Developmental Psychology

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

Embryo

Answer 2

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

Question 3

Fetus​

Answer 3

The developing human organism from 9 weeks after conception to birth

Question 4

Teratogens​

Answer 4

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

Question 5

fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS)​

Answer 5

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

Question 6

Habituation

Answer 6

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

Question 7

Developmental Psychology​

Answer 7

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

Question 8

Maturation​

Answer 8

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

Question 9

Cognition​

Answer 9

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

Question 10

Schema​

Answer 10

A concept or framework that organizes and interprets information.

Question 11

Assimilation

Answer 11

Interpreting our new experience in terms of our existing schemas.

Question 12

Accommodation

Answer 12

Adapting our current understandings (schemas) to incorporate new information.

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

Question 15

Preoperational Stage

Answer 15

In Piaget’s theory, the stage (from 2 to about 6 or 7 years of age) during which a child learns to use language but does not yet comprehend the mental operations of concrete logic.

Question 16

Conservation

Answer 16

The principle (which Piaget believed to be a part of concrete operational reasoning) that properties such as mass, volume, and number remain the same despite changes in the forms of objects.

Question 17

Egocentrism

Answer 17

In Piaget’s theory, the preoperational child’s difficulty taking another’s point of view.

Question 18

Theory of Mind

Answer 18

People’s ideas about their own and others’ mental states—about their feelings, perceptions, and thoughts, and the behaviors these might predict.

Question 19

Concrete Operational Stage

Answer 19

In Piaget’s theory, the stage of cognitive development (from about 6 or 7 to 11 years of age) during which children gain the mental operations that enable them to think logically about concrete events.

Question 20

Formal Operational Stage​

Answer 20

In Piaget’s theory, the stage of cognitive development (normally beginning about age 12) during which people begin to think logically about abstract concepts.

Question 21

Autism Spectrum Disorder​

Answer 21

A disorder that appears in childhood and is marked by significant deficiencies in communication and social interaction, and by rigidly fixated interests and repetitive behaviors.

Question 22

Stranger Anxiety​

Answer 22

The fear of strangers that infants commonly display, beginning by about 8 months of age.

Question 23

Attachment​

Answer 23

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

Question 24

Critical Period

Answer 24

An optimal period shortly after birth when an organism’s exposure to certain stimuli or experiences produces proper development.

Question 25

Imprinting​

Answer 25

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

Question 26

Temperament

Answer 26

A person’s characteristic emotional reactivity and intensity.

Question 27

Basic Trust​

Answer 27

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.

Question 28

Self-Concept​

Answer 28

All our thoughts and feelings about ourselves, in answer to the question, “Who am I?”

Question 29

X chromosome​

Answer 29

The sex chromosome found in both men and women. Females have two of these; males have one. One chromosome from each parent produces a female child.

Question 30

Y chromosome​

Answer 30

The sex chromosome found only in males. When paired with an X chromosome from the mother, it produces a male child.

Question 31

Estrogen

Answer 31

Sex hormones, such as estradiol, secreted in greater amounts by females than by males and contributing to female sex characteristics. In nonhuman female mammals, estrogen levels peak during ovulation, promoting sexual receptivity

Question 32

Testosterone​

Answer 32

The most important of the male sex hormones. Both males and females have it, but the additional testosterone in males stimulates the growth of the male sex organs in the fetus and the development of the male sex characteristics during puberty.

Question 33

Aggression​

Answer 33

Physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt someone.

Question 34

Gender

Answer 34

Psychological and social characteristics as being male or female, defined especially as one’s gender identity and learned gender roles.

Question 35

Sex

Answer 35

One’s biological aspects of maleness or femaleness.

Question 36

Role​

Answer 36

A set of expectations (norms) about a social position, defining how those in the position ought to behave.

Question 37

Gender Role

Answer 37

A set of expected behaviors for males or for females.

Question 38

Gender Identity​

Answer 38

Our sense of being male or female.

Question 39

Gender Typing

Answer 39

The acquisition of a traditional masculine or feminine role.

Question 40

Androgynous

Answer 40

The presence of both masculine and feminine traits in a single person (as defined by one’s own culture).

Question 41

Social Learning Theory

Answer 41

The theory that we learn social behavior by observing and imitating and by being rewarded or punished.

Question 42

Adolescence

Answer 42

The transition period from childhood to adulthood, extending from puberty to independence.

Question 43

Puberty

Answer 43

The period of sexual maturation, during which a person becomes capable of reproducing.

Question 44

Primary Sex Characteristics

Answer 44

The body structures (ovaries, testes, and external genitalia) that make sexual reproduction possible.

Question 45

Secondary Sex Characteristics

Answer 45

Non-reproductive sexual characteristics, such as female breasts and hips, male voice quality, and body hair.

Question 46

Menarche

Answer 46

The first menstrual period.

Question 47

Identity

Answer 47

Our sense of self; according to Erikson, the adolescent’s task is to solidify a sense of self by testing and integrating various roles.

Question 48

Social Identity

Answer 48

The “we” aspect of our self-concept; the part of our answer to “Who am I?” that comes from our group memberships.

Question 49

Intimacy

Answer 49

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

Question 50

Emerging Adulthood

Answer 50

For some people in modern cultures, a period from the late teens to mid-twenties, bridging the gap between adolescent dependence and full independence and responsible adulthood.

Question 51

AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome)

Answer 51

A life-threatening, sexually transmitted infection caused by the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). AIDS depletes the immune system, leaving the person vulnerable to infections.

Question 52

Sexual Orientation

Answer 52

An enduring sexual attraction toward members of either one’s own sex (homosexual orientation), the other sex (heterosexual orientation), both sexes (bisexual orientation), or neither sex (asexual orientation).

Question 53

Menopause

Answer 53

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

Question 54

Cross-Sectional Study

Answer 54

A study in which people of different ages are compared with one another.

Question 55

Longitudinal Study

Answer 55

Research in which the same people are restudied and retested over a long period.

Question 56

Social Clock

Answer 56

The culturally preferred timing of social events such as marriage, parenthood, and retirement.

Question 57

Crystallized Intelligence

Answer 57

Our accumulated knowledge and verbal skills; tends to increase with age.

Question 58

Fluid Intelligence

Answer 58

Our ability to reason speedily and abstractly; tends to decrease during late adulthood.