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assimilation: new information is incorporated into existing schema

accommodation: existing schema is modified to fit new information

chronosystem: the role that time plays in influencing individual development.

continuous development: the idea that development is a progressive and cumulative process, gradually improving on existing skills

cohort: a group of people who are born at roughly the same period in a particular society. Cohorts share histories and contexts for living[/glossary-definition

conditioned stimuli: a previously neutral stimulus that eventually triggers a conditioned response

conditioned response: This is the learned response to the conditioned stimulus. In the dog example, the dog salivating at the sound of the bell is the conditioned response.

culture: blueprint or guideline shared by a group of people that specifies how to live; passed down from generation to generation; learned from parents and others

cycle of poverty: when families with ow social mobility become trapped in poverty for generations

discontinuous development: idea that development takes place in unique stages and occurs at specific times or ages

ego: operating on the reality principle, mediates between the id’s demands and the external world.

exosystem: environments in which the individual is not an active participant but still impacts development.

id: the primal, instinctual part driven by the pleasure principle, seeking immediate gratification.

life chances: someone’s access to marketplace resources

lifespan perspective: an approach to studying development which emphasizes that development is lifelong, multidimensional, multidirectional, plastic, contextual, and multidisciplinary

macrosystem: the broader society and cultural forces that contribute to individual development

mesosystem: interactions between different microsystems in the child’s life.

microsystem: things that have direct contact with the child in their immediate environment.

nature: the influences of biology and genetics on behavior

neutral stimuli: Initially, the stimulus doesn’t produce the desired response. For example, the sound of a bell to a dog is initially neutral.

non-normative influences: unpredictable influences not tied to a certain developmental time, personally or historical period

normative age-graded influences: biological and environmental factors that have a strong correlation with chronological age

normative history-graded influences: influences associated with a specific time period that define the broader bio-cultural context in which an individual develops

nurture: environmental, social, and cultural influences of behavior

poverty: the state of not having access to material resources, wealth, or income

punishment: the process of decreasing pattern of behavior as a result of the consequence that follows it.  

reinforcement: the process of increasing pattern of behavior as a result of the consequence that follows it.  

scaffolding: the guidance and support offered from a more knowledgeable individual to help a learner to bridge the gap between what they already know and their zone of proximal development.

schema: a mental framework that helps organize and interpret information around the world

social mobility: the ability to change one’s economic status in a society

socioeconomic status: a way to identify families and households based on their shared levels of education, income, and occupation

superego: acts as a moral compass, striving for perfection and judging the ego’s actions. 

tabula rasa: the idea that individuals are born without built-in mental content, and all knowledge is derived from experience and perception.
unconditioned stimuli: This stimulus naturally and automatically triggers a response. For example, food in Pavlov’s experiment is the UCS, as it naturally makes dogs salivate.
zone of proximal development: the gap between what a learner can do independently and what they can achieve with guidance and support from a more knowledgeable individual.

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Middle Childhood and Adolescent Psychology Copyright © 2025 by Qiushan Liu is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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