Psychology: Learning, Lifespan Development, and Language

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering Operant Conditioning, Observational Learning, Sociocultural and Humanistic Theories, Lifespan Development (Piaget, Erikson, Kohlberg, Kübler-Ross), and Language Acquisition and Neuroscience.

Operant Conditioning

Learning based on the consequences of behavior.

Positive Reinforcement

Adding something pleasant to increase a behavior (e.g., praise for studying leading to increased study time).

Negative Reinforcement

Removing something unpleasant to increase a behavior (e.g., seatbelt beeping stopping when you buckle up).

Positive Punishment

Adding something unpleasant to decrease a behavior (e.g., assigning extra chores for misbehavior).

Negative Punishment

Removing something pleasant to decrease behaviors (e.g., loss of phone privileges).

Law of Effect

The principle that behaviors followed by consequences satisfying to an organism are more likely to be repeated.

Vicarious Reinforcement

A process occurring after seeing a model be reinforced for their behavior, which motivates the observer to imitate it even more.

Vicarious Punishment

A process occurring after observing a model be punished, leading the observer to be less motivated to imitate them.

Primary Reinforcers

Reinforcers that have innate reinforcing qualities.

Secondary Reinforcers

Stimuli with no inherent value that only carry reinforcement qualities when linked to a primary reinforcer.

Shaping (Successive Approximations)

The process of building success through reinforcing small steps that gradually lead toward a desired action, rather than waiting for the final behavior to occur all at once.

Continuous Reinforcement

A reinforcement schedule in which the desired behavior is rewarded every time it occurs.

Fixed Ratio Schedule

A schedule where reinforcement is given after a set number of responses.

Fixed Interval Schedule

A schedule where reinforcement is provided after a fixed amount of time has passed.

Variable Interval Schedule

A schedule where reinforcement is given after varying amounts of time.

Modeling

The process in which people learn social behaviors, emotional responses, and skills by observing the behavior of role models.

Attention (Observational Learning)

The first key process of observational learning, defined as noticing the model's behavior.

Retention (Observational Learning)

The second key process of observational learning, defined as remembering an observation.

Reproduction (Observational Learning)

The third key process of observational learning, defined as the ability to imitate a behavior.

Motivation (Observational Learning)

The fourth key process of observational learning, defined as wanting or having a reason to perform the behavior based on consequences observed.

Bobo Doll Experiment

An observational learning experiment demonstrated by Albert Bandura where a child watched his mother beat a Bobo doll, which influenced him to take on that behavior and beat it too.

Prosocial Modeling

A form of modeling that encourages helpful, cooperative, and socially positive behaviors, such as demonstrating patience, empathy, and problem-solving.

Antisocial Modeling

A form of modeling that can lead to the imitation of harmful, aggressive, or risky behaviors through exposure to aggressive models in media or real life.

Constructivist Theories

Theories emphasizing that learners actively build knowledge through exploration, experience, and social interaction.

Humanistic Theories of Learning

Theories focusing on the whole person, personal growth, self-direction, emotional well-being, and conditions that help individuals thrive, succeed, and reach their full potential.

Sociocultural Theory

A theory representing a deeply social process of learning shaped by interaction, language, and cultural tools.

More Knowledgeable Other (MKO)

In Vygotsky's theory, anyone who has greater knowledge or skill in an area and can guide the learner.

Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)

The difference between what a learner can do independently and what they can achieve with guidance; the zone where learning is most effective.

Scaffolding

Temporary structures of support that help a learner move through the ZPD, which gradually fade as the learner becomes more independent.

Private Speech

Self-directed talk serving as a cognitive tool that helps children organize actions, solve problems, and internalize learning.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

A humanistic framework proposing that individuals must satisfy basic needs to reach their full potential.

Person-Centered Learning

An educational approach by Carl Rogers emphasizing the importance of genuineness, acceptance, empathy, and the development of self-concepts.

Physical Developmental Domain

The developmental domain that involves growth, changes in the body and brain, senses, motor skills, health, and wellness.

Cognitive Developmental Domain

The developmental domain that involves learning, attention, memory, language, thinking, reasoning, and creativity.

Psychosocial Developmental Domain

The developmental domain that involves emotions, personality, and social relationships.

Normative Approach

An approach asking what defines normal development, using different ages to determine norms of when most children reach specific developmental milestones in each domain.

Continuous Development

The perspective viewing development as a cumulative process that gradually improves.

Discontinuous Development

The perspective viewing development as taking place in various, unique stages at specific times.

Psychosexual Development

Sigmund Freud's theory proposing that early experiences and unconscious drives shape later personality through stages: Oral, Anal, Phallic, Latency, and Genital.

Psychosocial Development

Erik Erikson's lifespan theory proposing eight lifespan crises (e.g., Identity vs. Role Confusion) where social relationships and identity tasks influence healthy adaptation.

Sensorimotor Stage

Piaget's stage from ages $0-2$ years where the world is experienced through senses and actions; key issues include object permanence and stranger anxiety.

Preoperational Stage

Piaget's stage from ages $2-6$ years where children use words and images to represent things but lack logical reasoning; key issues include pretend play, egocentrism, and language development.

Concrete Operational Stage

Piaget's stage from ages $7-11$ years where children understand concrete events and analogies logically and perform arithmetical operations; key issues include conservation and mathematical transformations.

Formal Operational Stage

Piaget's stage from age $12+$ years utilizing formal operations and abstract reasoning; key issues include abstract logic and moral reasoning.

Pre-conventional Morality

Kohlberg's first level of moral reasoning, consisting of Stage 1 (obedience & punishment) and Stage 2 (behavior driven by individual interest and rewards).

Conventional Morality

Kohlberg's second level of moral reasoning, consisting of Stage 3 (interpersonal behavior driven by social approval) and Stage 4 (obeying authority and conforming to social order).

Post-conventional Morality

Kohlberg's third level of moral reasoning, consisting of Stage 5 (social contract) and Stage 6 (universal ethics driven by internal moral principles).

Five Stages of Grief

Elisabeth Kübler-Ross's non-linear pattern of coping with loss: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance.

Germinal Stage

The prenatal stage spanning weeks $1-2$, characterized by conception, zygote division, and multiplication.

Embryonic Stage

The prenatal stage spanning weeks $3-8$, characterized by blood vessel growth, placental formation, head, chest, and abdomen formation, and the heart beginning to beat.

Fetal Stage

The prenatal stage spanning weeks $9-40$, where sex organs begin to differentiate, the brain begins to develop, and internal organs fully develop.

Language

A communication system that involves using words and systematic rules to organize those words to transmit information from one individual to another.

Lexicon

The words of a given language.

Grammar

The set of rules used to convey meaning through the use of lexicon.

Phoneme

The basic sound unit of a given language.

Morpheme

The smallest units of language that convey some type of meaning, formed by combined phonemes.

Semantics

The process by which we derive meaning from morphemes and words.

Syntax

The way words are organized into sentences.

Language Acquisition Device (LAD)

Noam Chomsky's proposed innate system containing the universal principles of grammar found across cultures.

Fast Mapping

The quick connection of a new word to a meaning that explains rapid vocabulary growth (e.g., learning 'giraffe' after one exposure).

Overregularization

Applying grammar rules too broadly, demonstrating that children are actively building grammar rules (e.g., saying 'I goed two mouses').

Critical Period (Language)

The optimal early biological window for language learning that begins before birth, is maximized in early life, and diminishes with age, making second-language learning easier before puberty.

Pragmatics

Social rules for language use essential for communication and culture (e.g., taking turns in conversation).

Motherese

A simplified, high-pitched, and melodic style of speech that adults naturally use when talking to infants and young children.

Developmental Delay

A condition referring to a child experiencing a delay of at least $25\%$ in one or more areas of development (social/emotional, adaptive/self-help, communication, motor skills, or cognition).

Expressive Language Delay Threshold

A delay of at least $33\%$ required for a child to initially qualify for Early Childhood Intervention (ECI) services when expressive language is the only area of concern.

Broca's Area

A key brain area responsible for speech production and the planning of grammatical structures.

Wernicke's Area

A key brain area central to language comprehension that helps interpret the meaning of words and sentences.

Angular Gyrus

A brain area that helps link visual information to language, making reading and writing possible by connecting written symbols to meaning.

Lateralization (Language)

The division of brain function where language is primarily processed in the left hemisphere, while the right hemisphere contributes to intonation, pragmatics, and emotional tone.

Broca's Aphasia

A language breakdown characterized by slow, effortful speech and difficulty producing language, with relatively preserved comprehension.

Wernicke's Aphasia

A language breakdown characterized by fluent but meaningless speech with poor comprehension.

Global Aphasia

A language breakdown causing severe impairment across both speech production and comprehension.

Kuuk Thaayorre People

An indigenous population whose language illustrates how linguistic systems can shape spatial orientation and how people stay oriented in the world.