Research Methods, Personality, and Developmental Psychology Review

Vocabulary flashcards covering Research Methods, Psychoanalytic and Trait Theories of Personality, and Cognitive and Social Developmental Psychology based on the lecture notes.

Population vs. Sample Relationship

A population represents the entire target group with size $N$, while a sample is a smaller subset of size $n$ drawn from the population where $n < N$.

Survey Method

A research method where samples are studied in order to make statements about broader populations.

Population

The entire group of individuals that a researcher aims to study and draw conclusions about, denoted by population size $N$.

Sample

A group of participants selected from a population for a research study, denoted by sample size $n$ where $n < N$.

Representative Sample

A sample that accurately reflects the key characteristics and diversity of the larger target population.

Random Sampling

Also known as random selection, a sampling process where every member of a population has an equal chance of being chosen for the study.

Sampling Error

The discrepancy or error that arises when sample statistics do not perfectly represent the true characteristics of the population.

Correlational Method

A research method in which two or more variables are systematically measured to assess the relationship between them.

Pearson Correlation Coefficient ($r$)

A statistical measure defining the strength and direction of linear relationships between variables, constrained within $-1.00 \text{ to } +1.00$ ($-1.00 \neq r \neq +1.00$).

Correlation Scatter Plots

Graphical depictions showing the direction and strength of linear relationships between variables $X$ and $Y$, ranging from no relationship ($r = 0.00$) to moderate positive ($r > 0.00$) and strong negative ($r < 0.00$).

Experimental Method

A research design where subjects are randomly assigned to research conditions that are controlled to be identical except for one or more intentionally manipulated variables, allowing researchers to establish causation.

Random Assignment Design

An experimental procedure in which participants are randomly placed into either a control group (e.g., quiet condition) or an experimental group (e.g., noisy condition) to measure outcomes like test scores.

Independent Variable (IV)

The variable in an experiment that is intentionally manipulated by the experimenter.

Dependent Variable (DV)

The outcome variable in an experiment that is measured to assess the effect of the manipulated independent variable.

Confound

An unmeasured extraneous variable that varies systematically with the independent variable, potentially distorting experimental results.

Id

The completely unconscious component of Sigmund Freud's personality structure that operates strictly according to the pleasure principle.

Pleasure Principle

The driving principle of the id that demands immediate satisfaction of all instinctual urges, desires, and needs.

Ego

The executive component of personality in Freud's theory that develops during the anal stage and operates on the reality principle.

Reality Principle

The guiding force of the ego that seeks to satisfy the id's demands in realistic and socially acceptable ways.

Superego

The component of personality in Freud's theory that represents internal moral standards, societal ideals, and conscience.

Repression

A psychoanalytic defense mechanism where distressing thoughts or memories are pushed down into the subconscious mind.

Projection

A defense mechanism in which an individual attributes their own unacceptable feelings or impulses, such as hostility or sexuality, onto others.

Displacement

A defense mechanism involving the redirection of emotional reactions from their original target to a safer substitute target.

Identification

A defense mechanism where an individual coping with anxiety adopts the characteristics or copies the behavior of another person.

Oral Stage

The first stage of Freud's psychosexual development (Birth to $1$ year) where the id rules and erogenous pleasure is centered in the mouth.

Anal Stage

Freud's second psychosexual stage ($1$ to $3$ years) during which the ego develops alongside bowel and bladder training.

Phallic Stage

Freud's third psychosexual stage ($3$ to $6$ years) where the superego emerges and children experience the Oedipus complex (boys) or Electra complex (girls).

Latency Period

A period in Freud's psychosexual theory lasting from age $6$ to puberty, characterized by dormant sexual instincts.

Genital Stage

Freud's final psychosexual stage spanning from puberty to adulthood ($18$\text{--}$19$ years), marked by mature sexual interest.

The Big 5 Trait Dimensions

The core taxonomy of personality traits consisting of Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism.

Heritability

The proportion of total individual differences in a trait that is attributable to genetic variation, estimated at roughly $50\text{\%}$ for the Big 5 personality traits.

Heritability: Adoption Studies

A research design assessing nature vs. nurture by comparing child personality correlations between biological mothers (shared genetics \text{\sim} 50\text{\%}) and adoptive mothers (shared environment).

Heritability: Identical Twins Raised Together vs. Apart

A research approach comparing monozygotic twins raised together (high shared environment, high shared genetics) against monozygotic twins raised apart (low shared environment, high shared genetics) to isolate genetic and environmental influences.

Heritability: Twin Studies

A study design comparing identical (monozygotic, $100\text{\%}$ shared genetics) twins with fraternal (dizygotic, $50\text{\%}$ shared genetics) twins under high shared environments to test genetic influences on personality traits.

Reciprocal Determinism

The bidirectional interaction between an individual and their environmental context, expressed as person $\leftrightarrow$ situation.

Divergence

A non-shared environment phenomenon in families where each child seeks their own unique way to stand out.

Germinal Stage

The initial period of prenatal development spanning from $1$ to $2$ weeks after conception.

Embryonic Stage

The second period of prenatal development lasting from $3$ to $8$ weeks after conception.

Fetal Stage

The final stage of prenatal development spanning from $9$ weeks after conception until birth.

Teratogens

External environmental agents or threats that cause harm or abnormalities during prenatal development.

Contact Comfort

The physical and emotional comfort derived from soft bodily contact, shown by Harry Harlow to be crucial for attachment formation.

Secure Attachment

An attachment classification identified in Mary Ainsworth's Strange Situation where the infant cries when mom leaves and is happy when mom returns.

Detached/Avoidant Attachment

An attachment style identified in Mary Ainsworth's research where an infant shows indifference when mom leaves or returns.

Resistant/Ambivalent Attachment

An attachment style in Mary Ainsworth's research where an infant cries when mom leaves and displays resistance or ignoring behavior upon her return.

Schema

In Jean Piaget's theory, cognitive frameworks or concepts that guide perception, thought, and memory.

Assimilation

The process in Piaget's cognitive theory of fitting new information into an existing schema.

Accommodation

The process in Piaget's theory of modifying existing schemas or creating new ones when current schemas fail to fit new information.

Sensorimotor Stage

Piaget's first cognitive developmental stage (Birth to $2$ years) where understanding occurs via touching, seeing, and tasting.

Object Permanence

The cognitive milestone lacking in early sensorimotor infants, defined as knowing objects continue to exist even when out of sight or touch.

Pre-operational Stage

Piaget's second cognitive developmental stage ($2$ to $7$ years) characterized by mental representation (language, symbolic play, drawing) and deficits in egocentric thought and conservation.

Egocentric Thought

A cognitive deficit in Piaget's pre-operational stage where a child is unable to take another person's perspective.

Conservation

The principle that physical properties like volume and quantity remain constant despite alterations in physical appearance, a deficit in pre-operational children.

Concrete Operations Stage

Piaget's third cognitive stage ($7$ to $11$ years) marked by flexible thinking and concrete logic, with a primary deficit in counterfactual thinking.

Formal Operations Stage

Piaget's final cognitive stage ($11$\text{--}$15$ years through adulthood) involving abstract scientific thinking and higher-level concepts like justice.