Developmental Psychology Key Concepts

Key Concepts-Chapter 1 Human Development
 Developmental psychology: The study of changes in behavior and abilities since the moment that we are born until the moment that we died.
 Heredity (“nature”): The transmission of physical and psychological characteristics from parents to a child through genes.
 DNA: A molecular structure that has genetic information.
 Genes: Specific areas on of the DNA that carry hereditary information.
 Maturation: Is the physical growth and development of the body, brain, and nervous system.
 Congenital Problems: Problems or defects that originate in the mothers belly
 Teratogen: Any substance capable of altering fetal development and cause birth defects.
 Social Development: Is the development that a person

 Biological Predisposition: Hereditary inclination to learn certain skills or behave in particular ways. For example, how you behave with your parents is different from your friends.
 Signal: Is any behavior, such as touching, vocalizing, gazing that allows nonverbal interactions between parent and child.
 Motherese (or parentese): Type of speech used when talking to infants, marked by a higher-pitched voice.
 Preoperational Stage: Is a period when children begin to use language and think symbolically.
 Theory of Mind: Is a theory that understands people’s mental states, thoughts, beliefs, and intentions but, at the same time, other people’s mental states can be different from one’s own.
 Zone of Proximal Development: Certain tasks that a child cannot master without the help of a more capable partner.
 Moral Development: Is the development of values, beliefs, and thinking towards to admit or judge what an acceptable behavior is.
 Consistency: How we discipline a child to maintain a stable rules of conduct.
 You Message: Are messages send to another person about accusing, bossing, or criticizing.
 I-Message: The effect of someone else’s behavior in your

Stage Five (Adolescence): Identity versus Role Confusion.
Stage Six (Young adulthood): Intimacy versus Isolation.
Stage Seven (Middle adulthood): Generativity versus Stagnation.
Stage Eight (Late adulthood): Integrity versus Despair. Personal Application

Through generations my family has experienced human development. Sometimes this evolution is not perceived right away but, with time and close observation we are able to see how alike my son and his great-grandfather are. This observation was made by my grandmother based on years of experience of knowing my grandfather and learning the behavior of my son. My grandmother was able to excel this task by helping babysit my kid. Doing this hard task at her age, she was able to see similarities of behavior and physical characteristics. For example, a clear example of physical characteristics is my son is clear skin and my grandfather is too. Another physical characteristic is that, my grandfather had a mole on his right leg and my son does as well. A behavior characteristic is that my grandfather used to be very impatient and my son is too. Another characteristic is that my grandfather used to be very social and my son as little as he is shows to be a good example of social interaction. It is incredible to see how genes spread through generations and see the similitude between my