Developmental Psychology ✔✔- A branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive, and social change throughout the life span. - with a focus on three major issues: * Nature and nurture: how does our genetic inheritance (our nature) interact with our experiences (our nurture) to influence our development? * Continuity and stages: What parts of development are gradual and continuous like riding an escalator? What parts change abruptly in separate stages, like climbing rungs on a ladder? * Stability and change: which of our traits persist through life? How do we change as we age? zygote ✔✔The fertilized egg; it enters a 2-week period of rapid cell division and develops into an embryo Teratogens ✔✔(literally, "monster maker") agents such as chemicals and viruses, that can reach the embryo or fetus during prenatal developmental and cause harm Stress Hormone ✔✔When women experience stress during pregnancy the stress hormones flooding her body may indicate a survival threat to the fetus and produce an earlier delivery Maturation ✔✔biogical growth processes that enable orderly changes in behavior, relatively uninfluenced by experience Schema ✔✔a concept or framkework that organizes and interprets information Jean Piaget ✔✔a Swiss clinical psychologist known for his pioneering work in child development. Piaget's theory of cognitive development and epistemological view are together called "genetic epistemology". Assimilation ✔✔interpreting our new experiences in terms of our existing schemas Accommodation ✔✔adapting our current understandings (schemas) to incorporate new information Object Performance ✔✔the awareness that objects continue to exist even when not perceived Preoperational Stage ✔✔in piagets theory, the stage (from about 2-6/7) during which a child learns to use language but does not yet comprehend the mental operations of concrete logic Postconventional ✔✔Postconventional level is the third and final level of Kohlberg's moral development taxonomy where individuals enter the highest level of morale development. People who have reached this stage of development are concerned with the innate rights of humans and guided by their own ethical principles Concrete Operational Stage ✔✔In pPiagets theory, the stage of cognitive development (from about 7 -11) during which children gain the mental operations that enable them to think logically about concrete events Formal Operational Stage ✔✔(normally beginnign aroung age 12) during which people begin to think logically about abstract thinking Lev Vygotsky ✔✔Lev Vygotsky was an early 20th century developmental psychologist who developed a sociocultural theory of child development designed to account for the influence of culture on a child's growth and development. Attachment ✔✔an emotional tie with another person: showon in young children by thier seeking closeness to the caregiver and showing distress on separation Imprinting ✔✔the process by which certain animals form strong attachments during early life