Mod 3 Pysch Test

Developmental Pyschology

a branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive, and social change throughout the lifespan.

Cross-Sectional Studies

research that compares people of different ages at the same point in time.

Nature

Genes related characterisitcs

Nurture

Environment Related characteristics influencing behavior and development.

Stability

the enduring consistency of personality traits, behaviors, and characteristics over a person's lifespan. Stability provides our identity.

Change

the variation in personality traits, behaviors, and characteristics throughout a person's life. Change gives us our hope for a brighter future, allowing us to adapt and grow from experience.

Identity

our sense of self; according to Erikson, the adolescent’s task is to solidify a sense of self by testing and integrating various roles.

Social Identity

the “we” aspect of our self-concept; the part of our answer to “Who am I?” that comes from our group memberships.

Intimacy

in Erikson’s theory, the ability to form close, loving relationships; a primary developmental task in young adulthood.

Selection Effects

as adolescents seek out peers with similar attitudes, interests, and traits

Emerging Adulthood

a period from about age 18 to the mid-twenties, when many persons in Western cultures are no longer adolescents but have not yet achieved full independence as adults.

Possible Selves

the versions of themselves they imagine becoming in the future

Social Clock

the culturally preferred timing of social events such as marriage, parenthood, and retirement.

Generativity

being productive and supporting future generations

Zygotes

fertilized eggs

Germinal Stage

completes as the zygote attaches to the mother’s uterine wall, beginning approximately 37 weeks of the closest human relationship.

Teratogens

agents, such as chemicals and viruses, that can reach the embryo or fetus during prenatal development and cause harm.

fetal alcohol spectrum disorder

1/30 chance in USA, disabilities, future behavior problems, and lower intelligence

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

physical and cognitive function deficits in children caused by their birth mother’s heavy drinking during pregnancy. In severe cases, symptoms include a small, out-of-proportion head and distinct facial features.

Epigenetic Effect

It leaves chemical marks on DNA that switch genes abnormally on or off

4 Reflexes of a Baby

Suck, root, startle, grasp

Habituation

decreasing responsiveness with repeated stimulation. As infants gain familiarity with repeated exposure to a stimulus, their interest wanes and they look away sooner.

Maturation

biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in behavior, relatively uninfluenced by experience.

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)

such as severe deprivation or abuse, can slow development, but genetic growth patterns come “factory-installed” — they are inborn.

Critical Period/ Sensitive Period

an optimal period early in the life of an organism when exposure to certain stimuli or experiences produces normal development.

Neuroplasticity

our neural tissue is ever changing and reorganizing in response to new experiences

Fine Motor

involving the small muscles of the body

Gross Motor

involving large muscles and whole-body movement

infantile amnesia

inability to have clear memories from ages before 3-4

Sex

in psychology, the biologically influenced characteristics by which people define male, female, and intersex.

Gender

in psychology, the attitudes, feelings, and behaviors that a given culture associates with a person’s biological sex.

Intersex

possessing male and female biological sexual characteristics at birth.

Aggression

any physical or verbal behavior intended to harm someone physically or emotionally.

Relational Aggression

an act of aggression (physical or verbal) intended to harm a person’s relationship or social standing.

Male Answer Sndrome

men are more likely than women to hazard answers than to admit they don’t know, a phenomenon researchers called __

Genetically Differences in Gender

We have differing sex chromosomes.

Physiologically Differences in Gender

We have differing concentrations of sex hormones, which trigger other anatomical differences.

X Chromosome

the sex chromosome found in females and males. Females typically have two X chromosomes; males typically have one. An X chromosome from each parent produces a female child.

Y Chromosome

the sex chromosome typically found only in males. When paired with an X chromosome from the mother, it produces a male child.

Testosterone (Androgen)

the most important male sex hormone. Males and females have it, but the additional testosterone in males stimulates the growth of the male sex organs during the fetal period and the development of male sex characteristics during puberty.

Estrogens

sex hormones, such as estradiol, that contribute to female sex characteristics and are secreted in greater amounts by females than by males.

Puberty

A flood of hormones triggers another period of dramatic physical change during adolescence

Primary Sex Characteristics

the body structures (ovaries, testes, and external genitalia) that make sexual reproduction possible.

Secondary Sex Characteristics

nonreproductive sexual traits, such as female breasts and hips, male voice quality, and body hair.

Spermarche

the first ejaculation

Menarche

the first menstrual period.

Klinefelter syndrome

a genetic male may be born with two or more X chromosomes as well as a Y chromosome, which often results in sterility and small testes

Turner syndrome

Genetic females born with only one normal X chromosome may not have menstrual periods, develop breasts, or be able to have children without reproductive assistance.

Roles

a set of expectations (norms) about a social position, defining how those in the position ought to behave.

Gender Roles

a set of expected behaviors, attitudes, and traits for men and for women.

Sexual Aggression

any physical or verbal behavior of a sexual nature that is unwanted or intended to harm someone physically or emotionally. Can be expressed as either sexual harassment or sexual assault.

Gender Identity

our personal sense of being male, female, neither, or some combination of male and female, regardless of whether this identity matches our sex assigned at birth, and the social affiliation that may result from this identity.

Non-binary

Neither male or female, or a combo of male and female

Social Learning Theory

the theory that we learn social behavior by observing and imitating and by being rewarded or punished.

Gender Typing

the acquisition of a traditional masculine or feminine role.

Androgyny

displaying traditionally masculine and traditionally feminine psychological characteristics.

Gender Schemas

organize our experiences of male-female characteristics and help us think about our gender identity

Gender Expression

drops hints not only in their language but also in their clothing, interests, and possessions.

Sexual Orientation

the direction of one’s sexual attraction

Sexuality

our thoughts, feelings, and actions related to our physical attraction to another.

Asexual

having no sexual attraction toward others.

Social Factors related to Risk Taking for teens

Lack of Communication, Impulsivity (peer pressure), Alcohol use, Mass Media

Social Scripts

a culturally modeled guide for how to act in various situations.

Erotic Plasticity

more often prefer to alternate periods of high sexual activity with periods of almost none

Longitudinal Study

research that follows and retests the same people over time.

Foreclosure

a premature commitment to an identity with little exploration.

Defusion Stage

not knowing your identity, without a clear commitment to a specific identity.

moratorium stage

the stage where teens are actively seeking interests/identity.

Identity Achievement

a commited sense of self and a desire to accomplish something that contributes to the world.

Integrity

feelings of one life being meaningful

Learning

the process of acquiring through experience new and relatively enduring information or behaviors.

Associative Learning

learning that certain events occur together. The events may be two stimuli (as in classical conditioning) or a response and its consequence (as in operant conditioning).

Stimulus

any event or situation that evokes a response.

Habituates

decreasing responsiveness with repeated stimulation. As infants gain familiarity with repeated exposure to a stimulus, their interest wanes and they look away sooner.

Operant Conditoning

we learn to associate a response (our behavior) and its consequence

Cognitive Learning

the acquisition of mental information, whether by observing events, by watching others, or through language.

observational learning

a form of cognitive learning, lets us learn from others' experiences

Classical Conditoning

a type of learning in which we link two or more stimuli; as a result, to illustrate with Pavlov's classic experiment, the first stimulus (a tone) comes to elicit behavior (drooling) in anticipation of the second stimulus (food).

Behaviorism

the view that psychology (1) should be an objective science that (2) studies behavior without reference to mental processes. Most research psychologists today agree with (1) but not with (2).

Neutral Stimulus

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

Unconditioned Response

in classical conditioning, an unlearned, naturally occurring response (such as salivation) to an unconditioned stimulus (UCS) (such as food in the mouth).

Unconditioned Stimulus

in classical conditioning, a stimulus that unconditionally — naturally and automatically — triggers an unconditioned response UCR).

Conditioned Response

in classical conditioning, a learned response to a previously neutral (but now conditioned) stimulus (CS).

Condtioned Stimulus

in classical conditioning, an originally neutral stimulus that, after association with an unconditioned stimulus (UCS), comes to trigger a conditioned response (CR).

Acquisition

in classical conditioning, the initial stage, when one links a neutral stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus

In operant conditioning, the strengthening of a reinforced response.

higher-order conditioning

a procedure in which the conditioned stimulus in one conditioning experience is paired with a new neutral stimulus, creating a second (often weaker) conditioned stimulus.

Extinction

in classical conditioning, the diminishing of a conditioned response when an unconditioned stimulus does not follow a conditioned stimulus.

(In operant conditioning, when a response is no longer reinforced.)

spontaenous recovery

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

Generalization

in classical conditioning, the tendency, once a response has been conditioned, for stimuli similar to the conditioned stimulus to elicit similar responses.

In operant conditioning, when responses learned in one situation occur in other, similar situations.

Discrimination

Classical conditioning: the learned ability to distinguish between a conditioned stimulus and other stimuli that have not been associated with a conditioned stimulus.

(In operant conditioning, the ability to distinguish responses that are reinforced from similar responses that are not reinforced.)

Preparedness

a biological predisposition to learn associations, such as between taste and nausea, that have survival value.

Taste Aversion

which can occur with just one bad experience, makes it difficult to eradicate a population of "bait-shy" rats by poisoning.

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 if followed by a punisher.

Law of Effect

Thorndike's principle that behaviors followed by favorable (or reinforcing) consequences become more likely, and that behaviors followed by unfavorable (or punishing) consequences become less likely.