AP Psychology - Chapter 3 Short Review

For personal use, missing some terms and concepts presented in the textbook. Does not include chapters 3.5, 3.8 or 3.9.

Developmental Psychology

branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive, and social change throughout the lifespan

End of History Illusion

the tendency to recognize that you have changed, but presume will change little in the future.

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

physical/cognitive deficits in children caused by their mother’s drinking, having an epigenetic effect.

Startle/Grasping Reflex

Arms and Legs out, followed by clenching of the fists and crying. Strong grasping, helping babies stay close to their caregivers.

Adolescence

the transition period from childhood to adulthood from puberty to independence. A time of stress.

Prefrontal Cortex

The prefrontal cortex’s development lags behind the emotional limbic system during puberty, causing:

• Large releases of hormones

• impulsive, risky, emotional behaviors

It finishes developing at ~25 years, making you more mature.

Stages of Adulthood

emerging, early (20-30), middle (up to 65), late (65+).

Death Deferral Phenomenon

the tendency for people to avoid dying before or during important holidays or birthdays.

Benefits of Exercising on Aging

• Increases mental sharpness, memory.

• Slows Alzheimer’s Diseases (and others).

• Stimulates Neurogenesis from increased O2 and Nutrients.

• Increases Mitochondria, powering brain cells.

Sex

The biological factors that influence if you are male, female, or intersex.

Gender

Attitudes, feelings, behaviors that a given culture has which determines a person’s sex.

Male Answer Syndrome

Men are more likely to provide hazard answers than admitting they are wrong.

Social Connectedness Male v.s. Female

Males are independent: they hide feelings and play in large groups of competition.
Females are interdependent: dependent on two or more people, and open to sharing more feelings.
“Tend & Befriend”

Klinefelter Syndrome

XXY: Genetically a male, but leads to sterility and small testes.

Turner Syndrome

X: Genetically a female, but slowed menstruation, breast dev., and reproduction problems.

Role

A set of expectations (norms) that define how a person should socially behave.

Gender Role

A set of expected behaviors, attitudes, and traits for men and woman. It influences society, culture, but varies from place-to-place.

Sexual Aggression

Aggressive Behavior intended to harm someone sexually in physical or emotional ways.

Gender Identity

Our personal sense of being male or female or a mix/neither of the two (intersex).

Social Learning Theory

The theory that we learn social behavior by observing and imitating or by being punished or rewarded.

Gender Typing

Taking on a traditional masculine or feminine role.

Androgyny

Displacing both feminine and masculine traits, sometimes at different times. It makes people more adaptable, resilient, accepting, and less depressive.

Sexuality

Sexual Orientation: Our thoughts, feelings, and actions related to our physical attraction to another.

Asexual

Having no sexual attraction. ~1% of the population.

Effects of Erotic Material

• Accelerating when sex will occur

• Believing rape is acceptable

• Reducing satisfaction with partners

• Desensitization

Social Script

A culturally modeled guide for how to behave. On Social Media, Social Scripts largely influence teen’s sexuality.

Kin Selection

Natural Selection in favor that decreases an individual’s chances of reproduction but increases their kin’s.

Fertile Females Theory

Suggests that maternal genes can dispose number of children but also the chances the male offspring will be gay: explains why gay males are common on the mother’s side of the family.

Scaffolds

A mental framework that offers children temporary support as they develop higher levels of thinking.

Zone of Proximal Development

Zone between what a child can do with a tiny bit of help and what is impossible. The best learning area.

Sensorimotor Stage

When infants know the world mostly in senses and motor activities: lacks object permanence.

Preoperational Stage

When children can use language/images to express, but not perform mental operations.

Animism

The belief that inanimate objects are alive, have feelings or motivations. Occurs in the preoperational stage.

Concrete Operational Stage

Point at which children can intake concrete, physical evidence to grasp complex operations like spatial and mathematical events.

Formal Opertional Stage

Point at which children utilize abstract thinking as systematic reasoning. They develop their morality by asking questions about good and bad, idealism, etc.

Theory of Mind

People’s ideas about their own and other’s mental states, like feelings, perception and behaviors. Preoperational Infants lack this and are Egocentric.

Terminal Decline

In the last 3 or 4 years of life, cognitive decline accelerates as there is less focus on learning and more on connecting socially.

Older Adult’s Memory vs Younger Adult’s Memory

• Older have worse recall

• Older have the same recognition

• Older have better Gc, and Semantic Encoding.

• Older benefit from Positive Transfer

Ecological Systems Theory

A theory which argues that the social environment’s influence on human dev. depend on five nested systems:

• Chronosystem

• Macrosystem

• Exosystem

• Mesosystem

• Microsystem

Stranger Anxiety

A fear of strangers and unfamiliar faces that infants display ~8 months.

Strange Situation

A procedure for studying child-caregiver attachment, where children are placed in unfamiliar environments with or without their caregiver.

Attachment

An emotional tie with others. Includes secure, insecure, disorganized, anxious (afraid of rejection), and avoidant (avoids person and interaction).

Temperament

A person’s characteristic emotional reactivity & intensity.

Basic Trust

A sense that the world is predictable and trustworthy, formed during infancy by appropriate experiences with responsive caregivers.

Adverse Child Experiences (ACE)

Adversities faced during childhood

• Increases Resilience

• Abuse-Breeds-Abuse Phenomenon

• Leaves epigenetic marks.

• Lower IQ, health issues, ADHD, suicide, social awkwardness, crime, substance abuse

Self-Concept

An understanding of one’s being, which development around age 12. A positive self-concept leads to confidence, independence, optimism, assertiveness, and social liking.

Authoritarian Parents

Threating, forceful, imposing rules and obedience. Causes insecurity, weak social skills, and children that overreact to mistakes.

Permissive Parents

Ignorant, few demands or punishments. Children are often aggressive and immature.

Neglectful Parents

Uninvolved, not demanding nor responsive. Children fail academically and socailly.

Authoritative Parents

Confrontive, demanding but responsive. Exert control by setting fair rules, but allow older children to have some independence.

Identity

Our sense of self. A social identity is the group people identify themselves as part of.

Intimacy

the ability to form close, loving relationships which develops through young adulthood.

Selection Effect

The tendency of people esp. Adolescents to seek to fit into our own groups.

Emerging Adulthood

A widening period from age 18 to mid 20s. When people are not adolescents but have not taken the responsibility or independence as adults.

Midlife Crisis

A myth of great struggle during the mid-40s. Truth is that ¼ of adults face struggles due to life events not because of their age. They also face more stress because they take care of their old parents AND young children.

Integrity

A feeling that one’s life has been meaningful and satisfactory.