Glossary

AB-error	The Piagetian object-permanence concept in which an infant progressing into substage 4 makes frequent mistakes, selecting the familiar hiding place (A) rather than the new hiding place (B-).



active (niche-picking) genotype-environment correlations	Correlations that exist when children seek out environments they find compatible and stimulating.



androgens	The main class of male sex hormones.



authoritarian parenting	This is a restrictive, punitive style in which the parent exhorts the child to follow the parent's directions and to respect work and effort. Firm limits and controls are placed on the child, and little verbal exchange is allowed. This style is associated with children's socially incompetent behavior.



authoritative parenting	This style encourages children to be independent but still places limits and controls on their actions. Extensive verbal give-and-take is allowed, and parents are warm and nurturant toward the child. This style is associated with children's socially competent behavior.



autonomous morality	The second stage of moral development in Piaget's theory, displayed by older children (about 10 years of age and older). The child becomes aware that rules and laws are created by people and that, in judging an action, one should consider the actor's intentions as well as the consequences.



behavioral and social cognitive theories	Theories that emphasize that behavior and the environment play important roles in human development.



character education	A direct moral education approach that involves teaching students a basic moral literacy to prevent them from engaging in immoral behavior or doing harm to themselves or others.



cognitive moral education	Education based on the belief that students should learn to value things like democracy and justice as their moral reasoning develops; Kohlberg's theory has been the basis for many of the cognitive moral education approaches.



conduct disorder	Age-inappropriate actions and attitudes that violate family expectations, society's norms, and the personal property rights of others.



conscience	The component of the superego that involves behaviors disapproved of by parents.



coping	The process of managing taxing circumstances, expending effort to solve personal and interpersonal problems, and seeking to master or reduce stress.



cultural-familial retardation	A mental deficit in which no evidence of organic brain damage can be found; individuals' IQs range from 55 to 70.



development	The pattern of change that begins at conception and continues through the life span.



dominant-recessive genes principle	If one gene of a pair is dominant and one is recessive (goes back or recedes), the dominant gene exerts its effect, overriding the potential influence of the recessive gene. A recessive gene exerts its influence only if both genes in a pair are recessive.



ego ideal	The component of the superego that involves ideal standards approved by parents.



empathy	Reacting to another's feelings with an emotional response that is similar to the other's response.



estrogens	The main class of female sex hormones.



evocative genotype-environment correlations	Correlations that exist when the child's genotype elicits certain types of physical and social environments.



generalization	Applying information to other problems or situations. See also transfer.



heteronomous morality	The first stage in Kohlberg's theory. At this stage, moral thinking is often tied to punishment.



hidden curriculum	The pervasive moral atmosphere that characterizes schools.



hypotheses	Assumptions or predictions that can be tested to determine their accuracy.



immanent justice	Piaget's concept that if a rule is broken, punishment will be meted out immediately.



indulgent parenting	A style in which parents are highly involved with their children but place few demands or controls on them. This is associated with children's social incompetence, especially a lack of self-control.



juvenile delinquency	Refers to a great variety of behaviors, ranging from unacceptable behavior to status offenses to criminal acts.



moral development	Thoughts, feelings, and behaviors regarding standards of right and wrong.



natural selection	The evolutionary process that favors individuals of a species that are best adapted to survive and reproduce.



nonshared environmental experiences	The child's own unique experiences, both within the family and outside the family, that are not shared by another sibling. Thus, experiences occurring within the family can be part of the "nonshared environment."



operations	Internalized sets of actions that allow children to do mentally what before they had done physically. Operations also are reversible mental actions.



passive genotype-environment correlations	Correlations that exist when the child's biological parents provide a rearing environment for the child.



play therapy	Therapy that allows the child to work off frustrations and is a medium through which the therapist can analyze the child's conflicts and ways of coping with them. Children may feel less threatened and be more likely to express their true feelings in the context of play.



service learning	A form of education that promotes social responsibility and service to the community.



shared environmental experiences	Children's common environmental experiences that are shared with their siblings, such as their parents' personalities and intellectual orientation, the family's social class, and the neighborhood in which they live.



social cognitive theory of morality	The theory that distinguishes between moral competence-the ability to produce moral behaviors-and moral performance-those behaviors in specific situations.



social conventional reasoning	Thoughts about social consensus and convention, as opposed to moral reasoning that stresses ethical issues.



spermarche	A boy's first ejaculation of semen.



theory	A coherent set of ideas that helps to explain data and to make predictions.



traditional religious script	A sexual script according to which sex is accepted only within marriage, extramarital sex is taboo, especially for women, and sex means reproduction and sometimes affection.



values	Beliefs and attitudes about the way things should be.



values clarification	Helping people clarify what their lives are for and what is worth working for. Students are encouraged to define their own values and understand others' values.



zygote	A single cell formed through fertilization

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