Unit 9

Question 1

Developmental Psychology

Answer 1

Branch of psychology that studied physical, cognitive, and social change throughout life span.

-study of physical, cognitive, and social change.

Question 2

Zygote

Answer 2

Fertilized egg; enters two week period of rapid cell division and develops into an embryo.

Question 3

Embryo

Answer 3

The developing human organism from about two 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

Teratogens

Answer 5

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

Question 6

Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS)

Answer 6

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

Question 7

Habituation

Answer 7

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 8

Maturation

Answer 8

Biological growth process 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 experiences in terms of our existing schemas.

Question 12

Accommodating

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 motors activities.

• objective permanence

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

Egocentrism

Answer 16

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

Question 17

Theory of mind

Answer 17

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

Question 18

Concrete operational stage

Answer 18

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 19

Formal operational stage

Answer 19

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 20

Autism

Answer 20

A disorder that appears in childhood and is marked by deficient communication, social interaction, and understanding of others’ states of mind.

Question 21

Stranger anxiety

Answer 21

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

Question 22

Attachment

Answer 22

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

Question 23

Critical period

Answer 23

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

Question 24

Imprinting

Answer 24

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

Question 25

Temperament

Answer 25

A person’s characteristic emotional reactivity and intensity.

Question 26

Basic trust

Answer 26

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 27

Self-concept

Answer 27

Our understanding and evaluation of who we are.

Question 28

Gender

Answer 28

In psychology, the biologically and socially influenced characteristics by which people define male and female.

Question 29

Aggression

Answer 29

Physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt someone.

Question 30

Role

Answer 30

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

Question 31

Gender role

Answer 31

A set of expected behaviors for males or for females.

Question 32

X chromosome

Answer 32

The sex chromosome found in both men and women. Females have two X chromosomes; males have 1. An X chromosome from each parent produces a female child.

Question 33

Y chromosome

Answer 33

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

Question 34

Testosterone

Answer 34

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 35

Gender identity

Answer 35

Our sense of being make or female.

Question 36

Gender typing

Answer 36

The acquisition of a traditional masculine of feminine role.

Question 37

Social learning theory

Answer 37

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

Question 38

Adolescence

Answer 38

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

Question 39

Puberty

Answer 39

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

Question 40

Primary sex characteristic

Answer 40

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

Question 41

Secondary sex characteristics

Answer 41

Nonreproductive sexual characteristics, such as female breasts and hips, male voice quality, and body hair.

Question 42

Menarche

Answer 42

The first menstrual period.

Question 43

Identity

Answer 43

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 44

Social identity

Answer 44

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

Question 45

Intimacy

Answer 45

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

Question 46

Emerging adulthood

Answer 46

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

Question 47

Menopause

Answer 47

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

Question 48

Cross sectional study

Answer 48

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

Question 49

Longitudinal study

Answer 49

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

Question 50

Crystallized intelligence

Answer 50

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

Question 51

Fluid intelligence

Answer 51

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

Question 52

Social clock

Answer 52

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