ap psych unit 3 vocab

3.1: cross sectional

research that compares people to different ages @ the same point in time

3.1 longitudinal

research that follows & retests the same people over time

3.2 menopause

biological changes in a woman as her ability to reproduce declines

3.2 menarch

first menstrual cycle

3.2 primary sex characteristics

the body structures that make sexual reproduction possible

3.2 secondary sex characteristics

nonreproductive sexual traits

3.2 puberty

the period of sexual maturation, during a person’s capability of reproducing

3.2 spermarche

the 1st ejaculation

3.4 concrete operational stage

theory of cognitive development (7-11), children can perform the mental operations that enable them to think logically abt concrete events

3.4 conservation

the principle that properties, mass, volume & # remain the same despite changes in the form of objects

3.4 egocentrism

the pre-operational child’s difficulty taking another’s POV

3.4 formal operational stage

stage of cognitive development (12) @ which people begin to think logically about abstract concepts

3.4 object permanence

the awareness that things continue to exist even when not perceived

3.4 pre-operational stage

theory: @ 2-6/7, a child learns to use language but doesn’t yet comprehend the mental operations of concrete logic

3.4 sensorimotor stage

theory: (birth-2) infants know the world mostly in terms of their sensory impressions & motor activities

3.4 theory of mind

people’s ideas about their own & other’s mental states - about their feelings, perceptions, thoughts, & the behaviors these might predict

3.4 zone of proximal development

the distance between where a learner is @ developmentally on their own vs. where they could be with the help of a more knowledgeable other

3.5 babbling stage

stage in speech development, 4 mths, an infants spontaneously utters various sounds that aren’t related to the household language

3.5 morphemes

in a language, the smallest unit that carries meaning, a word or part of a word

3.5 one word stage

the period in a child’s life when they begin to use single-use words to convey meaning (10-18 months)

3.5 phonemes

in a language, the smallest distinctive sound units

3.5 semantics

the language’s set of rules for delivering meaning from sounds

3.5 syntax

a set of rules for combining words into grammatically sensible sentences.

3.6 authoritative parenting style

the parents are nurturing, responsive & supportive, yet set firm limits for their children

3.6 authoritarian parenting style

when parents merley impose rules & restrictions while expecting obedience

3.6 ecological systems theory

the social enviorment’’s influence on human development using 5 nested systems:

microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, & chronosystem

3.6 emerging adulthood

a period from 18-mid 20’s, when many persons are no longer adolescents but aren’t fully independent adults.

3.6 insecure attachement

demonstrated by infants who display a clinging, anxious, an avoidant attachment that resists closeness, or a disorganized attachment. with no consistent behaviior when seperated or reunited w/ caregivers

3.6 parallel play

when children play independently in the same area with the same materials, but with minimal engagement with one another.

3.6 permissive parenting style

parents are warm, but lack no set firm limits. to monitor children’s activities close does not or to require appropriately mature behavior of their children

3.6 secure attachment

infants who comfortably explore environments in the presence of their caregivers

3.6 temperament

a person’s characteristic emotional reactivity & intensity

3.7 acquisition

when one links a neutral stimulus & an unconditioned stimulus so that the neutral stimulus begins triggering the conditioned response

3.7 conditioned stimulus

an originally neutral stimulus that, after association with an unconditioned stimulus comes to trigger a conditioned response

3.7 counterconditioning

a powerful behavioral therapy technique, aims to replace an unwanted conditioned response w a more desirable one

3.7 extinction

the diminishing of a conditioned response when an unconditioned stimulus doesn’t follow a conditioned stimulus

3.7 generalization

once a response has been conditioned. for stimuli similar to the conditioned stimulus to elicit similar responses

3.7 high-order conditioning

a procedure in which the conditioned stimulus in one conditioning experience is paired with a new neutral simulus, creating a second weakened conditioned stimulus

3.7 spontaneous recovery

the reappearance, after a pause, of a weakened conditioned response

3.7 unconditional response

an unlearned, naturally occurring response to an unconditioned stimulus.

3.8 partial (intermittent) reinforcement

a response will only be reinforced sometimes

3.8 fixed interval schedule

a schedule of reinforcement where the first response is rewarded only after a specified amount of time has elapsed

3.8 instinctive drift

the tendency of an animal to revert to instinctive behaviors that interface with a conditioned response

3.8 law of effect

behaviors followed by favorable consequences become more likely, & and behaviors followed by unfavorable consequences become less likely

3.8 learned helplessness

a psychological condition where an individual feel powerless to change their situation due to repeated failures or negative outcomes in the past

3.8 negative reinforcement

the idea of taking away an unwanted stimulus in order to encourage good behavior

3.8 positive reinforcement

the process of rewarding or reinforcing desirable behavior in order to increase the likelihood that the behavior will be repeated in the future

3.8 primary reinforcer

things that motivate behavior because they staiate an individula’s basic survival needs

3.8 shaping

a method of increasing a targeted behavior through reinforcement in a process of successive approximation

3.8 variable ratio schedule

a partial schedule of reinforcement in which a response is reinforced after an unpredictable # of responses3.

3.9 cognitive map

mental picture or image of the layout of the physical enviorment

3.9 insight learning

occurs when one suddenly realizes how to solve a problem

3.9 latent learning

knowledge that only becomes clear when a person has an incentive to display it

3.9 social learning

a form of learning that occurs by watching the behaviors of others