1. epigenetics: the study of environmental influences on gene expression that occur without a DNA change
2. developmental programming: process by which events during fetal or infant development can lead
to long term health issues
3. prenatal programming: the process by which events in the womb alter the development of physical and
psychological health
4. germinal, embryonic, fetal: what are the stages of prenatal development?
5. critical period: - normal brain development expects and depends on receiving certain stimuli or experiences
- specific time period for language acquisition
6. sensitive period: time when a child's brain is most receptive to learning a particular skill or type of stimuli
7. synaptic pruning: process where the brain eliminates extra neurons and synapses
8. object permanence: ability to realize that objects still exist when they are not being sensed
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, 9. animistic thinking: The belief that inanimate objects have lifelike qualities, such as thoughts, wishes,
feelings, and intentions
10. egocentrism: in Piaget's theory, the preoperational child's diflculty taking another's point of view
11. three mountains task: A classic Piagetian task used to illustrate preoperational children's egocentrism.
- asking child what the child thinks the doll sitting in chair across table sees when looking at the 3 mountains ’usually
sayings what they see
12. sensorimotor stage (stage of cognitive development): in piaget's theory
- 0-2
- infants learn about world through their senses and their own movements
13. preoperational stage (stage of cognitive development): in Piaget's theory
- 2-5
- emergence of symbolic thought
- learns to use language, but doesnt comprehend the mental operations of concrete logic
14. formal operational stage (stage of cognitive development): in piaget's theory
- 12 and up
- reasoning about abstract concepts and problems
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