Term
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Definition
| (Of participants to treatment conditions). By using an unbiased procedure, such as drawing numbers out of a hat or flipping a coin, investigators increase the chances that participants' characteristics will be equally distributed across treatment groups. |
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Term
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Definition
| A communication process designed to help couples assess their chances of giving birth to a baby with a hereditary disorder and choose the best course of action in view of risks and family goals. |
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Term
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Definition
| A flexible, conversational style is used to probe for the participant's point of view. |
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Term
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Definition
| A genetically determined, naturally unfolding course of growth. |
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Term
| Natural (Prepared) Childbirth |
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Definition
| A group of techniques aimed at reducing pain and medical intervention and making childbirth as rewarding an experience as possible. |
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Term
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Definition
| A membrane that encloses the developing organism in amniotic fluid. |
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Term
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Definition
| A number that describes how two measures, or variables, are associated with one another. |
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Term
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Definition
| A pattern of inheritance in which both alleles are expressed in the phenotype, resulting in a combined trait, or one that is intermediate between the two. |
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Term
| Discontinuous (Development) |
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Definition
| A process in which new ways of understanding and responding to the world emerge at specific times. |
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Term
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Definition
| A process of gradually adding more of the same types of skills that were there to begin with. |
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Term
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Definition
| A sudden but permanent change in a segment of DNA. |
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Term
| Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) |
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Definition
| A term that encompasses a range of physical, mental, and behavioral outcomes caused by prenatal alcohol exposure. |
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Term
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Definition
| A time that is biologically optimal for certain capacities to emerge because the individual is especially responsive to environmental influences. However, its boundaries are less well-defined than are those of a critical period. Development can occur later, but its harder to induce. |
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Term
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Definition
| A white, cheeselike substance that protects its skin from chapping during the long months spent bathing in the amniotic fluid. |
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Term
| Identical (Monozygotic) Twins |
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Definition
| A zygote that has started to duplicate separates into two clusters of cells that develop into two individuals with the same genetic makeup. |
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Term
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Definition
| Alleles are chemically marked (imprinted) in such a way that one pair member (either the mother's or the father's) is activated, regardless of its makeup. |
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Term
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Definition
| An adaptation of the longitudinal approach, presents children with a novel task and follows their mastery over a series of closely spaced sessions. Within this "microcosm" of development, researchers observe how change occurs. |
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Term
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Definition
| An area of study devoted to understanding constancy and change from conception through adolescence. |
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Term
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Definition
| An inadequate oxygen supply. |
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Term
| Socioeconomic Status (SES) |
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Definition
| An index through which researchers assess a family's standing on the social position and economic well-being continuum. Combines three related but not completely overlapping variables: Measure of Social Status (1) years of education (2) the prestige of one's job and skill it requires and Measure of Economic Status (3) income. |
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Term
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Definition
| An orderly, integrated set of statements that describes, explains, and predicts behavior. |
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Term
| Nature-Nurture Controversy |
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Definition
| Are genetic or environmental factors more important in influencing development? Nature = inborn biological givens/hereditary information. Nurture = complex forces of the physical and social world that influence our biological makeup and psychological experiences. |
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Term
| Alcohol-Related Neurodevelopmental Disorder (ARND) |
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Definition
| At least three areas of mental functioning are impaired, despite typical growth and absence of facial abnormalities. Prenatal alcohol exposure, though confirmed, is less pervasive than in FAS. |
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Term
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Definition
| Believes directly observable events (stimuli and responses) are the appropriate focus of study. |
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Term
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Definition
| Below their expected weight considering length of the pregnancy. |
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Term
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Definition
| Born several weeks or more before their due date. |
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Term
| Clinical (Case Study) Method |
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Definition
| Brings together a wide range of information on one child, including interviews, observations, and sometimes test scores. |
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Term
| Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience |
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Definition
| Brings together researchers from psychology, biology, neuroscience, and medicine to study the relationship between changes in the brain and the developing child's cognitive processing and behavior patterns. |
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Term
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Definition
| Cell division process through which gametes are formed. Halves the number of chromosomes normally present in body cells. |
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Term
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Definition
| Cells on the inside of the blastocyst that will become the new organism. |
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Term
| Partial Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (p-FAS) |
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Definition
| Characterized by (1) two of the three facial abnormalities of FAS and (2) brain injury, evident in at least three areas of impaired functioning. Mothers of children with p-FAS generally drank alcohol in smaller quantities, and children's defects vary with the timing and length of alcohol exposure. |
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Term
| Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) |
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Definition
| Chemical substance which chromosomes are made up of. |
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Term
| Cognitive-Developmental Theory (Piaget) |
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Definition
| Children actively construct knowledge as they manipulate and explore their world. |
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Term
| Psychoanalytic Perspective |
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Definition
| Children move through a series of stages in which they confront conflicts between biological drives and social expectations. How these conflicts are resolved determines the person's ability to learn, to get along with others, and to cope with anxiety. |
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Term
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Definition
| Compare the characteristics of family members. |
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Term
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Definition
| Concerned with the adaptive, or survival, value of behavior and its evolutionary history. |
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Term
|
Definition
| Conduct several similar cross-sectional or longitudinal studies (called sequences) at varying times. |
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Term
|
Definition
| Consists of procedures that combine conditioning and modeling to eliminate undesirable behaviors and increase desirable responses. |
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Term
|
Definition
| Consists of social settings that do not contain children but that nevertheless affect children's experiences in immediate settings. |
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Term
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Definition
| Descriptive, qualitative technique directed toward understanding a culture or a distinct social group through participant observation. |
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Term
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Definition
| Development resulting from ongoing, bidirectional exchanges between heredity and all levels of the environment. |
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Term
|
Definition
| Directly observable characteristics. |
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Term
| Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) |
|
Definition
| Distinguished by (1) slow physical growth, (2) a pattern of three facial abnormalities [short eyelid openings, a thin upper lip, a smooth or flattened philtrum, or indentation running from the bottom of the nose to the center of the upper lip], and (3) brain injury, evident in a small head and impairment in at least three areas of functioning like memory, language/communication, attention span/activity level, planning/reasoning, motor coordination, or social skills. |
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Term
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Definition
| Each form of a gene. Two forms of each gene occur at the same place on the chromosomes, one inherited from the mother and one from the father. |
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Term
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Definition
| Each participant is asked the same questions in the same way; include tests and questionnaires. |
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Term
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Definition
| Each person's unique, genetically determined response to the environment. |
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Term
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Definition
| Electronic instruments that track the baby's heart rate during labor. |
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Term
| Psychosocial Theory (Erikson) |
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Definition
| Emphasized that in addition to mediating between id impulses and superego demands, the ego makes a positive contribution to development, acquiring attitudes and skills that make the individual an active, contributing member of society. |
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Term
Social Learning Theory
(Most Influential: Bandura-1977) |
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Definition
| Emphasizes modeling, also known as imitation or observational learning, as a powerful source of development. |
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Term
| Psychosexual Theory (Freud) |
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Definition
| Emphasizes that how parents manage their child's sexual and aggressive drives in the first few years is crucial for healthy personality development. |
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Term
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Definition
| Enhance or dilute the effects of other genes. |
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Term
| Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale (NBAS) |
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Definition
| Evaluates the baby's reflexes, muscle tone, state changes, responsiveness to physical and social stimuli, and other reactions. |
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Term
|
Definition
| Feelings of affection and concern for the infant. |
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Term
|
Definition
| Field devoted to uncovering the contributions of nature and nurture to the diversity in human traits and abilities. |
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Term
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Definition
| Fineness of discrimination. |
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Term
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Definition
| First appears as a primitive body stalk and, during the course of pregnancy, grows to a length of 1-3 feet. Contains one large vein that delivers blood loaded with nutrients and two arteries that remove waste products. |
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Term
| Sociocultural Theory (Vygotsky) |
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Definition
| Focuses on how culture (the values, beliefs, customs, and skills of a social group) is transmitted to the next generation. |
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Term
|
Definition
| Go into the field, or natural environment, and observe the behavior of interest. |
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Term
|
Definition
| Groups of people differing in age are studied at the same point in time. |
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Term
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Definition
| Groups of people with beliefs and customs that differ from those of the larger culture. |
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Term
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Definition
| Helps keep the temperature of the prenatal world constant and provides a cushion against any jolts caused by the woman's movement. |
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Term
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Definition
| Heterozygous individuals with just one recessive allele can still pass that trait to their children. |
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Term
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Definition
| Hollow, fluid-filled ball. The 60-70 cells that exist by the fourth day after fertilization. |
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Term
|
Definition
| Inborn, automatic response to a particular form of stimulation. |
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Term
| Rapid-Eye-Movement (REM) Sleep |
|
Definition
| Irregular, where brain-wave activity is remarkably similar to that of the waking state. The eyes dart beneath the lids; heart rate, BP, and breathing are uneven; and slight body movements occur. |
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Term
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Definition
| Large, interdisciplinary field which includes all changes we experience throughout the lifespan. |
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Term
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Definition
| Laws and government programs designed to improve current conditions. |
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Term
|
Definition
| Longitudinal studies examine the development of cohorts- children born at the same time, who are influenced by particular cultural and historical conditions. Results based on one cohort may not apply to children developing at other times. |
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Term
|
Definition
| Many genes affect the characteristic in question. |
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Term
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Definition
| Measure the extent to which individual differences in complex traits in a specific population are due to genetic factors. |
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Term
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Definition
| Measures of behavior are taken on large numbers of individuals and age-related averages are computed to represent typical development. |
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Term
| Prenatal Diagnostic Methods |
|
Definition
| Medical procedures that permit detection of developmental problems before birth. |
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Term
|
Definition
| Mutually supporting each other's parenting behaviors. |
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Term
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Definition
| Occurs between the seventh and ninth days. The blastocyst burrows deep into the uterine lining. |
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Term
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Definition
| One the experimenter expects to be influenced by the independent variable. |
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Term
|
Definition
| One the experimenter expects to cause changes in another variable. |
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Term
| Dominant-Recessive Inheritance |
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Definition
| Only one allele affects the child's characteristics. |
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Term
|
Definition
| Open to change in response to influential experiences. Some theorists see development as having substantial plasticity throughout life. |
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Term
|
Definition
| Outermost level of Bronfenbrenner's model that consists of cultural values, laws, customs, and resources. |
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Term
| Extended-Family Household |
|
Definition
| Parent and child live with one or more adult relatives. |
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Term
|
Definition
| Participants are studied repeatedly, and changes are noted as they get older. |
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Term
|
Definition
| People define themselves as part of a group and stress group over individual goals. |
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Term
| Individualistic Societies |
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Definition
| People think of themselves as separate entities and are largely concerned with their own personal needs. |
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Term
|
Definition
| Period that lasts from implantation through the eight week of pregnancy. During these brief six weeks, the most rapid prenatal changes take place, as the groundwork is laid for all body structures and internal organs. |
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Term
|
Definition
| Permits food and oxygen to reach the developing organism and waste products to be carried away by bringing the mother's and the embryo's blood close together. |
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Term
|
Definition
| Permits inferences about cause and effect because researchers use an evenhanded procedure to assign people to two or more treatment conditions. |
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Term
|
Definition
| Perspective that the human mind might also be viewed as a symbol-manipulating system through which information flows. |
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Term
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Definition
| Prenatal development is sometimes divided into three equal time periods. |
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Term
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Definition
| Protective membrane that surrounds the amnion, formed from the trophoblast. From which tiny fingerlike villi (blood vessels) emerge. |
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Term
|
Definition
| Qualitative changes in thinking, feeling, and behaving that characterize specific periods of development. |
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Term
|
Definition
| Refers to any environmental agent that causes damage during the prenatal period. |
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Term
| Non-Rapid-Eye-Movement (NREM) Sleep |
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Definition
| Regular, where the body is almost motionless, and heart rate, breathing, and brain-wave activity are slow and even. |
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Term
|
Definition
| Researchers gather information on individuals, generally in natural life circumstances, and make no effort to alter their experiences. |
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Term
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Definition
| Rodlike structure which stores and transmits genetic information. |
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Term
| Genetic-Environmental Correlation |
|
Definition
| Says our genes influence the environments to which we are exposed. |
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Term
| Evolutional Developmental Psychology |
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Definition
| Seeks to understand the adaptive value of species-wide cognitive, emotional, and social competencies as those competencies change with age. |
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Term
|
Definition
| Segment of DNA along the length of the chromosome. |
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Term
|
Definition
| Sex cells; the sperm and ovum. |
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Term
|
Definition
| Special event in which chromosomes next to each other break at one or more points along their length and exchange segments, so that genes from one are replaced by genes from another. |
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Term
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Definition
| Stage One Climax: The frequency and strength of contractions are at their peak and the cervix opens completely. |
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Term
| Dilation and Effacement of the Cervix |
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Definition
| Stage One of Childbirth: As uterine contractions gradually become more frequent and powerful, they cause the cervix to open (dilate) and thin (efface), forming a clear channel from the uterus into the birth canal (vagina). |
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Term
|
Definition
| Started artificially, usually by breaking the amnion (an event that typically occurs naturally in the first stage of labor), and giving the mother synthetic oxytocin, a hormone that stimulates contractions. |
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Term
|
Definition
| Surgical birth; the doctor makes an incision in the mother's abdomen and lifts the baby out of the uterus. |
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Term
|
Definition
| The 22 matching pairs of chromosomes, numbered from longest (1) to shortest (22), that are not sex chromosomes. |
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Term
|
Definition
| The ability to adapt effectively in the face of threats to development. |
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Term
| Dynamic Systems Perspective |
|
Definition
| The child's mind, body, and physical and social worlds form an integrated system that guides mastery of new skills. The system is constantly in motion (dynamic). A change in any part of it (from brain growth to physical or social surroundings) disrupts the current organism-environment relationship. When this happens, the child actively reorganizes his or her behavior so the various components of the system work together again but in a more complex, effective way. |
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Term
|
Definition
| The complex blend of genetic information that determines our species and influences all our unique characteristics. |
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Term
|
Definition
| The ectoderm folds over to form the spinal cord and at 3.5 weeks, the top swells to form the brain. |
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Term
|
Definition
| The experimenter sets up a laboratory situation that evokes the behavior of interest so that every participant has an equal opportunity to display the response. |
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Term
|
Definition
| The five degrees of sleep and wakefulness. |
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Term
|
Definition
| The infant stays in the mother's hospital room all or most of the time. |
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Term
|
Definition
| The innermost level of the environment that consists of activities and interaction patterns in the child's immediate surroundings. |
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Term
|
Definition
| The longest prenatal period, from the ninth week to the end of pregnancy. During this "growth and finishing" phase, the developing organism increases rapidly in size, especially from the ninth to the twentieth week. |
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Term
| Fraternal (Dizygotic) Twins |
|
Definition
| The most common type of multiple birth, resulting from release and fertilization of two ova. |
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Term
|
Definition
| The number of deaths in the first year of life per 1,000 live births. An index used around the world to assess the overall health of a nation's children. |
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Term
|
Definition
| The point at which the baby can first survive, which occurs sometime between 22 and 26 weeks. |
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Term
|
Definition
| The process through which DNA duplicates itself; unique feature of DNA. |
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Term
|
Definition
| The rate of death within the first month of life. |
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Term
|
Definition
| The resulting cell when sperm and ovum unite at conception. |
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Term
|
Definition
| The second level of Bronfenbrenner's model that encompasses connections between microsystems, such as home, school, neighborhood, and child-care center. |
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Term
|
Definition
| The tendency of heredity to restrict the development of some characteristics to just one or a few outcomes. |
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Term
|
Definition
| The tendency to actively choose environments that compliment our heredity. |
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Term
|
Definition
| The thin outer ring of cells of the blastocyst that will become the structures that provide protective covering and nourishment. |
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Term
|
Definition
| The twenty-third pair of chromosomes. In females it is called XX, in males it is called XY. |
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|
Term
| Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) |
|
Definition
| The unexpected death, usually during the night, of an infant younger than one year of age that remains unexplained after thorough investigation. |
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Term
|
Definition
| Turned so that the buttocks or feet would be delivered first. |
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Term
|
Definition
| Unique combinations of personal and environmental circumstances that can result in different paths of change. |
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Term
|
Definition
| Used by doctors and nurses to assess the newborn's physical condition quickly. |
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Term
| Ecological Systems Theory (Bronfenbrenner) |
|
Definition
| Views the child as developing within a complex system of relationships affected by multiple levels of the surrounding environment. |
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Term
|
Definition
| What Bronfenbrenner termed the temporal dimension of his model. Life changes can be imposed on the child; alternatively, they can arise from within the child, since as children get older they select, modify, and create many of their own settings and experiences. |
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Term
|
Definition
| When a harmful allele is carried on the X chromosome. Males are more likely to be affected because their sex chromosomes do not match. |
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|
Term
|
Definition
| When alleles are different and relationships between the alleles determine the phenotype. |
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|
Term
|
Definition
| When alleles from both parents are alike, and the child displays the inherited trait. |
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|
Term
| Rh Factor Incompatibility |
|
Definition
| When the mother is Rh-negative (lacks the Rh blood protein) and the father is Rh-positive ( has the protein), the baby may inherit the father's Rh-positive blood type. (Note: Rh-positive blood is dominant and Rh-negative blood is recessive, so the chances are good that a baby will be Rh-positive). If even a little of the fetus' Rh-positive blood crosses the placenta into the Rh-negative mother's bloodstream, she begins to form antibodies to the foreign Rh protein. If these enter the fetus' system, they destroy RBCs, reducing the oxygen supply to organs and tissues. |
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|
Term
|
Definition
| White, downy hair that appears over the entire body, helping the vernix stick to the skin. |
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