Introduction to Psychology - Exam 2

Developmental Psychology

the study of progressive changes in behavior and abilities

Heredity

physical and psychological characteristics passed down through genes

Environment

all external conditions that affect development

Sensitive Period

a period of increased sensitivity to environmental influences

Congenital Problem

a problem or defect that occurs during prenatal development

Maternal Nutrition

malnutrition linked to infant apathy, irritability, and reduced immune responses

Maternal Drug Use

tobacco, alcohol, prescription, and illegal drugs

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

congenital problems associated with excessive alcohol use during pregnancy

Maternal Illness

syphilis, mumps, genital herpes, severe influenza

Adaptive Problems

the issues that ancestors had to successfully deal with in order to survive and reproduce

Adaptations

evolved solutions to adaptive problems

Margie Profet’s Hypothesis

pregnancy sickness is an adaptation to prevent the ingestion of teratogens

Teratogens

substances that cause defects in the developing embryo

Quality of Attachment

Mary Ainsworth studied attachment using separation anxiety as a measure

Separation Anxiety

crying and signs of fear when a child is left alone or is with a stranger

Secure

stable and positive emotional bond; upset by mother’s absence

Insecure - Avoidant

tendency to avoid reunion with parent or caregiver

Insecure - Ambivalent

desire to be with parent or caregiver and some resistance to being reunited

Authoritarian Parents

coercive. enforce rigid rules and demand strict obedience to authority

Overly Permissive

unrestraining. give little guidance. allow too much freedom, or don’t hold children accountable for their actions

Authoritative

confrontive. provide firm and consistent guidance combined with love and affection

Power Assertion

using physical punishment or a show of force

Withdrawal of Love

withholding affection; refusing to speak to a child or threatening to leave

Management Techniques

combine praise, recognition, approval, rules, and reasoning to encourage desirable behavior

Moral Development

when we acquire values, beliefs, and thinking abilities that guide responsible behavior

Preconventional

moral thinking guided by consequences of actions

Conventional

reasoning based on a desire to please others or to follow accepted rules and values

Postconventional

follows self-accepted moral principles

Trust vs Mistrust

stage one: children are completely dependent on others

Autonomy vs Shame & Doubt

stage two: doing things for themselves vs overprotective parents

Initiative vs Guilt

stage three: encourage and support the child in their interests vs criticizing

Industry vs Inferiority

stage four: praised for productive activities

Identity vs Role Confusion

stage five: “who am i?”

Intimacy vs Isolation

stage six: able care about others vs feeling alone

Generativity vs Stagnation

stage seven: guiding next generation

Integrity vs Despair

stage eight: self-respect vs regret

Jean Piaget

believed that all children passed through a set series of stages during their intellectual development

Schema

a mental framework centering on a specific theme, that helps us to organize social information

Assimilation

the process of incorporating new experiences into already existing schemas

Accommodation

the process of incorporating new experiences into new and different schemas

Sensorimotor Stage

babies take in the world by looking, hearing, touching, mouthing, and grasping

Object Permanence

the awareness that things continue to exist even when not perceived

Preoperational Stage

children begin to use language, but their thinking is still intuitive and egocentric

Intuitive

makes little use of reasoning and logic

Egocentric Thought

thought that is unable to accommodate viewpoints of others

Animism

the belief that all things are living, just like oneself

Concrete Operational Stage

children become able to use concepts of time, space, volume, and number BUT in ways that remain simplified and concrete, not abstract

Conservation

mass, weight, and volume remain unchanged when the shape or appearance of objects changes

Formal Operations Stage

thinking now includes abstract, theoretical, and hypothetical ideas

Abstract Ideas

child is able to understand difficult abstract concepts such as love and prejudice

Hypothetical Possibilities

“what if” thinking is present for the first time

Theory of Mind

the capacity to understand other individuals by ascribing mental states to them

Learning

relatively permanent change in behavior due to experience

Classical Conditioning

association between 2 previously unrelated stimuli

Neutral Stimulus

a stimulus that does not evoke a response

Unconditioned Stimulus

a stimulus innately capable of eliciting a response

Unconditioned Response

an innate reflex response elicited by an unconditioned stimulus

Conditioned Stimulus

a stimulus that evokes a response because it has been repeatedly paired with an unconditioned stimulus

Conditioned Response

a learned response elicited by a conditioned stimulus

Acquisition

initial learning stage in which an association between a neutral stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus takes place

Higher Order Conditioning

a conditioned stimulus is used to reinforce further learning

Generalization

tendency to respond to stimuli similar to the CS

Stimulus Discrimination

the learned ability to distinguish between a conditioned stimulus and other stimuli that do not signal an unconditioned stimulus

Conditioned Emotional Response

learned emotional reaction to a previously neutral stimulus

Desensitization

exposing phobic people gradually to feared stimuli while they stay calm and relaxed

Vicarious Classical Conditioning

learning to respond emotionally to a stimulus by observing another’s emotional reactions

Operant Conditioning

the process by which a response becomes more or less likely to occur depending on its consequences

Edward Thorndike

“behavior is controlled by their consequences”

Law of Effect

actions that lead to a “satisfying state of affairs” are more likely to be repeated

B.F. Skinner

foremost proponent of behaviorism

Operant Chamber (Skinner Box)

comes with a bar or key that an animal manipulates to obtain a reinforcer like food or water

Positive Reinforcement

something pleasant that is given and that makes the preceding behavior more likely to occur in the future

Negative Reinforcement

the removal of something unpleasant that makes the preceding behavior more likely to occur in the future

Continuous Reinforcement

a reinforcer follows every correct response

Partial Reinforcement

a pattern in which only a portion of all responses will be reinforced

Fixed Ratio Schedule

a set number of correct responses must be made to obtain a reinforcer

Variable Ratio Schedule

varied number of correct responses must be made to obtain a reinforcer

Fixed Interval Schedule

the first correct response made after a certain amount of time has elapsed is reinforced

Variable Interval Schedule

reinforcement is given for the first correct response made after a varied amount of time

Timing of Reinforcement

given immediately after a correct response

Superstitious Behavior

behavior that is repeated to produce reinforcement, even though it is not necessary

Shaping

the operant conditioning procedure in which reinforcers guide behavior towards the desired target behavior through successive approximations

Primary Reinforcer

non learned and natural; satisfies biological needs

Secondary Reinforcer

learned reinforcer

Token Reinforcer

tangible secondary reinforcer

Social Reinforcer

learned desires for attention and approval

Premack Principle

a more probable activity can be used to reinforce a less probable one

Mirror Neurons

Stimulus Control

stimuli that consistently precede a rewarded response tend to influence when and where the response will occur

Discriminative Stimuli

stimuli that precede reinforced and non-reinforced responses

Operant Stimulus Generalization

tendency to respond to stimuli similar to those that preceded operant reinforcement

Operant Stimulus Discrimination

one learns to differentiate between the stimuli that signal either an upcoming reward or a non reward condition

Memory

active system that receives, stores, organizes, alters, and recovers information

Icon

a fleeting mental image or visual representation

Echo

after a sound is heard, a brief continuation of the sound in the auditory system

Short Term Memory

holds small amounts of information briefly

Selective Attention

focusing on a selected portion of sensory input

Phonetically Stored Information

storing information by sound; how most things are stored in short term memory

Digit Span Test

test of attention and short-term memory; string of numbers is recalled forward or backward

Magic Number 7

short term memory is limited to holding seven information bits at once