AP Psychology - Development Psychology, Learning (AP Psychology)
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1. Developmental a branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive, and social change
Psychology throughout the life span.
2. Zygote the fertilized egg; it enters a 2-week period of rapid cell division and develops into
an embryo.
3. Embryo the developing human organism from about 2 weeks after fertilization through
the second month.
4. Fetus the developing human organism from 9 weeks after conception to birth.
5. Teratogens agents, such as chemicals and viruses, that can reach the embryo or fetus during
prenatal development and cause harm.
6. Fetal Alcohol Syn- physical and cognitive abnormalities in children caused by a pregnant woman's
drome (FAS) heavy drinking. In severe cases, symptoms include noticeable facial mispropor-
tions.
7. Habituation decreasing responsiveness with repeated stimulation. As infants gain familiarity
with repeated exposure to a visual stimulus, their interest wanes and they look
away sooner.
8. Maturation biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in behavior, relatively
uninfluenced by experience.
9. Cognition all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and
communicating.
10. Schema a concept or framework that organizes and interprets information.
11. Assimilation interpreting our new experience in terms of our existing schemas.
12. Accommodation Development - adapting our current understandings (schemas) to incorporate
new information.
, AP Psychology - Development Psychology, Learning (AP Psychology)
Study online at https://quizlet.com/_35vtyp
13. Sensorimotor in Piaget's theory, the stage (from birth to about 2 years of age) during which
Stage infants know the world mostly in terms of their sensory impressions and motor
activities.
14. Object Perma- the awareness that things continue to exist even when not perceived.
nence
15. Preoperational in Piaget's theory, the stage (from 2 to about 6 or 7 years of age) during which a
Stage child learns to use language but does not yet comprehend the mental operations
of concrete logic.
16. Conservation the principle (which Piaget believed to be a part of concrete operational reason-
ing) that properties such as mass, volume, and number remain the same despite
changes in the forms of objects.
17. Egocentrism in Piaget's theory, the preoperational child's difficulty taking another's point of
view.
18. Theory of Mind people's ideas about their own and others' mental states—about their feelings,
perceptions, and thoughts, and the behaviors these might predict.
19. Concrete Opera- in Piaget's theory, the stage of cognitive development (from about 6 or 7 to 11
tional Stage years of age) during which children gain the mental operations that enable them
to think logically about concrete events.
20. Formal Opera- in Piaget's theory, the stage of cognitive development (normally beginning about
tional Stage age 12) during which people begin to think logically about abstract concepts.
21. Autism a disorder that appears in childhood and is marked by deficient communication,
social interaction, and understanding of others' states of mind.
22. Stranger Anxiety the fear of strangers that infants commonly display, beginning by about 8 months
of age.
Study online at https://quizlet.com/_35vtyp
1. Developmental a branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive, and social change
Psychology throughout the life span.
2. Zygote the fertilized egg; it enters a 2-week period of rapid cell division and develops into
an embryo.
3. Embryo the developing human organism from about 2 weeks after fertilization through
the second month.
4. Fetus the developing human organism from 9 weeks after conception to birth.
5. Teratogens agents, such as chemicals and viruses, that can reach the embryo or fetus during
prenatal development and cause harm.
6. Fetal Alcohol Syn- physical and cognitive abnormalities in children caused by a pregnant woman's
drome (FAS) heavy drinking. In severe cases, symptoms include noticeable facial mispropor-
tions.
7. Habituation decreasing responsiveness with repeated stimulation. As infants gain familiarity
with repeated exposure to a visual stimulus, their interest wanes and they look
away sooner.
8. Maturation biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in behavior, relatively
uninfluenced by experience.
9. Cognition all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and
communicating.
10. Schema a concept or framework that organizes and interprets information.
11. Assimilation interpreting our new experience in terms of our existing schemas.
12. Accommodation Development - adapting our current understandings (schemas) to incorporate
new information.
, AP Psychology - Development Psychology, Learning (AP Psychology)
Study online at https://quizlet.com/_35vtyp
13. Sensorimotor in Piaget's theory, the stage (from birth to about 2 years of age) during which
Stage infants know the world mostly in terms of their sensory impressions and motor
activities.
14. Object Perma- the awareness that things continue to exist even when not perceived.
nence
15. Preoperational in Piaget's theory, the stage (from 2 to about 6 or 7 years of age) during which a
Stage child learns to use language but does not yet comprehend the mental operations
of concrete logic.
16. Conservation the principle (which Piaget believed to be a part of concrete operational reason-
ing) that properties such as mass, volume, and number remain the same despite
changes in the forms of objects.
17. Egocentrism in Piaget's theory, the preoperational child's difficulty taking another's point of
view.
18. Theory of Mind people's ideas about their own and others' mental states—about their feelings,
perceptions, and thoughts, and the behaviors these might predict.
19. Concrete Opera- in Piaget's theory, the stage of cognitive development (from about 6 or 7 to 11
tional Stage years of age) during which children gain the mental operations that enable them
to think logically about concrete events.
20. Formal Opera- in Piaget's theory, the stage of cognitive development (normally beginning about
tional Stage age 12) during which people begin to think logically about abstract concepts.
21. Autism a disorder that appears in childhood and is marked by deficient communication,
social interaction, and understanding of others' states of mind.
22. Stranger Anxiety the fear of strangers that infants commonly display, beginning by about 8 months
of age.
