AP Psychology Unit 3 Pt. 2

Sensorimotor Stage

First of Piaget’s stages, from birth to age 2, where infants learn via sensory impressions.

Object Permanence

Awareness that things still exist even when not viewed, developmental milestone in sensorimotor stage.

Preoperational Stage

Second of Piaget’s stages between ages 2 and 7 where a child begins to understand language.

Egocentrism

Difficulty taking another’s point of view, indicative of the preoperational stage.

Jean Piaget

French psychologist and stage theorist.

Conservation

Principle that properties remain the same when the form of an object is changed, usually learned in the concrete operational stage.

Animism

Belief that inanimate objects are alive or have feelings, usually visible in the preoperational stage.

Concrete Operational Stage

Third of Piaget’s stages between age 7 and 11 where children are capable of performing mental operations that enable logical thinking about concrete events.

Formal Operational Stage

Fourth of Piaget’s stages beginning age 12 where individuals are capable of thinking abstractly about concrete events.

Lev Vygotsky

Russian psychologist who developed the sociocultural theory of development.

Scaffolding

Learning process in Vygotsky’s theory where children reach higher levels of thinking with the support of a more knowledgeable person.

More Knowledgeable Person (MKO)

Person in Vygotsky’s theory, a peer or teacher that provides support to achieve skills within a child’s zone of proximal development.

Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)

In Vygotsky’s theory, the area between what a child can and can’t do—what a child is capable of with support.

Theory of Mind

Ideas about one’s own and other’s mental state and associated implications.

Personal Fable

Belief that one is unique and acts differently than others.

Moral Intuitions

Quick and automatic moral judgements.

Language

Agreed upon systems of words and how we use them to communicate.

Phonemes

Smallest distinctive sound unit of a language.

Morphemes

The smallest unit of language that carries meaning.

Grammar

System of language rules that enable communication.

Semantics

Rules for deriving the meaning of a word.

Syntax

Rules for combining words into sentences.

Universal Grammar (UG)

Innate predisposition to understand principles and rules that govern grammar in all languages.

Receptive Language

The ability to understand what is said to and about you.

Productive Language

The ability to produce language.

Babbling Stage

Stage in speech development beginning around 4 months where an infant spontaneously utters various sounds.

One Word Stage

Stage in speech development between age 1 and 2 where the child speaks in single words.

Two Word Stage

Starting at age 2, the stage where a child speaks in two words statements, often with telegraphic speech.

Telegraphic Speech

Early stage of speech where children speak like a telegram, using mostly nouns and words e.g. “ball up.”

Aphasia

Impairment of language usually coming from damage to the left temporal lobe.

Linguistic Determinism

Hypothesis developed by Benjamin Lee Whorf that language determines the way you think.

Linguistic Relativism

The idea that language influences the way you think.

Bilingual Advantage

Controversial idea that being proficient in multiple language benefits thinking capabilities.

Outcome Simulation

Visualizing the result of achieving a goal.

Process Simulation

Visualizing the step-by-step process required to achieve a goal.

Ecological Systems Theory

Theory describing social environment’s influence on human development.

Microsystem

Closest sphere of influence including immediate/direct contact groups.

Mesosystem

Second closest sphere of influence including relationships between microsystem groups.

Exosystem

Third closest sphere of influence including environments that indirectly affect us.

Macrosystem

Fourth closest sphere of influence including cultural influences.

Chronosystem

Fifth closest sphere of influence including the dimension of time.

Stranger Anxiety

Inherent fear of strangers, developed around 8 months.

Attachment

Emotional ties with others shown in young children by seeking caregivers and distressing at seperation.

Contact Comfort

Innate pleasure from physical touch with a caregiver.

Secure Base

Reliable safe haven which a caregiver provides.

Critical Period

Optimal period of development in a child.

Imprinting

Process by which animals form strong attachments during early life.

Sensitive Period

Period in which humans become attached to things/caregivers.

Strange Situation

Way to study attachment by leaving a child in an unfamiliar environment without caretakers.

Secure Attachment

Attachment type demonstrated by infants who comfortably explore when a caregiver is present.

Insecure Attachment

Attachment type demonstrated by infants with clinging/anxious attachment or avoidant attachment where children resist closeness.

Disorganized Attachment

Attachment type demonstrated when a child shows no consistent behavior during separation.

Temperament

A person’s characteristic emotional reactivity and intensity.

Basic Trust

Erik Erikson’s idea that people develop the sense that the world is predictable and trustworthy through proper care.

Anxious Attachment

Attachment type where individuals crave acceptance but remain alert to rejection.

Avoidant Attachment

Attachment type where individuals experience discomfort when getting close to others and maintain their distance.

Self-Concept

Understanding/acceptance of who you are.

Self-Esteem

How you feel about who you are.

Authoritarian Parenting Style

Parenting style characterized by coercive treatment of children.

Permissive Parenting Style

Parenting style characterized by unrestrictive treatment towards children.

Neglectful Parenting Style

Parenting style characterized by uninvolved treatment of children.

Authoritative Parenting Style

Parenting style characterized by confrontative treatment towards children.

Trust vs. Mistrust

First stage in Erikson’s theory of development from birth to 1 where infants typically develop basic trust.

Autonomy vs. Shame/Doubt

Second stage in Erikson’s theory of development from 1 to 3 where toddlers exercise their will or doubt their abilities.

Initiative vs. Guilt

Third stage in Erikson’s theory of development from 3 to 6 where children learn how to carry out tasks or feel guilty about independence.

Competence vs. Inferiority

Fourth stage in Erikson’s theory of development from 6 to puberty where children learn the pleasure of applying themselves or feel inferior.

Identity vs. Role Confusion

Fifth stage in Erikson’s theory of development from teens to 20s where people refine their sense of self or become confused about their identity.

Intimacy vs. Isolation

Sixth stage in Erikson’s theory of development from 20s to 40s where people form relationships or become isolated.

Generativity vs. Stagnation

Seventh stage in Erikson’s theory of development from 40s to 60s where people find a sense of contribution or lack of purpose.

Integrity vs. Dispair

Eighth stage in Erikson’s theory of development from 60s onward where people reflect on life with a sense of satisfaction or failure.

Identity

Sense of self often developed in adolescence by assuming different roles.

Social Identity

“We” aspect of self concept that is developed through group membership.

Possible Selves

Variations of self that people imagine becoming in the future.

Diffusion

First stage of identity development where individuals possess no clear understanding of their identity.

Foreclosure

Second stage of identity development where individuals assume premature commitments to certain identities without further exploration.

Moratorium

Third stage of identity development devoted to seeking a greater understanding of identity.

Achievement

Fourth stage of identity development where individuals have a committed sense of self.

Intimacy

Ability to form close and loving relationships with others.

Emerging Adulthood

Stage in life from 18 to 20s where adolescence is over but individuals have not achieved full independence.

Social Clock

Culturally preferred timing of specific life events like marriage.

Generativity

Concept of being productive and supporting future generations.

Selection Effect

Effect in adolescence where individuals seek peers with similar traits or behavior.

Adaptability

Capacity to learn new behaviors.

Learning

Process of acquiring new information or behaviors through experience.

Association

Process by which the brain naturally connects events.

Habituation

Decreasing responsiveness with repeating stimulation.

Associative Learning

Learning that specific events occur together.

Classical Conditioning

Learning process where two stimuli are associated, then a response results.

Stimulus

Any event or situation that evokes a response.

Respondent Behavior

Behavior that occurs as an automatic response to some stimulus.

Operant Conditioning

Learning type where behavior is more likely to occur if followed by a reinforcer and less likely to occur if followed by a punisher.

Operant Behaviors

Behavior that operates on the environment, producing a consequence.

Cognitive Learning

The acquisition of mental information by watching events or others or through language.

Observational Learning

Learning from others’ experiences.

Ivan Pavlov

Russian physiologist famous for experiments on classical conditioning.

Behaviorism

View that 1. psychology should be an objective science and 2. that behavior should be studied without reference to mental processes, (2. is largely discredited).

Neutral Stimulus

In classical conditioning, a stimulus that elicits no response before conditioning.

Unconditioned Response (UCR)

In classical conditioning, an unlearned and naturally occuring response to an unconditioned stimulus.

Unconditioned Stimulus

In classical conditioning, an unconditioned stimulus that triggers an unconditioned response.

Conditioned Response (CR)

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