UNIT 3 - Development and Learning Pillar

Cross-sectional study

Study on people of different ages at the same point in time.

Longitudinal study

Study done on the same people over time.

Teratogens

External agents that can cause prenatal development issues (e.g., alcohol, drugs).

Maturation

Natural course of development that occurs regardless of external factors (e.g., walking).

Gross movement

Movement involving large muscles, strength, and coordination.

Fine movement

Movement involving small muscles, precision, and control.

Reflexes

Innate responses we are born with that diminish over time.

Visual cliff

A test used to assess depth perception in babies.

Critical period

A specific time frame during which certain developments must occur or they can never happen.

Imprinting

The process by which birds recognize the first moving object they see as their caregiver after hatching.

Primary sex characteristics

Biological changes related to reproduction, such as menarche (first period) and spermarche (first release of sperm).

Secondary sex characteristics

Non-reproductive physical traits that emerge during puberty (e.g., breasts, facial hair).

Sensorimotor stage

The developmental stage from birth to 2 years, characterized by exploration and lack of object permanence.

Pre-operational stage

The developmental stage from 2 to 7 years, noted for pretend play and egocentrism, but lacking conservation and reversibility. Also believe in animism (objects have feelings).

Concrete operational stage

The developmental stage from 7 to 11 years, where logical thinking about concrete events develops.

Formal operational stage

The developmental stage from 11 to 15 years, involving abstract thinking and hypothetical reasoning.

Vygotsky’s theory

Cognitive development is heavily influenced by social interaction with others.

Phonemes

The smallest units of sound in a language (ex. ch sound in chat)

Morpheme

The smallest unit in a language that carries meaning.

Semantics

The set of rules by which we derive meaning from words and sentences (ex. adding -ed makes word past tense).

Syntax

The rules that govern the structure of sentences.

Cooing stage

The stage where infants produce vowel sounds.

Babbling stage

The stage where infants begin to create phonemes with consonants.

One-word stage

The stage where children use single words to communicate their wants.

Telegraphic speech

The two-word stage in language development used for more complex communication.

Overregularization

A grammatical error that children make by over-applying rules of language (e.g., using 'eated' instead of 'ate').

Temperament

An individual's characteristic emotional reactivity and intensity.

Secure attachment

A strong emotional bond characterized by distress when separated and joy when reunited.

Avoidant insecure attachment

A form of attachment where the child avoids the caregiver and shows little preference when she leaves or returns.

Anxious insecure attachment

A form of attachment where the child is very distressed when separated and anxious when together.

Disorganized insecure attachment

A form of attachment marked by confusion and fear, often associated with abuse.

Authoritarian parenting

A strict parenting style that results in children lacking initiative and having low self-esteem.

Permissive parenting

A lenient parenting style that allows children to have high self-esteem but struggle to follow rules.

Authoritative parenting

A balanced parenting style that promotes competence in children.

Parallel play

A type of play where children play beside each other without interacting.

Imaginary audience

The belief that others are constantly watching or paying attention to oneself.

Personal fable

The belief that one is unique and invincible.

Social clock

The societal expectations for when major life events should occur (e.g., marriage at certain age).

Generativity vs stagnation

A stage in adulthood (40s-60s) focusing on contributing to society versus feeling unproductive.

Integrity vs despair

A stage in later life (60s+) where one reflects on their life and either feels satisfied or regretful.

Diffusion

A state of no commitment or direction in identity formation.

Foreclosure

A premature commitment to identity without personal exploration (ex. becoming lawyer bc parents say so).

Moratorium

A period of exploration in identity formation without full commitment (ex. exploring different clubs at school).

Identity achievement

A committed sense of self following exploration of identity options.

Microsystem

The immediate environment impacting an individual, such as family and friends.

Mesosystem

The relationships between different microsystems, such as family and school.

Exosystem

The broader environment that impacts an individual indirectly (ex. parents work).

Macrosystem

The overarching cultural and societal influences.

Chronosystem

Major life changes (ex. moving, death of loved one).

Contiguity

The principle that the neutral stimulus must occur just before the unconditioned stimulus to form an association in classical conditioning.

Acquisition

The process of learning to associate a neutral stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus.

Extinction

The diminishing of a conditioned response when the unconditioned stimulus no longer follows the conditioned stimulus.

Spontaneous recovery

The re-emergence of a previously extinguished conditioned response after a delay.

Higher order conditioning

The process where a neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus by being paired with an already established conditioned stimulus. Elicits same conditioned response

Conditioned taste aversion

A learned aversion to a specific food associated with illness, can occur after one exposure.

Habituation

The decrease in response to a stimulus after repeated exposure (ex. friend regularly scares you at the same time each day, you don’t get scared as easily).

Emotional conditioning

Learning to associate an emotional response with a stimulus, as demonstrated in the Little Albert experiment.

Law of effect

The principle stating that behaviors followed by favorable outcomes are strengthened while those followed by unfavorable outcomes are weakened.

Shaping

Gradually reinforcing behaviors that bring one closer to the desired behavior.

Continuous reinforcement schedule

A schedule of reinforcement where every correct response is reinforced.

Partial reinforcement schedule

A schedule where only some responses are reinforced.

Fixed ratio schedule

A reinforcement schedule that rewards after a set number of responses (ex. get money after 10 burgers made)

Fixed interval schedule

A reinforcement schedule that rewards after a specified amount of time has passed (ex. get money after 2 weeks of work).

Variable ratio schedule

A reinforcement schedule where rewards are given after an unpredictable number of responses (ex. slot machine).

Variable interval schedule

A reinforcement schedule that reinforces after unpredictable time intervals (ex. bereal app).

Instinctive drift

The tendency for animals to revert to instinctive behaviors that interfere with learned behaviors.

Modeling behaviors

Learning behaviors through observation and imitation, as shown in the Bobo doll experiment.

Vicarious conditioning

Learning that occurs by observing the consequences of another person's behavior.

Latent learning

Learning that is not immediately reflected in behavior but is retained for future use.

Cognitive maps

Mental representations of physical locations.

Insight learning

A form of problem-solving characterized by a sudden realization of a solution (aha! moment).