Psychology (Myers, 8E) Chapter 4

	a branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive, and social change throughout the life span
	the fertilized egg; it enters a 2-week period of rapid cell division and develops into an embyro
	the developing human organism from about 2 weeks after fertilization through the second month
	the developing human organism from 9 weeks after conception to birth
	agents, such as chemicals and viruses, that can reach the embryo or fetus during prenatal development and cause harm
	physical and cognitive abnormalities in children caused by a pregnant woman's heavy drinking
	a baby's tendency, when touched on the cheek, to turn toward the touch, open the mouth, and search for the nipple
	decreasing responsiveness with repeated stimulation; as infants gain familiarity with repeated exposure to a visual stimulus, their interest wanes and they look away sooner
	biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in behaviour, relatively uninfluenced by experience
	a concept or framework that organizes and interprets information
	interpreting one's new experience in terms of one's existing schemas
	adapting one's current understandings (schemas) to incorporate new information
	all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating
	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 motor activities
	the awareness that things continue to exist even when not perceived
	in Piaget's theory, the stage (from about 2 to 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
	the 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
	in Piaget's theory, the preoperational child's difficulty taking another's point of view
	people's ideas about their own and others' mental states - about their feelings, perceptions, and thoughts and the behaviours these might predict
	a disorder that appears in childhood and is marked by deficient communication, social interaction, and understanding of others' states of mind
	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
	in Piaget's theory, the stage of cognitive development (normally beginning about age 12) during which people being to think logically about abstract concepts
	the fear of strangers that infants commonly display, beginning about 8 months of age
	an emotional tie with another person; shown in young children by their seeking closeness to the caregiver and showing distress on separation
	an optimal period shortly after birth when an organism's exposure to certain stimuli or experiences produces proper development
	the process by which certain animals form attachments during a critical period very early in life
	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
	a sense of one's identity and personal worth
	the transition period from childhood to adulthood, extending from puberty to independence
	the period of sexual maturation, during which a person becomes capable of reproducing
	the body structures (ovaries, testes, and external genitalia) that make sexual reproduction possible
	nonreproductive sexual characteristics, such as female breasts and hips, male voice quality, and body hair
	the first menstrual period
	one's sense of self; according to Erikson, the adolescent's task is to solidify a sense of self by testing and integrating various roles
	in Erikson's theory, the ability to form close, loving relationships; a primary developmental task in late adolescence and early adulthood
	the time of natural cessation of menstruation
	a progressive and irreversible brain disorder characterized by gradual deterioration of memory, reasoning, language, and, finally, physical functioning
	a study in which people of different ages are compared with one another
	research in which the same people are restudied and retested over a long period
	one's accumulated knowledge and verbal skills;tends to increase with age
	one's ability to reason speedily and abstractly; tends to decrease late adulthood
	the culturally preferred timing of social events such as marriage, parenthood, and retirement