Complete Test Bank Developmental Psychology
Infancy and Childhood Questions & Answers with
rationales (Chapter 1-17)
Infancy
Newborn to toddler
Childhood
Toddler to teenager
Brain Development
During prenatal development, the brain produces 250,000 neurons/minute.
Peak Neurons
28 billion neurons at 7 months (prenatal).
Neurons at Birth
By birth, this number has been pruned to 23 billion.
Brain Growth
By the end of the first year, the brain is about 35% larger than it was at birth.
Maturation
The orderly sequence of biological growth processes, relatively uninfluenced by
experience.
Infantile Amnesia
Memory not solidified until after 3rd birthday.
Cephalocaudal Development
The head develops before the arms & trunk; the arms & trunk develop before the
legs.
Proximodistal Development
The head, trunk and arms develop before the hands & fingers.
Motor Milestones
Raising head & chest (2-4 months), Rolling over (2-5 months), Sitting up with support
(4-6 months), Sitting up without support (6-7 months), Crawling (7-8 months),
Walking (8-18 months).
Cognition
All mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering and
communicating.
Jean Piaget
Piaget believed that cognitive development is shaped by errors; a struggle to make
sense of our experiences as children.
, Schemas
A concept or framework that organizes & interprets information.
Assimilation
Interpreting a new experience in terms of an existing schema.
Accommodation
The process of adjusting/modifying a schema.
Sensorimotor Stage
Birth to 2 years; the use of senses & motor abilities to learn about the world.
Object Permanence
The awareness that objects continue to exist when not perceived.
Stranger Anxiety
A developmental phenomenon observed in the sensorimotor stage.
Separation Anxiety
A developmental phenomenon observed in the sensorimotor stage.
Preoperational Stage
2 to 7 years; children learn to use language but are not yet capable of logical thought.
Egocentrism
Children's inability to see a situation from another person's point of view.
Theory of Mind
People's ideas about their own and others' mental states.
Concrete Operational Stage
7 to 11 years; children become capable of logical thought processes.
Developmental Limitations
Children in the concrete operational stage lack abstract thinking.
Formal Operational Stage
The stage from 12 years to adulthood where the adolescent becomes capable of
abstract thinking.
Abstract logic
A developmental phenomenon in the Formal Operational Stage that involves
reasoning about abstract concepts.
Hypothetical thinking
A developmental phenomenon in the Formal Operational Stage that involves
considering possibilities and hypothetical scenarios.
Mature Moral Reasoning
Potential for advanced ethical decision-making.
Piaget's Theory
Development is a continuous process.
Infancy and Childhood Questions & Answers with
rationales (Chapter 1-17)
Infancy
Newborn to toddler
Childhood
Toddler to teenager
Brain Development
During prenatal development, the brain produces 250,000 neurons/minute.
Peak Neurons
28 billion neurons at 7 months (prenatal).
Neurons at Birth
By birth, this number has been pruned to 23 billion.
Brain Growth
By the end of the first year, the brain is about 35% larger than it was at birth.
Maturation
The orderly sequence of biological growth processes, relatively uninfluenced by
experience.
Infantile Amnesia
Memory not solidified until after 3rd birthday.
Cephalocaudal Development
The head develops before the arms & trunk; the arms & trunk develop before the
legs.
Proximodistal Development
The head, trunk and arms develop before the hands & fingers.
Motor Milestones
Raising head & chest (2-4 months), Rolling over (2-5 months), Sitting up with support
(4-6 months), Sitting up without support (6-7 months), Crawling (7-8 months),
Walking (8-18 months).
Cognition
All mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering and
communicating.
Jean Piaget
Piaget believed that cognitive development is shaped by errors; a struggle to make
sense of our experiences as children.
, Schemas
A concept or framework that organizes & interprets information.
Assimilation
Interpreting a new experience in terms of an existing schema.
Accommodation
The process of adjusting/modifying a schema.
Sensorimotor Stage
Birth to 2 years; the use of senses & motor abilities to learn about the world.
Object Permanence
The awareness that objects continue to exist when not perceived.
Stranger Anxiety
A developmental phenomenon observed in the sensorimotor stage.
Separation Anxiety
A developmental phenomenon observed in the sensorimotor stage.
Preoperational Stage
2 to 7 years; children learn to use language but are not yet capable of logical thought.
Egocentrism
Children's inability to see a situation from another person's point of view.
Theory of Mind
People's ideas about their own and others' mental states.
Concrete Operational Stage
7 to 11 years; children become capable of logical thought processes.
Developmental Limitations
Children in the concrete operational stage lack abstract thinking.
Formal Operational Stage
The stage from 12 years to adulthood where the adolescent becomes capable of
abstract thinking.
Abstract logic
A developmental phenomenon in the Formal Operational Stage that involves
reasoning about abstract concepts.
Hypothetical thinking
A developmental phenomenon in the Formal Operational Stage that involves
considering possibilities and hypothetical scenarios.
Mature Moral Reasoning
Potential for advanced ethical decision-making.
Piaget's Theory
Development is a continuous process.
