AP Psych Unit 3

Developmental Psychology

a branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive, and social-emotional development throughout the lifespan.

Cross-sectional study

research that compares people of different ages at the same point in time.

Longitudinal study

research that follows and retests the same people over time.

Continuity versus discontinuity

theory of development - whether developmental changes are incremental in stages or more gradual

zygote

the fertilized egg - enters a 2-week period of rapid cell division and develops into an embryo.

embryo

the developing human organism from about 2 weeks after fertilization through the second month.

fetus

the developing human organism from 9 weeks after conception to birth.

Teratogens

agents such as chemicals and viruses that can reach the embryo or fetus during prenatal development and cause harm

Fetal Alcohol syndrome

physical and cognitive function deficits in children caused by a birth mother's heavy drinking during pregnancy. In severe cases, symptoms include a small, out-of-proportion head and distinct facial features.

habituation

decreasing responsiveness with repeated stimulation. As infants gain familiarity with repeated exposure to a stimulus, their interest wanes and they look away sooner.

maturation

biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in behavior, relatively uninfluenced by experience.

critical period

an optimal period early in the life of an organism when exposure to certain stimuli or experiences produces normal development.

Adolescence

the transition period from childhood to adulthood, extending from puberty to independence.

Puberty

the period of sexual maturation, during which a person becomes capable of reproducing.

Menopause

the time of natural cessation of menstruation; also refers to the biological changes a woman experiences as her ability to reproduce declines.

sex

in psychology, the biologically influenced characteristics by which people define male, female, and intersex.

Gender

in psychology, the attitudes, feelings, and behaviors that a given culture associates with a person's biological sex. (See also gender identity.)

Intersex

possessing male and female biological sexual characteristics at birth.

Aggression

any physical or verbal behavior intended to harm someone physically or emotionally.

Relational aggression

an act of aggression (physical or verbal) intended to harm a person's relationship or social standing.

X chromosome

the sex chromosome found in females and males. Females typically have two X chromosomes; males typically have one. An X chromosome from each parent produces a female child.

Y chromosome

the sex chromosome typically found only in males. When paired with an X chromosome from the mother, it produces a male child.

testosterone

the most important male sex hormone. Males and females have it, but the additional testosterone in males stimulates the growth of the male sex organs during the fetal period, and the development of male sex characteristics during puberty.

estrogens

sex hormones, such as estradiol, that contribute to female sex characteristics and are secreted in greater amounts by females than by males.

Primary sex characteristics

the body structures (ovaries, testes, and external genitalia) that make sexual reproduction possible.

Secondary sex characteristics

nonreproductive traits; such as female breasts and hips, male voice quality, and body hair.

spemarche

the first ejaculation

menarche

the first menstural period

role

a set of expectations (norms) about social position, defining how those in the position ought to behave.

Gender role

a set of expected behaviors, attitudes, and traits for men and for women.

sexual aggression

any physical or verbal behavior of a sexual nature that is unwanted or intended to someone physically or emotionally. Can be expressed as either sexual harassment or sexual assault.

gender identity

our personal sense of being male, female, neither, or some combination of male and female, regardless of whether this identity matches our sex assigned at birth, and the social affiliation that may result from this identity.

social learning theory

a set of expectations (norms) about social position, defining how those in the position ought to behave.

gendery typing

the acquisition of a traditional masculine or feminine role.

androgyny

blending traditionally masculine and traditionally feminine psychological characteristics.

transgender

an umbrella term describing people whose gender identity or expression differs from that associated with their birth-assigned sex.

sexuality

our thoughts, feelings, and actions related to our physical attraction to another.

asexual

having no sexual attraction towards others

social script

a culturally modeled guide for how to act in various situations.

sexual orientation

a person's sexual and emotional attraction to another person and the behavior and/or social affiliation that may result from this attraction.

cogniton

all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating.

schema

a concept or framework that organizes and interprets information.

assimilation

interpreting new experiences in terms of our existing schemas.

accomodation

adapting our current schemas (understandings) to incorporate new information.

sensorimotor stage

in Piaget's theory, the stage (from birth to nearly two years of age) at which infants know the world mostly in terms of their sensory impressions and motor activities.

object permanence

the awareness that things continue to exist even when not perceived.

preoperational stage

in Piaget's theory, the stage (from about 2 to 6 or 7 years of age) at which a child learns to use language but does not yet comprehend the mental operations of concrete logic.

egocentrism

in Piaget's theory, the preoperational child's difficulty taking another's point of view.

concrete operational stage

in Piaget's theory, the stage of cognitive development (from about 7 to 11 years of age) at which a child can perform the mental operations that enable them to think logically about concrete (actual, physical) events.

conservation

the principle (which Piaget believed was a part of concrete operational reasoning) that properties such as mass, volume, and number remain the same despite changes in the forms of objects.

formal operational stage

in Piaget's theory, the stage of cognitive development (normally beginning about the age of 12) at which people begin to think logically about abstract concepts.

scaffold

in Vygotsky's theory, a framework that offers children temporary support as they develop higher levels of thinking.

theory of mind

people's ideas about their own and others' mental states - about their feelings, perceptions, and thoughts, and the behaviors these might predict.

language

our agreed-upon systems of spoken, written, or signed words, and the ways we combine them to communicate meaning.

phoneme

in language, the smallest distinctive sound unit

morpheme

in a language, the smallest unit that carries meaning; may be a word or a part of a word (such as a prefix).

grammar

a system of rules that enables us to communicate with and understand others. Semantics is the language's set of rules for deriving meaning from sounds, and syntax is its set of rules for combining words into grammatically sensible sentences.

universal grammar

humans' predisposition to understand the principles that govern grammar in all languages.

babbling stage

the stage in speech development, beginning around four months old, during which an infant spontaneously utters various sounds that are not all related to the household language.

one-word stage

the stage in speech development, from about age 1 to 2, during which a child speaks mostly single words.

two-word stage

the stage in speech development, beginning about age 2, during which a child speaks mostly in two-word sentences.

telegraphic speech

the early speech stage in which a child speaks like a telegram - "go car" - using mostly nouns and verbs

aphasia

impairment of language, usually caused by left hemisphere damage either to Broca's area (impairing speaking) or to Wernicke's area (impairing understanding).

broca's area

a frontal lobe brain area, usually in the left hemisphere, that helps control language expression by directing muscle movements involved in speech.

Wernicke's area

a brain area, usually in the left temporal lobe, involved in language comprehension and expression.

linguistic determinism

Whorf's hypothesis that language determines that way we think.

linguistic relativism

the idea that language influences the way we think.

ecological systems thoery

a theory of the social environment's influence on human development, using five nested systems (microsystem; mesosystem; exosystem; macrosystem; chronosystem) ranging from direct to indirect influences.

stranger anxiety

the fear of strangers that infants commonly display, beginning by about 8 months of age.

attachment

an emotional tie with others; shown in young children by their seeking closeness to caregivers and showing distress on separation.

imprinting

the process by which certain animals form strong attachments during early life.

strange situation

a procedure for studying child-caregiver attachment; a child is placed in an unfamiliar environment while their caregiver leaves and then returns, and the child's reactions are observed.

secure attachment

demonstrated by infants who comfortably explore environments in the presence of their caregiver, show only temporary distress when the caregiver leaves, and find comfort in the caregiver's return.

insecure attachment

demonstrated by infants who display a clinging, anxious attachment; an avoidant attachment that resists closeness; or a disorganized attachment with no consistent behavior when separated from or united with caregivers.

temperament

a person's characteristic emotional reactivity and intensity.

basic trust

a sense that the world is predictable and trustworthy; said to be formed during infancy by appropriate experiences with responsive caregivers.

self-concept

all our thoughts and feelings about ourselves, in answer to the question, "Who am I?"

permissive parenting style

parents make few demands and rarely use punishment

authoriative parenting

parents who use a moderate amount of control and are warm and responsive to their children

authoritarian parenting

style of parenting in which parent is rigid and overly strict, showing little warmth to the child

neglectful parenting

a parenting style characterized by a lack of parental involvement in the child's life

identity

our sense of self; according to Erikson, the adolescent's task is to solidify a sense of self by testing and integrating various roles.

social identity

the "we" aspect of our self-concept; the part of our answer to "Who am I?" that comes from our group memberships.

identity diffusion

stage of identity formation - no vocational commitment

identity foreclosure

stage of identity formation - commitment predetermined by religious, social, or political affiliation

identity moratorium

stage of identity formation - period of exploration of alternatives

identity achieved

stage of identity formation - acceptance of vocational alternatives

emerging adulthood

a period from about 18 to the middle twenties, when many persons in prosperous Western cultures are no longer adolescents but have not yet achieved full independence as adults.

social clock

the culturally preferred timing of social events such as marriage, parenthood, and retirement.

learning

the process of acquiring through experience new and relatively enduring information and behaviors.

habituation

the decreasing responsiveness with repeated stimulation.

associative learning

learning that certain events occur together. The events may be two stimuli (as in classical conditioning) or a response and its consequence (as in operant conditioning).

stimulus

any event or situation that evokes a response.

respondent behavior

behavior that occurs as an automatic response to some stimuli.

operant behavior

behavior that operates on the environment, producing a consequence.

cognitive learning

the acquisition of mental information, whether by observing events, by watching others, or through language

classical conditioning

a type of learning in which one learns to link two or more stimuli and anticipate events

behaviorism

the view that psychology (1) should be an objective science that (2) studies behavior without reference to mental processes. Most research psychologists today agree with (1) but not with (2).

neutral stimulus

in classical conditioning, a stimulus that elicits no response before conditioning

unconditioned response

In classical conditioning, the unlearned, naturally occurring response to the unconditioned stimulus (US), such as salivation when food is in the mouth.