unit 3 terms (definitions only)

DOES include 3.3 because caitlin ✨ broke the law ✨ #gaslight #gatekeep #girlboss

Developmental Psychology

The study of how and why human beings change over the course of their life.

Cross-Sectional Study

A type of research design that examines people of different ages at the same point in time.

Longitudinal Study

A research design that follows the same group of individuals over a period of time.

Teratogens

Agents that can cause birth defects or developmental complications during the prenatal period.

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS)

A condition in a child resulting from alcohol exposure during the mother's pregnancy.

Habituation

A decrease in response to a stimulus after repeated presentations.

Maturation

The process of development in which an individual achieves the ability to function in a certain way.

Critical Period

A specific time in development when certain skills or abilities are most easily learned.

Adolescence

The transitional stage of human development that occurs from puberty to adulthood.

Puberty

The period during which adolescents reach sexual maturity and become capable of reproduction.

Menopause

The time in a woman’s life, typically between ages 45 and 55, when menstruation ceases and fertility declines.

Sex

The biological and physiological characteristics that define humans as female or male.

Gender

The roles, behaviors, and identities considered appropriate for men and women.

Intersex

A variety of conditions in which an individual is born with reproductive or sexual anatomy that doesn’t fit typical definitions of male or female.

Aggression

Behavior intended to harm another individual.

Relational Aggression

Harming others through manipulation of social relationships rather than physical violence.

X Chromosome

One of the two sex chromosomes, females typically have two X chromosomes.

Y Chromosome

One of the two sex chromosomes, males have one X and one Y chromosome.

Testosterone

A hormone that plays a key role in the development of male physical characteristics and reproductive tissues.

Estrogens

Hormones that are crucial for sexual and reproductive development, especially in females.

Primary Sex Characteristics

The physical features directly involved in reproduction, such as the ovaries and testes.

Secondary Sex Characteristics

Physical signs of sexual maturation that do not involve sex organs, such as breast development and facial hair.

Gender Identity

A person's internal sense of their own gender, which may or may not correspond with the sex assigned at birth.

Social Learning Theory

The theory that we learn social behavior by observing and imitating others.

Gender Typing

The process by which a child adopts the values and behaviors of a particular gender.

Androgyny

A blend of male and female characteristics in terms of personality and behavior.

Role

A set of expected behaviors and responsibilities associated with a particular status.

Gender Role

The roles and behaviors that society considers appropriate for men and women.

Sexuality

The capacity for sexual feelings and orientation.

Social Script

Culturally constructed guidelines for how to act in various social situations.

Cognition

The mental processes involved in acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses.

Schema

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

Assimilation

The process of taking in new information and integrating it into existing schemas.

Accommodation

The process of altering one's schema in order to integrate new information.

Sensorimotor Stage

The first stage in Piaget's theory of cognitive development, lasting from birth to about 2 years old, when infants know the world mostly in terms of their sensory impressions and motor activities.

Object Permanence

The awareness that objects continue to exist even when they are not perceivable.

Preoperational Stage

The second stage in Piaget's theory, lasting from about 2 to 7 years old, characterized by the use of symbols and language but lacking logical reasoning.

Conservation

The understanding that quantity remains the same despite changes in shape or appearance.

Egocentrism

The inability to differentiate between one's own perspective and that of others.

Concrete Operational Stage

The third stage in Piaget's theory, occurring from ages 7 to 11, marked by logical thinking about concrete events.

Formal Operational Stage

The final stage in Piaget's theory, beginning at approximately age 12, where individuals can think abstractly and logically.

Scaffold

Supportive structure provided to assist learners in the understanding of new concepts.

Theory of Mind

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

Language

A system of communication that uses symbols, sounds, or gestures to convey meaning.

Phoneme

The smallest unit of sound in a language that distinguishes words.

Morpheme

The smallest grammatical unit in a language, which can be a word or part of a word.

Grammar

The system of rules that governs the structure of sentences in a language.

Universal Grammar (UG)

The theory that all human languages share a common underlying structure.

Babbling Stage

The early stage of language development where infants produce a variety of sounds.

One-Word Stage

A stage in language development, occurring around age 1, where children begin to use single words to convey whole ideas.

Two-Word Stage

A language development stage where children start to combine two words to form simple sentences.

Telegraphic Speech

Early speech stage in which children speak using mostly nouns and verbs, omitting auxiliary words.

Aphasia

A language disorder resulting from brain damage that affects speech and understanding.

Broca’s Area

The region of the frontal lobe associated with the production of speech.

Wernicke’s Area

The region of the brain associated with the comprehension of speech.

Linguistic Determinism

The hypothesis that language shapes and constrains human thought and cognition.

Linguistic Relativism

The idea that the structure of a language affects its speakers' world view or cognition.

Ecological System Theory

A theory that emphasizes the importance of environmental factors in human development.

Stranger Anxiety

A developmental stage where infants show fear or distress when exposed to unfamiliar individuals.

Attachment

The emotional bond that forms between an infant and their caregiver.

Imprinting

A type of rapid learning that occurs in young animals, typically during a critical period of development.

Strange Situation

A standardized procedure for measuring attachment in infants and young children.

Secure Attachment

A healthy attachment style characterized by trust and a positive relationship with caregivers.

Insecure Attachment

An unhealthy attachment style that may present as anxiety or avoidance in relationships.

Temperament

The innate personality traits of an individual, including emotional responses and behavioral styles.

Basic Trust

The sense that the world is predictable and trustworthy, often developed during infancy.

Self-Concept

An individual's perception of their own identity and personal worth.

Identity

The qualities, beliefs, and characteristics that make a person or group different from others.

Social Identity

The part of an individual's self-concept derived from their membership in social groups.

Intimacy

The ability to form close, loving relationships with others.

Emerging Adulthood

A developmental stage from late teens to mid-20s, characterized by exploration and self-discovery.

Social Clock

The culturally preferred timing of social events such as marriage and parenthood.

Learning

A relatively permanent change in behavior or knowledge due to experience.

Associative Learning

Learning that occurs when an association is formed between two stimuli or behaviors.

Stimulus

Any event or object that elicits a response from an organism.

Respondent Behavior

Behavior that occurs as an automatic response to a particular stimulus.

Operant Behavior

Behavior that is influenced by the consequences that follow it.

Cognitive Learning

Learning that involves mental processes and may occur without direct experience.

Classical Conditioning

A learning process that involves associating an involuntary response with a stimulus.

Behaviorism

A theory of learning based on the idea that all behaviors are acquired through conditioning.

Neutral Stimulus (NS)

A stimulus that initially produces no specific response until it is associated with an unconditioned stimulus.

Unconditioned Response (UCR)

An unlearned, naturally occurring response to an unconditioned stimulus.

Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS)

A stimulus that naturally and automatically triggers a response.

Conditioned Response (CR)

A learned response to a previously neutral stimulus.

Conditioned Stimulus (CS)

An originally neutral stimulus that is paired with an unconditioned stimulus to elicit a conditioned response.

Acquisition

The process of developing a conditioned response.

Higher-Order Conditioning

A conditioning process in which a conditioned stimulus is paired with a new neutral stimulus.

Extinction

The diminishing of a conditioned response when the unconditioned stimulus no longer follows the conditioned stimulus.

Spontaneous Recovery

The reappearance of an extinguished conditioned response after a pause.

Generalization

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

Discrimination

The ability to distinguish between different stimuli and respond appropriately.

Preparedness

The species-specific biological predisposition to learn associations that enhance fitness.

Operant Conditioning

A learning process where behavior is shaped and maintained by consequences such as rewards and punishments.

Law of Effect

The principle that behaviors followed by favorable consequences become more likely, while behaviors followed by unfavorable consequences become less likely.

Operant Chamber

A controlled environment used in operant conditioning experiments to study animal behavior.

Reinforcement

Any event that strengthens the behavior it follows.

Shaping

The process of reinforcing successive approximations to a desired behavior.

Discriminative Stimulus

A stimulus that provides a cue for making a certain response.

Positive Reinforcement

The presentation of a stimulus after a behavior, increasing the likelihood of that behavior occurring again.

Negative Reinforcement

The removal of an unpleasant stimulus to increase the likelihood of a behavior.