amygdala
two lima bean-sized neural clusters in the limbic system; control fear processing and anxiety
mean length of utterance
the average length of youngsters' spoken statements (measured in morphemes)
babbling
An infant's repetition of certain syllables, such as ba-ba-ba, that begins when babies are between 6 and 9 months old.
habituation
the process of becoming accustomed to an object or event through repeated exposure to it, and thus becoming less interested in it
reminder session
a perceptual experience that helps a person recollect an idea, a thing, or an experience
visual cliff
an experimental apparatus that gives the illusion of a sudden drop-off between one horizontal surface and another
sensorimotor intelligence
Piaget's term for the way infants think by using their senses and motor skills during the first period of cognitive development
sensation
the process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our environment
pituitary
A gland in the brain that responds to a signal from the hypothalamus by producing many hormones, including those that regulate growth and that control other glands, among them the adrenal and sex glands.
social smile
a smile evoked by a human face, normally first evident in infants about 6 weeks after birth
separation anxiety
emotional distress seen in many infants when they are separated from people with whom they have formed an attachment
stranger wariness
An infant's expression of concern�a quiet stare while clinging to a familiar person, or a look of fear�when a stranger appears.
self-awareness
A self-conscious state in which attention focuses on oneself. It makes people more sensitive to their own attitudes and dispositions
Temperament
Inborn differences between one person and another in emotions, activity, and self-regulation. It is measured by the person's typical responses to the environment.
synchrony
a coordinated, rapid, and smooth exchange of responses between a caregiver and an infant
still-face technique
an experimental practice in which an adult keeps his or her face unmoving and expressionless in face-to-face interaction with an infant
Attachement
an emotional tie with another person; shown in young children by their seeking closeness to the caregiver and showing distress on separation
secure attachment
a relationship in which an infant obtains both comfort and confidence from the presence of his or her caregiver
insecure-avoidant attachment
a pattern of attachment in which an infant avoids connection with the caregiver, as when the infant seems not to care about the caregiver's presence, departure, or return
insecure-resistance attachment
a pattern of attachment in which an infant's anxiety and uncertainty are evident, as when the infant becomes very upset at separation from the caregiver and both resists and seeks contact on reunion
disorganized attachement
a type of attachment that is marked by an infant's inconsistent reactions to the caregiver's departure and return
strange situation
a behavioral test developed by Mary Ainsworth that is used to determine a child's attachment style
social referencing
reading emotional cues in others to help determine how to act in a particular situation
trust versus mistrust
Erikson's first crisis of psychosocial development. Infants learn basic trust if the world is a secure place where their basic needs (for food, comfort, attention, and so on) are met.
autonomy versus shame and doubt
Erikson's second crisis of psychosocial development. Toddlers either succeed or fail in gaining a sense of self-rule over their actions and their bodies.
myelination
the process by which axons become coated with myelin, a fatty substance that speeds the transmission of nerve impulses from neuron to neuron
corpus callosum
the large band of neural fibers connecting the two brain hemispheres and carrying messages between them
lateralization
specialization of function in one hemisphere of the cerebral cortex or the other
impulse control
the ability to postpone or deny the immediate response to an idea or behavior
Perseveration
The tendency to stick to one thought or action for a long time.
injury control/harm reduction
Practices that are aimed at anticipating, controlling, and preventing dangerous activities; these practices reflect the beliefs that accidents are not random and that injuries can be made less harmful if proper controls are in place.
primary prevention
Actions that change overall background conditions to prevent some unwanted event or circumstance, such as injury, disease, or abuse.
secondary prevention
actions that avert harm in a high-risk situation, such as stopping a car before it hits a pedestrian
tertiary prevention
actions taken to contain damage once a disease or disability has progressed beyond its early stages
child maltreatment
intentional harm to or avoidable endangerment of anyone under 18 years of age
child abuse
deliberate action that is harmful to a child's physical, emotional, or sexual well-being
child neglect
failure to meet a child's basic physical, educational, or emotional needs
substained maltreatment
harm or endangerment that has been reported, investigated, and verified
Reported maltreatment
harm or endangerment about which someone has notified the authorities
post-traumatic stress disorder
an anxiety disorder associated with serious traumatic events and characterized by such symptoms as survivor guilt, reliving the trauma in dreams, numbness and lack of involvement with reality, or recurrent thoughts and images
permanency planning
An effort by child-welfare authorities to find a long-term living situation that will provide stability and support for a maltreated child. A goal is to avoid repeated changes of caregiver or school, which can be particularly harmful to the child.
foster care
The temporary placement of children in the homes of adults who are not related to them.
kinship care
A form of foster care in which a relative of a maltreated child, usually a grandparent, becomes the approved caregiver.
symbolic thought
The ability to use words, images, and symbols to represent the world.
animism
Belief that objects, such as plants and stones, or natural events, like thunderstorms and earthquakes, have a discrete spirit and conscious life.
centration
The tendency to focus on just one feature of a problem, neglecting other important aspects.
Egocentrism
in Piaget's theory, the preoperational child's difficulty taking another's point of view, seeing the world exclusively from their personal persepctive
focus on apperance
a characteristic of preoperational thought in which a young child ignores all attributes that are not apparent
static reasoning
A characteristic of preoperational thought in which a young child thinks that nothing changes. Whatever is now has always been and always will be.
irreversibility
in Piaget's theory, the inability of the young child to mentally reverse an action
conservation
the principle (which Piaget believed to be a part of concrete operational reasoning) that properties such as mass, volume, and number remain the same despite changes in the forms of objects
zone of proximal development
In Vygotsky's theory, the range between children's present level of knowledge and their potential knowledge state if they recieve proper guidance and instruction
scaffolding
Adjusting the support offered during a teaching session to fit the child's current level of performance
overimitation
The tendency of children to copy an action that is not a relevant part of the behavior to be learned; common among 2- to 6-year-olds when they imitate adult actions that are irrelevant and inefficient.
private speech
The internal dialogue that occurs when people talk to themselves (either silently or out loud).
social mediation
human interaction that expands and advances understanding, often through words that one person uses to explain something to another
executive functioning
the cognitive abilities and processes that allow humans to plan or inhibit their actions
theory-theory
the idea that children attempt to explain everything they see and hear by constructing theories
theory of mind
people's ideas about their own and others' mental states�about their feelings, perceptions, and thoughts, and the behaviors these might predict.
fast-mapping
the fact that children can map a word onto an underlying concept after only a single exposure
overregularization
Applying a grammatical rule too widely and thereby creating incorrect forms.
pragmatics
the appropriate use of language in different contexts
emotional regulation
the ability to control when and how emotions are expressed
self-concept
all our thoughts and feelings about ourselves, in answer to the question, "Who am I?
effortful control
the ability to regulate one's emotions and actions through effort, not simply through natural inclination
initiative versus guilt
Erikson's third psychosocial crisis, in which children undertake new skills and activities and feel guilty when they do not succeed at them
intrinsic motivation
a desire to perform a behavior effectively for its own sake
extrinsic motivation
a desire to perform a behavior to receive promised rewards or avoid threatened punishment
imaginary friends
Make-believe friends who exist only in a child's imagination; increasingly common from ages 3 through 7, they combat loneliness and aid emotional regulation.
rough and tumble play
play that mimics aggression through wrestling, chasing, or hitting, but in which there is no intent to harm
sociodramatic play
pretend play in which children act out various roles and themes in stories that they create
empathy
the ability to understand and share the feelings of another
pro social behavior
positive, constructive, helpful behavior. The opposite of antisocial behavior
antisocial behavior
actions that are deliberately hurtful or destructive to another person
instrumental aggression
aggression as a means to some goal other than causing pain
relational aggression
nonphysical acts, such as insults or social rejection, aimed at harming the social connection between the victim and other people
bullying aggression
unprovoked, repeated physical or verbal attack, especially on victims who are unlikely to defend themselves
authoritarian parenting
style of parenting in which parent is rigid and overly strict, showing little warmth to the child
permissive parenting
A parenting style characterized by the placement of few limits on the child's behavior.
authoritative parenting
parenting style characterized by emotional warmth, high standards for behavior, explanation and consistent enforcement of rules, and inclusion of children in decision making
neglectful parenting
a parenting style characterized by a lack of parental involvement in the child's life
corporal punishment
the use of physical force to discipline a child
psychological control
A disciplinary technique that involves threatening to withdraw love and support and that relies on a child's feelings of guilt and gratitude to the parents.
time-out
A disciplinary technique in which a child is separated from other people for a specified time.
sex differences
biological differences between males and females, in organs, hormones, and body shape
gender differences
Actual disparities between the sexes in typical behavior or average ability.
induction
a discipline technique that combines parental control with explaining why a behavior is prohibited
phallic stage
Freud's third stage of development, when the penis becomes the focus of concern and pleasure
Oedipus complex
according to Freud, a boy's sexual desires toward his mother and feelings of jealousy and hatred for the rival father
supergo
the mental system that reflects the internalization of cultural rules, mainly learned as parents exercise their authority
identification
the process by which, according to Freud, children incorporate their parents' values into their developing superegos
gender schema
a set of behaviors organized around how either a male or female should think and behave
percentile
A point on a ranking scale of 0 to 100. The 50th percentile is the midpoint; half the people in the population being studied rank higher and half rank lower.
neuron
a nerve cell; the basic building block of the nervous system
head-sparing
A biological mechanism that protects the brain when malnutrition disrupts body growth. The brain is the last part of the body to be damaged by malnutrition.
neurotransmitter
chemical messengers that cross the synaptic gaps between neurons
myelin
A layer of fatty tissue segmentally encasing the fibers of many neurons; enables vastly greater transmission speed of neural impulses as the impulse hops from one node to the next.
prefrontal cortex
part of frontal lobe responsible for thinking, planning, and language
hypothalamus
A neural structure lying below the thalamus; it directs several maintenance activities (eating, drinking, body temperature), helps govern the endocrine system via the pituitary gland, and is linked to emotion and reward.
cortisol
stress hormone released by the adrenal cortex
hippocampus
A neural center located in the limbic system that helps process explicit memories for storage.
limbic system
A doughnut-shaped system of neural structures at the border of the brainstem and cerebral hemispheres; associated with emotions such as fear and aggression and drives such as those for food and sex. Includes the hippocampus, amygdala, and hypothalamus.
cortex
outermost covering of the brain consisting of densely packed neurons, responsible for higher thought processes and interpretation of sensory input
synapses
the intersection between the axon of one neuron and the dendrites of other neurons
dendrites
a neuron's bushy, branching extensions that receive messages and conduct impulses toward the cell body
axon
the extension of a neuron, ending in branching terminal fibers, through which messages pass to other neurons or to muscles or glands
bed-sharing
when two or more people sleep in the same bed
co-sleeping
A custom in which parents and their children (usually infants) sleep together in the same room.
REM sleep
a recurring sleep stage during which vivid dreams commonly occur. Also known as paradoxical sleep, because the muscles are relaxed (except for minor twitches) but other body systems are active.
preoperational intelligence
Piaget's term for cognitive development between the ages of about 2 and 6; it includes language and imagination (which involve symbolic thought), but logical, operational thinking is not yet possible at this stage.
transient exuberance
The great but temporary increase in the number of dendrites that develop in an infant's brain during the first two years of life.
pruning
When applied to brain development, the process by which unused connections in the brain atrophy and die.
experience-expectant growth
process by which the wiring of the brain is organized by experiences that are common to most humans
experience-dependent growth
process by which an individual's unique experiences over a lifetime affect brain structures and organization
shaken baby syndrome
A life-threatening injury that occurs when an infant is forcefully shaken back and forth, a motion that ruptures blood vessels in the brain and breaks neural connections.
binocular vision
the ability to focus the two eyes in a coordinated manner in order to see one image
motor skill
the learned abilities to move some part of the body, in actions ranging from a large leap to a flicker of the eyelid
gross motor skills
physical abilities involving large body movements, such as walking and jumping
fine motor skills
physical abilities involving small body movements, especially of the hands and fingers, such as drawing and picking up a coin
primary circular reactions
The first of three types of feedback loops in sensorimotor intelligence, this one involving the infant's own body. The infant senses motion, sucking, noise, and other stimuli and tries to understand them.
secondary circular reactions
The second of three types of feedback loops in sensorimotor intelligence, this one involving people and objects. Infants respond to other people, to toys, and to any other object they can touch or move.
object permanence
the awareness that things continue to exist even when not perceived
tertiary circular reactions
The third of three types of feedback loops in sensorimotor intelligence, this one involving active exploration and experimentation. Infants explore a range of new activities, varying their responses as a way of learning about the world.
little scientist
The stage-five toddler (age 12 to 18 months) who experiments without anticipating the results, using trial and error in active and creative exploration.
affordance
an opportunity for perception and interaction that is offered by a person, place, or object in the environment
child-directed speech
the high-pitched, simplified, and repetitive way adults speak to infants
holophrase
a single word that is used to express a complete, meaningful thought
naming explosion
A sudden increase in an infant's vocabulary, especially in the number of nouns, that begins at about 18 months of age.
grammar
All the methods�word order, verb forms, and so on�that languages use to communicate meaning, apart from the words themselves.
language acquisition device
Chomsky's concept of an innate, prewired mechanism in the brain that allows children to acquire language naturally