Chapter 5

Question 1

zygote

Answer 1

the fertilized egg; it enters a 2-week period of rapid cell division and develops into an embryo

Question 2

Developmental Psychology

Answer 2

the branch of psychology that studies the social and mental development of children, a branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive, and social change throughout the life span.

Question 3

embryo

Answer 3

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

Question 4

fetus

Answer 4

the developing human organism from 9 weeks after conception to birth.

Question 5

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

Answer 5

physical and cognitive abnormalities in children caused by a pregnant woman’s heavy drinking. In severe cases, symptoms include noticeable facial misproportions

Question 6

teratogens

Answer 6

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

Question 7

Rooting Reflex

Answer 7

a baby’s tendency, when touched on the cheek, to turn toward the touch, open the mouth, and search for the nipple

Question 8

Maturation

Answer 8

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

Question 9

Schema

Answer 9

a concept or framework that organizes and interprets information

Question 10

Assimilation

Answer 10

interpreting one’s new experience in terms of one’s existing schemas

Question 11

Accommodation

Answer 11

adapting one’s current understandings (schemas) to incorporate new information

Question 12

Cognition

Answer 12

all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating

Question 13

Sensorimotor Stage

Answer 13

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

Question 14

Object Permanence

Answer 14

The awareness that things continue to exist even when not perceived.