Unit 3 AP Psychology: Development and Learning

Vocabulary flashcards covering key concepts from Unit 3 of AP Psychology, focusing on development and learning.

Developmental Psychology

The study of how we change physically, mentally, and socially throughout our lives.

Nature vs. Nurture

The debate over how much our genetics (nature) and environment (nurture) influence our development.

Stability vs. Change

The theme that explores which aspects of our personality remain consistent over time and which evolve.

Continuity vs. Discontinuity

The theme focusing on whether development is a gradual, continuous process or occurs in distinct stages.

Longitudinal Research

A research method that follows the same group of individuals over an extended period.

Cross-Sectional Research

A research method that compares different groups of people at various ages at one point in time.

Cohort Effect

Differences observed between age groups that could reflect the unique experiences and cultural context of each generation rather than true developmental differences.

Prenatal Development

The developmental stage from conception to birth, during which a single fertilized egg transforms into a complex human body.

Teratogens

Harmful substances like drugs, alcohol, and certain medications that can cause birth defects and developmental issues during prenatal exposure.

Fine Motor Skills

Skills involving the coordination of small muscles, essential for tasks like writing and picking up small objects.

Gross Motor Skills

Skills involving larger muscle groups and movements like crawling, walking, and jumping, crucial for mobility and exploration.

Rooting Reflex

An infant reflex where the baby turns their head toward a touch on the cheek and opens their mouth, vital for feeding.

Sucking Reflex

An infant reflex that involves the baby sucking on anything that touches the roof of their mouth, essential for feeding.

Visual Cliff Apparatus

A tool used to test depth perception in infants by creating the illusion of a drop-off.

Critical Period

A specific time frame early in life when certain experiences are needed for proper development, such as depth perception or language acquisition.

Imprinting

A type of learning where a young animal fixates on the first object it encounters, usually its parent, and follows it for safety and survival.

Puberty

A period of biological changes leading to reproductive maturity during adolescence, including growth spurts and the development of primary and secondary sex characteristics.

Primary Sex Characteristics

Body structures directly involved in sexual reproduction.

Secondary Sex Characteristics

Physical traits that are not directly involved in reproduction but develop during puberty.

Menarche

The onset of menstruation in females, signaling readiness for reproduction.

Spermarche

The beginning of sperm production in males, signaling readiness for reproduction.

Menopause

The end of menstrual cycles and reproductive capacity in women, typically occurring in the late 40s to early 50s.

Gender

Refers to the roles, behaviors, activities, and attributes that society considers appropriate for males and females.

Sex

Refers to the biological differences between males and females, such as chromosomes, hormonal profiles, and sex organs.

Gender Schema

A cognitive framework that helps individuals organize and understand information related to gender.

Gender Role Stereotypes

Widely held beliefs about the characteristics and behaviors considered appropriate for men and women.

Schemas

Mental structures or frameworks that help us organize and interpret information.

Assimilation

The process of incorporating new information into our existing schemas.

Accommodation

The process of adjusting our existing schemas or creating new ones in response to new information.

Sensorimotor Stage

Piaget's first stage of cognitive development, from birth to about two years old, where infants learn through senses and actions.

Object Permanence

The understanding that objects continue to exist even when they cannot be seen, developed during the sensorimotor stage.

Pre-operational Stage

Piaget's second stage of cognitive development, from about two to seven years old, where children use mental symbols and engage in pretend play, but their thinking is not yet logical.

Conservation

The understanding that quantity remains the same despite changes in shape or appearance, often a challenge in the pre-operational stage.

Reversibility

The ability to understand that objects can change and return to their original form.

Animism

The belief that inanimate objects have feelings, common in the pre-operational stage.

Egocentrism

A child's inability to understand perspectives other than their own, thinking that others see, feel, and think exactly as they do.

Concrete Operational Stage

Piaget's third stage of cognitive development, from ages seven to eleven, where children understand the world more logically but still struggle with abstract thinking.

Formal Operational Stage

Piaget's fourth stage of cognitive development, starting in adolescence and continuing into adulthood, where individuals think abstractly and hypothetically.

Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)

Vygotsky's concept referring to the range of tasks that a learner can't perform independently but can accomplish with guidance from a more skilled individual

Scaffolding

The support or assistance provided by a more knowledgeable person to help someone learn a new skill

Crystallized Intelligence

Accumulated knowledge and skills that tend to increase with age.

Fluid Intelligence

The ability to reason quickly and think abstractly, which tends to decline with age.

Dementia

A broad category of brain diseases that cause long-term, gradual decreases in the ability to think and remember.

Phonemes

Smallest units of sound within a language

Morphemes

The smallest units of meaning in a language

Semantics

The meaning we derive from words and sentences

Grammar and Syntax

The rules that govern how we combine words into meaningful sentences

Cooing Stage

The first stage of language development, starting at about six to eight weeks old, when babies make 'goo goo ga ga' sounds

Babbling Stage

The second stage of language development, between four to six months, when babies combine vowels and constants

One-Word Stage

The third stage of language development around their first birthday, when a simple word such as 'milk' or 'doggy' can represent an entire thought

Telegraphic Speech Stage

The fourth stage of language development, between eighteen and twenty-four months, where kids combine two or three words into basic phrases

Ecological Systems Theory

Bronfenbrenner's theory that development is influenced by interconnected environmental systems (microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, chronosystem).

Microsystem

The immediate environment an individual interacts with daily, such as family, school, and friends.

Mesosystem

The connections between different parts of an individual's microsystem, such as the interaction between parents and teachers.

Exosystem

Broader social systems that an individual doesn't interact with daily but still influence them, such as a parent's workplace.

Macrosystem

The broader cultural and societal context an individual develops in including cultural societal values, laws, and customs.

Chronosystem

The dimension of time in Bronfenbrenner's theory, including major life events and transitions that occur over time.

Authoritarian Parenting

A parenting style characterized by high expectations and strict rules, expecting obedience without question.

Authoritative Parenting

A parenting style balancing high expectations with warmth and support, setting clear rules but listening and explaining the reasoning behind them.

Permissive Parenting

A parenting style that comes in two forms: indulgent and indifferent, where indulgent parents are highly responsive but not very demanding, and indifferent parents provide minimal attention and support.

Attachment

The emotional bonds we form with our caregivers, influencing how we relate to others.

Temperament

Innate traits that shape how we respond to the world, including our emotions and activity levels.

Secure Attachment

Where children are confident that their caregivers will meet their needs.

Insecure Attachment

Includes avoidant attachment, anxious attachment, and disorganized attachment.

Separation Anxiety

A common and natural response in young children when they're separated from their primary caregivers.

Erikson's Theory of Psychosocial Development

A theory that gives insights into how social factors influence our growth proposing that we encounter specific psychosocial conflicts at different life stages.

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)

Potentially traumatic events that occur during childhood, including abuse, neglect, or household dysfunction.

Identity Achievement

James Marcia's identity status reached when we've explored our options and made a firm commitment to our goals and values.

Identity Diffusion

James Marcia's identity status where individuals have not explored options or made any commitments.

Identity Foreclosure

James Marcia's identity status where people make commitments without exploring other possibilities, often influenced by others' expectations.

Identity Moratorium

James Marcia's identity status that involves active exploration without any commitment, trying out different roles and ideas to see what fits best.

Classical Conditioning

A learning process where a stimulus that naturally triggers a response (unconditioned stimulus) is paired with a neutral stimulus.

Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS)

A stimulus that naturally triggers a response.

Unconditioned Response (UCR)

The natural response to the unconditioned stimulus.

Conditioned Stimulus (CS)

A previously neutral stimulus that, after association with an unconditioned stimulus, triggers a conditioned response.

Conditioned Response (CR)

The learned response to a conditioned stimulus.

Acquisition

The initial stage of learning in classical conditioning where the neutral stimulus is repeatedly paired with the unconditioned stimulus until it triggers a response independently.

Extinction

The process where a conditioned response decreases when the conditioned stimulus is presented repeatedly without the unconditioned stimulus.

Spontaneous Recovery

The reappearance of a conditioned response after a pause, even if extinction has occurred.

Generalization

Responding to stimuli similar to the original conditioned stimulus.

Discrimination (Classical Conditioning)

Learning to respond only to a specific stimulus and not to anything similar.

Higher-Order Conditioning

Pairing a new neutral stimulus with an already established conditioned stimulus, eventually leading the new stimulus to trigger the conditioned response.

Counter-Conditioning

Replacing an unwanted response with a new, more positive reaction by pairing the feared or disliked stimulus with something more enjoyable.

Taste Aversion

A type of conditioning where an organism learns to avoid a food that has made them sick after just one exposure.

Operant Conditioning

The learning of voluntary behavior through the effects of pleasant and unpleasant consequences to responses

Law of Effect

Thorndike's principle: behaviors followed by favorable consequences are more likely to be repeated, while behaviors followed by unfavorable consequences are less likely to be repeated.

Positive Reinforcement

Adding a pleasant stimulus to increase the likelihood of a behavior being repeated.

Negative Reinforcement

Removing an unpleasant stimulus to encourage a behavior.

Positive Punishment

Adding an unpleasant stimulus in order to decrease a behavior.

Negative Punishment

Taking away something that you like in order to decrease the likelihood that the behavior will continue.

Generalization (Operant Conditioning)

Responding to similar stimuli in the same way we responded to the original stimulus that was reinforced or punished.

Discrimination (Operant Conditioning)

Learning to differentiate between the original stimulus and similar stimuli, responding only to the specific stimulus that was reinforced or punished.

Primary Reinforcers

Naturally reinforcing because they satisfy basic biological needs.

Secondary Reinforcers

Not inherently valuable, but become reinforcing through their associations with the primary reinforcers.

Shaping

Reinforcing successive approximations of a desired behavior.

Instinctive Drift

An animal's innate behaviors interfere with conditioned responses.

Superstitious Behavior

Believing that a specific action is linked to a particular outcome, even when there's no actual connection.

Learned Helplessness

Occurs when an individual learns to feel helpless and passive when dealing with an unpleasant situation, believing they have no control over the outcome.

Continuous Reinforcement

Reinforcing a behavior every time it occurs.

Partial Reinforcement

Reinforcing a behavior on some occasions but not others