| adolescence | The period from the onset of puberty until the beginning of adulthood.
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| adolescent egocentrism | The quality of thinking that leads some adolescents to believe that they are the focus of attention in social situations, to believe that their problems are unique, to be unusually hypocritical, and to be "pseudostupid."*climacteric*(kl?¯-mak´ter-ik) The period between about ages 45 and 60 in which there is a loss of capacity to sexually reproduce in women and a decline in the reproductive capacity of men.
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| adolescent growth spurt | The rapid increase in weight and height that occurs around the onset of puberty.
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| animism | The egocentric belief of preoperational children that inanimate objects are alive, as children are.
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| attachments | The psychological bonds between infants and caregivers.
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| concrete operational stage | In Piaget's theory, the period of cognitive development from ages 7 to 11.
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| conservation | The concept understood by concrete operational children that quantity (number, mass, etc.) does not change just because shape or other superficial features have changed.
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| cooperative play | Play that involves cooperation between two or more children.
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| critical period | A biologically determined period in the life of some animals during which certain forms of learning can take place most easily.
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| decenter | To think about more than one characteristic of a thing at a time; a capacity of concrete operational children.
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| development | The more-or-less predictable changes in behavior associated with increasing age.
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| early experiences | Experiences occurring very early in development, believed by some to have lasting effects.
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| egocentric | The self-oriented quality in the thinking of preoperational children.
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| formal operational stage | In Piaget's theory, the period of intellectual development usually reached by about age 11 and characterized by the ability to use abstract concepts.
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| imprinting | A form of early learning that occurs in some animals during a critical period.
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| maturation | Systematic physical growth of the body, including the nervous system that is relatively independent of experience.
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| menarche | The first menstrual period.
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| menopause | (men´o-pawz) The cessation of menstruation and the capacity to reproduce in women.
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| neonatal period | The first two weeks of life following birth.
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| object permanence | The understanding that objects continue to exist when they are not in view.
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| parallel play | Playing near but not with another child.
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| preoperational stage | In Piaget's theory, the period of cognitive development from ages 2 to 7.
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| primary sex characteristics | Ovulation and menstruation in females and production of sperm in males.
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| puberty | The point in development at which the individual is first physically capable of sexual reproduction.
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| reversibility | The concept understood by concrete operational children that logical propositions can be reversed (if 2 1 3 5 5, then 5 2 3 5 2).
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| rooting reflex | An automatic response in which an infant turns its head toward stimulation on the cheek.
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| secondary sex characteristics | Development of the breasts and hips in females; growth of the testes, broadening of the shoulders, lowered voice, and growth of the penis and facial hair in males; and growth of pubic and other body hair in both sexes.
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| sensorimotor stage | In Piaget's theory, the period of cognitive development from birth to 2 years.
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| separation anxiety | The distress experienced by infants when they are separated from their caregivers.
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| solitary play | Playing alone.
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| stage | One of several time periods in development that is qualitatively distinct from the periods that come before and after.
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| telegraphic speech | The abbreviated speech of 2-year-olds.
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| transductive reasoning | Errors in understanding cause-and-effect relationships that are commonly made by preoperational children.
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2002 McGraw-Hill Higher Education