Glossary

Absorbent mind	Montessori's term for a child's ability to absorb experiences from the environment (0 to 6 years) (See Ch. 7)



Accommodation	Piaget's term to describe the manner by which cognitive structures change (See Ch. 2)



Accumulation-of-errors theory	As cells die, they must synthesize new proteins to make new cells. As this is done, occasionally an error occurs. Over time, these errors mount up and may finally grow serious enough to cause organ failure (See Ch. 17)



Accumulation of metabolic waste	Waste products resulting from metabolism build-up in various parts of the body, contributing greatly to the decreasing competence of those parts (See Ch. 17)



Activity theory	Human beings flourish through interaction with other people. They are unhappy when, as they reach the older years, their contacts with others shrink as a result of death, illness, and societal limitations. Those who are able to keep up the social activity of their middle years are considered the most successful (See Ch. 18)



Adaptation	One of the two functional invariants in Piaget's theory (See Ch. 2)



Adolescent egocentrism	The reversion to the self-centered thinking patterns of childhood that sometimes occurs in the teen years (See Ch. 11)



Adoption	To take a child of other parents voluntarily as one's own (See Ch. 3)



Adult Attachment Interview (AAI)	Evaluates adults' responses to questions about attachment (See Ch. 6)



Afterbirth	Stage three of the birth process during which the placenta and other membranes are discharged (See Ch. 4)



Ageism	The prejudice that the elderly are inferior to those who are younger (See Ch. 17)



Age-status	Refers to society's expectations about what is normal at various ages (See Ch. 18)



Aggression	Hostile or destructive behavior directed at another (See Ch. 10)



Aging by program	The theory that all animals seem to die when their "program" dictates (See Ch. 17)



AID	Artificial insemination by donor (See Ch. 3)



AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome)	A condition caused by a virus that invades the body's immune system, making it vulnerable to infections and life-threatening illnesses (See Chs. 4 and 12)



Alarm reaction	Selye's term for a "call to arms" of the body's defensive forces (See Ch. 16)



Alleles	Different forms of a gene (See Ch. 3)



Amniocentesis	A process that entails inserting a needle through the mother's abdomen, piercing the amniotic sac and withdrawing a sample of the amniotic fluid (See Ch. 4)



Anal stage	Freud's belief that the anus is the main source of pleasure during the age 1¹/₂ to 3 years (See Ch. 2)



Androgogy	The science of teaching adults (See Ch. 15)



Androgyny	Functional level of gender-role identifications that incorporate male and female qualities (See Ch. 14)



Anima	The female side of the personality. Males tend to repress it until later in life (See Ch. 19)



Animism	Children consider objects as alive and conscious that adults consider inert (See Ch. 7)



Animus	The male side of the personality. Females tend to repress it until later in life (See Ch. 19)



Anorexia nervosa	A syndrome of self-starvation that mainly affects adolescent and young adult females (See Ch. 11)



Anoxia (lack of oxygen)	A condition that possibly can cause brain damage or death if it occurs during the birth process (See Ch. 4)



Anticipatory images	Piaget's term for images (including movements and transformation) that enable the child to anticipate change (See Ch. 7)



Antigens	The substances in the blood that fight to kill foreign bodies (See Ch. 17)



Apgar	A scale to evaluate a newborn's basic life signs administered one minute after birth and repeated at three-, five- and ten-minute intervals; it uses five life signs-heart rate, respiratory effort, muscle tone, reflex irritability, and skin color (See Ch. 5)



Apnea	Brief periods when breathing is suspended (See Ch. 5)



Artificial insemination by donor	(AID) (See Ch. 3)



Artificialism	Children attribute human life to inanimate objects (See Ch. 7)



Assimilation	Piaget's term to describe the manner in which we incorporate data into our cognitive structures (See Ch. 2)



Attachment	Behavior intended to keep a child (or adult) in close proximity to a significant other (See Ch. 6)



Au pair	Young women, often English, who provide child care services (See Ch. 8)



Authoritarian parents	Baumrind's term for parents who are demanding and want instant obedience as the most desirable child trait (See Ch. 8)



Authoritative parenting style	The most common parenting style, in which parents are sometimes authoritarian and sometimes permissive, depending to some extent on the parents' mood. Parents believe that both parents and children have rights but that parental authority must predominate (See Ch. 12)



Autoimmunity	The process by which the immune system in the body rejects the body's own tissue (See Ch. 17)



Autonomy	Infants realize that they have a share in controlling their interactions with others (See Ch. 6)



Autosexuality	The love of oneself; the stage at which the child becomes aware of himself or herself as a source of sexual pleasure, and consciously experiments with masturbation (See Ch. 12)



Babbling	Infant produces sounds approximating speech between 5 and 6 months (See Ch. 5)



Basal metabolism rate (BMR)	The minimum amount of energy an individual tends to use when in a resting state (See Ch. 15)



Battered Child Syndrome	Classic physical abuse (See Ch. 10)



Bilingualism	Students are taught partly in English and partly in their own language (See Ch. 7)



Biological death	Death occurs when it is no longer possible to discern an electrical charge in the tissues of the heart and lungs (See Ch. 19)



Biopsychosocial interactions	A term for the idea that development proceeds by the interaction of biological, psychological, and social forces (See Chs. 1 and 14)



Biopsychosocial theory of homosexuality	The theory that homosexuality is caused by some factor in a person's DNA that affects temperament, which in turn interacts with psychological and social factors to determine sexual orientation (See Ch. 12)



Blastocyst	When the fertilized egg reaches the uterus (about 7 days), it's known as a blastocyst (See Ch. 4)



Brain death	Death of the brain occurs when it fails to receive a sufficient supply of oxygen for a short period of time (usually eight to ten minutes) (See Ch. 19)



Breech birth	A birth in which the baby is born feet first, buttocks first, or in a crosswise position (transverse presentation) (See Ch. 4)



Bulimia nervosa	This disorder is characterized by "episodic binge-eating accompanied by an awareness that the eating pattern is abnormal, fear of not being able to stop eating voluntarily, and depressed mood and self-deprecating thoughts following the eating binges" (See Ch. 11)



Bullies	Those who have aggressive reaction patterns and have considerable physical strength (See Ch. 10)



Capacitation	Removal of layer surrounding sperm (See Ch. 3)



Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR)	A technique for reviving an individual's lungs and/or heart that have ceased to function (See Ch. 19)



Cellular differentiation	Embryonic cells are destined for specific functions (See Ch. 4)



Centration	A feature of preoperational thought-the centering of attention on one aspect of an object and the neglecting of any other features (See Ch. 7)



Cesarean section	A surgery performed to deliver the baby through the abdomen if for some reason the child cannot come through the birth canal (See Ch. 4)



Child abuse	Commonly includes physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, physical neglect, emotional neglect, and educational neglect (See Ch. 10)



Children at risk	Children who give early signs of physical or psychological difficulties; unless helped by appropriate intervention, may continue to experience problems, perhaps with increasing intensity, throughout the lifespan (See Ch. 4)



Chlamydia	Bacterial infection that may cause infertility; now the most common STI, with about 5 to 7 million new cases each year. There often are no symptoms; it is diagnosed only when complications develop (See Chs. 3 and 12)



Cholesterol	A substance in the blood that adheres to the walls of the blood vessels, restricting the flow of blood and causing strokes and heart attacks (See Ch. 13)



Chorionic villi sampling (CVS)	A procedure in which a catheter (small tube) is inserted through the vagina to the villi and a small section is suctioned into the tube (See Ch. 4)



Chromosome failure	Biological changes such as enlarged breasts in males and abnormal body hair in females (See Ch. 14)



Classification	The process by which concrete operational children can group objects with some similarities within a larger category (See Chs. 7 and 9)



Climacteric	Refers to a relatively abrupt change in the body, brought about by changes in hormonal balances (See Ch. 15)



Climacterium	Refers to the loss of reproductive ability (See Ch. 15)



Clinical death	The individual is dead when his or her respiration and heartbeat have stopped (See Ch. 19)



Closed adoption	Natural parents know nothing about the adopting parents (See Ch. 3)



Cognitive structures	Piaget's term to describe the basic tools of cognitive development (See Ch. 2)



Collagen	The major connective tissue in the body; it provides the elasticity in our skin and blood vessels (See Ch. 17)



Commitment	The third phase in Perry's theory, in which the individual realizes that certainty is impossible but that commitment to a certain position is necessary, even without certainty; For Fowler, the third step in the birth of a religion, in which people devote their lives to objectified ideas. They are willing under any circumstances to help those who have done the same (See Chs. 13 and 19)



Competence	Children's sense of self-esteem related to athletic competence, likability by peers, physical appearance, and behavioral conduct (See Ch. 10)



Concrete operational period	Piaget's third stage of cognitive development during which children begin to employ logical thought processes with concrete material (See Ch. 9)



Conservation	Children conserve the essence of something even though surface features change (See Chs. 7 and 9)



Constructed knowledge	Belenky's fifth phase of women's thinking; characterized by an integration of the subjective and procedural ways of knowing (types 3 and 4) (See Ch. 13)



Continuity	The lasting quality of experiences; development proceeds steadily and sequentially (See Ch. 1)



Controlled scribbling	Drawing in which children carefully watch what they are doing, whereas before they looked away (See Ch. 7)



Convergent thinking	Thinking used to find one correct answer (See Ch. 11)



Cooing	Early language sounds that resemble vowels (See Ch. 5)



Coordination of secondary schemes	Infants combine secondary schemes to obtain a goal (See Ch. 5)



Coregulation	A sharing of decision making between parent and child (See Ch. 8)



Crawling	Locomotion in which the infant's abdomen touches the floor and the weight of the head and shoulders rests on the elbows (See Ch. 5)



Creeping	Movement is on hands and knees and the trunk does not touch the ground; creeping appears from 9 months in most youngsters (See Ch. 5)



Critical thinking	Those mental processes that help us to solve problems and make decisions (See Ch. 9)



Cross-linkage theory	A theory of aging stating that the proteins that make up a large part of cells are composed of peptides. When cross-links are formed between peptides (a natural process of the body), the proteins are altered, often for the worse (See Ch. 17)



Crossover	Older men become more like women, and older women become more like men (See Ch. 18)



Cross-sectional studies	This method compares groups of individuals of various ages at the same time in order to investigate the effects of aging (See Ch. 1)



Crowds	Groups known for certain values, attitudes, or activities (See Ch. 12)



Cryopreservation	Freezing embryos for future use (See Ch. 3)



Crystallized intelligence	Involves perceiving relationships, educing correlates, reasoning, abstracting, concept of attainment, and problem solving, as measured primarily in unspeeded tasks involving various kinds of content (semantic, figural, symbolic) (See Ch. 15)



Cultural constructivism	When children use the particular environment around them, they construct their own world view (See Ch. 2)



Culture	Those values, beliefs, and behaviors characteristic of a large group of people, for example, those of Hispanic origin (See Ch. 2)



Cumulative continuity	When a person's interactional style is reinforced by the environment, thus sustaining it across the lifespan (See Ch. 16)



Cystic fibrosis	Chromosomal disorder producing a malfunction of the exocrine glands (See Ch. 3)



Cytogenetics	The study of chromosomes (See Ch. 3)



Cytomegalovirus (CMV)	A virus that can cause damage ranging from mental retardation, blindness, deafness, and even death. One of the major difficulties in combatting this disease is that it remains unrecognized in pregnant women (See Ch. 4)



Day care	Locations providing services and care for children (See Ch. 8)



Decentering	The process by which concrete operational children can concentrate on more than one aspect of a situation (See Ch. 9)



Decoding	The technique by which we recognize words (See Ch. 9)



Deferred imitation	Imitative behavior that continues after the disappearance of the model to be imitated (See Ch. 7)



DES (diethylstilbestrol)	In the late 1940s and 1950s, DES (a synthetic hormone) was administered to pregnant women supposedly to prevent miscarriage. It was later found that the daughters of the women who had received this treatment were more susceptible to vaginal and cervical cancer (See Ch. 4)



Descriptive studies	Information is gathered on subjects without manipulating them in any way (See Ch. 1)



Despair	The counterpart to integrity in the last stage of Erikson's theory. When people look back over their lives and feel that they have made many wrong decisions, or more commonly, that they have not made any decisions at all (See Ch. 18)



Developing readers	Children who are beginning to understand the relationship between sound and symbol and pay close attention to the print in their efforts at decoding (See Ch. 9)



Developmental contextualism	Focuses not only on the interactions between heredity and environment but the changes resulting from the interactions (See Ch. 2)



Developmentally delayed	A term that describes children who experience a developmental lag because of either physical or psychological causes; these children usually "catch up" (See Ch. 7)



Developmental risk	Children who may be susceptible to problems because of some physical or psychological difficulty ("at-risk" children) (See Ch. 4)



Diethylstilbestrol	Drug administered to pregnant women to help them hold embryo or fetus; later found to increase the risk of genital cancer in the daughters of these women (See Ch. 4)



Differential opportunity structure	Due to social disapproval and more rigid rules enforced by parents, peers, and the legal system, women have not had the same access to sex that men have had (See Ch. 18)



Difficult children	Term to describe restless, irritable children; associated with Chess and Thomas (See Ch. 6)



Dilation	Stage one of the birth process during which the cervix dilates to about 4 inches in diameter (See Ch. 4)



Discontinuity	Behaviors that are apparently unrelated to earlier aspects of development (See Ch. 1)



Disengagement theory	According to this position, the most mature adults are likely to gradually disengage themselves from their fellow human beings in preparation for death. They become less interested in their interactions with others, and more concerned with internal concerns (See Ch. 18)



Distantiation	The readiness of all of us to distance ourselves from others when we feel threatened by their behavior (See Ch. 14)



Divergent thinking	Thinking used when a problem to be solved has many possible answers. What are some ways that a school curriculum can enhance creative thinking at the junior and senior high school levels? (See Ch. 11)



DNA	Deoxyribonucleic acid; the chemical structure of the gene that accounts for our inherited characteristics (See Ch. 3)



Dominant	The tendency of a gene to be expressed in a trait (See Ch. 3)



Down syndrome	Genetic abnormality caused by a deviation on the twenty-first pair of chromosomes (See Ch. 3)



Drawing	Piaget's use of the term to indicate a growing symbolic ability (See Ch. 7)



Dual-career family	A family in which both the mother and the father are working, usually full time (See Ch. 13)



Dualism	Perry's initial phase of ethical development, in which "things are either absolutely right or absolutely wrong" (See Ch. 13)



Dual-process model	A model of intelligence that says there may be a decline in the mechanics of intelligence, such as classification skills and logical reasoning, but that the pragmatics are likely to increase (See Ch. 15)



DUPE	Problem-solving model (Determine a problem exists, Understand its nature, Plan for its solution, and Evaluate the solution) (See Ch. 9)



Easy children	Term used to describe calm, relaxed children; associated with Chess and Thomas (See Ch. 6)



Ectoderm	The outer layer of the embryo that will give rise to nervous system, among other developmental features (See Ch. 4)



Ectopic pregnancy	A pregnancy in which the fertilized egg attempts to develop in one of the fallopian tubes; this is sometimes referred to as a tubal pregnancy (See Ch. 4)



Egg donor	Woman either donates or sells eggs (See Ch. 3)



Ego	One of the three structures of the psyche according to Freud; mediates between the id and the superego (See Ch. 2)



Egocentric speech	Piaget's term to describe children's speech when they do not care to whom they speak (See Ch. 5)



Egocentrism	Child focuses on self in early phases of cognitive development; term associated with Piaget (See Chs. 5 and 7)



Electroencephalogram (EEG)	A graphic record of the electrical activity of the brain (See Ch. 19)



Embryonic period	Third through the eighth week following fertilization (See Ch. 4)



Embryo transfer	A form of assisted reproduction (See Ch. 3)



Emergent readers	Children who can identify letters and recognize some common words; they know what books "do" and they attempt to read by using semantic and syntactic cues (See Ch. 9)



Emotional divorce	Sometimes a couple learns to "withstand" each other, rather than live with each other. The only activities and interests that they shared were ones that revolved around the children. When the children leave, they are forced to recognize how far apart they have drifted; in effect, they are emotionally divorced (See Ch. 16)



Emotional energy	The emotional feelings invested in various life tasks (See Ch. 18)



Emotional maltreatment	A form of chld abuse (See Ch. 10)



Empty nest syndrome	Refers to the feelings parents may have as a result of their last child leaving home (See Ch. 16)



Encoding	Translating speech sounds into meaningful language (See Ch. 9)



Endoderm	The inner layer of the embryo that will give rise to the lungs, liver, and pancreas, among other developmental features (See Ch. 4)



Endometriosis	A condition in which tissue normally found in the uterus grows in other areas, such as the fallopian tubes (See Ch. 3)



Entrainment	Term used to describe the rhythm that is established between a parent's and an infant's behavior (See Ch. 6)



Equilibration	Piaget's term to describe the balance between assimilation and accommodation (See Ch. 2)



Escape	Perry's term for refusing responsibility for making any commitments. Because everyone's opinion is "equally right," the person believes that no commitments need be made, and so escapes from the dilemma (See Ch. 13)



ESL	English as a Second Language (See Ch. 7)



Estrogen replacement therapy (ERT)	A process in which estrogen is given in low levels to a woman experiencing severe problems with menopause (See Ch. 15)



Ethology	The study of behavior in natural settings (See Ch. 6)



Euthanasia	Means a "good death." There are two types: passive euthanasia, in which the patient's legal instructions are carried out by the medical team, and active euthanasia, in which the patient's life is ended in ways that are now illegal (See Ch. 19)



Existential love	The capacity to cherish the present moment, perhaps first learned when we confront the certainty of our own personal death (See Ch. 18)



Explicit memory	Those events that we consciously remember (See Ch. 5)



Expressive language	Language that children use to express their own ideas and needs (See Ch. 7)



Expulsion	Stage two of the birth process during which the baby passes through the birth canal (See Ch. 4)



External fertilization	Fertilization occurs outside of the woman's body (See Ch. 3)



Extinction	Refers to the process by which conditioned responses are lost (See Ch. 2)



Failure-to-thrive (FTT)	A condition in which the weight and height of infants consistently remain far below normal (the bottom 3 percent of height and weight measures) (See Ch. 5)



Fallopian tubes	Passageway for the egg once it is discharged from the ovary's surface (See Ch. 3)



False beliefs	Failure to understand the reasoning of others (See Ch. 9)



Fastmapping	Techniques to help children detect word meanings (See Ch. 7)



Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS)	Refers to babies when their mothers drink alcohol during pregnancy; they manifest four clusters of symptoms: psychological functioning, growth factors, physical features, and structural effects (See Ch. 4)



Fetal period	The period extending from the beginning of the third month to birth (See Ch. 4)



Fetoscopy	A procedure in which a tiny instrument called a fetoscope is inserted into the amniotic cavity, making it possible to see the fetus (See Ch. 4)



Fluid intelligence	Involves perceiving relationships, educing correlates, maintaining span of immediate awareness in reasoning, abstracting, concept formation, and problem solving, as measured in unspeeded as well as speeded tasks involving figural, symbolic, or semantic content (See Ch. 15)



Forceps delivery	A procedure in which the physician, for safety, will withdraw the baby with forceps during the first phase of birth (See Ch. 4)



Fragile X syndrome	A sex-linked inheritance disorder in which the bottom half of the X chromosome looks as if it is ready to fall off; causes mental retardation in 80 percent of the cases (See Ch. 3)



Friend	A nonfamilial relationship that offers feelings of warmth and support (See Ch. 10)



Functional invariants	In Piaget's theory, functional invariants refer to the psychological mechanisms of adaptation and organization (See Ch. 2)



Gamete intrafallopian transfer (GIFT)	Sperm and egg are placed in fallopian tube (See Ch. 3)



Gender identity	The conviction that one belongs to the sex of birth (See Ch. 8)



Gender revolution	Levinson's term; the meanings of gender are changing and becoming more similar (See Ch. 16)



Gender role	Culturally acceptable sexual behavior (See Ch. 8)



Gender-role reversals	Older men see themselves and other males as becoming submissive and less authoritative with advancing years. Conversely, older women see themselves and other women as becoming more dominant and self-assured as they grow older (See Ch. 18)



Gender-role stereotypes	Stereotypes that associate males and females with rigid categories of behavior and/or appearance (See Ch. 14)



Gender splitting	Levinson's term; all societies support the idea that there should be a clear difference between what is considered appropriate for males and for females; gender splitting appears to be universal (See Ch. 16)



Gender stereotypes	Beliefs about the characteristics associated with male or female (See Ch. 8)



General adaptation syndrome	Refers to a set of reactions that occur in animals in response to all toxic substances, regardless of their source. Involves three stages: alarm, resistance, and exhaustion (See Ch. 16)



Generative love	Most characteristic of parenthood, a time during which sacrifices are gladly made for the sake of the children (See Ch. 18)



Generativity	Erikson's term for the ability to be useful to ourselves and to society (See Chs. 2 and 16)



Gene theory	The theory that aging is due to certain harmful genes (See Chs. 8 and 17)



Genital herpes	An incurable sexually transmitted infection, with about 500,000 new cases every year (See Ch. 12)



Genital stage	Freud's belief in a resurgence of a strong sex drive from 12 years and beyond (See Ch. 2)



Genotype	An individual's genetic composition (See Ch. 3)



German measles (rubella)	A typically mild childhood disease caused by a virus; pregnant women who contract this disease may give birth to a baby with a defect: congenital heart disorder, cataracts, deafness, mental retardation. The risk is especially high if the disease appears early in the pregnancy (See Ch. 4)



Germinal period	The first two weeks following fertilization (See Ch. 4)



Glaucoma	Results from a buildup of pressure inside the eye due to excessive fluid. The resulting damage can destroy one's vision (See Ch. 15)



Gonorrhea	Well-known venereal infection accounting for between 1.5 and 2 million cases per year (See Ch. 12)



Goodness of fit	Compatibility between parental and child behavior; how well parents and their children get along (See Ch. 6)



Group marriage	A marriage that includes two or more of both husbands and wives, who all exercise common privileges and responsibilities (See Ch. 14)



Habituation	A process in which stimuli that are presented frequently cause a decrease in an infant's attention (See Ch. 5)



Handedness	Children's preference for using one hand over the other (See Ch. 7)



Head Start	Early intervention program intended to provide educational and developmental services to disadvantaged children (See Ch. 7)



Hemophilia	A genetic condition causing incorrect blood clotting; called the "bleeder's disease" (See Ch. 3)



Hepatitis B	A viral infection transmitted through sex or shared needles (See Ch. 12)



Herpes simplex	An infection that usually occurs during birth; a child can develop the symptoms during the first week following the birth. The eyes and nervous system are most susceptible to this disease (See Ch. 4)



Heterosexuality	Love of members of the opposite sex (See Ch. 12)



Heterozygous	Different alleles for a trait (See Ch. 3)



Holophrase	Children's first words that usually carry multiple meanings (See Ch. 5)



Holophrastic speech	The use of one word to communicate many meanings and ideas (See Ch. 5)



Homelessness	Those who live in shelters, or on the street, or parks (See Ch. 8)



Homeostatic imbalance	The theory that aging is due to a failure in the systems that regulate the proper interaction of the organs (See Ch. 17)



Homosexuality	Love of members of one's own sex (See Ch. 12)



Homosexual marriage	Though not accepted legally, the weddings of homosexuals are now accepted by some religions (See Ch. 14)



Homozygous	Identical alleles for a trait (See Ch. 3)



Hormonal balance	One of the triggering mechanisms of puberty that may be used to indicate the onset of adolescence (See Ch. 11)



Hospice	A facility and/or program dedicated to assisting those who have accepted the fact that they are dying and desire a "death with dignity." Provides pain control and counseling but does not attempt to cure anyone (See Ch. 19)



Human Genome Project	The attempt to identify and map the 50,000 to 100,000 genes that constitute the human genetic endowment (See Ch. 3)



Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)	The virus that leads to AIDS (See Ch. 12)



Id	One of the three structures of the psyche according to Freud; the source of our instinctive desires (See Ch. 2)



Identity crisis	Erikson's term for those situations, usually in adolescence, that cause us to make major decisions about our identity (See Chs. 2 and 11)



Imaginary audience	Adolescents' perception that the world is constantly scrutinizing their behavior and physical appearance (See Ch. 11)



Imitative behavior	The tendency of infants to mimic the behavior of others (See Ch. 5)



Implantation	Fertilized egg attaches and secures itself to uterine wall (See Chs. 3 and 4)



Impotency	The inability to engage in the sexual act (See Ch. 18)



Impulsivity	A child's lack of ability to delay gratification (See Ch. 10)



Independent readers	Children who can read ably and without assistance using all of the cueing systems (See Ch. 9)



Individuating-reflective faith	The fourth developmental step of Fowler's theory of faith. Individuals in stage four begin to assume responsibility for their own beliefs, attitudes, commitments, and lifestyle (See Ch. 19)



Individuation	Refers to our becoming more individual; we develop a separate and special personality, derived less and less from our parents and teachers and more from our own behavior (See Chs. 8 and 14)



Infantile amnesia	Our inability to recall events from early in life (See Ch. 5)



Infertility	An inability to achieve pregnancy after two years (See Ch. 3)



Inner speech	Serves to guide and plan behavior (See Ch. 5)



Insecure parents	Those parents who believe everything they do inevitably influences their child's destiny; they feel overwhelmed by the difficulties of parenting (See Ch. 8)



Instrumental conditioning	Skinner's form of conditioning in which a reinforcement follows the desired response; also known as operant conditioning (See Ch. 2)



Integrity	The resolution of each of the first seven crises in Erikson's theory should lead us to achieve a sense of personal integrity. Older adults who have a sense of integrity feel their lives have been well spent. The decisions and actions they have taken seem to them to fit together (See Ch. 18)



Interaction	Behaviors involving two or more people (See Ch. 6)



Interactional continuity	Exists when a person's style evokes reciprocal responses from others in ongoing social interaction, thereby sustaining the behavior pattern across the lifespan when a similar interactive event occurs (See Ch. 16)



Intergenerational continuity	Term used to describe the connection between childhood experiences and adult behavior (See Ch. 6)



Internal fertilization	A natural process in which fertilization occurs within the woman (See Ch. 3)



Intimacy	Erikson's stage that represents the ability to relate one's deepest hopes and fears to another person and to accept another's need for intimacy in turn (See Ch. 14)



Intimidated parents	Those parents who lack the ability to be firm with their child (See Ch. 8)



Intrauterine device	Usually a plastic loop inserted into the uterus as a contraceptive device (See Ch. 3)



Intuitive-projective faith	The first developmental step of Fowler's theory of faith. In this stage, the individual focuses on surface qualities, as portrayed by adult models (See Ch. 19)



In vitro fertilization	Fertilization that occurs "in the dish"; an external fertilization technique (See Ch. 3)



Irreversibility	The inability to reverse thinking, that is, to solve a problem and then proceed in reverse, tracing the steps back to the original question or premise (See Ch. 7)



Isolation	The readiness all of us have to isolate ourselves from others when we feel threatened by their behavior (See Ch. 14)



IUGR	Intrauterine growth retardation, a condition that can occur when the mother's nutrient supply during pregnancy is too low (See Ch. 4)



Klinefelter syndrome	Males with the XXY chromosomal pattern (See Ch. 3)



Knowledge-acquisition components	Sternberg's term for those components that help us to learn how to solve problems in the first place (See Ch. 9)



Language explosion	Rapid acquisition of words beginning at 18 months (See Ch. 5)



Latency	Freud's belief that the sex drive becomes dormant at 5 to 12 years (See Ch. 2)



Lateralization	Refers to a preferred side of the brain for a particular activity (See Ch. 7)



Learning	A process that results in the modification of behavior (See Ch. 10)



Learning theory of homosexuality	The belief that homosexuality is the result of learned experiences from significant others (See Ch. 12)



Legal death	Condition defined as "unreceptivity and unresponsivity, no movements or breathing, no reflexes, and a flat electroencephalogram (EEG) reading that remains flat for 24 hours" (See Ch. 19)



Life course	Levinson's term. Life refers to all aspects of living-everything that has significance in a life; course refers to the flow or unfolding of an individual's life (See Ch. 14)



Life cycle	Levinson's term The life cycle is a general pattern of adult development, whereas the life course is the unique embodiment of the life cycle by an individual (See Ch. 14)



Life structure	Levinson's term. The underlying pattern or design of a person's life at a given time (See Ch. 14)



Longitudinal studies	The experimenter makes several observations of the same individuals at two or more times in their lives. Examples are: determining the long-term effects of learning on behavior; the stability of habits and intelligence; and the factors involved in memory (See Ch. 1)



Male change of life	Change in hormonal balance and sexual potency (See Ch. 15)



Manipulative experiments	The experimenter attempts to keep all variables (all the factors that can affect a particular outcome) constant except one, which is carefully manipulated (See Ch. 1)



Maturation	The process of physical and mental development due to physiology (See Ch. 11)



Maximum growth spurt	The period of adolescence when physical growth is at its fastest (See Ch. 11)



Meiosis	Cell division in which the number of chromosomes is halved (See Ch. 3)



Menarche	Onset of menstruation (See Ch. 11)



Menopause	The cessation of menstruation (See Ch. 15)



Mentoring	The act of assisting another, usually younger, person with his or her work or life tasks (See Ch. 14)



Mesoderm	The middle layer of the embryo that gives rise to muscles, skeleton, excretory system (See Ch. 4)



Mesosystem	The relationship among microsystems (See Ch. 1)



Metacognition	The theory of mind that refers to children's ability to construct their own ideas of how their minds work (See Ch. 7)



Metacognitive experiences	Responses to cognitive stimuli (See Ch. 7)



Metacognitive knowledge	A child's knowledge and beliefs, gained from experience about cognitive matters (See Ch. 7)



Metacomponents	Sternberg's term for those components that help us to plan, monitor, and evaluate our problem-solving strategies (See Ch. 9)



Metalinguistic awareness	A capacity to think about and talk about language (See Ch. 9)



Microsystem	The home or school (See Ch. 1)



Midcareer crisis	A stage that some persons go through in middle age during which they come to question their career goals, discover that their dreams for advancement may be unrealistic, and their relations with fellow employees are changing (See Ch. 15)



Mid-life transition	Levinson's term for the phase that usually lasts for five years and generally extends from age 40 to 45 (See Ch. 16)



Miscarriage	The term that describes when a pregnancy ends spontaneously before the twentieth week (See Ch. 4)



Mitosis	Cell division in which the number of chromosomes remains the same (See Ch. 3)



Modeling	Bandura's term for observational learning (See Ch. 2)



Monogamy	The standard marriage form in the United States and most other nations, in which there is one husband and one wife (See Ch. 14)



Moral dilemma	A modified clinical technique used by Kohlberg in which a conflict is posed for which subjects justify the morality of their choices (See Ch. 9)



Motor skills	Skills (both gross and and fine) resulting from physical development enabling children to perform smooth and coordinated physical acts (See Ch. 7)



Multiple intelligence	Gardner's theory that attributes seven types of intelligence to humans (See Ch. 9)



Mutations	Abrupt hereditary changes (See Ch. 3)



Mythical-literal faith	The second developmental step of Fowler's theory of faith. Fantasy ceases to be a primary source of knowledge at this stage, and verification of facts becomes necessary (See Ch. 19)



Mythification	Stories are developed that tell why members of a religion have a special place in the world. These stories are rational and enhance the person's understanding of the physical as well as the spiritual world (See Ch. 19)



Nanny	Frequently former nurses who provide child-care services, often English (See Ch. 8)



Naturalistic experiments	In these experiments, the researcher acts solely as an observer and does as little as possible to disturb the environment. "Nature" performs the experiment, and the researcher acts as a recorder of the results (See Ch. 1)



Negative reinforcement	Refers to those stimuli whose withdrawal strengthens behavior (See Ch. 2)



Neglect	A form of child abuse (See Ch. 10)



NEO model of personality	McCrae and Costa's theory that there are three major personality traits, which they feel govern the adult personality (See Ch. 16)



Neonate	The term for an infant in the first days and weeks after birth (See Ch. 5)



Neurological assessment	Identifies any neurological problem, suggests means of monitoring the problem, and offers a prognosis about the problem (See Ch. 5)



New York Longitudinal Study	Long-term study by Chess and Thomas of the personality characteristics of children (See Ch. 6)



Noetic dimension	Frankl's third stage of human development has roots in childhood but primarily develops in late adolescence. It is spiritual, not only in the religious sense but in the totality of the search for the meaningfulness of life (See Ch. 19)



No-fault divorce	The law that lets people get divorced without proving some atrocious act by one of the spouses. In legal language, this is known as an irretrievable breakdown of a marriage (See Ch. 16)



Normal range of development	The stages of pubertal change occur at times that are within the normal range of occurrence (See Ch. 11)



Novice phase	Period of ages 17-33 that includes early adult transition, according to Levinson (See Ch. 14)



Numeration	The process by which concrete operational children grasp the meaning of number, the oneness of one (See Ch. 9)



Nurturing parenting style	The style of parenting in which parents use indirect methods such as discussion and modeling rather than punishment to influence their child's behavior. Rules are kept to a minimum (See Ch. 12)



Objectification	Fowler's term for the first step in the birth of a religion in which a perception of reality is described (See Ch. 19)



Object permanence	Refers to children gradually realizing that there are permanent objects around them, even when these objects are out of sight (See Ch. 5)



Observational learning	A term associated with Bandura, meaning that we learn from watching others (See Ch. 10)



Olfactory sense	The sense of smell, which uses the olfactory nerves in the nose and tongue (See Ch. 15)



One-time, one-group studies	Studies carried out only once on one group of subjects (See Ch. 1)



Open adoption	Natural parent has considerable input into the adoption process (See Ch. 3)



Operant conditioning	Skinner's form of conditioning in which a reinforcement follows the desired response; also known as instrumental conditioning (See Ch. 2)



Oral stage	Freud's belief that the mouth is the main source of pleasure from age 0 to 11/2 years (See Ch. 2)



Organization	One of the two functional invariants in Piaget's theory (See Ch. 2)



Organogenesis	The formation of organs during the embryonic period (See Ch. 4)



Organ reserve	Refers to that part of the total capacity of our body's organs that we do not normally need to use (See Ch. 13)



Overextensions	Children's tendency to apply a word too widely (See Ch. 7)



Overregulation	Children's inappropriate use of language rules they have learned (See Ch. 7)



Ovulation	Egg bursts from the surface of the ovary (See Ch. 3)



Paradoxical-consolidation faith	The fifth developmental step of Fowler's theory of faith. In this stage, such elements of faith as symbols, rituals, and beliefs start to become understood and consolidated (See Ch. 19)



Pedagogy	The science of teaching children (See Ch. 15)



Peer	Refers to youngsters who are similar in age to other children, usually within 12 months of one another (See Ch. 10)



Peer victimization	A form of abuse in which a child is frequently the target of peer aggression (See Ch. 10)



Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID)	Infection that often results from chlamydia or gonorrhea, and frequently causes prolonged problems, including infertility (See Chs. 3 and 12)



Performance components	Sternberg's term for those components that help us to execute the instructions of the metacomponents (See Ch. 9)



Permissive parenting style	Parents have little or no control over their children and refrain from disciplinary measures (See Chs. 8 and 12)



Personal fable	Adolescents' tendency to think of themselves in heroic or mythical terms (See Ch. 11)



Phallic stage	Freud's belief that the sex organs become the main source of pleasure from age 3 to 5 years (See Ch. 2)



Phenotype	The observable expression of gene action (See Ch. 3)



Phenylketonuria (PKU)	Chromosomal disorder resulting in a failure of the body to break down the amino acid phenylalanine (See Ch. 3)



Phonological cues	Using sounds to form words (See Ch. 9)



Phonology	Describes how to put sounds together to form words (See Ch. 7)



Physical abuse	A form of child abuse (See Ch. 10)



Placenta	The placenta supplies the embryo with all its needs, carries off all its wastes, and protects it from danger (See Ch. 4)



Play	An activity that children engage in because they enjoy it for its own sake (See Ch. 8)



Poetic-conventional faith	The third developmental step of Fowler's theory of faith. Faith is still conventional and depends on a consensus of opinion of other, more authoritative persons (See Ch. 19)



Polyandry	A marriage in which there is one wife but two or more husbands (See Ch. 14)



Polygamy	A marriage in which there is one husband but two or more wives (See Ch. 14)



Polygenic inheritance	Many genes contribute to the formation of a particular trait (See Ch. 3)



Positive reinforcement	Refers to those stimuli whose presentation as a consequence of a response strengthens or increases the rate of the response (See Ch. 2)



Postnatal depression	The low or "down" feeling many women experience a few days after giving birth (See Ch. 4)



Pragmatic cues	Practical signals used to discover meaning (See Ch. 9)



Pragmatics	Describes how we learn to take part in a conversation (See Ch. 7)



Precociousness	The ability to do what others are able to do, but at a younger age (See Ch. 11)



Prematurity	A condition that occurs less than 37 weeks after conception and is defined by low birth weight and immaturity (See Ch. 4)



Prenatal learning	Possibility that the fetus learns while in the womb (See Ch. 4)



Preoperational	Piaget's second stage of cognitive development, extending from about 2 to 7 years (See Ch. 7)



Prepared childbirth	Combination of relaxation techniques and information about the birth process; sometimes called the Lamaze method after its founder (See Ch. 4)



Prepared environment	Use of age-appropriate materials to further cognitive development (See Ch. 7)



Primary circular reactions	Infants repeat some act involving their bodies; term associated with Piaget's theory (See Ch. 5)



Procedural knowledge	Belenky's fourth phase of women's thinking; characterized by a distrust of both knowledge from authority and the female thinker's own inner authority or "gut" (See Ch. 13)



Prodigiousness	The ability to do qualitatively better than the rest of us are able to do; such a person is referred to as a prodigy (See Ch. 11)



Project Head Start	Programs intended to provide educational and developmental services to preschool children from low-income families (See Ch. 7)



Prosocial behavior	Refers to such behaviors as friendliness, self-control, and being helpful (See Ch. 10)



Prostatectomy	The removal of all or part of the male prostate gland (See Ch. 18)



Protective factors	Characteristics of resilient individuals that protect them from stress (See Ch. 16)



Psychoanalytic theory	Freud's theory of the development of personality (See Ch. 2)



Psychoanalytic theory of homosexuality	Freud's theory suggests that if the child's first sexual feelings about the parent of the opposite sex are strongly punished, the child may identify with the same-sex parent and develop a permanent homosexual orientation (See Ch. 12)



Psychological dimension	The second stage of Frankl's theory of human development, in which personality begins to form at birth and develops as a result of instincts, drives, capacities, and interactions with the environment (See Ch. 19)



Puberty	A relatively abrupt and qualitatively different set of physical changes that normally occur at the beginning of the teen years (See Ch. 11)



Punishment	Usually refers to a decrease in the frequency of a response when certain unpleasant consequences immediately follow it (See Ch. 2)



Random scribbling	Drawing in which children use dots and lines with simple arm movements (See Ch. 7)



Realism	Refers to when children learn to distinguish and accept the real world (See Ch. 7)



Received knowledge	Belenky's second phase of women's thinking; characterized by being awed by the authorities but far less affiliated with them (See Ch. 13)



Receptive language	Language that children use to show an understanding of words without necessarily producing them (See Ch. 7)



Recessive	A gene whose trait is not expressed unless paired with another recessive gene, for example, both parents contribute genes for blue eyes (See Ch. 3)



Reciprocal interactions	Similar to transactional model; recognizes the child's active role in its development; I do something to the child, the child changes; as a result of the changes in the child, I change (See Chs. 1 and 5)



Reflective listening	A method of talking to others; you rephrase the person's comments to show you understand (See Ch. 12)



Reflex	When a stimulus repeatedly elicits the same response (See Ch. 5)



Reinforcement	Usually refers to an increase in the frequency of a response when certain pleasant consequences immediately follow it (See Ch. 2)



Relativism	The second phase in Perry's theory. An attitude or philosophy that says anything can be right or wrong depending on the situation; all views are equally right (See Ch. 13)



Representation	Child's growing ability to engage in abstract thinking (See Ch. 7)



Reproductive images	Mental images that are faithful to the original object or event being represented; Piaget's term for images that are restricted to those sights previously perceived (See Ch. 7)



Repudiation	Striving toward a state of identity means committing to one life style and repudiating (giving up) all the other possibilities, at least for the present (See Ch. 11)



Resiliency	The ability to recover from either physiological or psychological trauma and return to a normal developmental path (See Ch. 1)



Resilient children	Children who sustain some type of physiological or psychological trauma yet remain on a normal developmental path (See Ch. 10)



Respiratory distress syndrome (RDS)	A problem common with premature babies that is caused by the lack of a substance called surfactant, which keeps the air sacs in the lungs open (See Ch. 5)



Retreat	According to Perry's theory of ethical development, when someone retreats to an earlier ethical position (See Ch. 13)



Rh factor	An incompatibility between the blood types of mother and child; if the mother is Rh-negative and the child is Rh-positive, miscarriage or even infant death can result (See Ch. 4)



Risk factors	Stressors that individuals experience (See Ch. 16)



Role discontinuity	Abrupt and disruptive change caused by conflicts among one's various roles in life (See Ch. 18)



Scaffolding	Helping children move from initial difficulties with a topic to a point where, with help, they gradually learn to perform the task independently (See Chs. 2 and 5)



Scheme	Piaget's term to describe the patterns of behavior that infants use to interact with their environment (See Ch. 2)



Secondary circular reactions	Infants direct their activities toward objects and events outside themselves (See Ch. 5)



Secular trend	The phenomenon (in recent centuries) of adolescents entering puberty sooner and growing taller and heavier (See Ch. 11)



Self-concept	Children know who they are and what makes them different from everyone else (See Chs. 8 and 10)



Self-control	Restraint exercised over impulses, emotions, and desires (See Ch. 10)



Self-esteem	Children possess feelings of confidence and satisfaction with one's self (See Chs. 8 and 10)



Self-fulfilling prophecy	Making an idea come true simply by believing it will (See Ch. 15)



Semantic cues	Readers relate words to what they signify (See Ch. 9)



Semantics	Describes how to interpret the meaning of words (See Ch. 7)



Senile macular degeneration	This disease of the retina is a leading cause of blindness, beginning as blurred vision and a dark spot in the center of the field of vision (See Ch. 17)



Sensitive periods	Certain times in the lifespan when a particular experience has a greater and more lasting impact than at another time (See Chs. 1 and 7)



Sensitive responsiveness	Refers to the ability to recognize the meaning of a child's behavior (See Ch. 6)



Sensorimotor period	Piaget's term for the first of his cognitive stages of development (0 to 2 years) (See Ch. 5)



Sequential (longitudinal/cross-sectional) studies	A cross-sectional study done at several times with the same groups of individuals (See Ch. 1)



Seriation	The process by which concrete operational children can arrange objects by increasing or decreasing size (See Ch. 9)



Sex cleavage	Youngsters of the same sex tend to play and do things together (See Ch. 8)



Sexual abuse	Any sexual activity between a child and adult, whether by force or consent (See Ch. 10)



Sexually transmitted diseases (STD)	Class of diseases that may cause infertility (See Ch. 3)



Sexually transmitted infections	A class of infections that are transmitted through sexual behavior (See Ch. 12)



Siblings	Brothers and sisters (See Ch. 8)



Sickle-cell anemia	A chromosomal disorder resulting in abnormal hemoglobin (See Ch. 3)



Silence	Belenky's first phase of women's thinking, characterized by concepts of right and wrong (See Ch. 13)



Sleeping disorder	A child who does not sleep readily and wakes repeatedly (See Ch. 5)



Slow-to-warm-up children	Term used to describe children with low intensity of reactions; may be rather negative when encountering anything new (See Ch. 6)



Social (cognitive) learning theory	Bandura's theory that refers to the process whereby the information we glean from observing others influences our behavior (See Ch. 2)



Social death	The point at which a patient is treated essentially as a corpse, although perhaps still "clinically" or "biologically" alive (See Ch. 19)



Socialization	Refers to the need to establish and maintain relations with others and to regulate behavior according to society's demands (See Ch. 8)



Socialized speech	Piaget's term for the time when children begin to exchange ideas with each other (See Ch. 5)



Social perspective-taking	The idea that children's views on how to relate to others emerge from their personal theories about the traits of others (See Ch. 10)



Socio-emotional selectivity theory	According to this theory, humans use social contact for four reasons: to obtain physical survival, to get information they need, to maintain a sense of self, and to acquire pleasure and comfort. For the elderly the last two are most important (See Ch. 18)



Solidarity	Erikson's term for the personality style of persons who are able to commit themselves in concrete affiliations and partnerships with others and have developed the "ethical strength to abide by such commitments, even though they may call for significant sacrifices and compromises" (See Ch. 14)



Somatic dimension	The first stage of Frankl's theory of human development, in which all persons are motivated by the struggle to keep themselves alive and to help the species survive (See Ch. 19)



Sperm	The germ cell that carries the male's 23 chromosomes (See Ch. 3)



Sperm donor	Male either donates or sells sperm (See Ch. 3)



Spina bifida	A genetic disorder resulting in the failure of the neural tube to close (See Ch. 3)



Stability	A belief that children's early experiences affect them for life (See Ch. 1)



Stage of exhaustion	Selye's term for the body's physiological responses that revert to their condition during the stage of alarm (See Ch. 16)



Stage of resistance	Selye's term for the body's reaction that is generally a reversal of the alarm reaction (See Ch. 16)



Stage theorists	Researchers who believe that research based on personality traits is too narrow in focus and that we must also look at the stages of change each person goes through (See Ch. 16)



Stagnation	According to Erikson, the seventh stage of life (middle-aged adulthood) tends to be marked either by generativity or by stagnation-boredom, self-indulgence, and the inability to contribute to society (See Ch. 16)



State of identity	If individuals were in a state of identity (an ideal circumstance), the various aspects of their self-image would be in agreement with each other; they would be identical (See Ch. 11)



STD (sexually transmitted diseases)	A major cause of infertility (See Ch. 3)



Stillbirth	The term used to describe, after the twentieth week, the spontaneous end of a pregnancy if the baby is born dead (See Ch. 4)



Stress	Anything that upsets our equilibrium-both psychological and physiological (See Ch. 10)



Structure building	Levinson's term. During structure-building periods, individuals face the task of building a stable structure around choices they have made (See Ch. 14)



Structure changing	Levinson's term. A process of reappraising the existing life structure and exploring the possibilities for new life structures characterizes the structure-changing period (See Ch. 14)



Subculture	A subgroup within a culture, in this case a social culture (See Ch. 12)



Subjective knowledge	Belenky's third phase of women's thinking; characterized by some crisis of male authority that sparked a distrust of outside sources of knowledge, and some experience that confirmed a trust in women thinkers themselves (See Ch. 13)



Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)	Death of an apparently healthy infant, usually between 2 and 4 months of age; thought to be a brain-related respiratory problem (See Ch. 5)



Superego	One of the three structures of the psyche according to Freud; acts as a conscience (See Ch. 2)



Surrogacy motherhood	One woman carries another woman's embryo (See Ch. 3)



Symbolic play	The game of pretending; one of five preoperational behavior patterns (See Ch. 7)



Symmetry	An infant's capacity for attention; style of responding influences interactions (See Ch. 6)



Synchrony	The ability of parents to adjust their behavior to that of an infant (See Ch. 6)



Syntactic cues	Using language rules to combine words into sentences (See Ch. 9)



Syntax	Describes how we learn to put words together to form sentences (See Ch. 7)



Syphilis	A sexually transmitted infection that presents a great danger in that in its early stage there are no symptoms. If untreated, it can be fatal (See Chs. 4 and 12)



Telegraphic speech	Initial multiple-word utterances, usually two or three words (See Ch. 5)



Temperament	A child's basic personality that is now thought to be discernible soon after birth; how a child interacts with the environment (See Chs. 6 and 10)



Temporizing	An aspect of Perry's theory of ethical development, in which some people remain in one position for a year or more, exploring its implications but hesitating to make any further progress (See Ch. 13)



Teratogens	Any agents that can cause abnormalities, including drugs, chemicals, infections, pollutants, and the mother's physical state (See Ch. 4)



Terminal drop	The period of from a few weeks up to two years before a person's death, during which his or her intelligence is presumed to decline rapidly (See Ch. 17)



Tertiary circular reaction	Repetition with variation; the infant is exploring the world's possibilities (See Ch. 5)



Thalidomide	A popular drug prescribed during the early 1960s that was later found to cause a variety of birth defects when taken by women early in their pregnancy (See Ch. 4)



Theory of mind	Children's realization that others' thoughts affect their behavior (See Ch. 7)



Toxoplasmosis	Caused by a protozoan, it may cause damage to the nervous system; transmitted by animals, especially cats (See Ch. 4)



Traditional marriage enterprise	Levinson's term. The main goal of this type of marriage is to form and maintain a family (See Ch. 16)



Trait theorists	Researchers who look at pieces of the personality (personality traits), as measured by detailed questionnaires (See Ch. 16)



Transformation	Children learn to think about what they shouldn't do in different terms (See Ch. 10)



Transition	Levinson's concept that each new era begins as an old era is approaching its end. That "in-between" time is a transition (See Ch. 14)



Transition-linked turning points	The precursors and outcomes of a variety of transitions. A constellation of events that define the transition period or the timing and sequence of events that occur within a transitional period. For example, puberty and school events are frequently studied as key transitions signaling the entry into adolescence (See Ch. 11)



Treatment	The variable that the experimenter manipulates (See Ch. 1)



Triarchic model of intelligence	A three-tier explanation of intelligence proposed by Robert Sternberg (See Ch. 9)



Trophoblast	The outer surface of the fertilized egg (See Ch. 4)



Turner syndrome	Females with the XO chromosomal pattern (See Ch. 3)



Ultrasound	The use of sound waves to produce an image that enables a physician to detect structural abnormalities (See Ch. 4)



Umbilical cord	Contains blood vessels that go to and from the mother through the arteries and veins supplying the placenta (See Ch. 4)



Uniform growth	Montessori's term to describe the developmental period in which children show considerable stability (See Ch. 7)



Universalizing faith	The final developmental step of Fowler's theory of faith. Here the individual lives in the real world but is not of it. Such persons do not merely recognize the mutuality of existence; they act on the basis of it (See Ch. 19)



Validation	Fromm's term for the reciprocal sharing of deep secrets and feelings that allows people to feel loved and accepted (See Ch. 14)



Vocables	Consistent sound patterns to refer to objects and events (See Ch. 5)



Wear and tear theory	The theory that aging is due to the cumulative effects of hard work and lifelong stress (See Ch. 17)



Whole Language	A method in which students learn to read by obtaining the meaning of words, with phonics being introduced when needed from context (See Ch. 7)



Zone of proximal development	The distance between a child's actual developmental level and a higher level of potential development with adult guidance (what children can do independently and what they can do with help) (See Ch. 2)



Zygote	The fertilized egg (See Ch. 3)



Zygote intrafallopian transfer (ZIFT)	The fertilized egg (the zygote) is transferred to the fallopian tube (See Ch. 3)

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