| child development | Scientific study of processes of change and stability in children from conception through adolescence. 6
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| physical development | Growth of body and brain, including biological and physiological patterns of change in sensory capacities, motor skills, and health. 8
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| cognitive development | Pattern of change in mental abilities, such as learning, attention, memory, language, thinking, reasoning, and creativity. 8
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| psychosocial development | (1) Pattern of change in emotions, personality, and social relationships; (2) In Erikson's eight-stage theory, the socially and culturally influenced process of development of the ego, or self. 8, 28
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| social construction | Concept about the nature of reality based on societally shared perceptions or assumptions. 8
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| individual differences | Differences among children in characteristics, influences, or developmental outcomes. 9
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| heredity | Inborn characteristics inherited from the biological parents. 10
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| environment | Totality of nonhereditary, or experiential, influences on development. 10
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| maturation | Unfolding of a universal natural sequence of physical and behavioral changes. 11
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| nuclear family | Two-generational household unit consisting of one or two parents and their biological children, adopted children, or stepchildren. 11
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| extended family | Multigenerational kinship network of parents, children, and other relatives, sometimes living together in an extended-family household. 11
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| culture | A society's or group's total way of life, including customs, traditions, beliefs, values, language, and physical products—all learned behavior passed on from adults to children. 12
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| ethnic group | A group united by ancestry, race, religion, language, or national origin that contributes to a sense of shared identity. 12
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| ethnic gloss | Overgeneralization about an ethnic or cultural group that blurs or obscures variations within the group or overlaps with other such groups. 14
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| socioeconomic status (SES) | Combination of economic and social factors, including income, education, and occupation, that describe an individual or family. 14
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| risk factors | Conditions that increase the likelihood of a negative developmental outcome. 15
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| normative | Characteristic of an event that occurs in a similar way for most people in a group. 16
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| historical generation | A group of people strongly influenced by a major historical event during their formative period. 16
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| cohort | A group of people born at about the same time. 16
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| nonnormative | Characteristic of an unusual event that happens to a particular person or a typical event that happens at an unusual time of life. 16
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| imprinting | Instinctive form of learning in which, during a critical period in early development, a young animal forms an attachment to the first moving object it sees, usually the mother. 18, 127
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| critical period | Specific time when a given event or its absence has a profound and specific impact on development. 18
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| plasticity | Modifiability of the brain through experience. 18, 147
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| sensitive periods | Times in development when a given event or its absence usually has a strong effect on development. 18
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