Key Terms
- accommodation
- adjustment of a schema by changing a scheme to accommodate new information different from what was already known
- adolescence
- period of development that begins at puberty and ends at early adulthood
- adrenarche
- maturing of the adrenal glands
- advance directive
- a written legal document that details specific interventions a person wants (see living will)
- assimilation
- adjustment of a schema by adding information similar to what is already known
- attachment
- long-standing connection or bond with others
- authoritarian parenting style
- parents place a high value on conformity and obedience, are often rigid, and express little warmth to the child
- authoritative parenting style
- parents give children reasonable demands and consistent limits, express warmth and affection, and listen to the child’s point of view
- avoidant attachment
- characterized by child’s unresponsiveness to parent, does not use the parent as a secure base, and does not care if parent leaves
cephalocaudal development
pattern of growth from the head down; also referred to as development from head to toe
- cognitive development
- domain of lifespan development that examines learning, attention, memory, language, thinking, reasoning, and creativity
- cognitive empathy
- ability to take the perspective of others and to feel concern for others
- conception
- when a sperm fertilizes an egg and forms a zygote
- concrete operational stage
- third stage in Piaget’s theory of cognitive development; from about 7 to 11 years old, children can think logically about real (concrete) events
- conservation
- idea that even if you change the appearance of something, it is still equal in size, volume, or number as long as nothing is added or removed
- continuous development
- view that development is a cumulative process: gradually improving on existing skills
- critical (sensitive) period
- time during fetal growth when specific parts or organs develop
- developmental milestone
- approximate ages at which children reach specific normative events
- discontinuous development
- view that development takes place in unique stages, which happen at specific times or ages
- disorganized attachment
- characterized by the child’s odd behaviour when faced with the parent; type of attachment seen most often with kids that are abused
- do not resuscitate (DNR)
- a legal document stating that if a person stops breathing their heart stops, medical personnel such as doctors and nurses are not to take steps to revive or resuscitate the patient
- egocentrism
- preoperational child’s difficulty in taking the perspective of others
- embryo
- multi-cellular organism in its early stages of development
- emerging adulthood
- newly defined period of lifespan development from 18 years old to the mid-20s; young people are taking longer to complete college, get a job, get married, and start a family
- fine motor skills
- use of muscles in fingers, toes, and eyes to coordinate small actions
- formal operational stage
- final stage in Piaget’s theory of cognitive development; from age 11 and up, children are able to deal with abstract ideas and hypothetical situations
- gonadarche
- maturing of the sex glands
- gross motor skills
- use of large muscle groups to control arms and legs for large body movements
- health care proxy
- a legal document that appoints a specific person to make medical decisions for a patient if they are unable to speak for themselves
- hospice
- service that provides a death with dignity; pain management in a humane and comfortable environment; usually outside of a hospital setting
- intergenerational trauma
- trauma that is so significant, it impacts not only the Survivors, but subsequent generations (e.g., children and grandchildren)
- living will
- a written legal document that details specific interventions a person wants; may include health care proxy
- menarche
- beginning of menstrual period; around 12–13 years old
- mitosis
- process of cell division
- motor skills
- ability to move our body and manipulate objects
- nature
- genes and biology
- newborn reflexes
- inborn automatic response to a particular form of stimulation that all healthy babies are born with
- normative approach
- study of development using norms, or average ages, when most children reach specific developmental milestones
- nurture
- environment and culture
- object permanence
- idea that even if something is out of sight, it still exists
- permissive parenting style
- parents make few demands and rarely use punishment
- physical development
- domain of lifespan development that examines growth and changes in the body and brain, the senses, motor skills, and health and wellness
- placenta
- structure connected to the uterus that provides nourishment and oxygen to the developing baby
- prenatal care
- medical care during pregnancy that monitors the health of both the mother and the fetus
- preoperational stage
- second stage in Piaget’s theory of cognitive development; from ages 2 to 7, children learn to use symbols and language but do not understand mental operations and often think illogically
- primary sexual characteristics
- organs specifically needed for reproduction
proximodistal development
tendency for growth to start in the centre of the body and move outwards to the extremities
- psychosexual development
- process proposed by Freud in which pleasure-seeking urges focus on different erogenous zones of the body as humans move through five stages of life
- psychosocial development
- domain of lifespan development that examines emotions, personality, and social relationships
- psychosocial development
- process proposed by Erikson in which social tasks are mastered as humans move through eight stages of life from infancy to adulthood
- resistant attachment
- characterized by the child’s tendency to show clingy behaviour and rejection of the parent when the parent attempts to interact with the child
- reversibility
- principle that objects can be changed, but then returned back to their original form or condition
- schema
- (plural = schemata) concept (mental model) that is used to help us categorize and interpret information
- secondary sexual characteristics
- physical signs of sexual maturation that do not directly involve sex organs
- secure attachment
- characterized by the child using the parent as a secure base from which to explore
- secure base
- parental presence that gives the infant/toddler a sense of safety as they explores their surroundings
- sensorimotor stage
- first stage in Piaget’s theory of cognitive development; from birth through age 2, a child learns about the world through senses and motor behaviour
- socioemotional selectivity theory
- social support/friendships dwindle in number, but remain as close, if not more close than in earlier years
- spermarche
- first penile ejaculation
- stage of moral reasoning
- process proposed by Kohlberg; humans move through three stages of moral development
- temperament
- innate traits that influence how one thinks, behaves, and reacts with the environment
- teratogen
- biological, chemical, or physical environmental agent that causes damage to the developing embryo or fetus
- uninvolved parenting style
- parents are indifferent, uninvolved, and sometimes referred to as neglectful; they don’t respond to the child’s needs and make relatively few demands
- zygote
- structure created when a sperm and egg merge at conception; begins as a single cell and rapidly divides to form the embryo and placenta