PSY 2105 Child Development Final Exam 2025

Basic Emotions

Universal emotions such as happiness, anger, fear, and disgust that consist of a subjective feeling, physiological response, and overt behavior.

Complex Emotions

Emotions that develop when children respond to meeting or not meeting expectations, including pride, guilt, and embarrassment (also known as self-conscious emotions).

Social Referencing

The process by which infants rely on caregivers for cues to interpret unfamiliar or ambiguous situations.

Stranger Wariness

An infant's cautious or fearful response to unfamiliar adults, typically emerging around 6 months of age.

Typical Worries for Younger Kids

Common fears in young children often revolve around imaginary creatures, the dark, loud noises, separation from parents, or specific phobias like insects or dogs.

Temperament

Behavioral styles that are biologically based and relatively stable, encompassing different responses to the environment, often categorized by dimensions like activity level, mood, and adaptability.

Easy Temperament

A type of temperament characterized by generally positive mood, quick establishment of routines, high adaptability to new experiences, and mild or moderate emotional reactions.

Difficult Temperament

A type of temperament characterized by frequent negative moods, irregular routines, slow adaptability to new experiences, and intense emotional reactions, often making it challenging for caregivers.

Slow-to-Warm-Up Temperament

A type of temperament characterized by low activity levels, somewhat negative moods, initial withdrawal from new situations, and slow adaptability, often requiring repeated exposure to become comfortable.

Attachment

An enduring social-emotional relationship formed between an infant and a primary caregiver.

Secure Attachment

A form of attachment where infants show distress when separated from caregivers but seek comfort upon their return, using the caregiver as a secure base.

Insecure-Avoidant Attachment

A form of insecure attachment where infants show little distress upon separation from their caregiver and tend to avoid or ignore the caregiver upon reunion, showing indifference.

Insecure-Resistant (Ambivalent) Attachment

A form of insecure attachment where infants are highly distressed by separation from their caregiver but are not easily comforted upon reunion, often showing a mix of seeking contact and resisting it (e.g., pushing away).

Insecure-Disorganized Attachment

A form of insecure attachment characterized by confused, contradictory, and often fearful behavior in infants, such as approaching the caregiver while looking away, typically linked to frightening or inconsistent caregiving.

The Strange Situation Experiment

A research procedure designed by Mary Ainsworth to observe attachment security in children by exposing them to a series of separations and reunions with a caregiver and a stranger. Responses vary by attachment style: securely attached children are distressed by separation but comforted by reunion; insecure-avoidant children show little distress upon separation and avoid the caregiver upon reunion; insecure-resistant children are very distressed by separation and resist comfort upon reunion; disorganized children show confused and contradictory behaviors.

Self-Concept

An individual's perception of themselves, encompassing their thoughts, feelings, and beliefs about who they are, which evolves from infancy through adolescence.

Self-Awareness

The ability to recognize oneself as a distinct individual and to understand one's own thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, typically assessed in toddlers by the 'rouge test'.

Egocentrism

A cognitive limitation in which a person is unable to understand or assume any perspective other than their own, characteristic of preoperational thought in young children.

Adolescent Egocentrism

The heightened self-consciousness of adolescents, seen in their belief that others are as focused on them as they are on themselves (imaginary audience) and that they are unique and invulnerable (personal fable).

Imaginary Audience

A component of adolescent egocentrism where adolescents believe that others are constantly watching and evaluating them, leading to heightened self-consciousness.

Personal Fable

A component of adolescent egocentrism where adolescents believe strongly in their own uniqueness and invulnerability, often leading to risk-taking behavior and a sense that their experiences are unlike anyone else's.

Biculturalism

Identifying with two distinct cultures simultaneously, often involving navigating the values, beliefs, and practices of both ethnic or cultural groups.

Self-Esteem

An individual’s overall subjective evaluation of their worth or value, which can increase due to factors like positive social support and competence, and decrease due to negative experiences, critical feedback, or social comparisons.

Self-Description in Young Children (Preschool)

Young children (preschool) primarily describe themselves using concrete, observable physical traits, possessions, and simple behaviors (e.g., 'I have blue eyes,' 'I am fast').

Self-Description in School-Aged Children (5-7)

School-aged children (5-7 years old) begin to describe themselves more in terms of competencies and skills, often comparing themselves to others (e.g., 'I am good at drawing,' 'I can run faster than him').

Self-Description in Adolescence

Adolescents describe themselves with abstract traits, internal states, future-oriented goals, and a developing sense of personal identity, often acknowledging multiple, sometimes contradictory, selves (e.g., 'I am thoughtful,' 'I want to be an artist').

Identity Diffusion (Marcia)

An identity status where adolescents have not yet experienced an identity crisis and have made no commitments to specific values, goals, or roles, often showing a lack of direction.

Identity Foreclosure (Marcia)

An identity status where adolescents have made commitments to values, goals, or roles, but these commitments were made without significant personal exploration, often adopted from parents or other authority figures.

Identity Moratorium (Marcia)

An identity status where adolescents are actively exploring various alternatives regarding values, goals, and roles but have not yet made firm commitments, indicating a period of crisis or questioning.

Identity Achievement (Marcia)

An identity status where adolescents have undergone a period of exploration (crisis) and have subsequently made a firm personal commitment to a set of values, goals, and roles.

Perspective-Taking

The ability to understand and consider other people’s viewpoints, thoughts, feelings, and intentions.

Moral Relativism

The understanding that moral rules are created by people and can vary depending on context and intentions, typically emerging in older children and adolescents.

Immanent Justice

The belief, characteristic of younger children in Piaget's moral realism stage, that breaking a rule will inevitably lead to punishment, regardless of whether anyone catches them.

Altruism

A form of prosocial behaviour that is performed with no direct benefit to the individual, often out of genuine concern for others.

Aggression

Behavior that is intended to harm another individual, either physically or psychologically.

Instrumental Aggression

Aggression used to achieve a specific concrete goal, such as getting a toy or securing a desired outcome.

Hostile Aggression

Unprovoked aggression aimed at intimidating, harassing, or humiliating another person, driven by anger.

Reactive Aggression

Aggression that occurs in response to provocation or another's behavior, often characterized by anger and defensiveness.

Relational Aggression

Aggression aimed at damaging someone's social relationships or status, such as spreading rumors or excluding others.

Anti-social Behaviour

Actions that violate social norms, harm others, or disregard the rights and well-being of others, often characterized by aggression, rule-breaking, and a lack of empathy.

Assertiveness

Speaking up for one's own rights, needs, or opinions without intentionally harming or dominating others.

Positive Reinforcement

A consequence that follows a behavior and increases the likelihood of that behavior occurring again by adding a desirable stimulus.

Negative Reinforcement

A consequence that follows a behavior and increases the likelihood of that behavior occurring again by removing an aversive or unpleasant stimulus (e.g., fastening a seatbelt to stop the annoying beeping).

Cyberbullying

A modern form of bullying conducted through digital platforms (e.g., social media, texting), often involving harassment, rumor-spreading, or sharing embarrassing content online.

Empathy

The capacity to understand and share the feelings of another person; includes cognitive empathy (understanding another's perspective) and affective empathy (experiencing another's emotions).

Cognitive Empathy

The ability to understand and take on another person's perspective, thoughts, and intentions without necessarily feeling their emotions; also known as perspective-taking.

Affective Empathy

The capacity to experience and share the emotions of another person, leading to feelings of concern, distress, or sympathy for them; also known as emotional empathy.

Preconventional Level (Kohlberg)

The first level of Kohlberg's theory of moral development, where moral decisions are based primarily on external consequences, such as avoiding punishment or gaining rewards, and self-interest.

Conventional Level (Kohlberg)

The second level of Kohlberg's theory of moral development, where moral decisions are guided by social rules, laws, and the desire to gain approval from others or maintain social order.

Postconventional Level (Kohlberg)

The third and highest level of Kohlberg's theory of moral development, where moral decisions are based on abstract ethical principles, universal justice, and individual conscience, even if they conflict with laws or social norms.

Prosocial Behaviour

Actions intended to benefit others, such as helping, sharing, comforting, or cooperating.

Gender Stereotypes

Beliefs about how males and females differ in personality traits, interests, behaviors, and abilities.

Gender Schemas

Mental networks of information about gender, including beliefs, expectations, and associations related to what is considered masculine or feminine, which influence how individuals process gender-relevant information.

Social Roles

A set of cultural guidelines about how one should behave, especially with other people, influencing expectations for individuals based on their societal position.

Gender Constancy

A child's understanding that gender is a fixed characteristic despite changes in outward appearance, typically developing between ages 3 and 7, consisting of gender identity, gender stability, and gender consistency.

Gender Identity

Refers to whether people identify with their biological sex, with the other biological sex, or with neither (e.g., cisgender, transgender, nonbinary).

Sex

Refers to biological characteristics, such as chromosomes, hormones, and reproductive anatomy, that typically categorize individuals as male or female.

Gender

Refers to the social and cultural roles, behaviors, and expectations associated with masculinity and femininity, which individuals may or may not align with their biological sex.

Expressive Traits

Personality characteristics typically associated with females, such as being emotional, nurturing, sensitive, and cooperative.

Instrumental Traits

Personality characteristics typically associated with males, such as being independent, competitive, assertive, and dominant.

Androgyny

A blend of both expressive and instrumental traits in individuals, allowing for flexibility in behavior across different situations typically associated with either masculinity or femininity.

Real Sex Differences (Examples)

Statistically significant and empirically supported differences observed between males and females, such as typically higher verbal fluency in females, better spatial ability and physical aggression in males, and differences in physical strength and reproductive roles.

Perceived Sex Differences (Examples)

Differences between males and females that are widely believed to exist but lack strong empirical support, often rooted in stereotypes, such as the belief that males are inherently superior at math or females are naturally more emotional than men.

Reinforcement

In operant conditioning, any event that strengthens or increases the frequency of a preceding response or behavior.

Positive Punishment

A consequence that follows a behavior and decreases the likelihood of that behavior occurring again by adding an aversive or unpleasant stimulus (e.g., a child being scolded for misbehaving).

Negative Punishment

A consequence that follows a behavior and decreases the likelihood of that behavior occurring again by removing a desirable stimulus (e.g., a child losing screen time for misbehaving).

Punishment

In operant conditioning, any event that decreases the likelihood of a behavior occurring again by applying an aversive stimulus or removing a desirable one.

Modelling

Learning by observing and imitating the behaviors of others, also known as observational learning.

Parent-Child Relations

The dynamic and evolving interactions and emotional bonds between parents and their children, which profoundly influence a child's development, socialization, and well-being.

Consequences of Divorce for Children

Negative outcomes for children following divorce can include academic problems, increased behavioral issues (e.g., aggression, delinquency), lower self-esteem, higher rates of depression and anxiety, and difficulties in future relationships.

Benefits of Divorce for Children

Positive outcomes for children following divorce can occur when it resolves high parental conflict, leading to reduced stress and better adjustment, especially if parents maintain cooperative co-parenting and a warm relationship with their children.

Parenting Styles

Different approaches to raising children, characterized by varying levels of warmth/responsiveness and control, including authoritarian, authoritative, permissive, and uninvolved styles, which can affect their development.

Warmth and Responsiveness (Parenting Dimension)

A key dimension of parenting that relates to how nurturing, supportive, affectionate, and communicative parents are with their children.

Control (Parenting Dimension)

A key dimension of parenting referring to the degree to which parents set standards, enforce rules consistently, and monitor their children's behavior.

Findings on Birth Order

Research on birth order (firstborn, laterborn, only children) suggests some moderate differences, such as firstborns often being more achievement-oriented, laterborns being more agreeable, and only children potentially having higher self-esteem and intelligence due to greater parental attention, though effects are generally small.

Parallel Play

A form of play, typical of toddlers, where children play side-by-side with similar toys but do not interact with each other.

Associative Play

A form of play where children interact, observe one another, and share materials, but do not organize their play around a common goal or theme.

Cooperative Play

The most advanced form of play, where children organize their play around a common goal, theme, or activity, taking on different roles and working together.

Make-Believe Play

Play that involves creating imaginary scenarios, roles, and objects, which is crucial for cognitive and social-emotional development.

Peers

Individuals of similar age, maturity, or social status who interact with one another, influencing social skills and emotional development.

Friendships

Voluntary relationships between individuals that are characterized by mutual affection, support, and companionship, playing a significant role in social and emotional development.

Popular Children (Peer Nominations)

Children who receive many positive nominations (liked by many peers) and few negative nominations, often exhibiting good social skills, cooperativeness, and assertiveness.

Controversial Children (Peer Nominations)

Children who receive many positive nominations but also many negative nominations, often described as both liked and disliked, sometimes exhibiting leadership but also aggressive or disruptive behaviors.

Average Children (Peer Nominations)

Children who receive an average number of both positive and negative nominations, representing a large proportion of children in a peer group, without extreme social standing.

Rejected Children (Peer Nominations)

Children who receive many negative nominations (disliked by many peers) and few positive nominations, often displaying aggressive, disruptive, or socially awkward behaviors, leading to social isolation.

Neglected Children (Peer Nominations)

Children who receive very few nominations, positive or negative, indicating that they are often overlooked by peers rather than actively disliked, tending to be less sociable but not necessarily problematic.