rules, expecting absolute obedience from their children

Permissive

parents make few demands, set few limits, and use little punishment

Neglectful

parents have low responsiveness and low demandingness

Cross-Sectional Study

research that compares people of different ages at the same point in time

Longitudinal Study

a research method that restudies and retests the same people over a long period

Continuity

development is a slow, continuous shaping process; emphasized by psychologists who focus on learning and exp.

Stages

concept of developmental or sequential stages is broken down into specific operational definition across several core chapters

Stability

foundational characteristics, temperament and core personality traits, remain relatively consistent throughout lifespan

Change

personalities and behaviors are malleable and can shift significantly bc of cognitive growth, new relationships, etc.