AP Psych Unit 6

Continuity versus discontinuity

deals with the question of whether development is gradual, cumulative change from conception to death (continuity), or a sequence of distinct stages (discontinuity).

Stability versus change

deals with the issue of whether or not personality traits present during infancy endure throughout the lifespan.

Critical period

is a time interval during which specific stimuli have a major effect on development that the stimuli do not produce at other times.

Fetus

the developing human organism from about 9 weeks after conception to birth.

Teratogens

Chemicals such as alcohol, drugs, tobacco ingredients, mercury, lead, cadmium, and other poisons or infectious agents, such as viruses, that cause birth defects

Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS)

is a cluster of abnormalities that occurs in babies of mothers who drink alcoholic beverages during pregnancy.

Neonates

or newborn babies, are equipped with basic reflexes that increase their chances of survival.

Rooting

is the neonate’s response of turning his or her head when touched on the cheek and then trying to put the stimulus into his or her mouth.

Sucking

is the automatic response of drawing in anything at the mouth.

Swallowing

is a contraction of throat muscles that enables food to pass into the esophagus without the neonate choking.

Grasping reflex

when the infant closes his or her fingers tightly around an object put in his or her hand.

Moro or startle reflex

in which a loud noise or sudden drop causes the neonate to automatically arch his or her back, fling his/her limbs out, and quickly retract them.

Habituation

is decreasing responsiveness with repeated presentation of the same stimulus.

Puberty

is sexual maturation, marked by the onset of the ability to reproduce.

Stranger anxiety

fear of unfamiliar people, indicating that they can differentiate among people they know and people they don’t know.

Egocentrism

is consistent with a belief called animism, that all things are living just like him or her and the belief, called artificialism, that all objects are made by people.

Carol Gilligan

found that women rarely reach the highest stages of morality, because they think more about the caring thing to do or following an ethic of care, rather than what the rules allow or following an ethic of justice.

Bonding

is the creation of a close emotional relationship between the mother (or parents) and baby shortly after birth.

Harry Harlow’s

experimental research with monkeys disproved that belief when he found that baby monkeys separated from their mothers preferred to spend time with and sought comfort from a soft cloth-covered substitute (surrogate) rather than a bare wire substitute with a feeding bottle.

Temperament

or natural disposition to show a particular mood  at a particular intensity for a specific period, affects his or her behavior.

Self-awareness

consciousness of oneself as a person, and social referencing, observing the behavior of others in social situations to obtain information or guidance, both develop between ages 1 and 2.

Diana Baumrind

studied how parenting styles affect the emotional growth of children.

Authoritarian

parents set up strict rules, expect children to follow them, and punish wrongdoing.

Authoritative

parents set limits but explain the reasons for rules with their children and make exceptions when appropriate.

Permissive

parents tend not to set firm guidelines, if they set any at all.

Uninvolved

parents make few demands, show low responsiveness, and communicate little with their children.

Erik Erikson

was an influential theorist partly because he examined development across the life span in a social context, rather than just during childhood, recognizing that we continue to grow beyond our teenage years, and our growth is influenced by others.

Daniel Levinson

described a midlife transition period at about age 40, seen by some as a last chance to achieve their goals.

Elisabeth Kübler-Ross’s

studies of death and dying have focused attention on the end of life, encouraging further studies of death and dying and the growth of the hospice movement that treats terminal patients and their families to alleviate physical and emotional pain.

Biopsychosocial model

ascribes gender, gender roles, and gender identity to the interaction of heredity (biology) and environment (including psychological and social-cultural factors).

Biological Perspective

attributes differences between the sexes to heredity.

Evolutionary Perspective

our behavioral tendencies prepare us to survive and reproduce.

Psychoanalytic Perspective

young girls learn to act feminine from their mothers, and young boys learn to act masculine from their fathers when they identify with their same-sex parent as a result of resolving either the Electra or Oedipal complex at about age 5.

Behavioral Perspective

social learning theory, children respond to rewards and punishments for their behavior, and they observe and imitate significant role models, such as their parents, to acquire their gender identity.

Cognitive Perspective

children actively engage in making meaning out of information they learn about gender.

Meta-analysis

of research on gender comparisons indicates that, for cognitive skills, the differences within either gender are larger than the differences between the two genders.

Stereotype threat

anxiety that influences members of a group concerned that their performance will confirm a negative stereotype.

avoidant attachment

characterized by a child’s unresponsiveness to the parent and does not use the parent as a secure base

cognitive development

the domain of lifespan development that examines learning, attention, memory, etc…

cognitive empathy

ability to take the perspective of others and feel concern for others

concrete operational stage

third stage, 7-11 years old, kids can think logically about real events

conservation

idea that if you can change the appearance of something it is still equal in size, volume or number as long as nothing as added or removed

continuous development

view that development is a cumulative process and people gradual improve on existing skills

discontinuous development

view that development takes place in unique stages which happen at specific times or ages

disorganized attachment

child has odd behavior when faced with parent - most common when the child is abused

Formal operational stage

Last stage, from age 11+, children are able to deal with abstract ideas and hypothetical situations

normative approach

study of development using norms/average ages when most children reach specific developmental milestones

object permanence

idea that even if something is out of sight, it still exists

permissive parenting

parents make few demands and rarely use punishment

placenta

structure connected to uterus that provides nourishment and oxygen to the baby

preoperational stage

2nd stage, ages 2-7, children learn to use symbols and language but don’t understand mental operations and may think illogically.

Psychosexual development

process proposed by Freud in which pleasure-seeking urges focus on different erogenous zones of the body as humans move through 5 stages of life

psychosocial development

process proposed by Erikson in which social tasks are mastered as humans move through 8 stages of life.

resistant attachment

a child’s tendency to show clingy behavior and rejection of the parent when they attempt to interact

secure attachment

a child uses the parent as secure base of safety

sensorimotor stage

1st stage, birth to age 2, a child learns about the world through sense and motor behavior

socioemotional selectivity theory

friendships dwindle in numbers but remain as close, if not more close as time goes on

stage of moral reasoning

proposed by Kohlberg, humans move through 3 stages of moral development

uninvolved parenting

parents are indifferent and don’t respond to a child’s needs

Lawrence Kohlberg

Developed the theory of moral development which states that moral development occurs in clearly identifiable stages.

Zygote

a cell that forms after the union of sex cells

Order of prenatal development

Zygote, embryo, fetus

Florence nightingale

Created the first modern hospice

Kubler-Ross’s five stages of grief

denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance

Cross-sectional study

**a type of research design in which researchers collect data from many individuals at a single point in time**.

environmentalists

The organism develops more complex behaviors and cognition because it acquires more associations through learning

Collectivist approach

the needs of society are placed before the needs of the individual

Individualist approach

promotes personal needs above the needs of society

germinal stage

zygote undergoes cell division

embryonic stage

organs form

fetal stage

sexual differentiation occurs and movement develops

Rudimentary movements

First voluntary movements performed by a child

Fundamental movement stage

occurs from age 2-7; child is learning to manipulate their body through actions

specialized movement stage

children learn to combine the fundamental movements and apply them to specific tasks

Jean Piaget

proposed the theory of cognitive development in children which is based on equilibrium

equilibrium

Child’s attempt to reach a balance between what the child encounters in the environment and what cognitive structures the child brings to the situation.

assimilation

incorporating new ideas into existing schemas

symbolic thinking

the ability to use words to substitute for objects

metacognition

ability to recognize one’s cognitive processes and adapt those processes if they aren’t successful

Lev Vygotsky

believed that much of development occurs by internalization

Internalization

the absorption of knowledge into the self from environmental and social contexts.

zone of proximal development

the range between the developed level of ability that a child displays and the potential level of ability the child is actually capable of.

fluid intelligence

the ability to think in terms of abstract concepts and symbolic relationships

crystallized intelligence

specific knowledge of facts and information

Konrad Lorenz

Believed that child attachment behavior is innate and based his ideas about attachment on his observations of imprinting in animals.

John Bowlby

The father of that attachment theory, believed that a close relationship between a child and caregiver is critical to the infant’s healthy development

Mary Ainsworth

Studied human infant attachment and created the strange situation, where a parent or primary guardian leaves a child with a stranger and then returns - Also created the four attachment types

Ambivalent attachment

distressed when parent leaves and has difficulty being consoled after the parent returns

Preconventional morality

Ages 7-10

* 1st stage: Avoid punishment and receive awards - make judgements motivated by fear
* 2nd stage: Focused on individualism and work for own interests - make judgements by how they benefit themselves

Conventional morality

The internalizing of society’s rules and morals: Ages 10-16

* 1st stage: Tries to live up to other’s expectations, understands societal rules
* 2nd stage: develops conscience and obey rules/feel moral, societal obligations

Postconventional morality

Societal rules are important, but internal values are also important

Ages: 16+

* 1st stage: Belief in individual rights and social contracts
* 2nd stage: The highest stage of moral development, believing that universal principles of justice outweigh societal rules
* Not many people reach this stage

Albert Bandura

believed that violent behaviors/sexual roles can develop through social or vicarious learning, which creates a cycle

Alfred Kinsey

Created the Kinsey scale which posited that sexuality isn’t binary

Pruning

Unused neural networks in the brain tend to shut down and neural networks that are used frequently are strengthened

Imprinting

process in which animals form strong attachments in early life

Oral stage

Ages 0-1, children derive pleasure from oral activities such as tasting and sucking

Anal Stage

Ages 2-3, Children begin potty training

Phallic Stage

Ages 3-6, Boys are more attached to their mother and girls are more attached to their father

Latency stage

Ages 6 to puberty, Children spend more time with same-sex peers

Genital Stage

After puberty, sexual attraction begins