AP Psych Unit 3.1-3.6 Vocab

Development

Developmental Psychology

A type of psychology that focuses on physical, cognitive, and social-emotional development throughout life

Cross-Sectional Study

A research method that compares different ages at the same time

Longitudinal Study

A research method that studies the same people over a long period of time

Teratogens

Chemicals and viruses that can reach a developing embryo and cause harm

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS)

Damages to physical and cognitive functions in a child caused by the mother’s heavy drinking while pregnant

Habituation

An infant’s decrease in responsiveness after repeated stimulation

Maturation

Biological growth processes that happen naturally and allow orderly behavior changes

Critical Period

A necessary period in an organism’s early life that allows exposure of certain experiences to produce normal development

Adolescence

The transition from childhood to adulthood

Puberty

The period of sexual maturation where an individual becomes capable of reproducing

Menopause

The natural stopping of menstruation and the decline in a women’s ability to reproduce

Sex

Biologically influenced characteristics that define people as male, female, or intersex

Aggression

A behavior that could emotionally or physically harm someone

Relational Aggression

A type of aggression used to harm someone’s relationship or social standing

X Chromosome

The sex chromosome in males and females

Y Chromosome

The sex chromosome that is usually only found in males

Testosterone

The most important male sex hormone. It is exhibited in males and females, but stimulates the growth of sex organs in males

Estrogens

Sex hormones, like estradiol, that contribute to female sex characteristics; females have more of it

Primary Sex Characteristics

The parts of the body that make reproduction possible

Secondary Sex Characteristics

Sexual traits that don’t contribute to reproduction

Spermarche

The 1st ejaculation

Menarche

The 1st menstrual period

Sexuality

The thoughts, feelings, and actions, stemming from physical attraction to others

Social Script

A cultural notebook or guide for the way to act in certain situations

Cognition

Mental processes associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating.

Schema

A concept to organize and interpret our information

Assimilation

Interpreting information into our existing schemas

Accommodation

Changing our existing schemas as we interact with the world

Sensorimotor Stage

The stage from birth to 2 years of age when infants learn from sensory activities and motor activities

Object Permanence

Becoming aware that things don’t disappear when they aren’t perceived

Preoperational Stage

The stage from 2 to 6-7 years old when a child learns language

Conservation

The principle that mass, volume, volume, etc. don’t change even if their form changes

Egocentrism

In the preoperational stage, a child’s inability to see something from someone’s else’s point of view

Concrete Operational Stage

The stage of cognitive development between 7 and 11 years old when children can think logically about concrete info

Formal Operational Stage

The stage of cognitive development that begins around 12 years old when someone can think logically about abstract things

Scaffold

A all that temporarily helps children develop higher thinking abilities

Theory of Mind

The ideas people have about other people’s mental states and their own

Language

Systems of communication agreed to by society

Phoneme

The smallest distinctive sound unit in a language

Morpheme

The smallest unit with meaning in a language

Grammar

The system of rules in a language that allows us to understand each other

Universal Grammar (UG)

Our built-in ability to understand a language’s grammar rules

Babbling Stage

The speech development stage, starting at four months old, when an infant makes sounds that are unrelated to the language they hear

One-Word Stage

The speech development stage usually around one to two years old when a toddler speaks in single words

Two-Word Stage

The speech development stage when a child talks in two word sentences

Telegraphic Speech

The speech stage when a child speaks like a telegram

Aphasia

language impairment usually from damage to the left hemisphere or Broca’s area or Wernicke‘s area

Broca’s area

an area in the frontal lobe, usually the left hemisphere, that controls the muscle movement that produces speech

Wernicke’s Area

A brain area usually in the left temporal lobe that allows language, comprehension, and expression