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 zygote | stage in prenatal development from conception to 2 weeks |
| embryo | stage in prenatal development from 2 to 9 weeks, wherein organs and primary sex characteristics begin to develop |
| fetus | stage in prenatal development from 9 weeks to birth |
| teratogens | harmful environmental agents that disrupt proper development (e.g. alcohol) |
| habituation | decreasing responsiveness to an unchanging stimulus; used to assess infant cognition |
| rooting reflex | infant reflex wherein the baby will, when touched on the cheek, turn its head toward the direction of the touch and search for a nipple |
| sucking reflex | when an object is placed in the baby's mouth, he will begin to suck on it |
| grasping reflex | when touched on the palm of the hand, a baby will wrap his fingers tightly around the stimulus |
| Moro reflex | infant startle response; when alarmed, the baby will fling his limbs outward, then retract them and hold them close to his body |
| Babinski reflex | when stroked on the bottom of the foot, a baby will spread its toes |
| Jean Piaget | most famous for his 4-stage model of cognitive development |
| schema | concept or framework that organizes and aids in interpretation of information |
| maturation | physical (or biological) process of growth; believed to occur in mostly universal sequence, though timing varies from individual to individual |
| assimilation | interpreting new information with the context of existing schemas |
| accommodation | adjusting or changing one's schema's to account for new information |
| conservation | principle that certain properties of matter (e.g. mass, volume, number) remain the same despite changes in appearance; exhibited during the concrete operational phase |
| object permanence | awareness that things continue to exist even though they are not perceived; develops at 6-8 months of age |
| sensorimotor | in Piaget's theory, the stage (from birth to 2) during which infants know the world mostly in terms of their impressions and motor activities |
| preoperational | in Piaget's theory, the stage (from about 2 to 6/7) during which a child learns to communicate using symbols (language) but does not demonstrate mental operations of concrete logic. |
| egocentrism | the inability of preoperational children to take the perspective of another |
| animism | belief, often demonstrated by preoperational children, that inanimate objects have thoughts and feelings |
| magical thinking | cognitive feature of preoperational children; unconstrained by adult understandings of reality, they may believe, for example, that it is possible to turn into a racecar |
| theory of mind | people's ideas about their own and others' mental states (about their feelings, perceptions, and thoughts and the behavior these might predict) |
| categorization inability | the inability of preoperational children to group items according to rules or criteria |
| concrete operational | in Piaget's theory, the stage of cognitive development (from 6/7 to 11/12) during which children gain the mental operations that allow them to think logically about real or "concrete" events |
| formal operational | in Piaget's theory, the stage of cognitive development which begins about age 12 and is characterized by the ability to think logically about abstact concepts |
| social development theory | Vygotsky's theory of cognitive development which emphasized the importance of other people (more knowledge others) in our mental growth |
| Lev Vygotsky | most famous for social development theory (of child cognitive development) |
| More Knowledge Other (MKO) | In Vygotsky's theory, another person who possesses expertise and can help you learn something |
| zone of proximal development | In Vygotsky's theory, the context in which learning takes place; the gap between when a child can accomplish with assistance and when he can do something independently |
| stranger anxiety | fear of people other than those with whom the infant is familiar; appears around 8 months and peaks at 13 months |
| attachment | an emotional tie with another person; shown in infants by their seeking closeness with caregivers and displaying distress upon separation |
| critical period | time frame during which exposure to a particular stimulus must take place in order for proper development to occur |
| imprinting | rigid, inflexible attachments demonstrated by some animal species (e.g. ducks, sheep) |
| Konrad Lorenz | Nobel Prize-winning researcher famous for his imprinting studies, and for advocating the study of animals in their natural environments |
| Harry Harlow | presented infant monkeys with a choice between two artificial mothers; the monkeys preferred the warm, cloth mothers to cold ones with food |
| Mary Ainsworth | researcher who described attachment styles in infants as measured by the "strange situation" test |
| secure attachment | demonstrated when infants seem to view their caregiver as a "secure base" for exploration, seeking closeness to him/her and being upset at separation. |
| strange situation | test developed by Mary Ainsworth to assess attachment style in infants |
| anxious attachment | demonstrated by babies who seem constantly afraid of potential separation from the caregiver; they cling to caregivers in strange settings and display intense distress upon separation |
| avoidant attachment | demonstrated by babies who seem to avoid contact and closeness with caregivers |
| basic trust | in Erikson's model, this attitude develops as a result of secure attachment; babies come to view the world as safe & predictable and believe that others will reliably meet their needs |
| Diana Baumrind | researcher who developed a model of parenting styles that included authoritarian, authoritative, and permissive |
| authoritarian | parenting style (in Baumrind's model)characterized by high levels of demandingness and low warmth; they impose rules and expect obedience |
| authoritative | parenting style (in Baumrind's model) characterized by high demandingness and high warmth; these parents explain reasons for rules and are open to negotiation (with older children) |
| permissive | parenting style (in Baumrind's model) characterized by low demandingness and high warmth; they submit to their children's desires, make few rules, and use little punishment |
| primary sex characteristics | body structures that make sexual reproduction possible (ovaries, testes, external genitalia) |
| secondary sex characteristics | nonreproductive sexual characteristics that develop during puberty, such as female breasts and hips, male voice quality and body hair |
| menarche | onset of menstruation; key marker of onset of puberty for females |
| Lawrence Kohlberg | used moral dilemmas to assess moral thinking in children; most well-known for his description of levels of morality (preconventional, conventional, postconventional) |
| preconventional | stage of moral development in which children seek to avoid punishment or gain reward when determining right from wrong |
| conventional | stage of moral development wherein individuals seek to gain social approval or maintain the social order (follow rules and laws) |
| postconventional | stage of moral development wherein individuals use abstract reasoning to determine right from wrong, often by citing agreed-upon rights (e.g. "the right to live") or personal ethical principles |
| Carol Gilligan | offered a feminist critique of Kohlberg's theory, suggesting that it does not reflect a female perspective |
| Jonathon Haidt | countered Kohlberg's theory with "Social Intuitionist" theory; believed we make moral choices based on emotional reactions ("moral feeling") not cold logic |
| trust v. mistrust | 1st stage in Erikson's model; infants must learn to view the world as a predictable, safe place or face a future of guarded skepicism |
| autonomy v. shame & doubt | 2nd stage in Erikson's model; toddlers must be able to exercise some independence or will be ashamed and uncertain of their abilities |
| initiative v. guilt | 3rd stage in Erikson's model; preschoolers must learn to start and direct creative tasks, or they may feel guilty about asserting themselves |
| industry v. inferiority | 4th stage in Erikson's model; children must master the skills valued by their society or feel inferior |
| identity v. role confusion | 5th stage in Erikson's model; adolescents must develop a sense of identity or suffer lack of direction |
| intimacy v. isolation | 6th stage in Erikson's model; young adults must form close, satisfying relationships or suffer loneliness |
| generativity v. stagnation | 7th stage in Erikson's model; in middle age, adults must discover a sense of contributing to the world or they may feel a lack of purpose |
| integrity v. despair | 8th stage in Erikson's model; when reflecting at the end of life, an older adult must feel a sense of satisfaction or experience despair (feelings of having wasted one's life) |
| Erik Erikson | famous for his 8-stage model of psychosocial development; neo-Freudian |
| G. Stanley Hall | founder of the APA; known for his work in developmental psych, particularly for defining adolescence as a period of "storm and stress" |
| emerging adulthood | developmental stage proposed by Jeffrey Arnett; period between adolescence and assumption of typical adult roles (18-29, perhaps?) |
| Alzheimer's disease | progressive and irreversible brain disorder characterized by gradual deterioration of memory, reasoning, language, and physical functioning; linked to deterioration of neurons that produce acetylcholine |
| cross-sectional study | study in which people of different ages are compared with one another |
| crystallized intelligence | one's accumulated knowledge and verbal skills; tends to increase with age |
| fluid intelligence | one's ability to reason speedily and abstactly; tends to decrease during late adulthood |
| social clock | culturally preferred timing of social events such as marriage, parenthood, and retirement |
| Elizabeth Kubler-Ross | wrote influential book "On Death and Dying" that proposed a stage model of grief (denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance) |
| prospective memory | The ability to remember to perform actions in the future; declines with age |
| retrospective memory | involves remembering events from the past or previously learned information; not as vulnerable to age-related declines |