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AP Psychology - Development Psychology Flashcards

Advanced Placement Psychology
Enterprise High School, Redding, CA
All terms from Myers Psychology for AP (BFW Worth, 2011)

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8052553487Developmental Psychologya branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive, and social change throughout the life span.0
8052553488Zygotethe fertilized egg; it enters a 2-week period of rapid cell division and develops into an embryo.1
8052553489Embryothe developing human organism from about 2 weeks after fertilization through the second month.2
8052553490Fetusthe developing human organism from 9 weeks after conception to birth.3
8052553491Teratogensagents, such as chemicals and viruses, that can reach the embryo or fetus during prenatal development and cause harm.4
8052553492Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS)physical and cognitive abnormalities in children caused by a pregnant woman's heavy drinking. In severe cases, symptoms include noticeable facial misproportions.5
8052553493Habituationdecreasing responsiveness with repeated stimulation. As infants gain familiarity with repeated exposure to a visual stimulus, their interest wanes and they look away sooner.6
8052553494Maturationbiological growth processes that enable orderly changes in behavior, relatively uninfluenced by experience.7
8052553495Cognitionall the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating.8
8052553496Schemaa concept or framework that organizes and interprets information.9
8052553497Assimilationinterpreting our new experience in terms of our existing schemas.10
8052553498AccommodationDevelopment - adapting our current understandings (schemas) to incorporate new information.11
8052553499Sensorimotor Stagein 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.12
8052553500Object Permanencethe awareness that things continue to exist even when not perceived.13
8052553501Preoperational Stagein 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.14
8052553502Conservationthe 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.15
8052553503Egocentrismin Piaget's theory, the preoperational child's difficulty taking another's point of view.16
8052553504Theory of Mindpeople's ideas about their own and others' mental states—about their feelings, perceptions, and thoughts, and the behaviors these might predict.17
8052553505Concrete Operational Stagein 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.18
8052553506Formal Operational Stagein Piaget's theory, the stage of cognitive development (normally beginning about age 12) during which people begin to think logically about abstract concepts.19
8052553507Autisma disorder that appears in childhood and is marked by deficient communication, social interaction, and understanding of others' states of mind.20
8052553508Stranger Anxietythe fear of strangers that infants commonly display, beginning by about 8 months of age.21
8052553509Attachmentan emotional tie with another person; shown in young children by their seeking closeness to the caregiver and showing distress on separation.22
8052553510Critical Periodan optimal period shortly after birth when an organism's exposure to certain stimuli or experiences produces proper development.23
8052553511Imprintingthe process by which certain animals form attachments during a critical period very early in life.24
8052553512Temperamenta person's characteristic emotional reactivity and intensity.25
8052553513Basic Trustaccording to Erik Erikson, a sense that the world is predictable and trustworthy; said to be formed during infancy by appropriate experiences with responsive caregivers.26
8052553514Self-Conceptall our thoughts and feelings about ourselves, in answer to the question, "Who am I?"27
8052553517Testosteronethe most important of the male sex hormones. Both males and females have it, but the additional levels in males stimulates the growth of the male sex organs in the fetus and the development of the male sex characteristics during puberty.28
8052553519Gender Rolea set of expected behaviors for males or for females.29
8052553520Gender Identityour sense of being male or female.30
8052553523Adolescencethe transition period from childhood to adulthood, extending from puberty to independence.31
8052553524Pubertythe period of sexual maturation, during which a person becomes capable of reproducing.32
8052553525Primary Sex Characteristicsthe body structures (ovaries, testes, and external genitalia) that make sexual reproduction possible.33
8052553526Secondary Sex Characteristicsnonreproductive sexual characteristics, such as female breasts and hips, male voice quality, and body hair.34
8052553527Menarchethe first menstrual period.35
8052553528Identityour sense of self; according to Erikson, the adolescent's task is to solidify a sense of self by testing and integrating various roles.36
8052553530Intimacyin Erikson's theory, the ability to form close, loving relationships; a primary developmental task in late adolescence and early adulthood.37
8052553531Emerging Adulthoodfor 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.38
8052553532Menopausethe time of natural cessation of menstruation; also refers to the biological changes a woman experiences as her ability to reproduce declines.39
8052553533Cross-Sectional Studya study in which people of different ages are compared with one another.40
8052553534Longitudinal Studyresearch in which the same people are restudied and retested over a long period.41
8052553535Crystallized Intelligenceour accumulated knowledge and verbal skills; tends to increase with age.42
8052553536Fluid Intelligenceour ability to reason speedily and abstractly; tends to decrease during late adulthood.43

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