Chapter 4 - Development

Question 1

The preference technique

Answer 1

Research technique developed to test an infant’s preference in whether to look at a photograph of its mother or a man.

Question 2

Habituation

Answer 2

The decline in responsiveness to a stimulus that is repeatedly presented

Question 3

Longitudinal design (research)

Answer 3

A research design in which the same people are studied or tested repeatedly over time.

Question 4

Cross-sectional design (research)

Answer 4

A research design in which people of different ages are compared at the same time.

Question 5

Pros/cons of Longitudinal deign research

Answer 5

Pro: can examine changes in individuals
Cons: cost-intensive; participant loss over time

Question 6

Pros/cons of cross-sectional design research

Answer 6

Pro: faster, more practical than longitudinal
Cons: other variables may be confounded with age

Question 7

Schemata

Answer 7

Mental models of the world that we use to guide and interpret our experiences

Question 8

Assimilation

Answer 8

The process through which we fit - or assimilate - new experiences into existing schemata.

Question 9

Accommodation

Answer 9

The process through which we change or modify existing schemata to accommodate new experiences.

Question 10

List Piaget’s 4 stages of cognitive development

Answer 10

Sensorimotor
Preoperational
Concrete operational
Formal operational

Question 11

Teratogens

Answer 11

Environmental agents - such as drugs - that can potentially damage the developing embryo or fetus

Question 12

Sensorimotor period

Answer 12

Piaget’s first stage of cognitive development, lasting from birth to about 2 years old; schemata revolve around sensory and motor abilities
Lack object permanence

Question 13

Object permanence

Answer 13

The ability to recognize that objects still exist when they’re no longer in sight

Question 14

Preoperational period

Answer 14

Piaget’s second stage of cognitive development, leading from ages 2 to about 7
Children begin to think symbolically but often lack the ability to perform mental operations such as conversation.

Question 15

Principle of conservation

Answer 15

The ability to recognize that the physical properties of an object remain the same despite superficial changes in the object’s appearance.

Question 16

Preoperational period

Answer 16

Piaget’s second stage of cognitive development, leading from ages 2 to about 7
Children begin to think symbolically but often lack the ability to perform mental operations such as conversation.

Question 17

Principle of conservation

Answer 17

The ability to recognize that the physical properties of an object remain the same despite superficial changes in the object’s appearance.

Question 18

Egocentrism

Answer 18

The tendency to see the world from one’s own perspective only
A characteristic of thinking in the preoperational period of development

Question 19

Concrete operational period

Answer 19

Piaget’s third stage of cognitive development, lasting from ages 7 to 11.
Children acquire the capacity to perform a number of mental operations but still lack the ability for abstract reasoning.

Question 20

Formal operational period

Answer 20

Piaget’s last stage of cognitive development

Though processes become adult like and people gain mastery of abstract thinking

Question 21

Preconventional period

Answer 21

In Kohlberg’s theory, the lowest level of moral development, in which decisions about moral right and wrong are made primarily in tens of external consequences.

Question 22

Conventional level

Answer 22

In Kohlberg’s theory of moral development, the stage in which actions are judged to be right or wrong based on whether they maintain or disrupt the social order

Question 23

Postconventional level

Answer 23

Kohlberg’s highest level of moral development, in which moral actions are judged on the basis of a personal code of ethics that is general and abstract and that may not agree with societal norms

Question 24

Attachments

Answer 24

Strong emotional ties formed to one or more intimate companions

Question 25

Temperament

Answer 25

A child’s general level of emotional reactivity

Question 26

Strange situation test

Answer 26

Gradually subjecting a child to a stressful situation and observing his or her behavior toward the parent or caregiver. This test is used to classify children according to type of attachment - secure, resistant, avoidant, or disorganized/disoriented.