Unit 3: Developmental Psychology and Learning

zygote

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

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.

maturation

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

schema

a concept or framework that organizes and interprets information.

assimilation

interpreting our new experience in terms of our existing schemas.

accommodation (development)

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

sensorimotor stage

in Piaget's theory, 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.

object permanence

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

preoperational stage

in Piaget's theory, the stage (from 2 to about 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.

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.

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 6 or 7 to 11 years of age) during which children gain the mental operations that enable them to think logically about concrete events.

formal operational stage

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

temperament

a person's general and consistent characteristic emotional reactivity and intensity.

adolescence

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

identity versus role confusion

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

intimacy verus isolation stage

in Erikson's theory, the ability to form close, loving relationships; a primary developmental task in early adulthood.

avoidant attachment

In toddlers able to self-sooth. as adults attachments marked by discomfort over, or resistance to, being close to others

secure attachment

a relationship in which an infant obtains both comfort and confidence from the presence of his or her caregiver

anxious-ambivalent attachment

an insecure attachment style characterized by a child's intense distress when reunited with a primary caregiver after separation but remains angry at parent.

authoritative parenting

parenting style characterized by emotional warmth, high standards for behavior, explanation and consistent enforcement of rules, and inclusion of children in decision making

authoritarian parenting

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

permissive parenting

A parenting style characterized by the placement of few limits on the child's behavior.

Integrity vs Despair

Erikson's final stage in which those near the end of life look back and evaluate their lives

Generativity vs. Stagnation

Erikson's stage of social development in which middle-aged people begin to devote themselves more to fulfilling one's potential and doing public service

Industry vs. Inferiority

Erikson's stage between 6 and 11 years, when the child learns to be productive

Phonemes

in language, the smallest distinctive sound unit

Morphemes

The smallest units of meaning in a language.

cooing stage

at about 2 months the infant begins to make vowel-like sounds

babbling stage

beginning at about 4 months, the stage of speech development in which the infant spontaneously utters various sounds at first unrelated to the household language

one-word stage

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

telegraphic speech

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

gender

the socially constructed roles and characteristics by which a culture defines male and female

sex

the biological distinction between females and males

gender typing

the acquisition of a traditional masculine or feminine role

Transgender

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

Habituation

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

puberty

the period of sexual maturation, (including menarche and spermarche) during which a person becomes capable of reproducing. Secondary sexual characteristics form.

menopause

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

primary sex characteristics

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

secondary sex characteristics

nonreproductive sexual characteristics, such as female breasts and hips, male voice quality, and body hair

social learning theory

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

sexual orientation

a person's romantic and emotional attraction to another person

Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)

Vygotsky's concept of the difference between what a child can do alone and what that child can do with the help of a teacher

Scaffolding

Adjusting the support offered during a teaching session to fit the child's current level of performance

Semantics

the set of rules by which we derive meaning from morphemes, words, and sentences in a given language; also, the study of meaning

Syntax

The arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences in a language.

Overgeneralization/overregularization

application of grammatical rules without making appropriate exceptions

Ecological Systems Theory

views the person as developing within a complex system of relationships affected by multiple levels of the surrounding environment

Imprinting

the process by which certain animals form attachments during a critical period very early in life

social clock

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

associative learning

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

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).

classical conditioning

a learning process that occurs when two stimuli are repeatedly paired; a response that is at first elicited by the second stimulus is eventually elicited by the first stimulus alone.

unconditioned stimulus (US)

in classical conditioning, a stimulus that unconditionally—naturally and automatically—triggers a response.

conditioned stimulus (CS)

in classical conditioned, an originally irrelevant stimulus that, after association with an unconditioned stimulus (US), comes to trigger a conditioned response (CR)

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. (Also called second-order conditioning.)

spontaneous recovery

the tendency of a learned behavior to recover from extinction after a rest period

stimulus discrimination

a differentiation between two similar stimuli when only one of them is consistently associated with the unconditioned stimulus

stimulus generalization

the tendency to respond to a stimulus that is only similar to the original conditioned stimulus with the conditioned response

biological preparedness theory

The idea that people and animals are inherently inclined to form associations between certain stimuli and responses. Such as a quick association to fear snakes.

reinforcement schedule

Describes how often and under what conditions a behavior is reinforced

Shaping behavior

the process of guiding learning in graduated steps using reinforcement or lack of reinforcement

positive reinforcement

Increasing behaviors by presenting positive stimuli, such as food. A positive reinforcer is any stimulus that, when presented after a response, strengthens the response.

negative reinforcement

Increasing behaviors by stopping or reducing negative stimuli, such as stopping a loud noise. A negative reinforcer is any stimulus that, when removed after a response, strengthens the response. (Note: negative reinforcement is not punishment.)

punishment

an event that tends to DECREASE the behavior that it follows

positive example is yelling, and negative example is a time-out.

fixed-ratio schedule

in operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response only after a specified number of responses

fixed-interval schedule

in operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response only after a specified time has elapsed

variable-interval schedule

in operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response at unpredictable time intervals

variable ration reinforcement

reinforcement schedule in which varying number of correct responses must occur before reinforcement is given.

latent learning

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

cognitive map

a mental representation of the layout of one's environment

insight learning

a form of problem solving in which the organism develops a sudden understanding of a problem's solution

observational learning (modeling)

learning that occurs through watching and imitating the behaviors of others

trust-versus-mistrust stage

according to Erikson, the period during which infants develop a sense of trust or mistrust, largely depending on how well their needs are met by their caregivers

autonomy versus shame and doubt

Erikson's second crisis of psychosocial development. Toddlers either succeed or fail in gaining a sense of self-rule over their actions and their bodies.

Identity theory (possible selves)

Adolecents work to form their identity in differnt ways and stages (diffusion, foreclosure, moratorium, and finally achievment).

fluid intelligence

our ability to reason speedily and abstractly; tends to decrease during late adulthood

crystallized intelligence

our accumulated knowledge and verbal skills; tends to increase with age

Dementia

a slowly progressive decline in mental abilities, including memory, thinking, and judgment, that is often accompanied by personality changes

fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS)

physical and cognitive abnormalities in children caused by a pregnant woman's heavy drinking. In severe cases, symptoms include noticeable facial misproportions

critical period

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