Unit 3 - Development and Learning

developmental psychology

branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive, and social-emotional development throughout the lifespan

explores 3 major themes: nature/nurture, continuity/stage and stability/change

maturation

biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in behavior, relatively uninfluenced by experience (nature)

synaptic pruning

process that shuts down unused synaptic links

adolescence

the developmental stage from puberty and independent adulthood characterized by physical, emotional, and cognitive changes

puberty

when people become sexually matured and able to reproduce

menopause

when a woman's menstrual cycles and fertility end

can cause depression and mood swings

death-deferral phenomenon

the tendency for people to die after major milestones (birthday, holiday, etc.)

intersex

possessing male and female biological sexual characteristics at birth

aggression

any physical or verbal behavior intended to harm someone physically or emotionally

relational agression

agression intending to harm relationship or social status

interdependence

the mutual reliance among people or groups for resources, support, or information

estrogens

sex hormones like estradiol that are secreted more by females than by males and contribute to female characteristics

primary sex characteristics

body structures that make sexual reproduction possible

ex. ovaries, testes, external genitalia

secondary sex characteristics

nonreproductive sexual traits

ex. female breasts and hips, male voice quality, body hair

spermarche

first ejaculation

menarche

first menstrual period

sexual aggression

unwanted or harmful physical or verbal behavior of sexual nature

ex. sexual harassment or assault

gender identity

personal sense of gender

social learning theory

learn social behavior by observing and imitating and being rewarded or punished

ex. watching an older sister play with dolls

gender typing

taking on traditional masculine or feminine role

androgyny

blending of traditionally masculine and feminine psychological characteristics

social script

culturally modeled guide for how to act in various situations

sexual orientation

a person’s sexual and emotional attraction and the behavior and/or social affiliation from this attraction; not something that can be changed

sensorimotor stage

Piaget's first stage of cognitive development (birth-2), where infants learn by coordinating sensory experiences with motor actions

lack object permanence

object permanence

awareness that things continue to exist even when not seen

ex. peek-a-boo where a baby knows the person is still there even when hidden

preoperational stage

Piaget's second stage of cognitive development (2-7), where children can use words and images for representation but struggle with mental operations

lack concept of conservation, are egocentric (not the same as egotistical), and display animism - belief that inanimate objects are alive or have feelings

concrete operational stage

Piaget's third stage of cognitive development (7 to 11), where children develop mental operations to think logically about concrete events and grasp mathematical relationships

formal operational stage

Piaget's fourth and final stage of cognitive development (starting at 12), allowing for abstract, hypothetical, and systematic reasoning

scaffold

in Vygotsky’s theory, a framework that offers children temporary support to develop higher levels of thinking

language is important part of social-cultural mentoring

contrast to Piaget’s theory, which is discontinuous and not gradual

theory of mind

people’s ideas abt their own and other’s mental states - feelings, perceptions and thoughts

prospective memory

memory for doing future behaviors

ex. take medicine at 3:00 pm

terminal decline

cognitive decline accelerates as death approaches, in the last 3 or 4 years of life

phonemes

the smallest distinctive sound units in a language

ex. in that, th, a, and t are phonemes

morphemes

smallest language units that carry meaning

ex. in readers, read, er (signaling one who reads) and s (signals multiple readers) are morphemes

universal grammar (UG)

the theory that all languages share a common underlying structure, enabling children to acquire language naturally

semantics

the language’s set or rules for deriving meaning from sound; part of grammar

babbling stage

the stage in speech development (beginning ~4 months) where babies sample sounds; not related to household language until 10 months

ex. sounds like ah-goo

one-word stage

stage in speech development where babies use one barely recognizable syllable to communicate (~ 1 year)

ex. ma, da, doggy

two-word stage

stage in speech development (~2 years) where toddlers begin to combine two words in telegraphic speech

Ex: more juice, big truck

telegraphic speech

early speech stage where a child speaks like a telegram

ex. go car

linguistic determinism

Whorf’s hypothesis that language determines how we think

ex. if someone doesn’t use past tense, they don’t think abt the past

linguistic relativism

the idea that languages influences the way we think

ecological systems theory

proposed by Urie Bronfenbrenner; social environment’s influence on human development using 5 nested systems: microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, and chronosystem - direct to indirect influence order

stranger anxiety

fear of strangers; displayed beginning ~8 months

imprinting

the process where some animals form strong attachments during early life when the first moving object they see is normally their mother

strange situation

designed by Mary Ainsworth, she observed infant attachment styles through a series of separations and reunions between the infant and caregiver

secure vs insecure attachment

secure - in mother’s presence, they play comfortably and explore environment; when mother leaves, they become distressed

insecure - cling to mother and explore surroundings less; anxiety or avoidance/indifference after mother leaves and comes back

temperament

person’s innate characteristic emotional reactivity and intensity; part of nature

affects attachment style and tends to persist as adults

basic trust

according to Erik Erikson, a sense that the world is predictable and reliable

develops from consistent caregiving during infancy

self-concept

an understanding of who we are

develops around 18 months

social identity

the “we” aspect of self-concept; who we are that comes from group memberships

ex. race, nationality, gender, religion, and social class

emerging adulthood

a period from 18-mid 20s, when many ppl in Western cultures are no longer adolescents but not fully independent adults

social clock

culturally preferred timing of social events like marriage, parenthood and retirement

Erikson’s stages of psychosocial development

stage. - issue

infancy to 1y - trust/mistrust

1-3y - autonomy, shame, and doubt

3-6y - initiative and guilt

6-puberty - competence (industry) and inferiority

teen-20s - identity and role confusion

20s-40s - intimacy and isolation

40s-60s - generativity and stagnation

late 60s+ - integrity and despair

habituation vs sensory adaptation

habituation - decreasing responsiveness with repeated stimulation

ex. an infant becoming bored with a toy after seeing it multiple times

sensory adaptation - when sensory systems stop registering the presence of an unchanging stimulus

ex. swimming in the pool, it feels cold at first but later it doesn’t

associative learning

two stimuli in classical conditioning and a response + consequence in operant

respondent behavior

automatic response to some stimulus

ex. salivating when food is presented

operant behavior

operates on the environment, producing a consequence

classical conditioning

type of learning in which two stimuli are linked

5 major conditioning processes: acquisition, extinction, spontaneous recovery, generalization and discrimination

behaviorism

the view that psychology 1) should be an objective science that 2) studies behavior without reference to mental processes

most research psychologists today agree with 1) but not 2)

neutral stimulus (NS)

stimulus that elicits no response before conditioning

unconditioned response (UCR)

naturally occurring response to UCS

ex. salivation when there’s food in mouth

unconditioned stimulus (UCS

stimulus that automatically triggers an UCR

ex. food triggers salivation

conditioned response (CR)

learned response to a previous neutral stimulus

ex. salivating when hearing a bell ring

conditioned stimulus (CS)

originally neutral stimulus that triggers a CR after association with UCS

ex. bell ringing after being paired with food

acquisition

the initial stage of classical conditioning when one links neutral stimulus to unconditioned stimulus → NS triggers CR

higher-order/second-order conditioning

a procedure that creates a second/weaker CS by pairing CS with NS

ex. a tone predicts food and a light predicts the tone → responds to light alone

extinction

diminishing of conditioned response when an UCS doesn’t follow a CS or isn’t reinforced

ex. dog salivates less and less when bell is sound but no food is presented

spontaneous recovery

reappearance after a pause of weakened conditioned response

ex. a dog salivating to a tone after not hearing it for a period of time

generalization/stimulus generalization

tendency for similar stimuli to elicit similar responses

ex. a dog conditioned to salivate to a bell may also salivate to a similar tone

descrimination

learned ability to distinguish between CS and other stimuli

ex. birds avoid preying on butterflies that look similar to a poisonous one, but not to edible ones

preparedness

the biological predisposition to learn associations that enhance survival

ex. taste pared with nausea or illness

operant conditioning

a type of learning where behavior becomes more likely to recur if followed by reinforcer or less likely to occur if followed by a punisher

law of effect

Thorndike’s principle that behaviors followed by favorable/reinforcing consequences become more likely and vice versa

operant chamber/Skinner box

a chamber containing a bar/key that an animal can manipulate to get food/water reinforcer

attached devices that record animal’s rate of pressing bar or pecking key

shaping

reinforcers guide behavior toward closer and closer approximations of the desired result

ex. reward after getting closer to the bar, then for touching bar

discriminative stimulus

a stimulus that elicits a response after association with reinforcement

ex. pigeons can identify human faces after reinforced to peck after seeing a human face

continuous vs partial (intermittent) reinforcement schedule

reinforcing behavior every time it occurs → learning and extinction occur rapidly vs only part of the time → learning is slower but resistance to extinction is greater

ex. rewarding a child for every homework assignment vs rewarding only some assignments

fixed vs variable-ratio schedule

reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response only after a specified number of responses vs after an unpredictable number of responses

fixed vs variable-interval scheduling

reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response only after a specified time has elapsed vs at unpredictable time intervals

positive vs negative reinforcement

increasing behaviors by presenting a positive reinforcer vs increasing behaviors by stoping or reducing an aversive stimulus

ex. rewarding a student for good grades vs taking painkillers to end headache

**note - negative reinforcement doesn’t mean punishment

sometimes, reinforcement can be positive and negative like when a student studies harder to positively reinforce better grade and negatively reinforce anxiety

primary vs conditioned/secondary reinforcer

innately reinforcing stimulus that satisfies a biological need vs a stimulus through association with a primary reinforcer

positive vs negative punishment

introducing an aversive stimulus to decrease a behavior vs removing a pleasant stimulus to reduce behavior

ex. spanking a child for misbehavior vs taking away a toy as a consequence for being naughty

indistinctive drift

the tendency of learned behavior to gradually revert to biologically predisposed patterns

ex. pigeons have a hard time learning to flap their wings to obtain food instead of pecking

mirror neurons

neurons that some scientists believe fire when we perform certain actions or observe another doing so → enable imitations and empathy

cognitive map

mental representation of layout of one’s environment

ex. after exploring a maze, rats act as if they have learned a cognitive map of it

latent learning

learning that occurs but is not apparent until there is an incentive to demonstrate it

ex. a rat explores a maze without rewards but later finds food, showcasing its knowledge of the maze

insight learning

solving problems through sudden insight; contrasts with strategy-based solutions

observational learning/social learning

learning by observing others

modeling

the process of learning behaviors by observing and imitating others

prosocial behavior

positive, constructive, helpful behavior; opposite of antisocial behavior

ex. after seeing someone help pick up books, they also become more helpful