Psych Development

A branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive and social change throughout the life span.

The fertilized egg; it enters a two week period of rapid cell division and developes into an embryo.

The developing human organism from about 2 weeks after fertilization through the second month.

The developing himan organism from 9 weeks after conception to birth.

Agents such as chemicals and viruses, that can reach the embryo or fetus during prenatal development and cause harm.

Psysical and cognitive abnormalities in children cause by a pregnant woman;s heavy drinking. In severe cases, symptoms include noticable facial misproportions.

a baby's tendancym when touched on the cheek, to turn toward the touch, open the mouth and search for the nipple.

Decreasing responsiveness with repeated stimulation. As infants gain familiarity with repeated exposure to a visual stimulus, their interest wanes and they look away sooner.

Biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in behavior, relatively uninfluenced by experience.

A concept or framework that organizes and interprets information

Sensorimotor: Experiences the world through senses and actions...Object permanence and stranger anxiety.

Preoperational.... representing things with words and images; use intuitive rather than logical reasoning... Pretend play

Concrete operational: thinking logically about concrete events; grasping concrete analogies and performing arithmetical operations...Conservation. Math

Formal operation: abstract reasoning...Abstract logic, potential for mature moral reasoning

Interpreting one's NEW experience in terms of one's EXISTING schemas....Interpret information by means of established schemas

Adapting one's CURRENT understandings (Schemas) to incorporate NEW information.... Adjust a schema to incorporate new information

All the mental activitues associated with thinking, knowing, remembering and communicating.

In Piaget's theory, (Birth to about 2 yrs old) during which infants know the world mostly in terms of their sensory impressions and motor activities.

The awareness that things contins to exist even when not percieved.

2-7 yrs...stage during which a child learns to use language but does not yet comprehend the mental operations of concrete logic.

The principal that properties such as mass, volume and number remain the same despite changes in the forms of objects.

The preoperational child's difficulty taking another's point of view

People's ideas about their own and other's mental states-about their feelings, perceptions, and thoughts and the behavior these might predict.

Stage of cognitive developement from 6 to 11 yrs during which children gain the mental operations that enable them to think logically about concrete events.

Stage of cognitive development starting at age 12 during which people begin to think logically about abstract concepts.

The fear of strangers that infants commonly display, begininngin 8 months of age.

An emotional tie with another person; seen in young children by their seeking closeness to the caregiver and showing distress on separation

An optimal period shortly after birth when an organisms exposure to certain stimuli or experiences produces proper development

The process by which certain animals form attachments during a critical period very early in life.

According to Erik Erikson, a sense that the world is predictable and trustworthy; said to be formed during infancy by appropriate experiences with responsive caregivers

A sense of one's identity and personal worth

The first menstrual period

One's sense of self; according to Erikson, the adolescents task is to solidify a sense of self by testing and integrating various roles

in Erikson's theory, the ability to form close, loving relationships; a primary developmental task in late adolescence and early adulthood.

The time of natural cessation of menstruation; also refers to the biological changes a woman experiences as her ability to reproduce declines.

Parents impose harsh rules and expect obedience.

parents submit to their children;s desires, make few demands and use little punishment

Parents are demanding and responsive. Exert control not only by setting rules and enforcing them but also by explaining the reasons and, especially with older children, encouraging open discussion and alloing exceptions when making rules.

Because of infantile amnesia. The brain can't remember things that happened before age of 3.

Piaget proposed that children's reasoning developes in a series of stages, and that children actively construct and modify their understanding of the world as they interact with it. Psychologists currently believe that cognitive development is more continuous, with stages starting earlier and less abruptly

As moral development progresses, you become less ecocentric and self centered, to the wider social world

A study in which people of different ages are compared with one another...Suggested that intelligence declines steadily after early adulthood, but it's flawed because it doesn't consider generational differences in education and other life experiences.

Research in which the same people are restudied and retested over a long period...Suggested intelligence was stable until very late in life. Failed to account those who dropped out of studies, so the dummies may have gone and all that's left are the smart ones.

One's accumulated knowledge and verbal skills; tends to increase with age...Doesn't decline in later life

One's ability to reason speedily and abstractly; tends to decrease during late adulthood

Life crises are triggered by major events (mid-life crisis, divorce) or chance occurences (meeting future life partner) rather than predictable stages. The social clock (the "right-time" for things to happen) varies from place to place and from time to time