Psychology of Child Development

The pattern of movement or change that begins at conception and continues through the lifespan.

Advocated during the Middle Ages, the belief that children were born into the world as evil beings and were basically bad.

The ides, proposed by John Locke, that children are like a "blank tablet."

The idea, proposed by Swiss-born French philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau, that children are inherently good.

The settings, influenced by historical, economic, social, and cultural factors, in which development occurs.

The behavior patterns, beliefs, and all other products of a group that are passed on from generation to generation.

Comparisons of one culture with one or more other cultures. These provide information about the degree to which children's development is similar, or universal, across cultures,and to the degree to which it is culture specific.

A characteristic based on cultural heritage, nationality, race, religion, and language.

Categorization based on a person's occupational, educational, economic characteristics.

The characteristics of people as males and females.

A government's course of action designed to promote the welfare of it's citizens.

Changes in an individual's body.

Changes in an individual's thinking, intelligence, and language.

Changes in an individual's relationships with other people, emotions, and personality.

Time from conception to birth.

The developmental period that extends from birth to about 18-24 months (1.5-2 years)

The developmental period that extends from the end of infancy to about 5-6 years of age, sometimes called the preschool years.

The developmental period that extends from about 6-11 years of age, sometimes called elementry school years.

The developmental period of transition from childhood to early adulthood, entered at approximately 10-12 years of age and ending at 18 or 19 years of age

Debate about whether development is primarily influenced by nature or nurture. The "nature" proponents claim biological inheritance is the most important influence on development; the "nurture" proponents claim that environmental experiences are the most important.

Question about whether development involves gradual , cumulative change (continuity) or distinct stages (discontinuity).

Controversy regarding the degree to which early experiences (especially during infancy) or later experiences are the key determinants of children's development

An approach that can be used to obtain accurate information by carrying out four steps: 1. conceptualize the problem, 2. collect date, 3. draw conclusions, and 4. revise research conclusions and theory

An interrelated, coherent set of ideas that helps to explain and make predictions.

Specific assumptions and predictions that can be tested to determine their accuracy.

Theories that describe development as primarily unconscious and heavily colored by emotion. Behavior is merely a surface characteristic, and the symbolic workings of the mind have to be analyzed to understand behavior. Early experiences with parents are emphasized.

Description of 8 stages of human development. Each stage consists of a unique developmental task that confronts individuals with a crisis that must be resolved

Theory stating that children actively construct their understanding of the world and go through 4 stages of cognitive development.

a sociocultural cognitive theory that emphasizes how culture and social interaction guide cognitive development.

Emphasizes that individuals manipulate information. monitor it, and strategize about it. Central to this theory are the processes of memory and thinking.

The view of psychologists who emphasize, behavior, environment and cognition as the key factors in development.

Stresses that behavior is strongly influenced by biology, is tied to evolution, and is characterized by critical or sensitive periods.

An environmental systems theory that focuses on five environmental systems: microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, and chronosystem.

A controlled setting from which many of the complex factors of the "real world" have been removed.

Behavioral observation that takes place in real-world settings.

An orientation that does not follow any one theoretical approach but rather selects from each theory whatever is considered it's best aspects.

The setting in which the individual lives such as family, peers, school, neighborhood, and work.

Relations between microsystems or connections between contexts. An example would be if a child who was rejected by her parents had difficulty establishing a positive relationship with her teachers.

Links between a social setting in which the individual does not have an active role and the individual's immediate context. Example, a child'd experience at home can be effected by his mother's experiences at work.

The culture in which individuals live

The patterning of environmental events and transitions over the life course, as well as sociohistorical circumstances.

A test with uniform procedures for administration and scoring. Many allow a person's performance to be compared with the performance of other individuals.

An in-depth look at a single individual.

A research strategy in which individuals of different ages are compared at the same point in time.

A research strategy in which the same individuals are studied over a period of time, usually several years.

Use of an ethnic label such as African American or Latino in a superficial way that portrays an ethnic group as being more homogeneous than it really is.

From birth to 1.5 years, an infant's pleasure centers on the mouth.

From 1.5-3 years, a child's pleasure focuses on the anus.

From 3-6 years, a child's pleasure focuses on the genitals.

From 6 years - puberty, where a child represses sexual interest and develops social and intellectual skills.

From puberty onward, a time of sexual reawakening; source of sexual pleasure becomes someone outside the family.

During the first year of life this sets the stage for a lifelong expectation the the world will be a good and pleasurable place to live.

From 1-3 years, when infants and toddlers begin to discover that their behavior is their own. If restrained too much or punished too harshly, they will develop a sense of shame and doubt.

From 3-5 years, as preschool children encounter a widening social world, they require active, purposeful, responsible behavior. Feelings of guilt might arise if the child is irresponsible or made to feel too anxious.

From 6 years to puberty, children need to direct their energy toward mastering knowledge and intellectual skills. If not the child would be subject to feeling a sense of inferiority.

From 10-20 years, if adolescents explore roles in a healthy manner and arrive at a positive path to follow in life, then they achieve a positive identity; if not, identity confusion reigns.

From 20-40, individuals will seek out friendship and intimacy, or else face isolation.

From 40-60, individuals focus on helping the younger generation to develop and lead useful lives. Not doing so is stagnation.

From 60 onward, an individual spends time reflecting on their past. If it was a life well spent, integrity is achieved. If not, despair occurs.

From birth to 2 years, infants construct an understanding of the worldby coordinating sensory experiences with physical motoric actions.

From 2-7 years, children begin to go beyond simply connecting sensory information with physical action and represent the world with words images and drawings, but they still lack the ability to perform operations.

From 7-11 years, children can perform operations that involve objects and can reason logically as long as reasoning can be applied to specific or concrete examples.

From 11-15, individuals move beyond concrete experiences and think in more abstract and logical terms.

The period of prenatal development that takes place in the first 2 weeks after conception. It includes the creation of the zygote, continued cell division, and the attachment of the zygote to the uterine wall.

The inner layer of cells that develops during the germinal period. These cells later develop into the embryo.

The outer layer of cells that later provides nutrition and support for the embryo in the germinal period.

The period of prenatal development that occurs 2-8 weeks after conception. The rate of cell division intensifies, support systems for cells form, and organs appear.

Prenatal life-support system that is a bag or envelope that contains a clear fluid in which the developing embryo floats.

A life-support system that contains two arteries and one vein and connects the baby to the placenta.

A life-support system that consists of a disk shaped group of tissues in which small blood vessels from the mother and the offspring intertwine.

Organ formation that takes place during the first two months of prenatal development

The period from 2 months after conception until birth, lasting about 7 months in typical pregnancies.

Nerve cells which handle information processing at the cellular level.

From the Greek word meaning "monster." Any agent that causes a birth defect.

The field of study that investigates the causes of birth defects.

A cluster of abnormalities and problems that appear in the offspring of mothers who drink alcohol heavily while pregnant.

The sequence in which the fastest growth occurs at the top of the body with physical growth in size, weight, and feature differentiation gradually working from top to bottom.

The sequence in which growth starts at the center of the body and moves toward the extremities.

A period of rapid physical maturation involving hormonal and bodily changes that take place primarily in early adolescence.

A girl's first menstruation.

Very early onset and rapid progression of puberty.

Powerful chemical substances secreted by the endocrine glands and carried through the body by the bloodstream.

The main class of male sex hormones.

The main class of female sex hormones.

An androgen that is a key hormone in boys' pubertal development.

An estrogen that is a key hormone in girls' pubertal development.

Specialization of a function in one hemisphere of the cerebral cortex or the other.

Involved in voluntary movement, thinking, personality, and intentionally or purpose.

Part of the brain which deals with functions of vision.

Part of the brain which deals with functions of hearing, language processing, and memory.

Part of the brain which plays an important role in registering spacial location, attention, and motor control.

The process of encasing axons with a myelin sheath that increases the speed of processing information.

Brain area where fibers connect the brain's left and right hemispheres.

The highest level of the frontal lobes that is involved in reasoning, decision making, and self-control.

The seat of emotions in the brain.

A condition that occurs when an infant stops breathing, usually during the night, and suddenly dies without an apparent cause.

Severe malnutrition caused by an insufficient protein-calorie intake, resulting in a shrunken, elderly appearance.

Severe malnutrition caused by protein deficient diet, causing feet and abdomen to swell with water.

A theory proposed by Esther Thelen, that seeks to explain how motor behaviors are assembled for perceiving and acting.

Built in reactions to stimuli.

A newborn's built in reaction that occurs when the infant's cheek is stroked or the side of the mouth is touched. In response the infant turns it's head toward the side that was touched, in an apparent effort to find something to suck.

A newborn's built in reaction of automatically sucking an object placed in it's mouth. The sucking reflex enables the infant to get nourishment before it has associated a nipple with food.

a neonatal startle response that occurs in reaction to a sudden, intense noise or movement.