AP PSYCHOLOGY DEVELOPMENT EXAM 1
2026 QUESTIONS AND VERIFIED
ANSWERS GRADED A+
Developmental Psychology
Study of how people change from birth to old age; changes over the life span that includes thinking,
language, intelligence, emotions, & social behaviorspecifically the hows and whys changes occur
Biographical or Respective Study
A method of studying developmental changes by reconstructing people's past through interviews and
inferring the effects of past events on current behaviors
Embryo
Prenatal period-2 weeks after conception to 3 months; Cells begin to specialize: internal organs, muscles
and bones, skin and nervous system
Placenta
Organ that nourishes the embryo and fetus; the mother's blood vessels transmit nutritive substances to the
embryo or fetus and carry waste products away from it; Diseases and teratogens can cross the placenta
and infect the fetus, compromising the baby's development.
Neonate
Newborn babies; sleep up to 20 hours a day
Sucking Reflex
Newborn reflex/tendency to suck on objects placed by the mouth
, Grasping Reflex
Newborn reflex where babies ling to objects placed in hands; normally disappears after 2 or 3 months and
reemerges later when voluntary grasping begins (typically around 5 months)
Temperament
Characteristic patterns of emotional reactions and emotional self-regulation; Thomas and Chess (1977)
devised 3 temperaments: Easy-good-natured and adaptable, easy to care for and please; Difficult-moody
and intense, reacting to new people and new situations both negatively and positively; Slow-to-warm-up-
relatively inactive and slow to respond to new things, and when they do react, their reactions are mild;
Kagan (1988) added a 4th temperament: Shy-timid and inhibited, fearful of anything new or strange
Developmental Norms
Average ages that children reach developmental milestones: 6 mos-babbling, 9 mos-stand with assistance,
10 mos-crawling, 12 mos-walking, 18 mos-vocabulary of 50-70 words
Object Permanence
concept from Piaget; major milestone in Sensory-Motor Stage; The concept that things continue to exist
even when they are out of sight; "out of sight, out of mind", typically achieved by 18 to 24 mos (meaning
the child realizes that the object exists if it is out of sight)
Preoperational Stage
second stage of Piaget's cognitive development; 2-7 years; main activities involve fantasy play, symbolic
gestures, egocentrism; understand object permanence and mental representations; must achieve
conservation and egocentrism
Concrete Operational Stage
2026 QUESTIONS AND VERIFIED
ANSWERS GRADED A+
Developmental Psychology
Study of how people change from birth to old age; changes over the life span that includes thinking,
language, intelligence, emotions, & social behaviorspecifically the hows and whys changes occur
Biographical or Respective Study
A method of studying developmental changes by reconstructing people's past through interviews and
inferring the effects of past events on current behaviors
Embryo
Prenatal period-2 weeks after conception to 3 months; Cells begin to specialize: internal organs, muscles
and bones, skin and nervous system
Placenta
Organ that nourishes the embryo and fetus; the mother's blood vessels transmit nutritive substances to the
embryo or fetus and carry waste products away from it; Diseases and teratogens can cross the placenta
and infect the fetus, compromising the baby's development.
Neonate
Newborn babies; sleep up to 20 hours a day
Sucking Reflex
Newborn reflex/tendency to suck on objects placed by the mouth
, Grasping Reflex
Newborn reflex where babies ling to objects placed in hands; normally disappears after 2 or 3 months and
reemerges later when voluntary grasping begins (typically around 5 months)
Temperament
Characteristic patterns of emotional reactions and emotional self-regulation; Thomas and Chess (1977)
devised 3 temperaments: Easy-good-natured and adaptable, easy to care for and please; Difficult-moody
and intense, reacting to new people and new situations both negatively and positively; Slow-to-warm-up-
relatively inactive and slow to respond to new things, and when they do react, their reactions are mild;
Kagan (1988) added a 4th temperament: Shy-timid and inhibited, fearful of anything new or strange
Developmental Norms
Average ages that children reach developmental milestones: 6 mos-babbling, 9 mos-stand with assistance,
10 mos-crawling, 12 mos-walking, 18 mos-vocabulary of 50-70 words
Object Permanence
concept from Piaget; major milestone in Sensory-Motor Stage; The concept that things continue to exist
even when they are out of sight; "out of sight, out of mind", typically achieved by 18 to 24 mos (meaning
the child realizes that the object exists if it is out of sight)
Preoperational Stage
second stage of Piaget's cognitive development; 2-7 years; main activities involve fantasy play, symbolic
gestures, egocentrism; understand object permanence and mental representations; must achieve
conservation and egocentrism
Concrete Operational Stage
