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Developmental Psychology
A branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive and social-emotional development throughout the lifespan
Cross-sectional study
Research that people of different ages at the same point in time
Longitudinal study
research that follows and retests the same people over time
Teratogens
Such as chemicals and viruses that can reach the embryo or fetus during prenatal development and cause harm
Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS)
Physical and cognitive function deficits in children caused by their mother’s heavy drinking during pregnancy. In severe cases, symptoms include, a small, out-of-proportion head and distinct facial features.
Critical period
An optimal period early in the life of an organism when exposure to certain stimuli or experiences produces normal development.
Adolescence
The transition from childhood to adulthood, extending from puberty to independence.
Puberty
The period of sexual maturation, during which a person becomes capable of reproducing
Menopause
The time of natural cessation of menstruation; also refers to the biological changes a woman experiences as her ability to reproduce declines.
Sex
In psychology, the biologically influenced characteristics by which people define male, female, and intersex
Gender
In psychology, the attitudes, feelings, and behaviors that a given culture associates with a persons biological sex
Intersex
Possessing male and female biological characteristics at birth.
Aggression
Any physical or verbal behavior intended to harm someone physically or emotionally
X chromosome
The chromosome found in females and males. Females typically have two X chromosomes, males typically have one. An X chromosome from each parent produces a female child.
Y chromosome
The sex chromosome typically found only in males. When paired with C chromosome from the mother, it produces a male child.
Testosterone
the most important male sex hormone. Males and females have it, but the additional testosterone in males stimulates the growth of the male sex organ during the fetal period, and the development of male sex characteristics during puberty.
Estrogens
Sex hormones, such as estradiol, that contribute to the female sex characteristics and are secreted in greater amounts by females than by males.
Primary sex characteristics
The body structures (ovaries, testes, and external genitalia) that make sexual reproduction possible
Secondary sex characteristics
No reproductive sexual traits such as female breasts and hips, male voice quality and body hair
Spermarche
The first euaculation
Menarche
The first menstrual period
Role
A set of expectations/norms about a social position, defining how those in the position ought to behave
Gender role
A set of expected behaviors, attitudes, and traits for men and for women
Sexual aggression
Any physical behavior of a sexual nature that is unwanted or intended to harm someone physically or emotionally. Can be expressed as either sexual harassment or sexual assault.
Gender identity
Our personal sense of being male, female, neither, or some combination of male and female, regardless of wether this identity matches our sex assigned at birth, and the social affiliation that may result from this identity.
Social learning theory
The theory that we learn social behavior by observing and imitating and by being rewarded or punished
Gender typing
The acquisition of a traditional masculine or feminine role.
Androgyny
Blending traditionally masculine and traditionally feminine psychological characteristics.
Sexuality
Our thoughts, feelings, and actions related to our physical attraction to another.
Asexual
Having no sexual attraction forward others
Social script
A culturally modeled guide for how to act in asocial situations.
Sexual orientation
According to APA “a persons sexual and emotional attraction to another person and the behavior and/or social affiliation that may result from this attraction”
Cognition
All the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating
Schema
A concept or framework that organizes and interprets information
Assimilation
Interpreting our new experiences in terms of our existing schemas
Accommodation
Adapting our current schemas (understandings) to incorporate new information
Sensorimotor stage
(In Piaget’s theory) the stage from birth-almost 2 where infants know the world in mostly sensory impressions and motor activities
Object permanence
The awareness that things continue to exist even when not perceived (babies in the sensorimotor stage have not developed this)
Preoperational stage
(In Piaget’s theory) the stage from 2-7 where kids learn to use language but do not comprehend the mental operations of concrete logic
Conservation
(Principal of Piaget not developed until after the preoperational stage) that properties such as mass, volume, and number remain the same despite changes in forms of objects
Egocentrism
(Piaget’s Theory) that preoperational children have a hard time in seeing others points of view
Concrete operational stage
The stage of cognitive development from 7-11 where children can perform mental operations that enable them to think logically about concrete (actual, physical) events.
Formal operational stage
(In Piaget’s theory) the stage of cognitive development (beginning at age 12) where people begin to thing logically about abstract concepts.
Scaffold
In Vygotsky’s theory, a framework that offers children temporary support as they develop higher levels of thinking (no, no Elias!)
Theory of mind
People’s ideas about their own and others mental states — about their feelings, perceptions, thoughts and behaviors these might predict.
Language
Our agreed-upon systems of spoken, written or signed words, and the ways we combine them to communicate with meaning
Pheneme
In a language the smallest distinctive sound unit
Morpheme
In a language, the smallest unit that carries meaning; maybe a word or a part of a word (such as a prefix)
Grammar
In a language, system of rules that enables us to communicate with and understand others. Semantics is the language’s set of rules for deriving meaning from sounds, and syntax is items set of rules for combining words into grammatically sensible sentences.
Universal grammar (UG)
Humans’ innate predisposition to understand the principles and rules that govern grammar in all languages.
Babbling stage
The stage in speech development beginning around 4 months, during which and infant spontaneously utters various sounds that are not all related to the household language.
One-word stage
The stage in speech development, from about age 1-2 during which a child speaks mostly in single words.
Two-words stage
The stage in speech development, beginning about age 2, during which a child speaks mostly in two-word sentences
Telegraphic speech
The early speech stage in which a child speaks like a telegram — “go car” using mostly bound
Becca’s area
A frontal lobe brain area, usually in the left hemisphere, that helps control language expression by directing the muscle movement involved in speech.
Wernicke’s Area
A brain area, usually in the left temporal lobe, involved in language comprehension and expression.
Linguistic determinism
Whorf’s hypothesis that language determines the way we think
Linguistic relativism
The idea that language influences the way we think
Ecological systems theory
A theory of the social environments influence on human development, using five nested systems (Microsystems; mesosystem; exosystem; macrosystem; chronosystem) ranging from direct to indirect influences
Stranger anxiety
The fear of strangers that infants commonly display, beginning by about 8 months of age
Attatchment
An emotional tie with others; shown in young children by their seeking closeness to caregivers and showing distress on separation
Imprinting
The process by which certain animals form strong attachments during early life
Strange situation
A procedure for studying child-caregiver attatchment, a child is placed in an unfamiliar environment and then returns and the child’s reactions are observed
Secure attatchment
Demonstrated by infants who comfortable explore environments in the presence of their caregiver, show only temporary distress when the caregiver leaves, and find comfort in the caregivers return
Insecure attatchment
Demonstrated by infants who display a clinging, anxious attatchment that resists closeness; or a disorganized attatchment with no consistent behavior when separated from or reunited with caregivers
Temperament
A persons characteristic emotional relativity and intensity
Basic trust
According to Erik Erikson, a sense that the word is predictable and trustworthy; said to be formed during infancy by appropriate experiences with responsive caregivers
Self-concept
All our thoughts and feelings about ourselves, in answer to the question “who am I?”
Identity
Our sense of self; according to Erikson, the adolescent’s task is to solidify a sense of self by testing and integrating various roles
Social identity
The “we” aspect of our self-concept; the part of our answer to “who am I?” That comes from our group memberships
Intimacy
In Erikson’s theory; the ability to form close, loving relationships; a primary developmental task in young adulthood
Emerging adulthood
A period from about age 18 to the mid-twenties, when many persons in prosperous Western cultures are no longer adolescents but have not yet achieved full independence as adults.
Social clock
The culturally preferred timing of social events such as marriage, parenthood, and retirement
Learning
The process of acquiring through experience new and relatively enduring information or behaviors
Habituation
Decreasing responsiveness with repeated stimulation
Associative learning
Learning that certain events occur together. The events may be two stimuli (as in classical conditioning) or a response and its consequence (as in operant conditioning)
Stimulus
Any event or situation that evokes a response
Respondent behavior
Behavior that occurs as an automatic response to some stimulus
Operant behavior
Behavior that operates on the environment, producing a consequence
Cognitive learning
The acquisition of mental information, whether by observing events, by watching others, or through language
Classical conditioning
A type of learning in which we link two or more stimuli; as a result to illustrate with Pavlov’s classic experiment, the first stimulus (a tone) comes to elicit behavior (drooling) in anticipation of the second stimulus (food)
Behaviorism
The view that psychology 1) should be an objective science that (2) studies behavior without reference to mental processes. Most research psychologists agree to (1) but not (2)
Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS)
In classical conditioning, an unlearned, naturally occurring response (such as salivation) to an unconditioned stimulus (UCS) (Such as food)
Neutral Stimulus (NS)
in classical conditioning, a stimulus that elicits no response before conditioning
unconditioned stimulus (UCS)
in classical conditioning, a stimulus that unconditionally — naturally and automatically — triggers an unconditional response (UCR).
conditioned response (CR)
in classical conditioning, a learned response to a previously neutral (but now conditioned) stimulus (CS)
conditioned stimulus
in classical conditioning, an originally neutral stimulus that, after association with an unconditional stimulus (UCS), comes to trigger a conditioned response (CR)
acquisition
in classical conditioning, the initial stage — when one links a neutral stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus so that the neural stimulus begins triggering the conditioned response. (In operant conditioning the strengthening of a reinforced response.)
high-order conditioning
a procedure in which the conditioned stimulus in one conditioning experience is paired with a new neutral stimulus, creating a second (often weaker) conditioned stimulus. For example, a tone predicts food might then learn a light predicts the tone and begin responding to the light alone. (Also called second-order conditioning)
extinction
in classical conditioning, the diminishing of a conditioned response when an unconditioned stimulus does not follow a conditioned stimulus. (In operant conditioning, when a response is no longer reinforced)
spontaneous recovery
the reappearance, after a pause, of a weakened conditioned response.
generalization
(also called stimulus generalization) in classical conditioning, the tendency, once a response has been conditioned for stimuli similar to the conditioned stimulus to elicit similar responses. (In operant conditioning, when responses learned in one situation occur in other, similar situations.)
discrimination
in classical conditioning, the learned ability to distinguish between a conditioned stimulus and other stimuli that have not been associated with a conditioned stimulus. (In operant conditioning, the ability to distinguish responses that are reinforced from similar responses that are not reinforced)
preparedness
a biological predisposition to learn associations, such as between taste and nausea, that have survival mode
operant conditioning
a type of learning in which a behavior becomes more likely to recur if followed by a reinforcer or less likely to recur if followed by a punisher.
law of effect
Thorndike’s principle that behaviors followed by favorable (or reinforcing) consequences become more likely, and that behaviors followed by unfavorable (or punishing) consequences become less likely
operant chamber
in operant conditioning research, a chamber (also known as a Skinner box) containing a bar or key that an animal can manipulate to obtain a food or water reinforcer; attached deices record the animal’s rate of bar pressing or key pecking.
reinforcement
in operant conditioning, any event that strengthens the behavior it follows
shaping
an operant conditioning procedure in which reinforcers guide behavior toward closer and closer approximations of the desired behavior.
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