AP PSYCH UNIT 3 - Development and Learning

Infancy

The earliest period of postnatal life, from birth to about one year old.

Rooting Reflex

Automatic and unlearned response of a newborn; they turn in suck in the direction of a stimulus applied to the cheek or corner of the mouth.

Maturation

Naturally occurring time-related changes.

Developmental Milestones

Indicates that the individual is on track physically and psychologically.

Fine Motor Coordination

Coordination of small muscles to control precise movements such as handwriting, drawing, and cutting.

Gross Motor Coordination

Activities or skills that require large muscles to move include walking, hopping, and running.

Visual Cliff

Apparatus to test depth perception; reluctance to crawl to the mother indicates depth perception.

Jean Piaget's Stages of Cognitive Development

Includes Sensorimotor, Preoperational, Concrete Operational, and Formal Operational stages.

Sensorimotor Stage

Birth to 2-years-old; newborn capabilities of basic reflexes such as sucking and more complex repetitive behavior.

Object Permanence

The ability to understand that objects continue to exist even when not perceived.

Preoperational Stage

Ages 2-6; children show little awareness of the perspective of others, and language and number systems develop.

Pretend Play

Make-believe fantasy play in which children take on the roles of those they know.

Egocentrism

Believing that others see, feel, and understand from the same view of oneself.

Concrete Operational Stage

Ages 7-11; more logical and conceptual thinking develops with a move away from egocentric thinking.

Conservation

The understanding that something does not change even when its physical appearance changes.

Formal Operational Stage

Ages 12-Adulthood; abstract logical and moral reasoning develops.

Abstract Logic

The ability to understand concepts that can't be touched, seen, or experienced.

Lev Vygotsky's Sociocultural Theory

Children observe their environment, culture, and native languages and incorporate them into their identities.

Zone of Proximal Development

The difference between a child's attainment level when working alone versus working with an older, more experienced partner.

Crystallized Intelligence

Knowledge of vocabulary and general information that stabilizes or increases during adulthood.

Fluid Intelligence

Dealing with novel tasks; speed decreases with aging.

Dementia

Deterioration of memory and other cognitive functions.

Nature vs. Nurture

The debate about the extent to which genetically inherited characteristics or environmental factors determine an individual's characteristics.

Stability vs. Change

Debate about the extent to which an individual's traits and characteristics remain constant or change throughout life.

Cross-Sectional Method

Comparing people/groups of different ages at one point in time.

Longitudinal Method

Comparing the same people over time.

Prenatal Development

Development before birth.

Teratogens

An agent that produces abnormalities, such as Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.

Critical Period

An early stage in life when an individual is open to learning, language development, emotional and social experiences.

Imprinting

Some non-human animals attach to and follow the first moving object they encounter as a survival mechanism.

Adolescence

A period of development that lasts from puberty and ends with physiological maturity.

Menarche

The first incidence of menstruation in females marks the beginning of puberty.

Spermarche

A male's first ejaculation of semen.

Menopause

A biological stage of life in women when reproductive capacity decreases and stops due to changes in levels of estrogen and progesterone.

Peer Relationships

Interactions with individuals who share characteristics such as age, sex, occupation, or social group.

Parallel Play

Children interact with peers by playing next to each other with similar objects but on their own.

Pretend Play

Children play make-believe and act out distinct roles such as mother, father, doctor, etc.

Imaginary Audience

The belief of adolescents that others are constantly focusing watching them with a critical eye about their appearance and behavior.

Personal Fable

Adolescents' beliefs about their uniqueness and invulnerability.

Adulthood

Culture helps determine when adulthood begins.

Emerging Adulthood

Age 18-25. It is not adolescence and not yet full adulthood.

Social Clock

The set of norms within a culture about the ages at which life events should occur, such as school, marriage, having children and retiring.

Stages of Psychosocial Development

Infancy (birth to 1), Toddlerhood (1-2), Preschooler (3-5), Elementary (6-puberty), Adolescence (teen-20s), Young Adulthood (20-40), Middle Adulthood (40-60), Late Adulthood (60 and up).

Trust vs. Mistrust

Needs are dependably met or not.

Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt

Learn to do things on their own or doubt their abilities.

Initiative vs. Guilt

Initiate and carry out tasks independently or feel guilty about one's inability to do so.

Industry vs. Inferiority

Learn the pleasure of doing tasks or feeling inferior.

Identity vs. Role Confusion

Testing roles and identities and developing a sense of self or becoming confused about who they are.

Intimacy vs. Isolation

Gain the capacity for intimate love or feel socially isolated.

Generativity vs. Stagnation

Sense of contributions to the world or lack of purpose.

Integrity vs. Despair

Period of reflection when one feels satisfied or a sense of failure.

Microsystem

People who have direct contact with an individual, such as their peers, parents, and teachers.

Mesosystem

Interactions between the individual's microsystems.

Exosystem

Societal structures that do not directly interact with the individual, but may still affect them such as the government.

Macrosystem

The larger society and components of it such as language and values.

Chronosystem

Continuity and changes over time.

Parenting Styles

Parents' interactions with children on dimensions of emotionally warm vs. cold and high control vs. low control.

Authoritarian Parenting

Stresses obedience, little to no collaboration, strong punishment.

Permissive Parenting

Makes few demands and avoids exercising control and punishment.

Authoritative Parenting

Encourages autonomy but still places limitations. Discusses punishments and reasons for discipline and allows exceptions.

Adolescent Identity Formation

Who are you?

Achievement

Identity exploration and eventual commitment.

Diffusion

Emerging from adolescence with an uncertain view of oneself.

Foreclosure

Committing to an identity before one is ready because the individual accepts the expectations that others have of them.

Moratorium

In discovering who one is, the adolescent separates from the family and tries different roles.

Temperament

Biologically determined aspects of personality such as energy level, demeanor, mood, and emotional responsiveness.

Shaping

A method of operant conditioning where responses roughly approximating the behavior are reinforced.

Instinctive Drift

Animal research demonstrates that some behaviors learned through operant conditioning eventually return to an innate behavior.

Superstitious Behavior

Accidental reinforcement that leads to a belief that certain behaviors can influence outcomes.

Learned Helplessness

Repeated exposure to uncontrollable stressors causes individuals not to attempt control even when options become available.

Continuous Reinforcement

Reinforcement every time the behavior occurs.

Partial or Intermittent Reinforcement

Only some responses are reinforced.

Observational Learning

Acquiring new skills, information, or behavior by watching others.

Bobo Doll Experiment

Children who watched an adult's violent behavior toward the doll were more likely to imitate the behavior.

Modeling

One or more people serve as examples and demonstrate appropriate behavior.

Vicarious Reinforcement

A person becomes more likely to do a behavior because they see other people being reinforced for it.

Latent Learning

Learning acquired without conscious effort or reinforcement is only later realized when needed.

Insight Learning

When the solution to a problem occurs suddenly.

Fixed-Ratio (FR)

Reinforcement after a fixed number of responses.

Fixed-Interval (FI)

Reinforcement after a fixed period of time elapsed.

Variable-Ratio (VR)

Reinforcement after a random number of responses.

Variable-Interval (VI)

Reinforcement after a random amount of time elapsed.

Skinner Box

An apparatus made by B.F. Skinner used to test the schedules of reinforcement.

Nature vs. Nurture

The debate about the extent to which genetically inherited characteristics or environmental factors determine an individual's characteristics.

Stability vs. Change

Debate about the extent to which an individual's traits and characteristics remain constant or change throughout life.

Continuous vs. Discontinuous Stages of Development

Debate about development as a gradual and continuous process, or with distinct stages.

Cross-Sectional Method

Comparing people/groups of different ages at one point in time.

Longitudinal Method

Comparing the same people over time.

Prenatal Development

Development before birth.

Teratogens

An agent that produces abnormalities, e.g., Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.

Law of Effect

Behavioral change occurs as a response to the consequences of the behavior.

Positive Reinforcement

Add something pleasant to increase a behavior.

Negative Reinforcement

Subtract something unpleasant to increase a behavior.

Positive Punishment

Add something unpleasant to decrease a behavior.

Negative Punishment

Subtracts something pleasant to decrease a behavior.

Primary Reinforcers

They increase the chance of a behavior occurring again without needing special experience or knowledge of the stimulus.

Secondary Reinforcers

A previously neutral stimulus acquires the ability to influence the future probability of a behavior because it is associated with a primary reinforcer.

Nature vs. Nurture

The debate about the extent to which genetically inherited characteristics (nature) or environmental factors (nurture) determine an individual's characteristics.

Stability vs. Change

The debate about the extent to which an individual's traits and characteristics remain constant or change throughout life.

Continuous vs. Discontinuous Stages of Development

The debate about development as a gradual and continuous process, or with distinct stages.