psychology 4 Flashcards
a branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive, and social change throughout the life span.
developmental psychology
the fertilized egg; it enters a 2-week period of rapid cell division and develops into an embryo.
zygote
the developing human organism from 9 weeks after conception to birth.
fetus
(literally, “monster maker”) agents, such as toxins, chemicals, and viruses, that can reach the embryo or fetus during prenatal development and cause harm.
teratogens
physical and cognitive abnormalities in children caused by a pregnant woman’s heavy drinking. In severe cases, symptoms include noticeable facial misproportions.
fetal alcohol syndrome
decreasing responsiveness with repeated stimulation. As infants gain familiarity with repeated exposure to a visual stimulus, their interest wanes and they look away sooner.
habituation
biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in behavior, relatively uninfluenced by experience.
maturation
an optimal period early in the life of an organism when exposure to certain stimuli or experiences produces normal developement
critical period
all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating.
congnition
a concept or framework that organizes and interprets information.
schema
interpreting our new experiences in terms of our existing schemas
assimilation
1) In developmental psychology, adapting our current understandings (schemas) to incorporate new information. 2) in sensation and perception, the process by which the eye’s lens changes shape to focus near or far objects on the retina.
accommodation
in Piaget’s theory, the stage (from birth to about 2 years of age) during which infants known the world mostly in terms of their sensory impressions and motor activities.
sensorimotor stage
the awareness that things ontinue to exist even when not percieved.
object permanence
in Piaget’s theory, the stage (from about 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.
preoperational stage