Introduction to Psychology - Chapter 5: Developing Through the Lifespan

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering developmental psychology across the entire lifespan, including prenatal stages, infancy, cognitive and physical milestones, attachment styles, adolescence, and adulthood.

Longitudinal Studies

A developmental research method in which the same group of individuals is observed and assessed repeatedly across multiple points in time.

Cross-Sectional Studies

A developmental research method in which different groups of people of varying ages are tested and compared at a single point in time.

Behavioral Genetics

The scientific study of the interplay between heredity (nature) and environmental influences (nurture) on human development.

Heritability

The proportion of variation among individuals within a population that can be attributed to genetic differences.

Physical Development

The developmental domain encompassing bodily growth, changes in brain structure, sensory and motor skills, and hormone fluctuations throughout life.

Cognitive Development

The developmental domain focused on how mental processes, intellectual capabilities, thinking, and communication change across the lifespan.

Socio-Emotional Development

The developmental domain involving changes in how individuals understand themselves, interact with others, and experience or regulate emotions.

Germinal Period

The initial prenatal stage spanning weeks $1$ to $2$, beginning when egg and sperm unite into a zygote, divide rapidly, travel down the fallopian tube, and implant into the uterine wall as the placenta develops.

Embryonic Period

The prenatal stage spanning weeks $3$ to $8$ that is most critical for the formation of major organs and body systems, marked by the growth of the amniotic sac, umbilical cord, and neural tube.

Ectoderm

The outermost embryonic cell layer that develops into hair, the outer layer of the skin, and the central nervous system.

Mesoderm

The middle embryonic cell layer that forms the body's muscles, bones, and circulatory system.

Endoderm

The innermost embryonic cell layer that gives rise to the digestive system and lungs.

Cephalocaudal Principle

The developmental pattern stating that structures and growth near the head develop earlier than structures closer to the feet.

Proximodistal Principle

The developmental pattern stating that structures situated near the center of the body develop earlier than peripheral extremities.

Fetal Period

The final prenatal period extending from week $9$ to $38+$ weeks, during which organs begin functioning (muscles function by week $16$), weight increases from $4\text{ ounces}$ to $6+\text{ pounds}$, and brain regions, hair, eyelashes, fingernails, and sex organs develop.

Age of Viability

The gestational threshold at approximately $28\text{ weeks}$ when a fetus can survive outside the womb, though its lungs are underdeveloped and it cannot independently regulate body temperature.

Preterm Birth

A live birth occurring before $37\text{ weeks}$ of gestation, which elevates the risk for physical and intellectual disabilities.

Teratogen

Any external agent—such as drugs, maternal diseases, or environmental hazards and toxins—that impairs prenatal development and causes structural or functional birth defects.

APGAR Method

A standardized newborn assessment measuring five vital signs (breathing, heart rate, muscle tone, skin tone, reflexes) scored $0$ to $2$, where total scores of $\ge 7$ indicate good physical condition, $4$-$6$ signify special attention is needed, and $\le 3$ require emergency medical care.

Rooting Reflex

An innate newborn reflex where the infant turns its head and opens its mouth in response to a stroke on its cheek.

Sucking Reflex

An infantile survival reflex in which the infant automatically begins sucking when an object is placed inside its mouth.

Palmar Reflex

An involuntary neonatal response where the infant firmly grasps any object placed against the palm of its hand.

Babinski Reflex

A newborn reflex where the infant's toes fan upward and outward when the sole of the foot is stroked from heel to toe.

Moro Reflex

A startle response in infants where the arms are thrown outwards and then pulled inward in reaction to a loud noise or the sudden sensation of dropping the head.

Synaptic Pruning

The developmental neurological process beginning around $12\text{ months}$ of age wherein the brain eliminates redundant or unused synaptic connections under a 'use it or lose it' rule.

Schema

A cognitive mental structure or concept constructed from experience to organize, categorize, and interpret incoming information.

Assimilation

The cognitive process of incorporating new experiences and knowledge into existing schemas without requiring any alteration of the schema itself.

Accommodation

The cognitive process of modifying an existing schema or creating an entirely new one to fit new, discrepant information.

Sensorimotor Stage

Jean Piaget's first stage of cognitive development (birth to $2\text{ years}$), where infants acquire knowledge through physical sensation and motor manipulation, developing object permanence at approximately $9\text{ months}$ and stranger anxiety at $8$-$9\text{ months}$.

Object Permanence

The cognitive awareness that objects continue to exist even when they are hidden from sight, typically emerging around $9\text{ months}$ of age.

Preoperational Stage

Jean Piaget's second cognitive stage (ages $2$ to $7\text{ years}$), characterized by the rise of symbolic thought, rapid language acquisition, and pretend play, but limited by egocentrism, centration, and animism.

Centration

A cognitive limitation of the preoperational stage characterized by the tendency to focus on only one salient dimension of a problem while ignoring other critical properties, leading to a failure of conservation.

Animism

The cognitive belief characteristic of Piaget's preoperational stage that inanimate objects possess lifelike qualities, intentions, and conscious desires.

Concrete Operational Stage

Jean Piaget's third stage (ages $7$ to $12\text{ years}$), during which children comprehend reversible mental operations and classify objects across multiple criteria, but remain unable to reason about abstract or hypothetical problems.

Formal Operational Stage

Jean Piaget's final cognitive stage (ages $12+\text{ years}$), characterized by the capacity for abstract thought, systematic problem-solving strategies, and hypothetical-deductive reasoning.

Rouge Test

An experimental self-awareness test where rouge is placed on a child's face; children younger than $12\text{ months}$ do not react, $12\text{-month-olds}$ touch the mirror reflection, and by $18\text{ months}$ children demonstrate self-recognition by touching the spot directly on their own face.

Theory of Mind

The cognitive understanding of the relations between thoughts, beliefs, intentions, and behavior, progressing from recognizing desires at age $2$, to distinguishing the mental world from reality at age $3$, to understanding that beliefs drive behavior and can be mistaken at age $4$.

False Belief Task

A standard experimental test for theory of mind that determines whether a child recognizes that another person can hold beliefs contrary to reality; typically failed by $3\text{-year-olds}$ and passed by $5\text{-year-olds}$.

Harlows' Surrogate Mother Experiment

Harry and Margaret Harlow's classic study demonstrating that infant rhesus monkeys prioritize contact comfort over food, choosing a soft terrycloth surrogate mother lacking milk as a secure base over a wire surrogate mother providing milk.

The Strange Situation

Mary Ainsworth's standardized observational paradigm used to evaluate infant-caregiver attachment styles by observing the child's behaviors during caregiver separation and reunion episodes.

Secure Attachment

An infant attachment style characterized by distress upon separation from the caregiver and readily seeking and receiving comfort upon reunion, predicting stronger peer relationships and smoother life transitions in adulthood.

Avoidant Attachment

An attachment style in which the infant shows minimal distress during separation and avoids, ignores, or maintains distance from the caregiver upon reunion, often leading to distant adult relationships.

Anxious Attachment

An attachment style (also termed resistant) characterized by intense separation distress and clinging or ambivalence upon reunion; in adulthood, it manifests as craving intimacy while hyper-vigilantly scanning for rejection.

Primary Sex Characteristics

The internal and external reproductive organs directly involved in biological reproduction that mature during puberty.

Secondary Sex Characteristics

Non-reproductive physical indicators of sexual maturity that emerge during puberty, such as shifts in body fat and muscle distribution, facial and body hair, and voice deepening.

Preconventional Morality

Lawrence Kohlberg's initial level of moral development where moral choices are judged entirely by self-interest and immediate external consequences, such as obtaining rewards or avoiding punishment.

Conventional Morality

Lawrence Kohlberg's second level of moral development where moral decisions are based on upholding societal laws, duty, and seeking the social approval or avoiding the disapproval of others.

Postconventional Morality

Lawrence Kohlberg's highest level of moral reasoning where decisions are grounded in abstract universal principles of justice and human rights, recognizing situational nuances and shades of gray.

Personal Fable

An adolescent egocentric cognitive pattern characterized by the belief that one's own experiences, feelings, and thoughts are uniquely special and incomprehensible to anyone else.

Imaginary Audience

An aspect of adolescent egocentrism involving the strong conviction that an audience of peers is constantly watching, scrutinizing, and judging one's appearance and actions.

Illusion of Invulnerability

The belief common during adolescent egocentrism that misfortune, accidents, or the dangers associated with risky behaviors only happen to others and cannot affect oneself.

Marcia's Identity Statuses

James Marcia's framework conceptualizing adolescent identity formation across two cross-cutting dimensions: exploration of identity alternatives and commitment to a life path.

Identity Diffusion

James Marcia's identity status characterized by low exploration and low commitment, where an individual has not explored future paths nor established a firm identity.

Identity Foreclosure

James Marcia's identity status marked by low exploration and high commitment, occurring when an individual commits to an identity or career prescribed by parents without independent evaluation.

Identity Moratorium

James Marcia's identity status defined by high exploration and low commitment, in which an individual is actively investigating various roles, beliefs, and values without having settled into definitive commitments.

Identity Achievement

James Marcia's identity status defined by high exploration and high commitment, reached after an individual has evaluated various alternative pathways and autonomously committed to an identity.

Emerging Adulthood

The transitional life stage spanning age $18$ to the mid-$20\text{s}$ where individuals explore adult roles while still remaining partially dependent on parents for health insurance, tax dependency, or financial support.

Tip-of-the-Tongue Phenomenon

A temporary retrieval failure increasingly common in aging adults where a person has a strong subjective sensation of knowing a specific piece of information or word but is unable to immediately retrieve it.

Generativity

Erik Erikson's primary psychosocial focus during middle adulthood (ages $40$ to $65$), centered on guiding, mentoring, and contributing positively to younger generations.

Integrity

Erik Erikson's primary psychosocial focus in late adulthood (age $60+$), centered on reflecting back on life with feelings of fulfillment, acceptance, and minimal regret.