Teratogens

Anything that hurts the organism prenatally

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS)

Fetuses result in physical abnormalities and cognitive deficiencies; children have distinctive facial features (wider than normal set of eyes), behavioral

impairment, and serious mental retardation

Maturation

Development that largely unfolds on its own, as if according to a biological program, as long as individual is in

reasonably supportive environment

Window of opportunity

Period of time during which certain skills and abilities are more easily learned,

such as language before age 10

Plasticity

Ability of one area of the brain to take over ability of another damaged

area

Sensorimotor stage

Birth to 2 years old; cognitive task of child is to explore and learn about environment through use of senses and

one’s developing motor abilities; child grasps the concept of object permanence (understanding that a ball that rolls

out of sight still exists, even though it is unseen)

Pre-operational stage

2 to 7 years old; children pretend to play, demonstrates that they are beginning to think symbolically—one thing can

represent something else; something no longer needs to be physically present in order for child to know about it and think

about it; highly egocentric, cognitively unable to take perspective of another

Concrete operational stage

7-11 years old; child becomes capable of logical thinking (but many say preoperational children think logically); not yet able to

think abstractly although they are comfortable with use of mental representations; mastery of conservation: amount of

something doesn’t change with changes in appearance or arrangement

Formal operational stage

11 years onward; people think abstractly and hypothetically, able to consider future

possibilities and imaginary scenarios

Assimilation

Child attempts to fit new experiences into the cognitive frameworks they

already possess

Accommodation

Children actually change their schemas or behaviors to fit the new

information

Schemas

Cognitive framework based on previous experiences; set of expectations that can

help us fill in gaps in our memories

Object permanence

Knowledge that objects continue to exist when they are outside the field of view;

understanding that a ball that rolls out of sight still exists, even though it is unseen

Egocentrism

Seeing the world only from one’s own point of view

Conservation

Amount of something doesn’t change with changes in appearance or

arrangement

Animism

Believing that all things are living

Reversibility

Characteristic of Piaget’s concrete operational stage; child recognizes

transformations

Cognitive maps

A mental picture of the layout of one’s environment; rats learned a

maze through this map

Abstract thinking

Learning in which the relationship between and among stimuli is more

important than the physical features of the stimuli

Preconventional morality (punishment and obedience)

Level 1 of Kohlberg’s moral development; ages 7-10; first stage is based on avoiding punishment and receiving rewards; fear of

punishment is the reason not to break rules; second stage focused on individualism and exchange; children work with own

interests; primary interest is selfish; evaluate benefits for themselves

Conventional morality (“good boy/bad girl” orientation; social order)

Level 2 of Kohlberg’s moral development; ages 10-16; internalizing of society’s rules/morals; motivation by knowing it is “right”; stage

3: child trying to live up to what others (authoritative figures) expect of him; rules set forth by society are important, conforms

to these rules; stage 4: development of consciousness, obey rules, feel moral, societal obligations

Postconventional morality (individual principles of conscience)

Level 3 of Kohlberg’s moral development; ages 16+; societal rules important but internal set of values developed may generate occasional conflict with societal values; stage 5: belief in individual rights/social contracts; balance

maintained between individual interests and societal rules; stage 6: highest moral development, belief in universal principles of justice, typically agree

with rules of society; justice outweighs rules and acts accordingly, few people reach this level

Oral-sensory (trust vs. mistrust)

Trust vs. mistrust (birth-18 months); child learns to trust; trust and hopefulness are outcomes of positive resolutions of this

stage

Muscular-anal (autonomy vs. shame/doubt)

Autonomy vs. shame and doubt (about 18 months-3 years old); child seeks a sense of

internal control and independence; mastery of toilet training, walking, etc.

Locomotor-genital (initiative vs. guilt)

Initiative vs. guilt (3-7 years old): child seeks a balance between what s/he wants to do and a sense of what is right and wrong, good and bad; must take initiative and

learn to assert himself socially, without overstepping bounds; development of a sense of purpose

Latency (industry vs. inferiority)

Industry vs. inferiority (7-10 years old): child seeks to master the basic skills required for successful

participation in society, which will give the child a sense of basic competence; gain a sense of

accomplishment and pride in work

Puberty-adolescence (identity vs. role confusion)

Identity vs. role confusion (adolescence): teenager seeks to answer questions “Who am

I?” and “What do I want to do and be?”; resolution is fidelity (truthfulness to one’s self)

Young-adult (intimacy vs. isolation)

Intimacy vs. isolation (early adulthood): young adult either successfully establishes strong,

committed relationships or faces the task of dealing with some level of isolation or lack of intimacy

Adulthood (generativity vs. stagnation)

Generativity vs. stagnation (middle adulthood): adults, now in their 40’s or 50’s either engage in sharing of wisdom or are

antagonistic toward young people; struggle to be productive in home and career and contribute to next generation with ideas

and children; leave “mark” on world; failure results in stagnation or isolation

Old age (integrity vs. despair)

Integrity vs. despair: older adult reflects back on his/her life, feeling either a sense of accomplishment

and pride or a sense of missed opportunities and sadness; positive outcome is wisdom, whereas failure

to resolve can lead to bitterness and despair

Attachment theory

Close emotional bond or relationship between infant and caregiver

Stranger anxiety

Distress upon encountering new, unfamiliar people

Imprinting

Refers to a newborn’s response to a stimulus in its environment, specifically to

respond to that stimulus as if it is the mother

Ainsworth’s Strange Situation Studies

Young children separated from mothers, monitored when mother

returned

Avoidant

Ignores mother when returns, little distress

Secure

Somewhat distressed when mother leaves, greets mother warmly upon

return

Resistant/ambivalent

Mixed messages to mother upon return, wants to be held but resists

attempts

Disorganized

Children confused, disoriented, and fearful; correlation between this and

abusive environment

Secure attachment

After absence, baby is happy to see mother, receptive to her contact; tend to

become socially competent children

Insecure attachment

After absence baby is angry and rejecting of mother, avoids her,

ignores her, or behaves inconsistently

Harry Harlow & contact comfort

Monkeys separated from their mothers sought comfort from a soft cloth-covered substitute

(surrogate) rather than a bare wire substitute with a feeding bottle, showing attachment is not based on

feeding; importance of “contact comfort”

Kagan (infant temperament)

Kagan showed shy, inhibited babies can become more relaxed and less fearful with responsive parenting.

Easy babies

Cheerful, relaxed, predictable patterns of eating and sleeping, tend

to become social children

Difficult babies

Irritable, intense, unpredictable, tend to become less sociable children

Temperament

Natural disposition to show a particular mood at a particular intensity for a

specific period, affects behavior

Gender identity

Sense of being a boy or a girl

Gender typing

Process of learning the roles associated with the distinctions between males and

females in a culture

Social learning theory

Bandura’s idea that we can learn behaviors from others by first

observing it and then imitating it

Gender schema theory

Mental set of what society considers appropriate behavior for each of the

sexes

Nature/nurture

“False dichotomy”: isn’t an either/or question; impossible to completely separate influences of biology and

environment on human development

Authoritarian parenting style

Top-down parenting approach in which the parents establish the rules, expect

obedience and strictly punish transgressions

Authoritative parenting style

Parents are authority figures but willing to listen to input from children, respect basic rights and

explain their rules and decisions, “most successful” in long term of social functioning of children

Permissive parenting style

Parents give children considerable freedom to make their own decisions, either because they are more tolerant and trusting of their children’s abilities or

because they are less engaged in upbringing in children

Rejecting-neglecting parenting style

Parents have essentially abrogated responsibility for raising and control

of children

Imaginary audience

Notion that others are monitoring the adolescent, watching for mistakes, moments of embarrassment, etc.

Personal fable

Adolescents create a story of “specialness” about themselves; teenager feels a sense of invulnerability (“rules” of safety don’t really apply to them); this is

why teenagers are more likely to engage in high risk, potentially destructive behavior

Puberty

Point at which individuals are sexually mature and can reproduce; acquire primary sex characteristics

(directly involved with reproduction) and secondary sex characteristics (deepening of voice, pubic hair,

breasts)

Menarchy

First menstrual period at about age 12.5—marks female futility; ejaculation with viable sperm at age 14—marks male

fertility

Alzheimer’s Disease

Organic disorder caused by damage to brain tissue

Crystallized vs. fluid intelligence

Crystallized: specific knowledge of facts and information; fluid: ability to think in terms of abstract concepts and symbolic

relationships

Kübler-Ross’ 5 stages of dying

Formulated a stage theory addressing our encounters with grief; 5 stages in dealing

with loss: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance

Jean Piaget

Studied thinking of youngsters, paying special attention to errors; developed stage theory of

cognitive development that is still embraced today; some argue that he underestimated abilities of

children at many points in growth

Lawrence Kohlberg

Advanced the most influential theory of moral development; theory has 3 levels each divided into 2

distinct stages; used a fictional story called “The Heinz Dilemma” to evaluate levels of moral reasoning in

children; “Would you steal a drug in order to save a life?”

Erik Erikson

Postulated a stage theory of psychosocial development across the life span; contended that

people face various crises in their lives that they must resolve in order to continue healthy development; 8

stages of crisis

Vygotsky and sociocultural development

Emphasized the role of the environment (nurture) and gradual growth (continuity) in intellectual functioning; development

proceeds from the outside in by the process of internalization—absorbing information from a specified social environmental

context; children learn from observing interactions and through their own interactions; significant role to mentors

Carol Gilligan

Developed a revised version of Kohlberg’s theory; places development of caring

relationships as central to moral progress (not justice) in women