Developmental Psychology Vocabulary Quiz

Key Concepts in Developmental Psychology

• Critical Period: Optimal timeframe for acquiring specific skills or behaviors.
• Secondary Sex Characteristics: Features differentiating genders (e.g., body hair, breast development) unrelated to reproduction.
• Lawrence Kohlberg: Noted psychologist known for his work on moral development stages.
• Object Permanence: Cognitive understanding that objects continue to exist even if out of sight.
• Alzheimer's Disease: Progressive neurological disorder leading to memory loss and language impairment.
• Egocentrism: Developmental stage where individuals cannot understand perspectives other than their own.
• Ageism: Discrimination or prejudice directed toward elderly individuals.
• Contact Comfort: Basic emotional need characterized by the desire for physical closeness with soft objects or caregivers.
• Imprinting: Instinctual bond formed by certain animals during critical development phases.
• Attachment: Emotional connections that develop, particularly between a child and their parent(s).
• Assimilation: Cognitive process of integrating new information into existing frameworks or schemas.
• Harry Harlow: Psychologist who demonstrated the importance of contact comfort over basic needs like food through primate studies.
• Developmental Psychology: Study focused on the physical, cognitive, and emotional growth and changes throughout a person's lifespan.
• Reflex: An involuntary movement or reaction to a stimulus.
• Konrad Lorenz: Respected psychologist famous for his research on imprinting behaviors in animals.
• Jean Piaget: Influential figure in understanding stages of cognitive development among children.
• Rooting Reflex: Reflex in infants causing them to turn and suck when their face is touched, facilitating feeding.
• Primary Sex Characteristics: Traits necessary for reproduction, such as ovaries and testes.
• Maturation: Natural growth processes leading to enhanced abilities, emphasizing biological factors over environmental influences.
• Ego Integrity: Concept of finding meaning and satisfaction in life experiences, especially in later stages, despite physical decline.
• Menopause: Biological transition for women marking the end of menstrual cycles occurring typically in late 40s to early 50s.
• Social Clock: Societal benchmarks for significant life events, including marriage, parenthood, and retirement timelines.