Developmental psychology	A branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive, and social-emotional development throughout the lifespan
Stability	The concept, in developmental psychology, that we retain many of the traits that shape our identities throughout our lives
Change	The concept, in developmental psychology, that the traits that shape our identities evolve over our lifetimes
Nature	The idea that our behaviors and thoughts are a result of “inborn” factors like our genetic makeup
Nurture	The idea that our behaviors and thoughts are a result of our sensations of the world around us
Continuity (continuous stages of development)	The concept, in developmental psychology, that sees maturation as a gradual process where changes happen steadily over time
Discontinuity (discontinuous stages of development)	The concept, in developmental psychology, that emphasizes distinct steps in the maturation process, with significant changes happening between those stages
Cross-sectional study	Research that compares people of different ages at the same point in time
Longitudinal study	Research that follows and retests the same people over time

Teratogens	Agents, such as chemicals and viruses, that can reach the embryo or fetus during prenatal development and cause harm
Maternal illnesses	Illnesses, or symptoms of illness like severe fever, that affect the fetal environment and can impact prenatal development
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome	Physical and cognitive function deficits in children caused by their birth mothers’ heavy drinking during pregnancy. In severe cases, symptoms include a small, out-of-proportion head and distinct facial features.
Genetic mutations	A permanent change in an organism's DNA sequence, which can alter the genetic information, affect fetal development, and potentially lead to changes in observable traits or behaviors
Maturation	Biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in behavior, relatively uninfluenced by experience
Rooting	A reflex movement that comes naturally to most newborns, where stimulation of the cheek leads the baby to turn its head in search of food (like its mother’s nipple)
Critical period	An optimal period early in the life of an organism when exposure to certain stimuli or experiencers produces normal development; without exposure during this time, the development will be unlikely to occur later
Sensitive period	Period of time during which exposure to a specific environmental condition (or lack of exposure) has the potential for the greatest influence; development can occur after the sensitive period, but it is more difficult
Gross motor skills	Movements involving large muscles body structures (like hips and legs)
Fine motors skills	Movements involving the small muscles and body structures (like fingertips
Adolescence	The transition period from childhood to adulthood, extending from puberty to independence
Puberty	The period of sexual maturation, during which a person usually becomes capable of reproducing
Primary sex characteristics	The body structures (ovaries, testes, and external genitalia) that make sexual reproduction possible
Secondary sex characteristics	Nonreproductive sexual characteristics, such as female breasts and hips, male voice quality, and body hair
Menarche	The first menstrual period
Spermarche	Start of sperm production
Menopause	The time of natural cessation of menstruation; also refers to the biological changes a woman experiences as her ability to reproduce declines

Sex	In psychology, the biologically influenced characteristics by which people define male, female, and intersex
Intersex	Possessing male and female sexual characteristics at birth
Gender	In psychology, the attitudes, feelings, and behaviors that a given culture associates with a person’s biological sex
Gender role	A set of expected behaviors, attitudes, and traits for men and women
Gender identity	Our personal sense of being male, female, neither, or some combination of male and female, regardless of the whether this identity matches our sex assigned at birth, and the social affiliation that may result from this identity
Androgyny	Blending traditional masculine and traditionally feminine psychological characteristics
Transgender	When a person’s personal identity of gender does not correspond with their birth sex.
Sexual orientation	A person’s sexual and emotional attraction to another person and the behavior and/or social affiliation that may result from this attraction

Cognition	All the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating
Jean Piaget	Swiss psychologist (1896-1980) who proposed theories of children's cognitive stage development
Schema	A concept, developed through experience and learning, that helps to organize and interpret unfamiliar information
Assimilation	Interpreting our new experiences in terms of our existing schemas; tying new knowledge into our current understandings
Accommodation	Adapting our current schemas to incorporate new knowledge
Sensorimotor stage	In Piaget’s theory, the stage (from birth to about 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 2 to about 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
Reversibility	A mental operation that reverses a sequence of events or restores a changed state of affairs to the original condition
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 6 or 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
Lev Vygotsky	Russian (1896-1934) psychologist who emphasized how cognitive development happens through interaction with the surrounding social-cultural environment
Scaffold	In Vygotsky’s theory, a framework that offers children temporary support as they develop higher levels of learning
Zone of proximal development	Vygotsky’s concept that describes the gap between what a learner can do independently and what they can achieve with guidance from a more knowledgeable person
Fluid intelligence (Gf)	Out ability to reason speedily and abstractly with new information; tends to decrease with age, especially during late adulthood
Crystallized intelligence (Gc)	Our accumulated knowledge and verbal skills; tends to increase with age
Dementia	A chronic and persistent disorder that deteriorates parts of the brain responsible for thinking, memory, and behavior

Psych Vocab Quiz 3.1-3.4