AP psych unit 3 pt1

Developmental Psychology

The study of continuity and change across the life span.

Longitudinal Study

A study that observes the same participants on many occasions over a long period of time.

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

Physical and cognitive abnormalities in children caused by a pregnant woman's heavy drinking. In severe cases, symptoms include noticeable facial misproportions.

Maturation

Development that reflects the gradual unfolding of one's genetic blueprint.

Cross-sectional Study

A research method that compares individuals of different ages at a single point in time.

Teratogens

Substances that can cause malformations or developmental issues in a fetus.

Habituation

A decrease in response to a stimulus after repeated presentations.

Critical Period

A specific time frame during development when certain skills or abilities are most easily acquired.

Adolescence

The transitional stage of development between childhood and adulthood.

Menopause

The time in a woman's life when menstrual cycles permanently cease, typically occurring in middle age.

Puberty

The period during which adolescents reach sexual maturity and become capable of reproduction.

Sex

The biological classification of individuals as male or female based on physical characteristics.

Intersex

A condition in which an individual is born with reproductive or sexual anatomy that doesn't fit typical definitions.

Gender

The social and cultural roles, behaviors, and identities that society considers appropriate for men and women.

Aggression

Behavior intended to harm another individual physically or psychologically.

Relational Aggression

A type of aggression that harms others through manipulation of relationships.

Carol Gilligan

A psychologist known for her work on gender differences in moral development.

Y chromosome

The sex chromosome typically found in males, determining male biological characteristics.

X chromosome

The sex chromosome typically found in females, but also present in males.

Testosterone

A hormone that plays a key role in the development of male physical characteristics.

Primary Sex Characteristics

The physical features directly involved in reproduction.

Spermarche

The beginning of sperm production in males during puberty.

Estrogens

A group of hormones that play a key role in the development of female sexual characteristics.

Secondary Sex Characteristics

Features that develop during puberty but are not directly involved in reproduction.

Menarche

The first occurrence of menstruation in females.

Gender Role

The expected behaviors and attitudes that society considers appropriate for men and women.

Role

A set of expectations about how people in a given social position should behave.

Sexual Aggression

Aggressive behavior that is sexual in nature, often involving coercion or force.

Gender Identity

An individual's personal sense of their own gender, which may or may not correspond with their biological sex.

Gender Typing

The process by which a child becomes aware of their gender and behaves accordingly.

Social Learning Theory

A theory that suggests behavior is learned through observing and imitating others.

Androgyny

A gender role that includes both masculine and feminine traits.

Asexual

A sexual orientation characterized by a lack of sexual attraction to others.

Sexuality

The capacity for sexual feelings and the expression of sexual orientation.

Alfred Kinsey

A biologist and sexologist known for his research on human sexuality.

Alice Eagly

A social psychologist known for her work on gender roles and stereotypes.

Social Script

A set of expectations about how to behave in a given social situation.

Sexual Orientation

A person's emotional, romantic, or sexual attraction to others.

Jean Piaget

A developmental psychologist known for his theory of cognitive development in children.

Cognition

The mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought.

Assimilation

The process of integrating new information into existing cognitive schemas.

Schema

A cognitive framework that helps organize and interpret information.

Accommodation

The process of altering existing schemas or creating new ones in response to new information.

Sensorimotor Stage

The first stage in Piaget's theory of cognitive development, occurring from birth to about 2 years.

Object Permanence

The understanding that objects continue to exist even when they cannot be seen.

Preoperational Stage

The second stage in Piaget's theory, occurring from about 2 to 7 years, characterized by symbolic thinking.

Egocentrism

The inability to differentiate between one's own perspective and that of others.

Conservation

The understanding that quantity remains the same despite changes in shape or appearance.

Concrete Operational Stage

The third stage in Piaget's theory, occurring from about 7 to 11 years, characterized by logical thinking about concrete events.

Lev Vygotsky

A psychologist known for his sociocultural theory of cognitive development.

Theory of Mind

The ability to understand that others have thoughts, beliefs, and perspectives different from one's own.

Formal Operational Stage

The fourth stage in Piaget's theory, beginning around age 12, characterized by abstract and logical thinking.

Scaffold

Support provided to help a learner accomplish a task that they cannot complete independently.

Language

A system of communication that uses symbols, sounds, and gestures to convey meaning.

Phoneme

The smallest unit of sound in a language that can distinguish meaning.

Noam Chomsky

A linguist known for his theory of universal grammar and the innate aspects of language acquisition.

Morpheme

The smallest grammatical unit in a language, which can be a word or a part of a word.

Universal Grammar

The theory that the ability to acquire language is innate to humans and that all languages share a common structure.

Grammar

The set of rules that govern the structure of sentences in a language.

Babbling Stage

The stage in language development where infants produce repetitive consonant-vowel combinations.

Two-word Stage

A stage in language development where children begin to use two-word combinations to convey meaning.

Aphasia

A language disorder that affects a person's ability to communicate.

One-word Stage

The stage in language development where infants use single words to express whole ideas.

Telegraphic Speech

Early speech stage in which a child speaks like a telegram, using mostly nouns and verbs.

Paul Broca

A physician known for his research on language production and the area of the brain associated with it.

Broca's Area

A region in the frontal lobe of the brain associated with speech production.

Wernicke's Area

A region in the brain associated with language comprehension.

Carl Wernicke

A neurologist known for his research on language comprehension and the area of the brain associated with it.

Linguistic Determinism

The theory that language shapes and limits human thought.

Benjamin Lee Whorf

A linguist known for his hypothesis that language influences thought and perception.

Ecological Systems Theory

A theory that emphasizes the importance of environmental factors in human development.

Linguistic Relativism