PSY 101 Cathey MSU exam 4

developmental psychologists

study physical, cognitive, and social changes throughout lifespan

reflexes

involuntary responses

withdraw / pain

pulling a limb away from a source of pain

rooting

searching; when touching a baby’s cheek causes them to turn towards it and look for nipple

babinski

when the sole of a foot is stroked, the big toe extends up and the others stretch down and fan out

moto / startle

extending arms when startled by a loud noise / falling sensation

grasping

holding on tightly to a finger or anything else in hand

stepping

holding a baby’s body up will cause them to move legs in walking motion

restricted breathing

baby will turn head from side to side / hit cloth to avoid restricted breathing

synaptic pruning

excess synapses are gradually reduced during childhood; brain creates too many as a baby

motor development

emergent ability to execute physical actions

cephalocaudal rule

motor skills developing from the top down; babies have more control over head than legs

proximodistal rule

have more motor control starting from center, then moves outward

cognition

mental activities associated with sensation and perception; thinking, knowing, remembering, communicating to find answers

schemas

how we organize information in life; think of a mental file drawer

assimilation

getting new information and understanding it through schema; putting it in a specific folder in mental file drawer

accommodation

encountering new information and creating a new schema

4 elements of Piaget’s Stage Theory

sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, formal operations

sensorimotor

birth-2 years old; learning about the world through movement, motion, and senses; develop object permanence near the end

preoperational

2-7 years old; lack of conservation

conservation

changing the outward shape does not change its nature

centration

we center in on one aspect; goes w/ conservation

irreversibility

can’t mentally undo a change; goes w/ conservation

egocentric thought

i, me, mine; inability to see another persons perspective

zone of proximal development

vygotsky’s theory; difference between what a child can do alone vs what child can do with a more competent person

scaffolding

providing assistance to a learner and gradually removing it as the learner becomes more independent

reciprocal teaching

model of teaching that uses scaffolding

Which of the following examples best represents Piaget’s notion of assimilation?

Growing up, your parents taught you that people with tattoos were dangerous and mean. You went to college and make a number of friends who had tattoos, causing you to change the way you think about people with tattoos.

Gerard lived in New York his entire life and then moved to attend college in Arkansas, which changed how he viewed the south.

A child learns the word "dog" and begins to call every 4-legged animal "doggie."

Three-year old Sandra points at a skunk and says, "Kitty." Her mother says, "That’s not a kitty, it’s a skunk because it has a white stripe down its back and it’s really smelly!"

A child learns the word "dog" and begins to call every 4-legged animal "doggie."

Which of the following statements is true of Vygotsky’s theory of cognitive development?

Cognitive development can be likened to a computer model where the environment provides the input and the human mind is a "computer processor" that encodes, stores, and transforms information to produce some output.

Cognitive development is primarily influenced by cultural experiences.

Cognitive development occurs through a predictable series of stages involving the processes of assimilation and accommodation.

None of these answers are correct.

Cognitive development is primarily influenced by cultural experiences.

preconventional morality types

punishment/obedience and self-interest

punishment/obedience

right and wrong depend on which one leads to punishment

self-interest

right and wrong depend on what leads to a reward

conventional morality types

good boy/good girl and law/order

good boy / good girl

being good is whatever pleases others with a focus on obtaining approval

law and order

obey laws without question by respecting authority and doing your duty to society

postconventional morality types

social contract and universal ethical principles

social contract

right and wrong defined by personal values so that morally and legally right are not always the same; mutual benefit and reiprocity

universal ethical principles

living based on deeply held moral principles that transcend laws, mutual benefit, and reciprocity

preconventional morality

view morality in terms of punishment and reward; good behavior is rewarded and right, bad behavior is punished and wrong; preadolescent

conventional morality

morality is convention; caring for others and conforming to social laws is right because they are rules within society; early adolescence

postconventional morality

highest levels of morality are based on justice, liberty, equality

social intuitionist

we have an instant gut reaction to moral situations; precedes moral reasoning

emerging adulthood

18-25; western societies; emotional ties loosen, but still some dependence

formal operations

12 years-adulthood; abstractions and analogies develop; hypothesis testing

sex

biological classification (male/female) based on sex chromosomes in dna, organs, and anatomical features; biological phenomenon

x chromosomes

most females have 2, most males have 1; sex chromosome

y chromosome

sex chromosome normally present in only male cells; 1 per cell

gender

set of behaviors / characteristics that define the degree to which someone is masc or fem; psychological phenomenon

primary sex characteristics

sexual organs present at birth and directly involved in reproduction

secondary sex characteristics

characteristics that emerge during or after puberty

mullerian system

female reproductive system

wolffian system

male reproductive system

androgens

male sex hormones

external genitalia

sexual characteristics that are outwardly visible; penis and clit

complete androgen insensitivity syndrome (CAIH)

receptors for androgen fail to function, causing male fetus to have external female genetalia

testosterone

principal male hormone

intersex

those born with ambiguous genetalia

sexual selection

preference by one sex for certain characteristics of the other sex; comparative advantage of certain traits lead sexes to evolve in different forms

gender typed

boys/men that show typical masculine traits/behaviors and girls/women that show typical feminine traits/behaviors

instrumental traits

typical masculine traits/behaviors

expressive traits

typical feminine traits/behaviors

androgynous

people with masculine and feminine traits

social learning theory

children learn gendered behavior by OBSERVING and IMITATING adults and responding to rewards/punishments

gender schema theory

children develop schemas for what is male/female through social and cognitive learning

gender roles

expectations about the way women and men behave

social role theory of gender

physical differences between men and women lead to the formation of gender roles

gender stereotypes

widely held concepts about a person or group of people based only on gender

sexism

prejudice and discrimination based on gender

benevolent sexism

acceptance of positive stereotypes that propagates unfairness and inequalities based on gender

fraternal birth order effect

each additional older brother that a male has increases odds that the male will be gay by 33%

Which of the following correctly identifies the two postconventional stages of Kohlberg’s theory of moral development?

Good Boy/Good Girl; Law and Order

Self-Interest; Social Contract

Social Contract; Universal Ethical Principles

Punishment/Obedience; Self-Interest

Social Contract; Universal Ethical Principles

Saul backed into a car in a parking lot when no one was around. He debates about whether to leave a note or not. Which of the following suggests that Saul is at the conventional level of moral reasoning?

"No one saw me so I’ll just leave."

"If I get caught I’ll be in even bigger trouble so I’ll leave a note."

"Driving away without leaving a note would not be just."

"It’s against the law to leave the scene of an accident so I’ll leave a note."

"It’s against the law to leave the scene of an accident so I’ll leave a note."

Tabby’s friend asked her if she would honestly tell her if she liked her new outfit and Tabby responded “of course I’ll tell you the truth.” However, the same friend got a new haircut that Tabby did not like but Tabby told her friend she thought it looked great. This example highlights the difference between:

Conventional moral reasoning and Postconventional moral reasoning

Moral thinking and moral reasoning

Moral reasoning and moral action

Preconventional moral reasoning and Conventional moral reasoning

Moral reasoning and moral action

Which of the following is an example of gender schema theory?

The Lego company recently began to market building sets for girls.

Simon, a single man, believes that sexism prevented him from being allowed to adopt a child.

Reggie asked Santa for a tool belt just like his father’s for Christmas.

During a family trip to Scotland, three year old Logan was shocked to see men wearing kilts. He loudly exclaimed “boys don’t wear skirts!”

During a family trip to Scotland, three year old Logan was shocked to see men wearing kilts. He loudly exclaimed “boys don’t wear skirts!”

Which of the following is an example of the social learning theory of gender development?

Brent first chose a fairy costume for preschool dramatic playtime after watching his big sister dress up as a fairy for Halloween. However, his preschool playmates told him, “that’s a girl outfit” so he changed his mind and put on the fireman suit.

Logan was confused when he met a woman who was taller than his father. He stated “You can’t be a girl—you’re too tall.”

To encourage girls to consider science careers, the engineering club from a local college began offering presentations to elementary schools.

Kelly was frustrated that the only t-shirts for girls were in pastel colors.

Kelly was frustrated that the only t-shirts for girls were in pastel colors.

stress

perceived discrepancy between physical/psychological demands of a situation and the individual’s biological, psychological, or social resources to cope with the demands

stressors

experiences that cause stress; events we perceive as threatening/challenging

distress

negative effects experienced when confronted with stress

eustress

positive effects that can result from stress; often in relation to positive, but stressful, situations

catastrophes

unpredictable, large-scale, stressful events; natural disasters or terrorist attacks

significant life changes

stressful common life events; moving out, married, loss, career change

daily hassles

frequent / common stressors in everyday life; traffic, busy schedules, etc

biopsychosocial perspective

understanding stress and health; includes bio, psychological, and social factors

gene-environment interactions

factors that may not be evident unless triggered by certain environmental factors

intrapersonal

within one person

interpersonal

between two or more people

fight or flight response

physiological response to stress triggered by release of hormones from adrenal glands; releases epinephrine and norepinephrine

cortisol

stress hormone; increases glucose to make sugar available in blood

hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis (HPA axis)

neuroendocrine system responsible for the reacting to stress; produces cortisol

general adaptation syndrome (GAS)

describes how the body adaptively responds to stress over prolonged periods of time

3 stages of bodily response in GAS

alarm stage, resistance stage, exhaustions stage

alarm stage

similar to fight or flight; reaction to threat causes heart rate to increase and blood be diverted to skeletal muscles

resistance stage

temp, bp, and respiration remain at high levels; body primed to fight challenge

exhaustion stage

body depletes reserves

learned helplessness

developed in stressful situations in which they don’t see an escape and that it’s their fault for being in the situation

tend and befriend

response women face with stress seek affiliation related behaviors; oxytocin; alternative to traditional fight or flight

psychoneuroimmunology

interaction of psychological, neruo/endocrine, and immunological processes

lymphocytes

white blood cells that attempt to attack foreign invaders; b cells, t cells, nk cells

nk cells

natural killer; attack diseased cells with lethal chemicals

cytokines

proteins that help start the process of attacking unwelcomed cells