83 Key Terms for Lifespan Development
- accommodation
- adjustment of a schema by changing a scheme to accommodate new information different from what was already known
- adolescence
- period of development that begins at puberty and ends at early adulthood
- adrenarche
- maturing of the adrenal glands
- advance directive
- a written legal document that details specific interventions a person wants (see living will)
- assimilation
- adjustment of a schema by adding information similar to what is already known
- attachment
- long-standing connection or bond with others
- authoritarian parenting style
- parents place a high value on conformity and obedience, are often rigid, and express little warmth to the child
- authoritative parenting style
- parents give children reasonable demands and consistent limits, express warmth and affection, and listen to the child’s point of view
- avoidant attachment
- characterized by child’s unresponsiveness to parent, does not use the parent as a secure base, and does not care if parent leaves
cephalocaudal development
pattern of growth from the head down; also referred to as development from head to toe
- cognitive development
- domain of lifespan development that examines learning, attention, memory, language, thinking, reasoning, and creativity
- cognitive empathy
- ability to take the perspective of others and to feel concern for others
- conception
- when a sperm fertilizes an egg and forms a zygote
- concrete operational stage
- third stage in Piaget’s theory of cognitive development; from about 7 to 11 years old, children can think logically about real (concrete) events
- conservation
- idea that even if you change the appearance of something, it is still equal in size, volume, or number as long as nothing is added or removed
- continuous development
- view that development is a cumulative process: gradually improving on existing skills
- critical (sensitive) period
- time during fetal growth when specific parts or organs develop
- developmental milestone
- approximate ages at which children reach specific normative events
- discontinuous development
- view that development takes place in unique stages, which happen at specific times or ages
- disorganized attachment
- characterized by the child’s odd behaviour when faced with the parent; type of attachment seen most often with kids that are abused
- do not resuscitate (DNR)
- a legal document stating that if a person stops breathing their heart stops, medical personnel such as doctors and nurses are not to take steps to revive or resuscitate the patient
- egocentrism
- preoperational child’s difficulty in taking the perspective of others
- embryo
- multi-cellular organism in its early stages of development
- emerging adulthood
- newly defined period of lifespan development from 18 years old to the mid-20s; young people are taking longer to complete college, get a job, get married, and start a family
- fine motor skills
- use of muscles in fingers, toes, a