Chapter 10

Question 1

Developmental Psychology

Answer 1

Study of how behavior changes over life

Question 2

Nature

Answer 2

our genetic endowment

Question 3

Nurture

Answer 3

The environments we encounter

Question 4

gene–environment interaction:

Answer 4

In many cases, the effects of genes depend on the envi-ronment and vice versa.

Question 5

nature via nurture

Answer 5

tendency of individuals with certain genetic predispositions to seek out and create environments that permit the expression of those predispositions.

Question 6

gene expression

Answer 6

activation or deactivation of genes by environmental experiences throughout development

Question 7

epigenetics

Answer 7

the study of changes in organisms caused by modification of gene expression rather than alteration of the genetic code itself

Question 8

longitudinal design

Answer 8

research design that examines development in the same group of people on multiple occasions over time

Question 9

cohort effect

Answer 9

effect observed in a sample of participants that results from individuals in the sample growing up at the same time

Question 10

cross-sectional design

Answer 10

research design that examines people of different ages at a single point in time

Question 11

attrition

Answer 11

patients dropping out of a study before its completed

Question 12

poc hoc

Answer 12

reference to the fallacious assumption that the occurrence in question has a logical relationship with the event it

Question 13

post hoc fallacy

Answer 13

easy to assume that things that occur early in development cause things that come later.

Question 14

unidirectional explanations

Answer 14

: those that attempt to explain development in terms of a one-headed arrow.

Question 15

prenatal

Answer 15

prior to birth

Question 16

zygote

Answer 16

fertilized egg

Question 17

blastocyst

Answer 17

ball of identical cells early in pregnancy that haven’t yet begun to take on any specific function in a body part

Question 18

embryo

Answer 18

second to eighth week of prenatal development, during which limbs, facial features, and major organs of the body take form

Question 19

fetus

Answer 19

second to eighth week of prenatal development, during which limbs, facial features, and major organs of the body take form

Question 20

proliferation

Answer 20

Between the 18th day of pregnancy and the end of the 6th month, neurons begin devel-oping at an astronomical rate, a process called

Question 21

3 stage prenatal development

Answer 21

• germinal stage
• embryonic stage
• fetus stage

Question 22

development can be disrupted in four ways

Answer 22

(1) premature birth
(2) low birth weight
(3) exposure to hazardous environmental influences, and (4) biological influences resulting from genetic disorders or errors in cell duplication during cell division

Question 23

teratogenan

Answer 23

environmental factor that can exert a negative impact on prenatal development

Question 24

fetal alcohol syndrome

Answer 24

condition resulting from high levels of prenatal alcohol exposure, causing learning disabilities, physical growth retardation, facial malformations, and behavioral disorders

Question 25

motor behavior

Answer 25

bodily motion that occurs as a result of self-initiated force that moves the bones and muscles

Question 26

adolescence

Answer 26

the transition between childhood and adulthood commonly associated with the teenage years

Question 27

puberty

Answer 27

the achievement of sexual maturation resulting in the potential to reproduce

Question 28

primary sex characteristic

Answer 28

a physical feature such as the reproductive sex organs

Question 29

secondary sex characteristic

Answer 29

a sex-differentiating characteristic that doesn’t relate directly to reproduction, such as breast enlargement in women and deepening voices in men

Question 30

menarche

Answer 30

start of menstruation

Question 31

cognitive development

Answer 31

study of how children acquire the ability to learn, think, reason, communicate, and remember

Question 32

stagelike

Answer 32

changes in understanding (sudden spurts of knowledge following periods of stability)

Question 33

continuous

Answer 33

(gradual, incremental) changes in understanding

Question 34

domain general

Answer 34

changes in children cognitive skills affect most or all areas of cognitive function in tandem.

Question 35

domain specific

Answer 35

children development skills develop independently and at different rates across different domains, such as reasoning, language, and counting.

Question 36

(PIAGET) equilibration

Answer 36

children maintaining a balance between their experience of the world and their understanding of it

Question 37

(PIAGET)children use two processes

Answer 37

—assimilation and accommodation | —to keep their thinking about the world in tune with their experiences

Question 38

assimilation

Answer 38

Piagetian process of absorbing new experience into current knowledge structures

Question 39

accommodation

Answer 39

Piagetian process of altering a belief to make it more compatible with experience

Question 40

scaffolding

Answer 40

Vygotskian learning mechanism in which parents provide initial assistance in children’s learning but gradually remove structure as children become more competent

Question 41

zone of proximal development

Answer 41

phase of learning during which children can benefit from instruction

Question 42

object performance

Answer 42

children don't understand objects still exist when they're out of view

Question 43

theory of mind

Answer 43

ability to reason about what other people know or believe

Question 44

stranger anxiety

Answer 44

a fear of strangers developing at eight or nine months of age

Question 45

temperament

Answer 45

basic emotional style that appears early in development and is largely genetic in origin"

Question 46

attachment

Answer 46

the strong emotional connection we share with those to whom we feel closest

Question 47

contact comfort

Answer 47

positive emotions afforded by touch

Question 48

average expectable environment

Answer 48

"average expectable environment that provides children with basic needs for affection and discipline"

Question 49

self-controlability

Answer 49

to inhibit an impulse to act

Question 50

identity

Answer 50

our sense of who we are, as well as our life goals and priorities

Question 51

psychosocial crisis

Answer 51

dilemma concerning an individual’s relations to other people

Question 52

midlife crisis

Answer 52

supposed phase of adulthood characterized by emotional distress about the aging process and an attempt to regain youth"

Question 53

empty-nest syndrome

Answer 53

alleged period of depression in mothers following the departure of their grown children from the home"