AP Psych Test (topics 3.1-3.6)

Cross-sectional studies

compare people of different ages at the same time

Longitudinal studies

research that follows a cohort over a long period of time

Cohort

A group of people born during the same historical period

Nature vs. nurture debate

The debate over whether genetics (nature) or environment/experience (nurture) contributes more to development.

• key in developmental psych

Biological growth process

The orderly sequence of growth that is relatively uninfluenced by experience (e.g., standing before walking).

Neural network

During brain development, the connections between neurons grow wildly in early childhood

Childhood motor development

• Follows a universal sequence: Roll over → Sit up→ Crawl→ Walk

• sequence is the same, but timing differs per kid

• bladder/bowel control

Critical period

A specific time during development when certain internal or external influences have a major effect

• If language isn't learned by age 7, the window largely closes

Zygotes

• 0-2 weeks

fertilized egg cell from the union of a female gamete (egg) w/ a male gamete (sperm)

Embryo

• 2-8 weeks

• 10 days after conception, zygote’s outer cells become placenta and inner cells become embryo

Placenta

provides embryo with nutrients and teratogens

Teratogens

Harmful environmental agents (viruses, drugs, or chemicals) that can pass through the placenta and cause birth defects

Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS)

Physical and cognitive abnormalities in children caused by a pregnant woman's heavy drinking

Babinksi reflex

• a newborn skill

• When the sole of a baby's foot is stroked, the big toe bends back toward the top of the foot, and the other toes fan out

Habituation

• a newborn skill

• A decrease in responding with repeated stimulation → As infants gain familiarity with a visual stimulus, their interest wanes and they look away sooner

Puberty

The period of sexual maturation, during which a person becomes capable of reproducing

Pruning

The process where unused synaptic connections are lost and the used ones grow stronger

Emerging adulthood

18-20s

Menopause

The natural cessation of menstruation in middle age

Changes in men with aging

reduction of testosterone

X (female) and Y (male) chromosome

• X = mother

• Y = Father

Primary and secondary sex characteristics

• primary: reproductive organs (genitals)

• secondary: nonreproductive (breasts, hips, facial hair, deeper voice, pubic hair)

Gender role

a set of expectated behaviors, attitudes, and traist for men and women

Gender schemas

how we organize boy-girl characteristics as children

Gender typing

how we acquire a traditional male or female role (socialization from peers, etc.)

Gender identity

our personal sense of being male, female, niether or both regardless of our sex at birth

Transgender

umbrella term for people who identify differently from birth-assigned sex

Social learning theory

the theory that we learn social behavior by observing, imitating and being rewarded/punished

Sexuality

our thoughts, feelings, and actions related to our physical attraction to another

Asexual

having no sexual attraction towards others

Social script

a culturally modeled guid for how to act in various situations

Sexual orientation

a person’s sexual/ emotional attraction to another person and the behavior/ social affiliation that may result because of this

Scaffolding theory

focuses on a student's ability to learn information through the help of a more informed individual

Zone of proximal development

the distance between what a child can do alone and what they need help with

Schemas

a mental concept or blueprint that organizes info

• adjusted by accommodation and assimilation

Assimilation

incorporating new experiences into existing mental frameworks

Accom­modation

adapting our current schemas to incorporate new info

Sensorimotor stage (Piaget’s theory)

• 0-2 yrs

• child develops object permanence

• child begins to combine schemas to get results

Object permanence

awareness that things still exist even when they are out of sight

Preoperational stage (Piaget’s Theory)

• 2-7 yrs

• egocentrism

• lack a theory of mind

• lack understanding of conservation principles

Conservation

pouring small glass into big glass and them having the same volume

Egocentrism

cannot perceive things from another’s point of view

Theory of mind

inability to understand that others have beliefs, desires, etc. other than their own

Concrete operational stage (Piaget’s theory)

• 7-12 yrs

• can think logically; no abstract thinking/reasoning

• can understand simple analogies

• includes arithmetic transformations (2+2)

Formal operational stage

• age 12

• can use abstract reasoning/thinking

• includes allegorical thinking

• includes algebra

Neurocognitive disorder

• Dementia

• not normal

• confusion, forgetting

• emotional unpredictability

Alzheimer's disease

• type of NCD w/loss of brain cells

• acetylcholine decreases → memory decreases

Acetylcholine

memory neurotransmitter

Phoneme

the smalled distinctive sound unit in a language

Morpheme

the smallest unit that carries meaning

Grammar

a system of rules that enables us to communicate with and understand each other

Syntax

the structure and order of words

Semantics

the branch of linguistics that deals with the meanings of words and sentences

Receptive language

Ability to understand what is said (starts around 4 months)

Productive language

Ability to produce words

Babbling stage

• a period in a child's development (6-9 months old)

• they experiment with uttering articulate sounds but do not yet produce any recognizable words

One-word stage

the period in a child's life when they begin to use single words to convey meaning

Two-word stage

the period in a child's life (18-24 months old) when they start to use two-word sentences to communicate → telegraphic speech

Broca’s area

controls speaking/expression

Wernicke’s area

controls understanding/reception

Aphasia

Impairment of language

Telegraphic speech

condensed or abbreviated speech in which only the most central words, carrying the highest level of information, are spoken

Statistical learning

infants ability to detect patterns/syllables in language

Bilingual advantage

Increased word power and "executive control" in people who speak two languages.

Stranger anxiety

Fear of strangers (starts ~8 months)

Basic trust (first Erikson stage - see chart)

can i trust the world? - infancy

Imprinting

Rigid attachment process in some animals (e.g., ducks)

Secure attachment

Play comfortably in mother's presence, distressed when she leaves

Insecure attachment

Anxiety or avoidance of trusting relationships

Authoritarian

• parenting style

• Impose rules and expect obedience ("Because I said so").

Permissive

• parenting style

• Few demands, little punishment.

Authoritative

• parenting style

• Demanding and responsive (set rules but explain them).

Negligent

• parenting style

• Careless, inattentive, and do not seek a close relationship.

Stages of Adolescence

diffusion

foreclosure

moratorium

achievement

Erik Erikson’s Stages of Life (only need to know the stages that have asterisks)

eight stages that individuals go through from infancy to late adulthood, each involving a unique psychological conflict

trust versus mistrust

infant

• Is my world predictable/safe?

identify versus role confusion

Adolescence

• Who am I?

intimacy versus isolation

Young Adult

• Can I love and be loved?

generativ­ity versus stagnation

middle age

• Am I contributing to the world?

Bronfenbrenner's Ecological Systems Theory

A child’s environment is a nested structure that goes in order of how much of an impact they have on the kid

origins of same-sex orientation

• not willfully chosen/changed

• hypothalamus and various brain functions seem to play a role

• prenatal influences - exposure to excess testosterone

diffusion (stage of adolescence)

no clear commitment to identity

foreclosure (stage of adolescence)

premature commitment to an identiy with little exploring

moratorium (stage of adolescence)

active seeking of identity

achievement (stage of adolescence)

a committed sense of self and the desire for meaningful contribution to the world

adolescence brain development

The Limbic System (emotions) develops faster than the Frontal Lobe (judgment/control).

microsystem

immediate impace (parents,etc.)

mesosystem

interactions between different microsystems (ex. parent attends kids school play)

exosystem

social structures not directly in contact with child but still have influence (ex. local gov, parent’s workplace)

macrosystem

culture/society’s established expectations and social norms (ex. individualist vs. collectivist cultures)

chronosystem

major changes over the course of the child’s life (ex. moving, divorce, new inventions like iPad)