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AP Psych flashcards/study guide for london stone period 2
Stability and change across lifespan
Which of our traits persist through life? How do we change as we age
Nature and Nurture
How does our genetic inheritance (nature) interact with experiences (nurture) to influence our development?
Continuity and stages
What parts of development are gradual and continuous and whats change abruptly in separate stages?
Longitudinal Studies
A research method that involves repeatedly observing the same variables over a long period of time. Longitudinal studies can be observational and experimental.
Cross-Sectional Studies
A research method where data is collected from a group of people at a single point in time, allowing researchers to analyze and compare different variables within that population and between groups
Teratogens influence on physical/psychological prenatal development
Agents such as chemicals and viruses that can reach the embryo or fetus during prenatal development and cause harm
alcohol consumption
tobacco use
drug use
viruses contracted
certain medications
Physical development and maturation
biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in behavior, relatively uninfluenced by experience,
fine and gross motor development
sit, crawl, walk, run —the sequence of these motor development milestones is the same the world around, through babied reach them at varying ages.
Visual cliff for depth perception
6 to 14 month old infants were placed on the edge of the cliff and coaxed by their mothers to crawl out onto the glass
most infants refused to do so, indicating that they could perceive depth
Imprinting
Process during early critical period where some animals automatically form attachments
Process:
Konrad lorenz took half a mother gooses eggs
lorenz imitated a mother when they hatched
baby geese followed lorenz
Imprinting cannot be reversed , not universal in nature (humans do not imprint)
Infant Reflexes: Rooting
When the corner of the baby’s mouth is stroked or touched the baby will turn his or her head and open his or her mouth to follow and root in the direction of the stroking. This helps the baby find the breast or bottle to begin feeding. This reflex lasts about 4 months.
Infant Reflexes: Sucking
When the roof of the baby’s mouth is touched, the baby will begin to suck
Critical and sensitive periods (specifically language)
Critical: a period during someone's development in which a particular skill or characteristic is believed to be most readily acquired.
Sensitive: when the effects of experience are particularly strong on a limited period in development
Adolescent physical development
The transition period from childhood to adulthood, extending from puberty to independence.
Puberty- primary and secondary sex characteristics
Period of sexual maturation and attainment of fertility
primary: body structures directly associated with reproduction, ovaries, testes, penis, vagina
secondary: nonreproductive sexual traits, body hair, voice pitch, hips.
Menarche
first menstrual period, pituitary hormones cause ovaries to release estrogen. occurs around 12.5 years in US; 2 years earlier than 1 century ago.
Spermarche
the first ejaculation in boys and ability to produce sperm, occurs around 11.5 to 15 years old with a median age of 13.4
Menopause
Period of ceasing of menstruation, ovaries produce less estrogen. hormonal change can cause physical and cognitive imbalances
Overall physical decline later in life (mobility, flexibility, reaction time, visual/auditory acuity)
Physical decline in middle and late adulthood can include loss of muscle and bone mass, changes in the brain and a decline in the senses.
Separation Anxiety
Childrens separation anxiety from parents peaks at around 13 months, then gradually declines.
Attachment- contact comfort vs. food (Harlow’s study)
Harlows study challenged the belief that baby humans attach to the person that is feeding them
A study conducted to test the theory of attachment, done on baby monkeys by giving them two fake mothers. One was wired with a bottle and the other was cozy and cuddly. They were testing which mother the baby monkeys would attach to more. researchers found that other qualities such as rocking, warmth, made the cloth mother more appealing. Researchers then scare the monkey and see that the baby monkey runs to the more cuddly monkey. This research shows that babys will attach more to comfort and safety rather than food.
Freud’s Psychosexual Stages
There are five stages of freuds theory of psychosexual stages
oral (ego develops/baby to 1 year): the mouth, sucking swallowing, etc.
anal (1-3 years): the anus, withholding & releasing faeces
phallic (superego develops/3 to 6 years): the penis/clitoris, masturbation
latent (6 years to puberty): little or no sexual motivation present
genital (puberty to adulthood): the penis/vagina, sexual intercourse
Ecological systems theory
Scientific theory that describes how people interact with their environment throughout their life.
Microsystem
Immediate setting of the individual. The person has direct and active interaction with various social agents: family, peers, school, neighborhood, parents, and teachers.
Secure Attachment
demonstrated by infants who comfortably explore environments in the presence of their caregiver, show only temporary distress when the caregiver leaves, and find comfort in the caregivers return.
Insecure attachment
demonstrated by infants who display either a clinging, anxious attachment or avoidant attachment that resists closeness
anxious: people constantly crave acceptance but remain vigilant to signs of possible rejection (going to be upset and resentful to the person abandoning them)
avoidant: people experience discomfort getting close to others and use avoidant strategies to maintain distance from others (didnt care if the mother was there or not)
disorganized: refers to a pattern of behavior where a child displays inconsistent and confusing responses to their caregiver, often switching between wanting closeness and then abruptly pulling away, indicating a lack of secure attachment due to potentially inconsistent and confusing responses to their caregiver in the early life.
Mesosystem
Any two microsystems that are connected. Like the relation of family experiences to school experiences. A child who has parents that reject them, may have a hard time building a positive relationship with a teacher. Or a family and school may interact to support the child.
Exosystem
The individual does not have an active role in these social settings, but they can influence the person’s immediate context or microsystem. These are broader institutions and organizations in which the individual does not have an active role (e.g., Parents’ friends; parents’ workplace; the educational system; mass media; community and government agencies).
Macrosystem
Involves the culture in which individuals live (e.g., behavior patterns, beliefs, etc.).
Chronosystem
Environmental events and transitions over the life course that impact the individual. This can include sociohistorical examples (e.g., women’s movement; civil rights era; COVID-19 shutdown). Divorce is an example of a transition that can have negative effects on the child.
Parenting styles
How different parents dictate and “parent” their children
Authoritarian, Negligent, Permissive, and Authoritative.
Authoritarian
Parents impose rules and demand obedience
authoritarian causes for children to have less social skills and self esteem and a brain that overreacts when they make mistakes
Authoritative
parents set rules but allow open discussion and exceptions
this raises children with the highest self esteem, self reliance, self regulation, and social competence.
Permissive
parents set few limits, make few demands and use little punishment
this raises children who are more aggressive and immature
Attachment styles
Secure Attachment & Insecure attachment (anxious, avoidant, and disorganized)
Temperament
a persons innate and inborn characteristic emotional reactivity and intensity
negligent
parents are careless, inattentive and do not seek a close relationship with their child
this raises children with poor academic and social outcomes
adolescent thinking
they may think about what is ideally possible and compare that with the imperfect reality of their society, their parents, and themselves. they go through the formal operational stage.
Psychosocial stages (Erikson)
Erikson contended that each stage of life has its own psychosocial task, a crisis that needs resolution. Theres a task we have to complete at each stage.
Behavioral perspective
Classical conditioning
We learn to expect and prepare for significant events such as food or pain
A type of associative learning that involves involuntary responses
We associate stimuli that we do not control, and we respond automatically, involuntary responses include salivation, blinking, sweating, and cringing or the automatic bodily reactions to storing emotions such as fear.
Acquisition
UCS, UCR, CS, CR
Extinction
associative learning
learning that certain events occur together. the events may be two stimuli or a response and its consequence. the associations may be positive or negative.
behaviorism
empirically-based science focused on observable behaviors and not unobservable internal mental processes like introspection
pioneered by Ivan Pavlov who worked with dogs and digestion to observe natural responses, when food comes out and doggies drool.
Evolutionary explanation
reinforces behaviors that promote survival with biological preparedness, we more readily form associations that keep us alive.
operant conditioning
we learn to repeat acts that bring rewards and avoid acts that bring unwanted results
observational learning
we learn by observing events and people
cognitive learning
we learn things we have neither experienced or observed.
Operant conditioning
A type of learning in which a behavior becomes more likely to recur if followed by a reinforcer or less likely to recur is followed by a punisher, organisms associate their own actions consequences. behavior that operates on the environment to produce rewarding or punishing stimuli is called operant behavior.
The Law of Effect
Thorndikes principle that. behaviors followed by favorable consequences become more likely and that behaviors followed by unfavorable consequences become less likely
Reinforcement vs. Punishment
Behavior is strengthened if followed by reinforcement while behavior is diminished is followed by a punishment. Reinforcement means that the subject is left in a satisfied states after a behavior. Punishment means that the subject is left in a dissatisfied state after the behavior.
Positive reinforcement
a positive respinse adds a stimulus (either appetitive or aversive) after a behavior
positive or negative doesnt mean good or bad, it means adding or removing
subjecy left in satisfied state by adding appetive stimulus (giving good thing) = behavior increases (ie. giving praise, attention, affection, money)
Negative reinforcement
a negative response removes a stimulus (either appetitive or aversive) after a behavior
positive or negative doesnt mean good or bad, it means adding or removing
aubject left in satisfied state by removing aversive stimulus (taking away bad thing) = behavior increases (ie. seat belt alarm, nagging, baby crying)
Positive punishment
subject left in dissatisfied state by adding aversive stimuli (giving bad thing) = behavior diminishes (ie. slapping child for backtalk, giving demerits for tardiness)
negative punishment
subject left in dissatisfied state by removing appetitive stimulus (taking away good thing) = behavior diminishes (ie. students with <2.0 GPA cannot attend school functions, no Bs no keys)
Primary reinforcers
innately appetitive; biologically motivating (ie. food, relief from pain, water, affection, sex)
Secondary reinforcers
non biological, but may be associated with primary reinforcers, only associated with primary reinforcer (ie. money, praise, grades, tickets.)
Shaping
achieves a target behaviors by rewarding getting closer to that behavior (ie. teaching an animal to come when called)
chaining
rewards a correct sequence of behaviors (ie. teaching children the alphabet, teaching a dog to get a patients medicine)
Continuous vs. partial
continuous: reinforcing the desired response every time it occurs rapid learning, rapid extinction
partial: reinforcing a response only part of the time, slower learning but slow extinction.
Reinforcement discrimination
Reinforcement generalization
Instinctive drift
Fixed ratio
completion of a constant number of responses. rewards come after a known or predetermined number of correct responses
variable ratio
competition of a changing number of responses. an unknown or inconsistent number of correct responses gets rewarded
fixed interval
rewards come after a determined/known amount of time
variable interval
rewardas come after unknown/inconsistent amount of time
Superstitious behaviors
Learned helplessness
Schedules of reinforcement
Social learning theory
humans learn social behaviors through observational learning and not through conditional learning.
Observational learning
Higher animals, especially humans, learn without direct experience, by watching and imitating others. A subject learns by watching others
Vicarious conditioning
We copy behaviors we see rewarded, avoid those we see punished
Modeling
Showing behaviors to others (not always deliberately)
Prosocial: positive, constructive, helpful behavior. People who exemplify nonviolent, helpful behavior can also prompt similar behavior in others
Antisocial: observational learning may also have antisocial effects meaning that they mirror and replicate violent behavior that theyve witnessed before
Insight learning
Latent learning
Cognitive maps
Names (Bandura) and specific studies (Bobo doll)
