Developing Child, The.

609 Pages·2013·24.649 MB·English

by  Bee, Helen, Boyd, Denise, Boyd, Denise G.

The Developing Child
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ISBN 978-1-29202-080-8 o
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9 781292 020808
The Developing Child
Denise G. Boyd Helen L. Bee
Thirteenth Edition
ISBN 10: 1-292-02080-6
ISBN 13: 978-1-292-02080-8
Pearson Education Limited
Edinburgh Gate
Harlow
Essex CM20 2JE
England and Associated Companies throughout the world
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© Pearson Education Limited 2014
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted
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book by such owners.
ISBN 10: 1-292-02080-6
ISBN 13: 978-1-292-02080-8
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A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Printed in the United States of America
111222333470470470361935771913337
P E A R S O N C U S T O M L I B R AR Y
Table of Contents
Glossary
Denise Boyd/Helen Bee 1
1. Basic Issues in the Study of Development
Denise Boyd/Helen Bee 9
2. Prenatal Development
Denise Boyd/Helen Bee 43
3. Birth and Early Infancy
Denise Boyd/Helen Bee 75
4. Physical Development
Denise Boyd/Helen Bee 107
5. Perceptual Development
Denise Boyd/Helen Bee 147
6. Cognitive Development I: Structure and Process
Denise Boyd/Helen Bee 171
7. Cognitive Development II: Individual Differences in Cognitive Abilities
Denise Boyd/Helen Bee 209
8. The Development of Language
Denise Boyd/Helen Bee 241
9. Personality Development: Alternative Views
Denise Boyd/Helen Bee 273
10. Concepts of Self, Gender, and Sex Roles
Denise Boyd/Helen Bee 303
11. The Development of Social Relationships
Denise Boyd/Helen Bee 333
12. Thinking about Relationships: Social-Cognitive and Moral Development
Denise Boyd/Helen Bee 367
I
344455926918553791
13. The Ecology of Development: The Child within the Family System
Denise Boyd/Helen Bee 395
14. Beyond the Family: The Impact of the Broader Culture
Denise Boyd/Helen Bee 425
15. Atypical Development
Denise Boyd/Helen Bee 463
Putting It All Together: The Developing Child
Denise Boyd/Helen Bee 497
References
Denise Boyd/Helen Bee 519
Index 581
II
GLOSSARY
adaptive refl exes Refl exes that are essential to the infant’s survival attention defi cit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) A disorder
but that disappear in the fi rst year of life. in which a child shows both signifi cant problems in focusing
ability goal A goal orientation associated with a desire to be superior attention and physical hyperactivity.
to others. attention problems A category of psychopathologies that impair
academic approach An approach to early childhood education that one’s ability to concentrate, including attention defi cit hyperactiv-
provides children with instruction in skills needed for success in ity disorder, attention defi cit disorder, and hyperkinetic disorder.
school. atypical development An enduring pattern of behavior that
accommodation Th at part of the adaptation process proposed by is unusual, compared to the behavior of others of the child’s
Piaget by which a person modifi es existing schemes as a result of age, and that interferes with the child’s development in some
new experiences or creates new schemes when old ones no longer signifi cant way.
handle the data. auditory acuity How well one can hear.
achievement test Test designed to assess a child’s learning of authoritarian style One of the three parental styles described by
specifi c material taught in school, such as spelling or arithmetic Baumrind, characterized by high levels of control and maturity
computation; in the United States, achievement tests are typically demands and low levels of nurturance and communication.
given to all children in designated grades. authoritative style One of the three parental styles described by
adaptation Th e processes through which schemes change. Baumrind, characterized by high levels of control, nurturance,
ADHD/combined type ADHD in which both hyperactivity and maturity demands, and communication.
inattention are problems. autistic disorder A disorder in which children have much more
ADHD/hyperactive/impulsive type ADHD in which hyperactivity limited language skills than others of the same age, an inability to
is the main problem. engage in reciprocal social relationships, and a severely limited
ADHD/inattentive type ADHD in which inattention is the main range of interests.
problem. automaticity Th e ability to recall information from long-term
adolescent-onset conduct disorder A conduct disorder that begins memory without eff ort.
only in adolescence; it is typically less severe and persistent than axons Tail-like extensions of neurons.
childhood-onset conduct disorder. babbling Th e repetitive vocalizing of consonant-vowel combinations
aff ectional bond An enduring tie to a partner, viewed as unique. by an infant, typically beginning at about 6 months of age.
aggression Behavior that is aimed at harming or injuring another balanced approach R eading instruction that combines explicit phonics
person or object. instruction with other strategies for helping children acquire literacy.
agreeableness One of the Big Five personality traits; a person who Bayley Scales of Infant Development Th e best-known and most
scores high on this trait is characterized by trust, generosity, widely used test of infant ‘intelligence.’
kindness, and sympathy—also shapes future experience. behavior genetics Th e study of the genetic contributions to behavior
amnion Th e sac, or bag, fi lled with liquid in which the embryo/fetus or traits such as intelligence or personality.
fl oats during prenatal life. behaviorism Th e theoretical view that defi nes development in terms
analytical intelligence One of three types of intelligence in of behavior changes caused by environmental infl uences.
Sternberg’s triarchic theory of intelligence; the type of intelligence Big Five Th e fi ve primary dimensions of adult personality identifi ed
typically measured on IQ tests, including the ability to plan, by researchers: extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness,
remember facts, and organize information. neuroticism, and openness/intellect.
androgynous One of four sex-role types suggested by the work bilingual education As practiced in the United States, a school
of Bem and others; a type characterized by high levels of both program for students who are not profi cient in English in which
masculine and feminine qualities. instruction in basic subject matter is given in the children’s native
anorexia nervosa Eating disorder characterized by self-starvation. language during the fi rst 2 or 3 years of schooling, with a gradual
anoxia A shortage of oxygen. Th is is one of the potential risks at transition to full English instruction over several years.
birth, and it can result in brain damage if it is prolonged. birth order A child’s position in the sequence of children within a
Asperger’s disorder A disorder in which children possess the other family, such as fi rst-born, later-born, or only child.
characteristics of autistic disorder but have intact language and blastocyst Name for the mass of cells from roughly 4 to 10 days aft er
cognitive skills. fertilization.
assimilation Th at part of the adaptation process proposed by Piaget blended family A family that is established when a single parent
that involves absorbing new experiences or information into existing marries a nonparent or parent.
schemes. Experience is not taken in ‘as is,’ however, but is modifi ed BMI-for-age Comparison of an individual child’s BMI against
(or interpreted) somewhat so as to fi t the preexisting schemes. established norms for his or her age group and sex.
association areas Parts of the brain where sensory, motor, and body mass index (BMI) A measure that estimates a person’s
intellectual functions are linked. proportion of body fat.
attachment A type of aff ectional bond in which the presence of the bone age A measure of physical maturation based on x-ray
partner adds a special sense of security, a ‘safe base,’ for the individual. examination of bones, typically the wrist and hand bones. Two
attachment behaviors Th e collection of (probably) instinctive children of the same chronological age may have diff erent bone
behaviors of one person toward another that bring about or age because their rates of physical maturation diff er.
maintain proximity and caregiving, such as the smile of the young bulimia Eating disorder characterized by alternating periods of
infant; behaviors that refl ect an attachment. bingeing and purging.
From the Glossary of Th e Developing Child, Th irteenth Edition. Denise Boyd, Helen Bee. Copyright © 2012 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
1
Glossary
cell body Th e part of the cell that contains the nucleus and in which control group A group of participants in an experiment who receive
all the cell’s vital functions are carried out. either no special treatment or some neutral treatment.
centration Th e young child’s tendency to think of the world in terms conventional morality Th e second level of moral development
of one variable at a time. proposed by Kohlberg, in which a person’s judgments are
cephalocaudal One of two basic patterns of physical development dominated by considerations of group values and laws.
in infancy (the other is proximodistal), in which development conventional rules As defi ned by Turiel, arbitrary, socially defi ned
proceeds from the head downward. rules specifi c to a particular culture, subculture, group, or setting,
cerebral cortex Th e convoluted gray portion of the brain, which such as ‘Don’t run in the halls’ or ‘Smoking allowed only in
governs perception, body movement, thinking, and language. designated areas.’
cesarean section (C-section) Delivery of the child through an cooing Making repetitive vowel sounds, particularly the uuu sound;
incision in the mother’s abdomen. the behavior develops early in the prelinguistic period, when
childhood-onset conduct disorder Conduct disorder beginning babies are between about 1 and 4 months of age.
in childhood; the pattern is linked to rejection by peers and to corpus callosum Th e structure that connects the right and left
conduct problems that persist into adolescence and adulthood. hemispheres of the cerebral cortex.
chorion Th e outer layer of cells of the blastocyst during prenatal correlation A statistic used to describe the strength of a relationship
development, from which both the placenta and the umbilical between two variables. It can range from 21.00 to 11.00. Th e closer
cord are formed. it is to 11.00 or 21.00, the stronger the relationship being described.
chromosomes Th e structures, arrayed in 23 pairs, within each cell in creative intelligence One of three types of intelligence described
the body that contain genetic information. Each chromosome is by Sternberg in his triarchic theory of intelligence; includes
made up of many segments, called genes. insightfulness and the ability to see new relationships among
class inclusion Th e principle that subordinate classes of objects are events or experiences.
included in superordinate classes. creativity Th e ability to produce original, appropriate, and valuable
classical conditioning One of three major types of learning. An ideas and/or solutions to problems.
automatic, or unconditional response such as an emotion or a critical period Any time period during development when an
refl ex comes to be triggered by a new cue, called the conditional organism is especially responsive to and learns from a specifi c
stimulus, aft er having been paired several times with that stimulus. type of stimulation. Th e same stimulation at other points in
clinical depression (major depressive disorder) A combination development has little or no eff ect.
of sad mood, sleeping and eating disturbances, and diffi culty cross-cultural research Any study that involves comparisons of
concentrating that lasts six months or longer. diff erent cultures or contexts.
clique A group of four to six friends with strong aff ectional bonds cross-sectional design A form of research study in which samples
and high levels of group solidarity and loyalty; the term is used by of participants from several diff erent age groups are studied at the
researchers to describe a self-chosen group of friends. same time.
cognitive-developmental theories Developmental theories that crowd A larger and looser group of friends than a clique, normally
emphasize children’s actions on the environment and suggest that made up of several cliques that have joined together; a reputation-
age-related changes in reasoning precede and explain changes in based group, common in adolescent subculture, with widely
other domains. agreed-upon characteristics.
cohort A group of individuals who share the same historical cumulative defi cit Any diff erence between groups in IQ or
experiences at the same times in their lives. achievement test scores that becomes larger over time.
colic A pattern of persistent and oft en inconsolable crying, totaling decentration Th inking that takes multiple variables into account.
more than three hours a day, found in some infants in the fi rst 3 to deductive logic Reasoning from the general to the particular, from
4 months of life. a rule to an expected instance or from a theory to a hypothesis,
color constancy Th e ability to see the color of an object as remaining characteristic of formal operational thinking.
the same despite changes in illumination or shadow. delinquency A subcategory of conduct disorder involving explicit
competence A person’s basic, underlying level of skill, displayed under lawbreaking.
ideal circumstances. It is not possible to measure competence directly. dendrites Branchlike protrusions from the cell bodies of neurons.
concrete operations stage Piaget’s term for the stage of development deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) Th e chemical of which chromosomes
between ages 6 and 12, during which children become able to think are composed.
logically. dependent variable Th e variable in an experiment that is expected
conduct disorder Diagnostic term for a pattern of deviant behavior to show the impact of manipulations of the independent variable;
including high levels of aggressive, antisocial, or delinquent acts. also called the outcome variable.
conscience Th e list of ‘don’ts’ in the superego; violation of any of depression A combination of sad mood and diffi culty carrying out
these leads to feelings of guilt. daily functions.
conscientiousness One of the Big Five personality traits; a person developmental approach An approach to early childhood education
who scores high on this trait is characterized by effi ciency, that supports children’s development of naturally occurring
organization, planfulness, and reliability. milestones.
conservation Th e understanding that the quantity or amount of a developmental psychopathology A relatively new approach to the
substance remains the same even when there are external changes study of deviance that emphasizes that normal and abnormal
in its shape or arrangement. development have common roots and that pathology can arise
constraint As used in discussions of language development, an from many diff erent pathways.
assumption that is presumed to be built-in or learned early developmental science Th e study of age-related changes in behavior,
(a ‘default option’) by which a child fi gures out what words refer thinking, emotions, and social relationships.
to. Examples include the principle of contrast and the whole object developmental theories Sets of statements that propose general
constraint. principles of development.
2
Glossary
developmentally appropriate practices Early childhood education excessive weight gain A pattern in which children gain more
practices based on an understanding of developmental universals, weight in a year than is appropriate for their age height, and sex.
individual diff erences, and contextual variables. executive processes Cognitive skills that allow a person to devise
diffi cult child An infant who is irritable and irregular in behavior. and carry out alternative strategies for remembering and solving
dilation A key process in the fi rst stage of childbirth, during which problems.
the cervix widens suffi ciently to allow the infant’s head to pass into experiment A research method for testing a causal hypothesis, in which
the birth canal. Full dilation is 10 centimeters. participants are assigned randomly to experimental and control
divergent thinking Th e ability to produce multiple solutions to groups and the experimental group is then provided with a particular
problems that have no clear answer. experience that is expected to alter behavior in some fashion.
dominant/recessive pattern of inheritance Th e pattern of genetic experimental group A group of participants in an experiment who
transmission in which a single dominant gene infl uences a receive a particular treatment intended to produce some specifi c
person’s phenotype, but an individual must have two recessive eff ect.
genes to express a recessive trait. expressive language Sounds, signs, or symbols used to communicate
Down syndrome (trisomy 21) A genetic anomaly in which every meaning.
cell contains three copies of chromosome 21 rather than two. extended family A family structure that includes parents,
Children born with this genetic pattern have characteristic grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and so on.
physical features and usually have mental retardation. externalizing problems A category of psychopathologies that
dynamic systems theory Th e view that several factors interact to includes any deviant behavior primarily directed toward others,
infl uence development. such as conduct disorders.
early childhood education Educational programs for children extraversion One of the Big Five personality traits; a person who
between birth and 8 years. scores high on this trait is characterized by assertiveness, energy,
easy child An infant who adapts easily to change and who exhibits enthusiasm, and outgoingness.
regular patterns of eating, sleeping, and alertness. extremely low birth weight (ELBW) Term for any baby born with a
eclecticism Th e use of multiple theoretical perspectives to explain weight below 1,000 grams (2.2 pounds).
and study human development. fallopian tube Th e tube between the ovary and the uterus down
eff acement Th e fl attening of the cervix, which, along with dilation, is which the ovum travels to the uterus and in which conception
a key process of the fi rst stage of childbirth. usually occurs.
ego In Freudian theory, the portion of the personality that false belief principle Th e understanding that another person
organizes, plans, and keeps the person in touch with reality. might have a false belief and the ability to determine what
Language and thought are both ego functions. information might cause the false belief. A child’s understanding
ego ideal Th e list of ‘dos’ in the superego; violation of any of these of the false belief principle is one key sign of the emergence of a
leads to feelings of shame. representational theory of mind.
egocentrism A cognitive state in which the individual (typically family structure Th e confi guration of individuals in a child’s
a child) sees the world only from his own perspective, without household.
awareness that there are other perspectives. family systems theory Th e view that the family is an integrated
embryo Th e name given to the developing organism during the network of factors that work together to infl uence a child’s
period of prenatal development between about 2 weeks and development.
8 weeks aft er conception, beginning with implantation of the fast-mapping Th e ability to categorically link new words to real-
blastocyst in the uterine wall. world referents.
embryonic stage Th e second stage of prenatal development, from feminine One of four sex-role types suggested by the work of Bem
week 2 through week 8, when the embryo’s organs form. and others; a type characterized by high scores on femininity
empathy As defi ned by Hoff man, ‘a vicarious aff ective response that measures and low scores on masculinity measures.
does not necessarily match another’s aff ective state but is more fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) A pattern of abnormalities, including
appropriate to the other’s situation than to one’s own’ (1982, mental retardation and minor physical anomalies, oft en found in
p. 285 ). children born to alcoholic mothers.
empiricism Th e view that perceptual abilities are learned. fetal stage Th e third stage of prenatal development, from week 8 to
endocrine glands Glands (including the adrenals, the thyroid, birth, when growth and organ refi nement take place.
the pituitary, the testes, and the ovaries) that secrete hormones fetus Th e name given to the developing organism from about
governing overall physical growth and sexual maturing. 8 weeks aft er conception until birth.
English-as-a-second-language (ESL) An alternative to bilingual fi gurative schemes Mental representations of the basic properties of
education; children who are not profi cient in English attend objects in the world.
academic classes taught entirely in English but then spend several fontanel One of several ‘soft spots’ in the skull that are present at
hours in a separate class to receive English-language instruction. birth but disappear when the bones of the skull grow together.
English-language learners (ELLs) School children who do not foreclosure One of four identity statuses proposed by Marcia,
speak English well enough to function in English-only classes. involving an ideological or occupational commitment without a
equilibration Th e third part of the adaptation process proposed by previous reevaluation.
Piaget, involving a periodic restructuring of schemes to create a formal operations stage Piaget’s name for the fourth and fi nal major
balance between assimilation and accommodation. stage of cognitive development, occurring during adolescence,
ethnic group A subgroup whose members are perceived by when the child becomes able to manipulate and organize ideas or
themselves and others to have a common origin and culture, and hypothetical situations as well as objects.
shared activities in which the common origin or culture is an fraternal (dizygotic) twins Children carried in the same pregnancy
essential ingredient’ (Porter & Washington, 1993, p. 140 ). but who develop from two separately fertilized ova. Th ey are no
ethnicity An individual’s membership in an ethnic group. more alike genetically than other pairs of siblings.
3
Glossary
full scale IQ Th e WISC-IV score that takes into account verbal and horizontal decalage Piaget’s term for school-aged children’s
nonverbal scale scores. inconsistent performance on concrete operations tasks.
gametes Sperm and ova. Th ese cells, unlike all other cells of the hostile aggression Aggressive verbal behavior intended to hurt
body, contain only 23 chromosomes rather than 23 pairs. another’s feelings.
gender concept Th e full understanding that gender is constant and hypothesis A testable prediction based on a theory.
permanent, unchanged by appearance. hypothetico-deductive reasoning Piaget’s term for the form of
gender constancy Th e fi nal stage in development of gender concept, reasoning that is part of formal operational thought and involves
in which the child understands that gender doesn’t change even not just deductive logic but also the ability to consider hypotheses
though there may be external changes (in clothing or hair length, and hypothetical possibilities.
for example). id In Freudian theory, the inborn, primitive portion of the
gender identity Th e fi rst stage in the development of gender personality, the storehouse of libido, the basic energy that
concept, in which a child labels self and others correctly as male continually pushes for immediate gratifi cation.
or female. identical (monozygotic) twins Children carried in the same
gender schema theory A theory of the development of gender concept pregnancy who develop from the same fertilized ovum. Th ey are
and sex-role behavior that proposes that, between about 18 months genetic clones of each other.
and age 2 or 3, a child creates a fundamental schema by which to identity achievement One of four identity statuses proposed by
categorize people, objects, activities, and qualities by gender. Marcia, involving the successful resolution of an identity ‘crisis’
gender stability Th e second stage in the development of gender and resulting in a new commitment.
concept, in which the child understands that a person’s gender identity diff usion One of four identity statuses proposed by Marcia,
stays the same throughout life. involving neither a current reevaluation of identity nor a fi rm
gene A uniquely coded segment of DNA in a chromosome that personal commitment.
aff ects one or more specifi c body processes or developments. identity versus role confusion As hypothesized by Erikson, the
genotype Th e pattern of characteristics and developmental psychosocial stage in which a teen must develop a sense of
sequences mapped in the genes of any specifi c individual, which personal identity or else enter adulthood with a sense of confusion
will be modifi ed by individual experience into the phenotype. about his or her place in the world.
germinal stage Th e fi rst stage of prenatal development, beginning at inclusive education General term for education programs that
conception and ending at implantation of the zygote in the uterus assign children with physical, mental, or emotional disabilities to
(approximately the fi rst two weeks). regular classrooms and that provide any special services required
glial cells Th e ‘glue’ that holds neurons together to give form to the by the child in that classroom.
structures of the nervous system. individuation Th e process of psychological, social, and physical
goal-corrected partnership Term used by Bowlby to describe the separation from parents that begins in adolescence.
form of the child-parent attachment in the preschool years, in inductive logic Reasoning from the particular to the general, from
which the two partners, through improved communication, experience to broad rules, characteristic of concrete operational
negotiate the form and frequency of contact between them. thinking.
gonadotrophic hormones Hormones secreted by the pituitary infant directed speech (IDS) Th e simplifi ed, higher-pitched speech
gland at the beginning of puberty that stimulate the development that adults use with infants and young children.
of glands in the testes and ovaries, which then begin to secrete insecure attachment An internal working model of relationships in
testosterone or estrogen. which the child does not as readily use the parent as a safe base
goodness-of-fi t Th e degree to which an infant’s environment and his and is not readily consoled by the parent if upset. Includes three
or her temperament work together. subtypes of attachment: avoidant, ambivalent, and disorganized/
growth curve Th e pattern and rate of growth exhibited by a child disoriented.
over time. instrumental aggression Aggressive behavior intended to achieve a
habituation An automatic decrease in the intensity of a response goal, such as obtaining a toy from another child.
to a repeated stimulus, enabling a child or adult to ignore the intelligence A set of abilities defi ned in various ways by diff erent
familiar and focus attention on the novel. psychologists but generally agreed to include the ability to reason
handedness A strong preference for using primarily one hand or abstractly, the ability to profi t from experience, and the ability to
the other; it develops between 3 and 5 years of age. adapt to varying environmental contexts.
hedonistic reasoning A form of prosocial moral reasoning intelligence quotient (IQ) Originally defi ned in terms of a child’s
described by Eisenberg in which the child is concerned with mental age and chronological age, IQ is now computed by
consequences to self rather than moral considerations, roughly comparing a child’s performance with that of other children of the
equivalent to Kohlberg’s stage 2. same chronological age.
heterozygous Term describing the genetic pattern when the intermodal perception Formation of a single perception of
two genes in the pair at any given genetic locus carry diff erent a stimulus that is based on information from two or more
instructions, such as a gene for blue eyes from one parent and a senses.
gene for brown eyes from the other parent. internal models of experience A theoretical concept emphasizing
hippocampus A brain structure that is involved in the transfer of that each child creates a set of core ideas or assumptions about the
information to long-term memory. world, the self, and relationships with others through which all
holophrase A combination of a gesture and a single word that subsequent experience is fi ltered.
conveys more meaning than just the word alone; oft en seen and internal working model As applied to social relationships, a
heard in children between 12 and 18 months old. cognitive construction of the workings of relationships, such
homozygous Term describing the genetic pattern when the two as expectations of support or aff ection, trustworthiness, and so
genes in the pair at any given genetic locus both carry the same on. Th e earliest relationships may form the template for such a
instructions. cognitive construction.
4
Glossary
internalizing problems A category of psychopathologies that Moro refl ex Th e refl ex that causes infants to extend their legs, arms,
includes anxiety and depression and other conditions in which and fi ngers, arch the back, and draw back the head when startled
deviant behavior is directed inwardly, against the self. (for example, by a loud sound or a sensation of being dropped).
invented spelling A strategy young children with good phonological motor development Growth and change in ability to perform both
awareness skills use when they write. gross motor skills (such as walking or throwing) and fi ne motor
lateralization Th e process through which brain functions are skills (such as drawing or writing).
divided between the two hemispheres of the cerebral cortex. multifactorial pattern of inheritance Th e pattern of genetic transmis-
learning Change due to experience. sion in which both genes and environment infl uence the phenotype.
learning disability (LD) A term broadly used to describe an multiple intelligences Eight types of intelligence (linguistic, logical/
unexpected or unexplained problem in learning to read, spell, mathematical, spatial, bodily kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal,
or calculate and more precisely used to refer to a neurological intrapersonal, and naturalistic) proposed by Howard Gardner.
dysfunction that causes such eff ects. myelination Th e process by which an insulating layer of a substance
learning theories Psychological theories that explain development called myelin is added to neurons.
in terms of accumulated learning experiences. nativism Th e view that perceptual abilities are inborn.
libido Th e term used by Freud to describe the basic, unconscious, naturalistic observation A research method in which participants
instinctual sexual energy in each individual. are observed in their normal environments.
longitudinal design A form of research study in which the same needs-oriented reasoning A form of prosocial moral reasoning
participants are observed or assessed repeatedly over a period of proposed by Eisenberg in which the child expresses concern
months or years. directly for the other person’s need, even if the other’s need
low birth weight (LBW) Term for any baby born with a weight confl icts with the child’s own wishes or desires.
below 2,500 grams (5.5 pounds), including both those born too negative reinforcement Th e process of strengthening a behavior by
early (preterm) and those who are small for date. the removal or cessation of an unpleasant stimulus.
masculine One of four sex-role types suggested by the work of Bem neglected children Children who are seldom described by peers as
and others; a type characterized by high scores on masculinity either liked or disliked.
measures and low scores on femininity measures. neglecting style A fourth parenting style suggested by Maccoby and
maturation Sequential patterns of change that are governed by Martin, involving low levels of both acceptance and control.
instructions contained in the genetic code and shared by all neo-Piagetian theory A theory of cognitive development that
members of a species. assumes that Piaget’s basic ideas are correct but that uses concepts
mean length of utterance (MLU) Th e average number of from information-processing theory to explain children’s
meaningful units in a sentence. Each basic word is one meaningful movement from one stage to the next.
unit, as is each infl ection. neuronal migration Th e movement of neurons to specialized
medulla A portion of the brain that lies immediately above the regions of the brain.
spinal cord; it is largely developed at birth. neuronal proliferation Th e rapid development of neurons between
memory strategies Ways of manipulating information that increase the 10th and 18th week of gestation.
the chances that it will be remembered. neurons Th e cells in the nervous system that are responsible for
menarche Onset of menstruation. transmission and reception of nerve impulses.
mental age Term used by Binet and Simon and Terman in the early neuroticism One of the Big Five personality traits; a person who
calculation of IQ scores to refer to the age level of IQ test items scores high on this trait is characterized by anxiety, self-pity,
a child could successfully answer. Used in combination with the tenseness, and emotional instability.
child’s chronological age to calculate an IQ score. neurotransmitters Chemicals that accomplish the transmission of
mental retardation An intellectual disability defi ned most oft en as signals from one neuron to another at synapses.
an IQ below 70 combined with poor adaptive behavior. nonnormative changes (individual diff erences) Changes that result
metacognition General and rather loosely used term describing from unique, unshared events.
knowledge of one’s own thinking processes: knowing what one nonshared environment Characteristics of a family that aff ect one
knows, and how one learns. child but not others in the household.
metamemory Knowledge about one’s own memory processes. normative age-graded changes Changes that are common to every
midbrain A section of the brain lying above the medulla and below member of a species.
the cortex that regulates attention, sleeping, waking, and other normative history-graded changes Changes that occur in most
automatic functions; it is largely developed at birth. members of a cohort as a result of factors at work during a
mirror neurons Specialized cells in the cerebral cortex that simulate specifi c, well-defi ned historical period.
the behavior and emotions of others. norms Average ages at which developmental events happen.
moral development Th e process of learning to distinguish between obese Describes a child whose BMI falls above the 95th percentile
right and wrong in accordance with cultural values. (the top 5%).
moral realism stage Th e fi rst of Piaget’s stages of moral object constancy Th e general phrase describing the ability to
development, in which children believe that rules are infl exible. see objects as remaining the same despite changes in sensory
moral relativism stage Th e second of Piaget’s stages of moral information about them.
development, in which children understand that many rules can object permanence Th e understanding that objects continue to exist
be changed through social agreement. even when they cannot be directly perceived.
moral rules As defi ned by Turiel, universal and obligatory rules objective self Th e component of the self-concept that involves
refl ecting basic principles that guarantee the rights of others. awareness of the self as an object with properties.
moratorium One of four identity statuses proposed by Marcia, Oedipus confl ict Th e pattern of events that Freud believed occur
involving an ongoing reexamination of identity but no new between ages 3 and 5, when the child experiences a sexual desire
commitment. for the parent of the opposite sex; the resulting fear of possible
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