 | Term | Definition |
| |
zygote |
fertilized egg; enters 2 week period of rapid cell division |
| |
embryo |
developing human organism from about 2 weeks after fertilization through the second month |
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fetus |
developing human organism from 9 weeks after conception to birth |
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teratogens |
agents, such as chemicals and viruses, that can reach the embryo or fetus during prenatal development and cause harm |
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fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) |
physical and cognitive abnormalities in children caused by a pregnant woman's heavy drinking; causes facial misproportions |
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rooting reflex |
baby's tendency, when touched on the cheek, to turn toward the touch, open the mouth, and search for the nipple |
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habituation |
decreasing responsiveness with repeated stimulation; visual stimulus wanes and they look away sooner |
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maturation |
biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in behavior |
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schema |
concept or framework that organizes and interprets information |
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assimilation |
interpreting one's new experience in terms of one's existing schemas (149) |
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accommodation |
adapting one's current understandings (schemas) to incorporate new information |
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cognition |
all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and comunicating |
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sensorimotor stage |
in Piaget's theory, stage (from birth to 2 years) during which infants know the world mostly in terms of sensory impressions |
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object permanance |
awareness that things continue to exist even when not perceived |
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preoperational stage |
Piaget's theory, the stage (2 to 6/7 years of age) during which a child learns to use language but does not yet comprehend the mental operations of concrete logic |
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conservation |
principle (a part of Piaget's concrete operational reasoning), that properties such as mass, volume, and number remain the same despite changes |
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egocentrism |
in Piaget's theory, the preoperational child's difficulty taking another's point of view |
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theory of mind |
people's ideas about their own and other's mental states |
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autism |
disorder that appears in childhood and is marked by deficient communication, social interaction, and understanding of others' states of minds |
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concrete operation |
in Piaget's theory, stage of cognitive development (6/7 to 11 years of age) during which children gain the mental operations that enable them to think logically about concrete events |
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formal operational stage |
Piaget's theory, stage of cognitive development (beginning at 12) during which people begin to think logically about abstract concepts |
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stranger anxiety |
fear of strangers that infants commonly display, beginning by about 8 months of age |
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attachment |
emotional tie with another persion |
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critical period |
optimal period shortly after birth when an organism's exposure to certain stimuli or experiences produces proper development |
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imprinting |
process by which certain animals form attachments during a critical period very early in life |
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basic trust |
according to Erik Erickson, a sense that the world is predictable and trustworthy |
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self-concept |
sense of one's identity and personal worth |
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adolescence |
transition period from childhood to adulthood, extending from puberty to independence |
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puberty |
period of sexual maturation, during which a person becomes capable of reproducing |
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primary sex characteristics |
body structures (ovaries, testes, external genitalia) that make sexual reproduction possible |
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secondary sex characteristics |
nonproductive sexual characteristics, such as female breasts and hips, male voice quality, and body hair |
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menarche |
first menstrual period |
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identity |
one's sense of self |
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intimacy |
Erikson's theory; ability to form close, loving relationships |
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menopause |
time of natural cessation of menstruation |
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Alzheimer's disease |
progressive and irreversible brain disorder characterized by gradual deterioration of memory, reasoning, language, and physical functioning |
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cross-sectional study |
study in which people of different ages are compared with one another |
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longitudinal study |
research in which the same people are restudied and retested over a long period |
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crystallized intelligence |
one's accumulated knowledge and verbal skills; tends to increase with age |
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fluid intelligence |
one's ability to reason speedily and abstractly; tends to decrease with age |
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social clock |
the culturally preferred timing of social events such as marriage, parenthood, and retirement |
