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teratogens
agents, such as chemicals and viruses, that can reach the embryo or fetus during prenatal development and cause harm.
rooting reflex
an automatic, unlearned response of a newborn to a gentle stimulus (e.g., the touch of a finger) applied to the corner of the mouth or to the cheek, in which the infant turns their head and makes sucking motions
critical period
an optimal period early in the life of an organism when exposure to certain stimuli or experiences produces normal development.
imprinting
the process by which certain animals form strong attachments during early life.
menarche
the first menstrual period
spermarche
the first ejaculation
menopause
the time of natural cessation of menstruation; also refers to the biological changes a woman experiences as her ability to reproduce declines.
sensorimotor stage
in Piaget’s theory, the stage (from birth to nearly 2 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.
conservation
the principle (which Piaget believed to be a part of concrete operational reasoning) that properties such as mass, volume, and number remain the same despite changes in the forms of objects.
animism
a belief that inanimate objects are alive or have lifelike feelings and motivations
egocentrism
in Piaget’s theory, the preoperational child’s difficulty taking another’s point of view
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
concrete operational stage
in Piaget’s theory, the stage of cognitive development (from about 7 to 11 years of age) at which children can perform the mental operations that enable them to think logically about concrete (actual, physical) events.
formal operational stage
in Piaget’s theory, the stage of cognitive development (normally beginning about age 12) at which people begin to think logically about abstract concepts.
zone of proximal development
the zone between what a child can and can’t do — it’s what a child can do with help
phoneme
in a 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
in a language, 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.
overgeneralization
the process of extending something beyond the circumstances to which it actually applies. It is a common linguistic tendency of young children to generalize standard grammatical rules to apply to irregular words (e.g., pluralizing foot to foots)
ecological systems theory
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.
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 either a clinging, anxious attachment or an avoidant attachment that resists closeness.
separation anxiety
the normal apprehension experienced by a young child when away (or facing the prospect of being away) from the person or people to whom they are attached (particularly parents).
contact comfort
the positive effects experienced by infants or young animals when in close contact with soft materials.
imaginary audience
the belief of an adolescent that others are constantly focusing attention on them, scrutinizing behaviors, appearance, and the like
personal fable
a belief in one’s uniqueness and invulnerability, which is an expression of adolescent egocentrism and may extend further into the lifespan
social clock
the culturally preferred timing of social events such as marriage, parenthood, and retirement
classical conditioning
a type of learning in which we link two or more stimuli; as a result, to illustrate with Pavlov’s classic experiment, the first stimulus (a tone) comes to elicit behavior (drooling) in anticipation of the second stimulus (food).
acquisition
in classical conditioning, the initial stage, when one links a neutral stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus so that the neutral stimulus begins triggering the conditioned response. In operant conditioning, the strengthening of a reinforced response.
unconditioned stimulus
in classical conditioning, a stimulus that unconditionally — naturally and automatically — triggers an unconditioned response UCR).
unconditioned response
in classical conditioning, an unlearned, naturally occurring response (such as salivation) to an unconditioned stimulus (UCS) (such as food in the mouth).
conditioned response
in classical conditioning, a learned response to a previously neutral (but now conditioned) stimulus (CS).
conditioned stimulus
in classical conditioning, an originally neutral stimulus that, after association with an unconditioned stimulus (UCS), comes to trigger a conditioned response (CR).
extinction
in classical conditioning, the diminishing of a conditioned response when an unconditioned stimulus does not follow a conditioned stimulus. (In operant conditioning, when a response is no longer reinforced.)
spontaneous recovery
the reappearance, after a pause, of a weakened conditioned response.
discrimination
in classical conditioning, the learned ability to distinguish between a conditioned stimulus and other stimuli that have not been associated with a conditioned stimulus.
generalization
in classical conditioning, the tendency, once a response has been conditioned, for stimuli similar to the conditioned stimulus to elicit similar responses. in operant conditioning, when responses learned in one situation occur in other, similar situations
higher-order conditioning
a procedure in which the conditioned stimulus in one conditioning experience is paired with a new neutral stimulus, creating a second (often weaker) conditioned stimulus. For example, an animal that has learned that a tone predicts food might then learn that a light predicts the tone and begin responding to the light alone.
counterconditioning
behavior therapy procedures that use classical conditioning to evoke new responses to stimuli that are triggering unwanted behaviors; include exposure therapies and aversive conditioning.
taste aversion
the association of the taste of a food or fluid with an aversive stimulus (usually gastrointestinal discomfort or illness), leading to a very rapid and long-lasting aversion to, or at the least a decreased preference for, that particular taste.
preparedness
a biological predisposition to learn associations, such as between taste and nausea, that have survival value.
habituation
decreasing responsiveness with repeated stimulation. As infants gain familiarity with repeated exposure to a stimulus, their interest wanes and they look away sooner.
operant conditioning
a type of learning in which a behavior becomes more likely to recur if followed by a reinforcer or less likely to recur if followed by a punisher.
reinforcement
in operant conditioning, any event that strengthens the behavior it follows.
punishment
an event that tends to decrease the behavior that it follows.
law of effect
Thorndike’s principle that behaviors followed by favorable (or reinforcing) consequences become more likely, and that behaviors followed by unfavorable (or punishing) consequences become less likely.
primary reinforcer
an innately reinforcing stimulus, such as one that satisfies a biological need.
shaping
an operant conditioning procedure in which reinforcers guide behavior toward closer and closer approximations of the desired behavior.
instinctive drift
the tendency of learned behavior to gradually revert to biologically predisposed patterns.
learned helplessness
the hopelessness and passive resignation humans and other animals learn when unable to avoid repeated aversive events.
continuous reinforcement
in operant and instrumental conditioning, the reinforcement of every correct (desired) response.
partial reinforcement
in operant or instrumental conditioning, any pattern of reinforcement in which only some responses are reinforced.
social learning theory
the theory that we learn social behavior by observing and imitating and by being rewarded or punished.
vicarious conditioning
the conditioning of an animal to perform an act that it observes in a member of the same or a different species.
modeling
the process of observing and imitating a specific behavior.
insight learning
solving problems through sudden insight; contrasts with strategy-based solutions.
latent learning
learning that occurs but is not apparent until there is an incentive to demonstrate it.
explicit memory
memory of facts and experiences that one can consciously know and declare
implicit memory
retention of learned skills or classically conditioned associations independent of conscious recollection
prospective memory
remembering to do something in the future, such as taking one’s medicine later
long-term potentiation
an increase in a cell’s firing potential after brief, rapid stimulation; believed to be a neural basis for learning and memory
ionic memory
a momentary sensory memory of visual stimuli; a photographic or picture-image memory lasting no more than a few tenths of a second
echoic memory
a momentary sensory memory of auditory stimuli; if attention is elsewhere, sounds and words can still be recalled within 3-4 seconds
episodic memory
explicit memory of personally experienced events; one of our two conscious memory systems
semantic memory
explicit memory of facts and general knowledge; one of our two conscious memory systems
sensory memory
the immediate, very brief recording of sensory information in the memory system
short-term memory
briefly activated memory of a few items (such as digits of a phone number while calling) that is later stored or forgotten
long-term memory
the relatively permanent and limitless archive of the memory system. Includes knowledge, skills, and experiences
automatic processing
unconscious encoding of incidental information, such as space, time, and frequency, and of familiar or well-learned information, such as sounds, smells, and word meanings
effortful processing
encoding that requires attention and conscious effort
shallow processing
encoding on a basic level, based on the structure or appearance of words
deep processing
encoding semantically, based on the meaning of the words; tends to yield the best retention
mnemonics
memory aids, especially those techniques that use vivid imagery and organizational devices
method of loci
a mnemonic technique in which the items to be remembered are converted into mental images and associated with specific positions or locations
serial position effect
our tendency to recall best the last items in a list initially (a recency effect) and the first items in a list after a delay (a primacy effect)
anterograde amnesia
an inability to form new memories
retrograde amnesia
an inability to remember information from one’s past
autobiographical memory
a person’s memory for episodes or experiences that occurred in their own life, including episodic and semantic memory or both
infantile amnesia
the commonly experienced inability to recall events from early childhood
context-dependent memory
putting oneself back in the context where one experienced something earlier that primes one’s memory retrieval
mood-congruent memory
the tendency to recall experiences that are consistent with one’s current good or bad mood
state-dependent memory
what we learn in one state may be more easily recalled when we are again in that state
testing effect
enhanced memory after retrieving, rather than simply rereading, information. also referred to as a retrieval practice effect or test-enhanced learning.
metacognition
cognition about our cognition; keeping track of and evaluating our mental processes
forgetting curve
“the course of forgetting is initially rapid, then levels off with time”; a graphic depiction of the amount of forgetting over time after learning has taken place
tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon
the experience of attempting to retrieve from memory a specific name or word but not being able to do so
source amnesia
faulty memory for how, when, or where information was learned or imagined
imagination inflation
reporting richer details of one’s false memories
spacing effect
the tendency for distributed study or practice to yield better long-term retention than is achieved through massed study or practice
chunking
organizing items into familiar, manageable units; often occurs automatically
perception
the process by which our brain organizes and interprets sensory information, enabling us to recognize objects and events as meaningful
bottom-up processing
information processing that begins with the sensory receptors and works up to the brain’s integration of sensory information
top-down processing
information processing guided by higher-level mental processes, as when we construct perceptions drawing on our experience and expectations
schema
a concept or framework that organizes and interprets information
perceptual sets
a mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another
selective attention
focusing conscious awareness on a particular stimulus
cocktail party effect
the ability to attend to one of several speech streams while ignoring others (hearing your name in a noisy room)
change blindness
the failure to notice large changes in an environment