Psych Ch. 4
Terms
undefined, object
copy deck
- an organized cluster of knowledge that people use to understand and interpret information
- schema
- the process of absorbing new information into existing schemas
- assimilation
- the process of changing existing schemas in order to absorb new information
- accommodation
- the first stage in Piaget's theory of cognitive development (birth to age 2) in which infants develop the ability to coordinate their sensory input with their motor actions
- sensorimotor stage
- an awaremess an understanding of one's own cognitive processes
- metacognition
- the realization that an object continues to exist even if you can't see it or touch it
- object permanence
- the first menstrual period
- menarche
- overt language that is not directed to others but, rather, is self-directed
- private speech
- the second stage in Piaget's theory of cognitive development (ages 2 to 7), marked by the full emergence of representational thought
- preoperational stage
- a process of cognition in which people absorb knowledge from their social surroundings
- internalization
- the tendency to view the world from one's own perspective without recognizing that others may have different points of view
- egocentrism
- the understanding that certain physical properties of an ovject remain unchanged despite superficial changes in its apperance
- conservation
- the third stage in Piaget's theory of cognitive development (ages 7 to 11), a time in which children can perform mental operations on tangible objects or events and gradually engage in logical reasoning
- concrete operational stage
- the nonreproductive physical features that distinguish the two sexes from one another
- secondary sex characteristics
- the fourth and final stage in Piaget's theory of cognitive development (ages 11 or beyond), during which a person is able to reason abstractly and make predictions about hypothetical situations
- formal operational stage
- a theory of other people's mental states - their beliefs, feelings, and desires - that allows them to predict how these people will behave in specific situations
- theory of mind
- the cognitive range between what a child can do on her or his own and what the child can do with the help of adults or more-skilled children
- zone of proximal development (ZPD)
- the first level of maral reasoning in Kohlberg's theory of moral development, chatacterized by avoiding punishment and seeking rewards
- preconventional morality
- adolescents' belief that their thoughts, feelings, and behavior are constantly being focused on by other people
- imaginary audience
- the second level of maral reasoning in Kohlberg's theory of maral development, characterized by conforming to societal norms and laws
- conventional morality
- the third and final level of moral reasoning in Kohlberg's theory of moral development, characterized by making moral judgments based on abstract universal principles
- postconventional morality
- the transitions period between childhood and adulthood
- adolescence
- the growth period of sexual maturation, during which a person becomes capable of reproducing
- puberty
- the body organs that make sexual reproduction possible
- primary sex characteristics
- the tendency for adolescents to believe that their experiences and feelings are unique
- personal fable
- the progressive deterioration of the body that culminates in death
- aging
- the ending of menstruation
- menopause
- the systematic physical, cognitive, and social changes in the individual occurrig between conception and death
- development
- the many changes that transform a fertilized egg into a newborn baby
- prenatal development
- the first two weeks of prenatal development, from conception until the zygote implants itself in the wall of the uterus
- zygote stage
- the second stage of prenatal development that lasts from the third week through the eighth week of pregnancy
- embryonic stage
- the last and longest stage in prenatal development that extends from the ninth week after conception until birth
- fetal stage
- and disease, drug, or other noxious agent that causes abnormal prenatal development
- teratogen
- physical and cognitive abnormalities in children caused by pregnant women consuming large quantities of alcohol
- fetal alcohol syndrome
- the strong emotional bond a young child forms with its primary caregiver
- attachment
- the fear and distress that infants display when separated from their primary caregiver
- separation anxiety
- the fear and distress that infants often display when approached by an unfamiliar person
- stranger anxiety
- research in which the same people are restudied and retested over time
- longitudinal study
- the "theory" or "story" that a person constructs about herself or himself through social interaction
- self-concept
- a psychological state where you take yourself as an object of attention
- self-awareness
- a person's evaluation of his or her self-concept
- self-esteem
- the knowledge that one is a male or a female and the internalization of this fact into one's self-concept
- gender identity
- a person's sense of personal identification with a particular ethnic group
- ethnic identity