Psychology Unit 3: Development and Learning

Vocabulary practice flashcards based on Unit 3 Test on Development and Learning.

Developmental psychology

The study of physical, cognitive, and social-emotional development across the lifespan.

Cross-sectional study

A research method that compares individuals of different age groups at the same point in time.

Longitudinal study

A research design that follows and retests the same participants over time.

Teratogens

Agents, such as harmful chemicals, that can harm an embryo or fetus during prenatal development.

Rooting reflex

A newborn reflex that involves turning the head toward a touch near the mouth.

Habituation

Decreasing responsiveness to a stimulus after repeated stimulation.

Maturation

Biological growth processes that enable orderly behavioral changes relatively uninfluenced by formal practice.

Critical period

An optimal early period when experience is needed for typical development.

Infantile amnesia

The lack of conscious recall for most events from very early childhood.

Prefrontal cortex

A brain area that continues developing during adolescence, lagging behind emotional systems, and supports planning and impulse control.

Sex

The biological characteristics used to define male, female, and intersex.

Secondary sex characteristics

Non-reproductive sexual traits that develop during puberty, such as the deepening of the voice.

Gender roles

Cultural expectations about how men and women should behave, such as expecting men to avoid showing sadness and women to be nurturing.

Anal stage

In Freud's psychosexual theory, the stage centered on toilet training and elimination.

Identity vs. role confusion

In Erikson's theory, the central psychosocial crisis of adolescence in which a person reflects on who they are and what direction their life should take.

Formal operational stage

Piaget's stage of cognitive development associated with the ability to understand abstract and hypothetical ideas.

Concrete operational stage

Piaget's stage of cognitive development associated with understanding conservation, such as recognizing that water volume remains the same when poured into a taller, thinner glass.

Phoneme

The smallest unit of sound in a language.

Attachment

An emotional tie shown by seeking closeness to a caregiver.

Conditioned response

In classical conditioning, a learned response to a previously neutral stimulus.

Conditioned stimulus

In classical conditioning, an originally neutral stimulus that, after being paired with an unconditioned stimulus, comes to trigger a conditioned response.

Extinction

In classical conditioning, the reduction or disappearance of a response when a conditioned stimulus is repeatedly sounded or presented without the unconditioned stimulus.

Spontaneous recovery

The unexpected reappearance of an extinguished response to a conditioned stimulus following a rest period.

Stimulus discrimination

In conditioning, learning to distinguish between a conditioned stimulus and similar sounds by presenting the target stimulus with food and similar sounds without food.

Authoritative parenting

A parenting style characterized by setting clear limits, listening to the child's perspective, and explaining rules.

Negative reinforcement

Strengthening a behavior by removing, reducing, or avoiding an unpleasant stimulus, such as studying to stop parental reminders.

Negative punishment

Decreasing a behavior by removing a desirable stimulus or privilege, such as losing phone privileges after breaking a rule.

Fixed ratio schedule

A reinforcement schedule that provides a reward after a set, predictable number of responses, such as receiving a bonus after every 10 items assembled.

Variable ratio schedule

A reinforcement schedule that provides a reward after an unpredictable number of successful responses or attempts.

Partial reinforcement effect

The phenomenon where reinforcing a behavior only intermittently generally makes it more resistant to extinction than continuous reinforcement.

Latent learning

Learning that occurs without immediate reinforcement or awareness and is only demonstrated when an incentive is later offered.

Insight learning

A sudden realization of the solution to a problem without receiving an immediate reward.

One-word stage

The stage of speech development during which a child speaks mostly in single words to communicate complete thoughts.

Aphasia

An impairment of language, affecting the ability to produce or understand language, caused by damage to language-related brain areas.

Linguistic relativism

The concept that language influences the way people think and categorize their experiences.

Secure attachment

An attachment pattern in the Strange Situation where a child becomes upset when a caregiver leaves, is comforted at reunion, and returns to exploring.

Observational learning

Learning by watching and imitating others, which can promote either prosocial behavior or antisocial behavior.

Ecological systems theory

A developmental approach that organizes how a family, school, parent's workplace, cultural values, and historical events influence a child.