Development Terms

Decreasing responsiveness with repeated stimulation

Adapting one’s current understandings/schemas to incorporate new information

The principle that properties such as mass, volume and number remain the same despite changes

our ability to reason speedily and abstractly; tends to decrease during late adulthood

The awareness that things continue to exist even when not perceived

a period shortly after birth when an organism's exposure to certain stimuli or experiences produces proper development

all our thoughts and feelings about ourselves, in answer to the question, "Who am I?"

When touched on the cheek, to turn toward the touch, open the mouth, and search for the nipple

Research in which the same people are restudied and retested over a long period.

the developing human organism from about 2 weeks after fertilization through the second month

our sense of self; according to Erikson, the adolescent's task is to solidify a sense of self

a branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive, and social change throughout the life span

in Erikson's theory, the ability to form close, loving relationships; a task in late adolescence and early adulthood

One’s accumulated knowledge and verbal skills which tends to increase with age

Research in which people of different ages are compared with one another

a concept or framework that organizes and interprets information

The process which certain animals form attachments during a critical period very early in life

The pre-operational child’s difficulty taking another’s point of view.

The fertilized egg as it enters a 2-week period of rapid cell division and developing

interpreting our new experiences in terms of our existing schemas