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| The developmental period of transition from childhood to adulthood; it involves biological, cognitive, and socioemotional changes. Adolescence begins at approximately 10 to 13 years of age and ends in the late teens. |
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| G. Stanley Hall's concept that adolescence is a turbulent time charged with conflict and mood swings |
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| A generalization that reflects our impressions and beliefs about a broad group of people. All stereotypes refer to an image of what the typical member of a specific group is like. |
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| The pattern of change that begins at conception and continues through the life span. Most development involves growth, although it also includes decay (as in death and dying). |
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| The developmental period occurring from approximately 18 to 25 years of age; this transitional period between adolescence and adulthood is characterized by experimentation and exploration. |
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| Issue involving the debate about whether development is primarily influenced by an organism's biological inheritance (nature) or by its environmental experiences (nurture). |
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| Theories that describe development as primarily unconscious and heavily colored by emotion. Behavior is merely a surface characteristic, and the symbolic workings of the mind have to be analyzed to understand behavior. Early experiences with parents are emphasized. |
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| An orientation that does not follow any one theoretical approach but rather selects from each theory whatever is considered the best in it. |
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| A theory focusing on the influence of five environmental systems; microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, and cronosystem. |
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| Research that aims to observe and record behavior. |
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| Research whose goal is to describe the strength of the relationship between two or more events or characteristic. |
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| Research that involves an experiment, a carefully regulated procedure in which one or more of the factors believed to influence the behavior being studied are manipulated while all other factors are held constant. |
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| A research strategy that involves studying different people of varying ages all at one time. |
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| A research strategy in which the same individuals are studied over a period of time, usually several years or more. |
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| A brain-neuroendocrine process occurring primarily in early adolescence that provides stimulation for the rapid physical changes that accompany this period of development. |
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| Early/Late Maturing (boys/girls) |
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| A person's genetic heritage; the actual genetic material. |
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| The way an individuals genotype is expressed in observed and measurable characteristics. |
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| A study in which investigators seek to discover whether the behavior and psychological characteristics of adopted children are more like their adoptive parents, who have provided a home environment, or more like those of their biological parents, who have contributed their heredity. Another form of adoption study involves comparing adopted and biological siblings. |
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| Siblings' common experiences such as their parents' personalities and intellectual orientation, the families socioeconomic status, and the neighborhood in which they live. |
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| The adolescents own unique experiences, both within a family and outside the family, that are not shared by a sibling. |
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| The process by which the axon portion of the neuron becomes covered and insulated with a layer of fat cells, which increases the speed and efficiency of information processing in the nervous system. |
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| Nerve cells, which are the nervous systems basic units. |
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| Gaps between neurons, where connections between the axon and dendrites occur. |
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| A large bundle of axon fibers that connect the brains left and right hemispheres. |
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| The highest level of the brains frontal lobes that is involved in reasoning, decision making, and self-control. |
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| A portion of the brains limbic system that is the seat of emotions such as anger. |
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| The incorporation of new information into existing knowledge. |
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| An adjustment of a scheme in response to new information. |
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| A mechanism in Piaget's theory that explains how individuals shift from one state of thought to the next. The shift occurs as individuals experience cognitive conflict or a disequilibrium in trying to understand the world. Eventually, the individual resolves the conflict and reaches a balance, or equilibrium, of thought. |
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| Piaget's fourth and final stage of cognitive development, which he argued emerges at 11 to 15 years of age. It is characterized by abstract, idealistic, and logical thought. |
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| Early/Late Formal Operations |
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| Zone of Proximal Development |
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| Vygotsky's concept that refers to the range of tasks that are too difficult for an individual to master alone, but that can be mastered with the guidance or assistance of adults or more skilled peers. |
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| Short/Working/Long Term Memory |
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| Concentration and focusing of mental resources. |
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| The retention of information over time. |
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| Thinking reflectively and productively and evaluating the evidence. |
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| The ability to solve problems and to adapt to and learn from everyday experiences; not everyone agrees on what constitutes intelligence. |
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| The ability to perceive and express emotions accurately and adaptively, to understand emotions and emotional knowledge, to use feelings to facilitate thought, and to manage emotions in oneself and others. |
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| The heightened self-consciousness of adolescents, which is reflected in their belief that others are as interested in them as they themselves are, and in their sense of personal uniqueness and invulnerability. |
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| The ability to assume another person's perspective and understand his or her thoughts and feelings. |
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