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PSCI 112D > Exam 1 Vocab > Flashcards

Exam 1 Vocab Flashcards

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1
Q

adolescence

A

the stage of development that begins with puberty, and ends when individuals make the transition into adult roles, roughly speaking, from about age 10 until the early 20s.

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2
Q

early adolescence

A

the period spanning roughly ages 10 to 13, corresponding roughly to the junior high or middle school years.

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3
Q

middle adolescence

A

the period spanning roughly ages 14 to 17, corresponding to the high school years.

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4
Q

late adolescence

A

the period spanning roughly ages 18-21, corresponding approximately to the college years.

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5
Q

emerging adulthood

A

the period spanning roughly ages 18 to 25, during which individuals make the transition from adolescence to adulthood.

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6
Q

puberty

A

the biological changes of adolescence.

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7
Q

rite of passage

A

a ceremony or ritual marking an individual’s transition from one social status to another, especially making the young person’s transition to adulthood.

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8
Q

psychosocial

A

referring to aspects of development that are both psychological and social in nature, such as developing a sense of identity or sexuality.

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9
Q

identity

A

the domain of psychosocial development involving self-conceptions, self-esteem, and the sense of who one is.

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10
Q

autonomy

A

the psychosocial domain concerning the development and expression of independence.

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11
Q

intimacy

A

the psychosocial domain concerning the formation, maintenance, and termination of close relationships.

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12
Q

sexuality

A

the psychosocial domain concerning the development and expression of sexual feelings.

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13
Q

achievement

A

the psychosocial domain concerning behaviors and feelings in evaluative situations.

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14
Q

endocrine system

A

the system of the body that produces, circulates, and regulates hormones.

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15
Q

hormones

A

highly specialized substances secreted by one or more endocrine glands.

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16
Q

glands

A

organs that stimulate particular parts of the body to respond in specific ways to particular hormones.

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17
Q

gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) neurons

A

specialized neurons that are activated by certain pubertal hormones.

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18
Q

set point

A

a physiological level or setting (e.g., of a specific hormone) that the body attempts to maintain through a self-regulating system.

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19
Q

feedback loop

A

a cycle through which two or more bodily functions respond to and regulate each other, such as that formed by the hypothalamus, the pituitary gland, and the gonads.

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20
Q

pituitary gland

A

one of the chief glands responsible for regulating levels of hormones in the body.

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21
Q

hypothalamus

A

a part of the brain that controls the functioning of the pituitary gland.

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22
Q

gonads

A

the glands that secrete sex hormones: in males, the testes; in females, the ovaries.

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23
Q

testes

A

the male gonads.

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24
Q

ovaries

A

the female gonads.

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25
androgens
a class of sex hormones secreted by the gonads, found in both sexes but in higher levels among males than females following puberty.
26
estrogens
a class of sex hormones secreted by the gonads, found in both sexes but in higher levels among females than males following puberty.
27
adrenarche
the maturation of the adrenal glands that takes place during adolescence.
28
cortisol
a hormone produced when a person is exposed to stress.
29
kisspeptin
a brain chemical believed to trigger the onset of puberty.
30
leptin
a protein produced by the fat cells that may play a role in the onset of puberty through its impact on kisspeptin.
31
melatonin
a hormone secreted by the brain that contributes to sleepiness and that triggers the onset of puberty through its impact on kisspeptin
32
adolescent growth spurt
the dramatic increase in height and weight that occurs during puberty.
33
epiphysis
the closing of the ends of the bones, which terminates growth after the adolescent growth spurt has been completed.
34
secondary sex characteristics
the manifestation of sexual maturity at puberty, including the development of breasts, the growth of facial and body hair, and changes in the voice.
35
Tanner stages
a widely used system that describes the five stages of pubertal development.
36
menarche
the time of first menstruation, one of the most important changes to occur among females during puberty.
37
pheremones
a class of chemicals secreted by animals that stimulate certain behaviors in other members of the species.
38
secular trend
the tendency, over the past two centuries, for individuals to be larger in stature and to reach puberty earlier, primarily because of improvements in health and nutrition.
39
delayed phase preference
a pattern of sleep characterized by later sleep and wake times, which usually emerges during puberty.
40
basal metabolism rate
the minimal amount of energy used by the body during resting state.
41
body mass index (BMI)
a measure of an individual's body fat, the ratio of weight to height; used to gauge overweight and obesity.
42
disordered eating
mild, moderate, or severe disturbances in eating habits and attitudes.
43
anorexia nervosa
an eating disorder found chiefly among young women, characterized by dramatic and severe self-induced weight loss.
44
bulimia
an eating disorder found primarily among young women, characterized by a pattern of binge eating and extreme weight-loss measures, including self-induced vomiting.
45
binge eating disorder
an eating disorder characterized by a pattern of binge eating that is not accompanied by drastic attempts to lose weight.
46
metacognition
the process of thinking about thinking itself.
47
adolescent egocentrism
extreme self-absorption, often a consequence of too much "thinking about thinking."
48
imaginary audience
the belief, often brought on by the heightened self-consciousness of early adolescence, that everyone is watching and evaluating one's behavior.
49
personal fable
an adolescent's belief that he or she is unique and therefore not subject to the rules that govern other people's behavior.
50
cognitive-developmental view
a perspective on development, based on the work of Piaget, that takes a qualitative, stage-theory approach.
51
sensorimotor period
the first stage of cognitive development, according to Piaget, spanning the period roughly between birth and age 2.
52
preoperational period
the second stage of cognitive development, according to Piaget, spanning roughly ages 2 to 5.
53
concrete operations
the third stage of cognitive development, according to Piaget, spanning the period roughly between age 6 and early adolescence.
54
formal operations
the fourth stage of cognitive development, according to Piaget, spanning the period from early adolescence through adulthood.
55
information-processing perspective
a perspective on cognition that derives from the study of artificial intelligence and attempts to explain cognitive development in terms of growth of specific components of the thinking process (such as memory).
56
selective attention
the process by which we focus on one stimulus while tuning out another.
57
divided attention
the process of paying attention to two or more stimuli at the same time.
58
working memory
that aspect of memory in which information is held for a short time while a problem is being solved.
59
long-term memory
the ability to recall something from a long time ago.
60
autobiographical memory
the recall of personally meaningful past events.
61
reminiscence bump
the fact that experiences from adolescence are generally recalled more than experiences from other stages of life.
62
functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)
a technique used to produce images of the brain, often while the subject is performing some sort of mental task
63
diffusion tensor imaging (DTI)
a technique used to produce images of the brain that shows connections among different regions.
64
brain structure
the physical form and organization of the brain.
65
brain function
patterns of brain activity.
66
neurons
nerve cells.
67
synapse
the gap in space between neurons, across which transmitters carry electrical impulses.
68
neurotransmitters
specialized chemicals that carry electrical impulses between neurons.
69
synaptic pruning
the process through which unnecessary connections between neurons are eliminated, improving the efficiency of information processing.
70
myelination
the process through which brain circuits are insulated with myelin, which improves the efficiency of information processing.
71
plasticity
the capacity of the brain to change in response to experience.
72
developmental plasticity
extensive remodeling of the brain's circuitry in response to experiences during childhood and adolescence, while the brain is still maturing.
73
adult plasticity
relatively minor changes in brain circuits as a result of experiences during adulthood, after the brain has matured.
74
prefrontal cortex
the region of the brain most important for sophisticated thinking abilities, such as planning, thinking ahead, weighing risks and rewards, and controlling impulses.
75
dorsolateral prefrontal cortex
an area of the prefrontal cortex in charge of planning ahead and controlling impulses.
76
ventromedial prefrontal cortex
an area of the prefrontal cortex that plays an important role in gut-level decision making.
77
orbitofrontal cortex
an area of the frontal lobe that plays an important role in risk and reward.
78
limbic system
an area of the brain that plays an important role in the processing of emotional experience, social information, and reward and punishment.
79
response inhibition
the suppression of a behavior that is inappropriate or no longer required.
80
executive function
more advanced thinking abilities, enabled chiefly by the maturation of the prefrontal cortex, especially in early adolescence.
81
functional connectivity
the extent to which multiple brain regions function at the same time, which improves during adolescence.
82
dopamine
a neurotransmitter especially important in the brain circuits that regulate the experience of reward.
83
serotonin
a neurotransmitter that is especially important for the experience of different moods.
84
positive risk taking
risk taking that promotes healthy psychological development.
85
zone of proximal development
in Vygotsky's theory, the level of challenge that is still within the individual's reach but that forces an individual to develop more advanced skills.
86
scaffolding
structuring a learning situation so that it is just within the reach of the student.
87
social cognition
the aspect of cognition that concerns thinking about other people, about interpersonal relations, and about social institutions.
88
mentalizing
the ability to understand someone else's mental state.
89
theory of mind
the ability to understand that others have beliefs, intentions, and knowledge that may be different from one's own.
90
social conventions
the norms that govern everyday behavior in social situations.
91
behavioral decision theory
an approach to understanding adolescent risk taking, in which behaviors are seen as the outcome of systematic decision-making processes.
92
sensation seeking
the pursuit of experiences that are novel or exciting.

PSCI 112D (3 decks)

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