AP Psych Unit 3: Development and Learning

Cross-sectional study

A research method that examines participants from different age groups at a single point in time to understand developmental differences.

Longitudinal study

A research design that observes the same group of individuals over an extended period to identify changes and continuities in development.

Teratogen

Any environmental factor or substance that can lead to malformations in a developing fetus.

Maturation

A natural process of growth and development influenced primarily by genetic factors.

Rooting reflex

An instinctive response in infants that causes them to turn their heads towards a stimulus that touches their cheek, aiding in breastfeeding.

Visual cliff

An experimental tool designed to assess depth perception in infants and young animals.

Critical period

A specific time frame in development when certain experiences must occur for normal development to take place.

Imprinting

A rapid learning process during a critical period in which young animals form strong attachments to their caregivers.

Puberty

The developmental stage at which individuals attain sexual maturity and the capability to reproduce.

Primary sex characteristics

The biological attributes directly involved in reproduction.

Secondary sex characteristics

The physical traits that emerge during puberty that are not directly related to reproduction but differentiate the sexes.

Menarche

The first occurrence of menstruation in females, signifying the onset of puberty.

Spermarche

The initial stage of sperm production in males that indicates the beginning of puberty.

Menopause

The biological process marking the end of a woman's menstrual cycles and fertility.

Sex

The classification of individuals based on their reproductive organs and functions.

Gender

The roles, behaviors, and identities that society and culture construct as appropriate for males and females.

Jean Piaget

A Swiss psychologist renowned for his theory of cognitive development, which outlines distinct stages in children's thinking.

Schema

A cognitive framework or concept that helps organize and interpret information.

Assimilation

The process of incorporating new information into existing cognitive schemas.

Accommodation

The process of altering an existing schema or creating a new one in response to new information.

Sensorimotor stage

Piaget's first stage of cognitive development, where infants learn through sensory experiences and motor activities.

Object permanence

The understanding that objects continue to exist even when they are not observed, which develops during the sensorimotor stage.

Preoperational stage

Piaget's second stage characterized by the emergence of language and symbolic thinking, but limited logical reasoning.

Conservation

The principle that quantity remains the same despite changes in shape or appearance, which is understood in the concrete operational stage.

Reversibility

The capacity to recognize that actions can be reversed to return to the original state, a cognitive ability developing in the concrete operational stage.

Animism

The belief that inanimate objects have feelings or intentions, common in the preoperational stage.

Egocentrism

A difficulty in seeing a situation from a perspective other than one's own, typical in the preoperational stage.

Theory of mind

The cognitive ability to attribute mental states—beliefs, desires, intentions—to oneself and others.

Concrete operational stage

Piaget's third stage of cognitive development, where logical reasoning begins with concrete events but is not yet abstract.

Logical vs systematic thinking

Logical thinking follows established rules to deduce conclusions, while systematic thinking involves a methodical problem-solving approach.

Formal operational stage

The final stage in Piaget's theory, characterized by the ability to think abstractly and engage in hypothetical reasoning.

Lev Vygotsky

A psychologist known for his sociocultural theory, emphasizing the impact of social interaction on cognitive development.

Scaffolding

The process of providing supportive guidance tailored to a learner's current level of understanding.

Zone of proximal development

The gap between what a learner can accomplish independently and what they can achieve with guidance.

Crystallized intelligence

The accumulated knowledge and skills that remain stable with age.

Fluid intelligence

The capacity to think logically and solve novel problems independent of accumulated knowledge.

Dementia

A decline in cognitive abilities severe enough to interfere with daily living activities.

Phonemes vs Morphemes

Phonemes are the smallest units of sound in language, while morphemes are the smallest grammatical units with meaning.

Stages of language development

The sequential phases children go through in acquiring language, including cooing, babbling, and single-word speech.

Telegraphic speech

An early stage of language development where children communicate using primarily content words, omitting less essential details.

Overgeneralization

A common error in language acquisition where grammatical rules are incorrectly applied to all instances, including exceptions.

Ecological systems theory

A theoretical framework emphasizing the multiple layers of environments that interact to influence human development.

Parenting styles (3 types)

Three main parenting styles: authoritative, authoritarian, and permissive, each affecting child development differently.

Secure attachment

A robust emotional bond between a child and caregiver, characterized by trust and comfort.

Insecure attachment (3 types)

Three styles of insecure attachment: avoidant, ambivalent, and disorganized, each leading to different relational outcomes.

Temperament

An individual's inherent personality characteristics that influence their emotional reactions and interactions.

Social clock

The culturally accepted timing for major life events like marriage, parenthood, and retirement.

Parallel play

A developmental stage where children play adjacent to each other without direct interaction.

Imaginary audience/personal fable

Cognitive phenomena during adolescence where individuals believe they are the center of attention (imaginary audience) and view their experiences as unique (personal fable).

Emerging adulthood

A developmental phase from late teens to mid-20s characterized by exploring identity and independence.

Stage of psychosocial development

Erik Erikson's theory outlining eight key conflicts that must be resolved for healthy personality development.

Adverse childhood experiences

Traumatic events that occur during childhood, potentially leading to long-term negative effects on health and behavior.

Identity status (all 4)

The four categories of identity formation: identity diffusion, identity foreclosure, identity moratorium, and identity achievement.

Associative learning

Learning that occurs through forming associations between stimuli or a stimulus and a response.

Classical conditioning

A learning process where a previously neutral stimulus begins to elicit a conditioned response after being paired with an unconditioned stimulus.

US, UR, CS, CR

Key components of classical conditioning: Unconditioned Stimulus (US), Unconditioned Response (UR), Conditioned Stimulus (CS), and Conditioned Response (CR).

Extinction

The process by which a previously conditioned response diminishes or disappears after reinforcement is no longer presented.

Spontaneous recovery

The unexpected reappearance of a conditioned response after a period of extinction.

Stimulus discrimination

The ability to distinguish between different stimuli and respond only to the conditioned stimulus.

Stimulus generalization

The tendency to respond similarly to stimuli that resemble the conditioned stimulus.

Taste aversion

A learned avoidance of a specific food or taste that follows an unpleasant experience.

Higher-order conditioning

A learning process where a conditioned stimulus is paired with an additional neutral stimulus, creating a second conditioned response.

Counter-conditioning

A behavioral modification technique that pairs a fear-inducing stimulus with a more pleasant one to reduce the undesirable response.

One trial conditioning

A form of learning that occurs after just one exposure to the stimulus.

Habituation

A decrease in response to a stimulus after repeated presentations, as the organism learns to ignore it.

Operant conditioning

A learning process where behavior is shaped and maintained by consequences, such as reinforcement and punishment.

Reinforcement (positive and negative)

Positive reinforcement provides a rewarding stimulus to increase a behavior; negative reinforcement removes an aversive stimulus to boost a behavior.

Punishment (positive and negative)

Positive punishment introduces an unpleasant outcome to reduce a behavior, while negative punishment removes a pleasant stimulus to decrease unwanted behavior.

Primary vs secondary reinforcer

Primary reinforcers satisfy biological needs (e.g., food), whereas secondary reinforcers acquire their value through association with primary reinforcers.

Reinforcement schedules (ALL)

Different strategies for delivering reinforcement: continuous, fixed-ratio, variable-ratio, fixed-interval, and variable-interval schedules.

Shaping

A method of teaching complex behaviors by reinforcing successive approximations toward the desired behavior.

Instinctive drift

The tendency for animals to revert to instinctual behaviors that can interfere with a conditioned response.

Superstitious behavior

Behavior that arises from a misattributed correlation between an action and an outcome due to coincidental reinforcement.

Social learning

Learning that occurs through observing and imitating the behaviors of others.

Vicarious conditioning

Learning that happens by observing the reactions of others to stimuli, rather than through direct experience.

Modeling

A learning process that involves observing and imitating the behaviors of others.

Insight

The sudden realization of a solution to a problem, often after a period of contemplation.

Cognitive map

A mental representation of one's physical environment, aiding in navigation and understanding space.

Latent learning

Learning that occurs without immediate reinforcement and is not visible until there is an incentive to demonstrate it.