Unit 6 AP Psych

Carol Gilligan

moral development studies to follow up Kohlberg. She studied girls and women and found that they did not score as high on his six stage scale because they focused more on relationships rather than laws and principles. Their reasoning was merely different, not better or worse

Carolyn Rovee-Collier

Psychologist who researched nonverbal infant memory, by allowing infants to control a mobile, found infants can learn at an early age

Diana Baumrind

researcher who developed a model of parenting styles that included authoritarian, authoritative, and permissive

Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

Psychologist who theorized the terminally ill progress through sequence of: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, Acceptance

Erik Erikson

Psychologist known for his 8-stage theory of Psychosocial Development

Harry Harlow

Psychologist who studied attachment in monkeys with artificial mothers

Jean Piaget

Psychologist known for his four stage theory of cognitive development

Jonathan Haidt

Trolley Experiment; Theorist who thinks that morality is rooted in "moral intuitions" or quick, gut feelings that guide moral reasoning

Moral action can depend on social influences

Konrad Lorenz

researcher who focused on critical attachment periods in baby birds, a concept he called imprinting

Lawrence Kohlberg

Psychologist famous for his theory of moral development in children; made use of moral dilemmas in assessment

Lev Vygotsky

Psychologist who focused on child development; investigated how culture & interpersonal communication guide development; zone of proximal development; play research

Mary Ainsworth

Psychologist who compared effects of maternal separation, devised patterns of attachment; "The Strange Situation": observation of parent/child attachment

Simon LeVay

Researcher who found that cell clusters in the hypothalamus of homosexuals were larger than those of heterosexuals

3 Types of Attachment

secure, anxious-ambivalent, avoidant

4 types of parenting

authoritarian, permissive, authoritative, uninvolved

Accommodation

adapting our current understandings (schemas) to incorporate new information

Adolescence

the transition period from childhood to adulthood, extending from puberty to independence

Aggression

any physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt or destroy; men tend to be more aggressive; but women are more likely to exhibit "relational aggression"

Alzheimer's disease

-Progressive and irreversible brain damage that leads to loss of memory, reasoning, language, and physical functioning

-Heavily influenced by the loss of cells that make acetylcholine

Animistic thinking

The belief that inanimate objects have lifelike qualities, such as thoughts, wishes, feelings, and intentions

Assimilation

interpreting one's new experience in terms of one's existing schemas; "same schemas" - all four legged animals are dogs

Attachment

an emotional tie with another person; shown in young children by their seeking closeness to the caregiver and showing distress on separation

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD)

A disorder characterized by deficits in social relatedness and communication skills that are often accompanied by repetitive, ritualistic behavior.

Basic trust

a sense that the world is predictable and trustworthy; Erikson's first stage

Concrete operation stage

The third of Piaget's developmental stages

Children develop a sense of conservation and the ability to use concrete logic

Conservation

the principle that properties such as mass, volume, and number remain the same despite changes in the forms of objects

Critical period

an optimal period shortly after birth when an organism's exposure to certain stimuli or experiences produces proper development

Development

the process of change that occurs during an organism's life to produce a more complex organism

Developmental psychology

a branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive, and social change throughout the life span

Egocentrism

the inability to see the world through anyone else's eyes; "Barbie for my mom for Christmas" - 5 yr old

Embryo

the developing human organism from about 2 weeks after fertilization through the second month

Emerging adulthood

a period from about age 18 to the mid-twenties, when many in Western cultures are no longer adolescents but have not yet achieved full independence as adults

Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS)

a group of alcohol-related birth defects that include physical and mental problems

Fetus

the developing human organism from 9 weeks after conception to birth

Formal operational stage

According to Piaget; the stage at which people develop the ability to think abstractly

Usually starts around ages 11 or 12 and is the last stage in cognitive development.

Frontal Lobe

The lobe at the front of the brain associated with movement, speech, and impulsive behavior; still developing in the adolescent brain.

Gender

in psychology, the biologically and socially influenced characteristics by which people define male and female

Gender identity

our sense of being male or female

Gender role

a set of expected behaviors for males or for females

Gender typing

the acquisition of a traditional masculine or feminine role

Harlow's Monkey Experiment

An experiment where Harlow isolated monkeys at birth and provided them with a wire mother that had food and a cloth mother that didn't. He found that the monkeys formed attachment to the cloth mother, which proved that attachment is not based entirely off of food

Heinz Dilemma

A woman is dying and needs an expensive medication. Husband cannot afford the medication, should he steal it or should she die? see Kohlberg's stages of moral development.

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

Imprinting

the process by which certain animals (not humans) form attachments during a critical period very early in life

Infantile amnesia

the inability to remember events from early childhood

Intimacy

the ability to form close, loving relationships

limbic system

neural system located below the cerebral hemispheres; associated with emotions and drives; develops earlier than the frontal lobe, as indicated in tempers and such before thoughtful decision making.

Maturation

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

Menarche

the first menstrual period

Menopause

the time of natural cessation of menstruation; also refers to the biological changes a woman experiences as her ability to reproduce declines

Moral Intuition

quick gut feelings that precede moral reasoning

Object permanence

the awareness that things continue to exist even when not perceived; this is in Piaget's first cognitive stage, sensorimotor

Preoperational stage

The second of Piaget's developmental stages

Children lack the ability to use logic and understand logic. They also are influenced by egocentrism

Primary sex characteristics

the body structures that make sexual reproduction possible

ex. Testes or ovaries

Pruning process

A use-it-or-lose-it process that shuts down unused neural links and strengthens others

Puberty

Developmental stage at which a person becomes capable of reproduction.

relational aggression

an act of aggression (physical or verbal) intended to harm a person's relationship or social standing; women more than men do this.

role confusion

a situation in which an adolescent does not seem to know or care what his or her identity is; acting unruly one minute and then compliant and helpful the next.

Scaffolding

temporary support that is tailored to a learner's needs and abilities and aimed at helping the learner master the next task in a given learning process

Schema

a concept or framework that organizes and interprets information; "mental mold"

Secondary sex characteristics

nonreproductive sexual characteristics, such as female breasts and hips, male voice quality, and body hair

Self-concept

all our thoughts and feelings about ourselves, in answer to the question, "Who am I?"

Senile dementia

Mental disintegration that accompanies alcoholism, tumor, stroke, aging, and most often, Alzheimer's disease

Sensorimotor stage

The first of Piaget's developmental stages

The stage where infants begin to interact with the world

object permanence is gained; stranger anxiety and object permanence take place at this stage

Sexual orientation

an enduring sexual attraction toward a particular group of people

Social clock

the culturally preferred timing of social events such as marriage, parenthood, and retirement

Social identity

the "we" aspect of our self-concept; the part of our answer to "Who am I?" that comes from our group memberships

Social learning theory

the theory that we learn social behavior by observing and imitating and by being rewarded or punished; Albert Bandura and the Bobo Doll experiment - termed this concept

Stranger anxiety

the fear of strangers that infants commonly display, beginning by about 8 months of age

Symbolic thought

The ability to use words, images, and symbols to represent the world.

Temperament

a person's characteristic emotional reactivity and intensity; ex: restless and fidgety, quiet and easygoing?

Teratogens

Agents that damage the process of development, such as drugs and viruses

Testosterone

the most important of the male sex hormones. Both males and females have it, but the additional testosterone in males stimulates the growth of the male sex organs in the fetus and the development of the male sex characteristics during puberty

The Strange Situation

Ainsworth's method for assessing infant attachment to the mother, based on a series of brief separations and reunions with the mother in a playoom situation

Theory of Mind

people's ideas about their own and others' mental states—about their feelings, perceptions, and thoughts, and the behaviors these might predict.

Transgender

an umbrella term describing people whose gender identity or expression differs from that associated with their birth sex

Zone of proximal development

In Vygotsky's theory, the range between children's present level of knowledge and their potential knowledge state if they receive proper guidance and instruction; what a child can do with help (training wheels on a bike)

Zygote

the fertilized egg; it enters a 2-week period of rapid cell division and develops into an embryo

Erikson's stages of psychosocial development

1. trust vs. mistrust

2. autonomy vs. shame and doubt

3. initiative vs. guilt

4. industry vs. inferiority

5. identity vs. role confusion

6. intimacy vs. isolation

7. generativity vs. stagnation

8. integrity vs. despair

Kohlberg's Theory of Moral Development

Moral development takes place in stages and awareness of other people increases at each stage

Preconventional, conventional, postconventional

Piaget's stages of cognitive development

1. sensorimotor

2. preoperational

3. concrete operational

4. formal operational