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Unit 6
Developmental Psychology
Term | Definition |
---|---|
Developmental Psychology | Scientific Study of how and why humans grow, change, and adapt across the course of their lives |
3 Major Issues in Developmental Psych | Nature vs. Nurture, Stability and change, and continuity and stages |
Nature vs. Nurture | Major issue in developmental psych, how does our genetic inheritance (nature) interact with our experiences (nurture) to influence development? |
Stability and Change | Which of out traits persist through life? How do we change as we age? |
Continuity and Stages | What parts of development are gradual and continuous? What parts change abruptly in seperate stages? |
Zygotes | The fertilized egg - enter a 2 week period of rapid cell division and develops into an embryo |
Embryo | The developing human organism from about 2 weeks after fertilization through the 2nd month (2 weeks to 8 weeks) |
Fetus | The developing human organism from 9 weeks after conception to birth (8 weeks - rest of development) |
Teratogens | Viruses and drugs that can damage an embryo or fetus |
Habituation | Decreasing responsiveness with repeated stimulation. As infants gain familiarity with repeated exposure to a stimulus, their interest wanes and they look away sooner |
Maturation |