puberty

n. the stage of development when the genital organs reach maturity and secondary sex characteristics begin to appear, signaling the start of adolescence. It is marked by ejaculation of sperm in the male, onset of menstruation and development of breasts in the female, and, in both males and females, growth of pubic hair and increasing sexual interest. See also precocious puberty; persistent puberism. —pubertal adj.

Browse dictionary by letter

a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

Psychology term of the day

February 25th 2025

confluence model

a controversial theory that intelligence of siblings is correlated with family size. According to this model, average intelligence generally declines as the number of children in a family increases. Intelligence is also held to decline with birth order. The one exception is an only child, whose intelligence suffers because he or she does not have an older sibling to serve as a teacher. However, many variables (e.g., spacing of children) could affect and reverse such generalizations. [proposed in 1975 by Robert B. Zajonc and Greg Markus]