AP Psychology - Unit 3 Vocab (Learning and Development)

One-Trail Conditioning

Conditioning that occurs with only one pairing of a neutral stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus.

Acquisition

The initial stage in classical conditioning during which association between a neutral stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus is learned.

One-Trail Conditioning

Conditioning that occurs with only one pairing of a neutral stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus.

Acquisition

The initial stage in classical conditioning during which association between a neutral stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus is learned.

Behavioral Perspective

Focuses on observable behaviors and the ways they're learned.

Biological Preparedness

The propensity of living beings to learn certain associations, such as taste and nausea, with only one or few pairings due to the survival value of the learning.

Associative Learning

Learning that involves connecting certain stimuli or events that occur together in the environment.

Extinction

The diminishing of a conditioned response when the conditioned stimulus no longer follows the unconditioned stimulus.

Spontaneous Recovery

The reappearance, after a pause, of an extinguished conditioned response.

Habituation (Non-Associative Learning)

Decreased response to a repeated stimulus over time.

Operant Conditioning

A method of learning that occurs through rewards and punishments for behavior.

Stimulus Discrimination

Learning to respond only to the original stimulus, and not to other similar stimuli.

Classical Conditioning

A learning process that pairs a neutral stimulus with a stimulus that elicits a reflexive response until the neutral stimulus alone elicits that response.

The Law of Effect

Thorndike's principle that behaviors followed by favorable consequences become more likely, and behaviors followed by unfavorable consequences become less likely.

Stimulus Generalization

The tendency to respond to stimuli that are similar to the conditioned stimulus.

Reinforcement

In operant conditioning, any event that strengthens the behavior it follows.

Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS)

A stimulus that naturally and automatically triggers a response without conditioning.

Primary Reinforcers

Events that are inherently reinforcing because they satisfy biological needs.

Unconditioned Response (UR)

The natural reaction to an unconditioned stimulus.

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.

Secondary Reinforcers

Events that acquire reinforcing qualities through their association with primary reinforcers.

Counterconditioning

A behavior therapy procedure that uses classical conditioning to evoke new responses to stimuli that are triggering unwanted behaviors.

Conditioned Stimulus (CS)

A previously neutral stimulus that, after becoming associated with the unconditioned stimulus, eventually comes to trigger a conditioned response.

Reinforcement Discrimination

Occurs when an organism learns to make a response in the presence of one stimulus but not another.

Conditioned Response (CR)

A learned response to a previously neutral stimulus that becomes conditioned.

Taste Aversion

The intense dislike and/or avoidance of particular foods that have been associated with nausea or discomfort.

Reinforcement Generalization

The spread of a response to stimuli similar to the one that was conditioned.

Punishment

An event that tends to decrease the behavior that it follows.

Positive Reinforcement

Increasing behaviors by presenting positive stimuli, such as food.

Negative Reinforcement

Increasing behaviors by stopping or reducing negative stimuli, such as shock.

Positive Punishment

The administration of a stimulus to decrease the probability of a behavior's recurring.

Negative Punishment

The removal of a stimulus to decrease the probability of a behavior's recurring.

Shaping

A conditioning paradigm used primarily in the experimental analysis of behavior.

Instinctive Drift

The tendency of an animal to revert to instinctive behaviors that interfere with a conditioned response.

Superstitious Behavior

Behavior that increases in frequency because its occurrence is accidentally paired with the delivery of a reinforcer.

Reinforcement Schedules

A rule stating which instances of a behavior will be reinforced.

Continuous Reinforcement

Reinforcing the desired response every time it occurs.

Discontinuous Development

The view that development takes place in unique stages, which happen at specific times or ages.

Social Learning Theory

The theory that we learn social behavior by observing and imitating and by being rewarded or punished.

Cross-sectional Research

A study in which people of different ages are compared with one another.

Vicarious Conditioning

Learning that occurs through observing the reactions of others to an environmental stimulus.

Partial Reinforcement

Reinforcing a response only part of the time; results in slower acquisition of a response but much greater resistance to extinction than does continuous reinforcement.

Longitudinal Research

Research in which the same people are restudied and retested over a long period.

Insight Learning

A form of problem solving in which the organism develops a sudden insight into or understanding of a problem's solution.

Fixed Interval

A reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response only after a specified time has elapsed.

Teratogens

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

Latent Learning

Learning that occurs but is not apparent until there is an incentive to demonstrate it.

Milestones

Important markers of development such as walking, talking, and grasping objects.

Cognitive Maps

A mental representation of the layout of one's environment.

Variable Interval

A reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response at unpredictable time intervals.

Prenatal Development

The process that occurs between the formation of the zygote and birth.

Developmental Psychology

The study of continuity and change across the life span.

Fixed Ratio

A reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response only after a specified number of responses.

Fine Motor Coordination

The ability to make movements using the small muscles in our hands and wrists.

Stability and Change

The debate regarding which traits persist through the lifespan and which change.

Variable Ratio

A reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response after an unpredictable number of responses.

Gross Motor Coordination

The ability to make movements using the large muscles in our arms, legs, and torso.

Nature and Nurture

The longstanding discussion about the relative importance of genetics (nature) and environment (nurture) in their influence on behavior and mental processes.

Maturation

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

Learned Helplessness

The hopelessness and passive resignation an animal or human learns when unable to avoid repeated aversive events.

Continuous Development

The view that development is a cumulative process: gradually improving on existing skills.

Reflexes

Automatic responses to sensory stimuli, like the knee-jerk response.

Secondary Sex Characteristics

Nonreproductive sexual traits, such as female breasts and hips, male voice quality, and body hair.

Preoperational Stage

The stage (from about 2 to 6 or 7 years of age) during which a child learns to use language but does not yet comprehend the mental operations of concrete logic.

Menarche

The first menstrual period.

Rooting Reflex

A baby's tendency, when touched on the cheek, to turn toward the touch, open the mouth, and search for the nipple.

Spermarche

The first ejaculation.

Mental Symbols

Objects or events that a child knows and can think about, even if they are not physically present.

Visual Cliff

A laboratory device for testing depth perception in infants and young animals.

Menopause

The natural cessation of menstruation that also marks the end of reproductive capacity in women.

Pretend Play

Play that involves making up and acting out a scenario; typically observed during the preoperational stage.

Critical Periods

An optimal period shortly after birth when an organism's exposure to certain stimuli or experiences produces proper development.

Jean Piaget

A Swiss psychologist known for his theory of cognitive development that describes how children construct a mental model of the world.

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.

Schemas

Frameworks that help organize and interpret information.

Sensitive Periods

Times in development when a person is particularly open to certain kinds of experiences.

Assimilation

The process by which new information is incorporated into pre-existing schemas.

Reversibility

The ability to recognize that numbers or objects can be changed and returned to their original condition.

Imprinting

The process by which certain animals form strong attachments during an early-life critical period.

Accommodation

The process by which schemas are altered to fit new information.

Growth Spurt

A rapid increase in height and weight that occurs during puberty.

Animism

The belief that objects that are inanimate have feelings, thoughts, and have the mental characteristics and qualities of living things.

Puberty

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

Sensorimotor Stage

The stage (from birth to about 2 years of age) during which infants know the world mostly in terms of their sensory impressions and motor activities.

Egocentrism

The preoperational child's difficulty taking another's point of view.

Object Permanence

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

Theory of Mind

The ability to understand that others have their own thoughts and perspectives.

Primary Sex Characteristics

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

Authoritative Parenting

A parenting style characterized by high responsiveness and high demands. These parents are responsive to the child's emotional needs while having high standards.

Concrete Operational Stage

The stage of cognitive development (from about 7 to 11 years of age) during which children gain the mental operations that enable them to think logically about concrete events.

Ecological Systems Theory

A theory introduced by Bronfenbrenner that explains how the inherent qualities of a child and their environment interact to influence how they will grow and develop.

Permissive Parenting

A type of parenting style characterized by low demands with high responsiveness. These parents tend to be very loving, yet provide few guidelines and rules.

Formal Operational Stage

The stage of cognitive development (normally beginning about age 12) during which people begin to think logically about abstract concepts.

Microsystem

The environment where an individual lives. These contexts include the person's family, peers, school, and neighborhood. It is the immediate environment in which a person is operating.

Attachment Styles

Patterns of attachment, defined as lasting psychological connectedness between human beings.

Mesosystem

The relations between microsystems or connections between contexts.

Lev Vygotsky

A psychologist known for his sociocultural theory of cognitive development, emphasizing how culture and social interactions guide cognitive development.

Exosystem

External environmental settings that only indirectly affect development, such as parent's workplace.

Secure Attachment

An attachment style characterized by trust, a lack of concern with being abandoned, and the view that one is worthy and well liked.

Macrosystem

The larger cultural context, including socioeconomic status, wealth, poverty, and ethnicity.

Scaffolding

A technique used by a teacher to adapt their support methods to fit the student's current level of performance, gradually decreasing the guidance as the student becomes more competent.

Chronosystem

The patterning of environmental events and transitions over the life course, as well as sociohistorical circumstances.