| A | B |
|---|
| maturation | biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in behavior, relatively uninfluenced by experience |
| cognition | all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating |
| schema | a concept or framework that organizes and interprets information |
| assimilation | interpreting our new experience in terms of our existing schemas |
| accomodation | adapting our current understandings (schemas) to incorporate new information |
| sensorimotor stage | in Paiget's theory, the stage (birth to 2 years) during which infants know the world mostly in terms of their sensory impressions and motor activities |
| object permanence | the awareness that things continue to exist even when not perceived |
| preoperational stage | in Piaget's theory, the stage (2-7 years) during which a child learns to use language but does not yet comprehend the mental operations of concrete logic |
| conservation | the principle that properties such as mass, volume, and number remain the same despite changes in the forms of objects |
| egocentrism | the preoperational child's difficulty taking another's point of view |
| theory of mind | people's ideas about their own and others' mental stages - about their feelings, perceptions, and thoughs, and the behaviors these might predict |
| concrete operational stage | in Paiget's theory, the stage of cognitive development (7 to 11 years old) during which children gain the mental operations that enable them to think logically about concrete events |
| formal operational stage | in Paiget's theory, the stage of cognitive development (about age 12) during which people begin to think logically about abstract concepts |
| autism | a disorder that appears in childhood and is marked by deficient communications, social interaction, and understanding of others' states of mind |
| stranger anxiety | the fear of strangers that infants commonly display, beginning by about 8 months of age |
| attachment | an emotional tie with another person; shown in young children by their seeking closeness to the caregiver and showing distress on separation |
| critical period | an optimal period shortly after birth when an organism's exposure to certain stimuli or experiences produces proper development |
| imprinting | the process by which certain animals form attachments during a critical period very early in life |
| basic trust | 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 |
| self-concept | our understanding and evaluation of who we are |
| adolescence | the transition period from childhood to adulthood, extending from puberty to independence |
| puberty | the period of sexual maturation, during which a person becomes capable of reproducing |
| primary sex characteristics | the body structures (ovaries, testes, and external genitalia) that make sexual reproduction possible |
| secondary sex characteristics | nonreproductive sexual characteristics, such as female breasts and hips, male voice quality, and body hair |
| menarche | the first menstrual period |
| preconventional morality | before the age of 9, morality is focused on self-interest, obey rules to avoid punishment or gain rewards |
| conventional morality | early adolescence, morality focuses on caring for others and upholding laws and social rules |
| postconventional morality | abstract reasoning of formal operational thought, actions are judged "right" because they flow from people's rights or self-defined, basic ethical principles |
| identity | our sense of self; according to Erikson, the adolescent’s task is to solidify a sense of self by testing and integrating various roles |
| social identity | the “we” aspect of our self-concept; the part of our answer to “Who am I?” that comes from our group memberships |
| intimacy | in Erikson’s theory, the ability to form close, loving relationships; a primary developmental task in late adolescence and early adulthood |
| emerging adulthood | for some people in modern cultures, a period from the late teens to early twenties, bridging the gap between adolescent dependence and full independence and responsible adulthood |
| menopause | the time of natural cessation of menstruation; also refers to the biological changes a woman experiences as her ability to reproduce declines |
| cross-sectional study | a study in which people of different ages are compared with one another |
| longitudinal study | research in which the same people are restudied and retested over a long period |
| crystalized intelligence | our accumulated knowledge and verbal skills; tends to increase with age |
| fluid intelligence | our ability to reason speedily and abstractly; tends to decrease during late adulthood |
| social clock | the culturally preferred timing of social events such as marriage, parenthood, and retirement |
