AP Psych Developmental Psychology

Terms	Definitions
developmental psychology	a branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive, and social change throughout the life span
zygote	the fertilized egg; it enters a 2-week period of rapid cell division and develops into an embryo
embryo	the developing human organism from about 2 weeks after fertilization through the second month
fetus	the developing human organism from 9 weeks after conception to birth
teratogens	agents, such as chemicals and viruses, that can reach the embryo or fetus during prenatal development and cause harm
(FAS) fetal alcohol syndrome	physical and cognitive abnormalities in children caused by a pregnant woman's heavy drinking. In severe cases, symptoms include noticeable facial misproportions.
habituation	decreasing responsiveness with repeated stimulation. As infants gain familiarity with repeated exposure to a visual stimulus, their interest wanes and they look away sooner.
maturation	biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in behavior, relatively uninfluenced by experience
cognition	all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating
schema	a concept of framework that organizes and interprets information
assimilation	interpreting our new experiences in terms of our existing schemas
accommodation	adapting our current understandings (schemas) to incorporate new information
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 about 2 to 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
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.