PY 101 Chapter Notes - Chapter 9: Sex Organ, Puberty, Egocentrism

• School: University of Alabama
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PY 101
• Professor: Natalie Dautovich

Document Summary

Developmental psychology is concerned wit changes over the life span, in physiology, cognition, emotion, and social behavior. Physically, each human grows and matures at about the same periods in the life span: Prenatal period begins with conception and ends with birth. Infancy begins at birth and lasts between 18 and 24 months. Childhood begins at the end of infancy and lasts until somewhere between 11 and. Adolescence begins at the end of childhood and lasts until somewhere between 18 and 21 years. Adulthood begins at the end of adolescence and lasts until death. Teratogens are environmental agents that harm the embryo or fetus. Dynamic systems theory views development as a self-organizing process, where new forms of behavior emerge through consistent interactions between a biological being and his or her cultural and environmental contexts. Newborns have various basic reflexes that aid survival. Synaptic pruning- when connections are not used, they decay and disappear.