Ap psych test review

developmental psychology

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

zygote

the fertilized egg: enters a two week period of rapid cell division and develops into embryo

embryo

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

fetus

developing human organism from a week after conception to birth

teratogens

agents such as chemicals, viruses, that can reach embryo or fetus during prenatal development and cause harm

fetus alcohol syndrome

psychical and cognitive abnormalities in children caused by a pregnant women’s heavy drinking

habituation

decreasing responsiveness with repeated exposure to stimulus

maturation

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

puberty

the period of secual maturation during which a person becomes capable of reproducing

menopause

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

cognition

all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating

schemas

concept of framework that organizes and interprets information

assimilate

interpreting our new experiences in terms of existing schemas

accommodate

adapting our current understanding (schemas) to incorporate new information

sensorimotor stage

in piaget’s theory ( from birth to nearly 2 years of age) during which infants know the world mostly in terms of their sensory impressions and motor activities

object permanence

the awareness that things continue to exist even when not perceived

preoperational stage

in piaget’s theory, the stage (2 to & or 7 years of age) during which a child learns to use language but does not yet comprehend the mental operations of concrete logic

conservation

the principle ( which piaget believed to be a part of concrete operational reasoning) that properties such as mass, volume, and number remain the same despite changes in the forms of objects

egocentric

in piaget’s theory, the preoperational child’s difficulty taking another’s point of view

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

concrete operational

in piaget’s theory the stage of cognitive development (7 to 11 years of age) during which children gain the mental operations that enable them to think logically about concrete events

formal operation

in piaget’s theory the stage of cognitive development (12 years) during which people begin to think logically about abstract concepts

scaffold

framework that offers children temporarily support as they develop high levels of thinking

neurocognitive disorders

acquired disorders marked by cognitive deficits; often related to alzhemier’s disease, brain injury, disease, substance abuse. older adults = dementia

alzheimer’s disease

neurocognitive disorder marked by neural plaques often with onset after age 80 and entailing a progressive decline in memory and other cognitive abilities

stranger anxiety

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

attachment

emotional tie with another person

critical period

an optimal period early in the life of an organism when exposure to certain stimuli or experiences produces normal development

imprinting

the process by which certain animals form strong attachments during early life

strange situation

procedure for studying child caregiver attachment; a child is placed in an unfamiliar environment while their caregiver leaves and then returns, and the child’s reactions are observed

secure attachment

demonstrated by infants who comfortably explore experiments in the presence of their caregiver leaves, and find comfort in the caregiver’s return

insecure attachment

demonstrated by infants who display either a clinging, anxious attachment or an avoidant attachment that resists closeness

temperament

a person’s characteristic emotional reactivity and intensity

basic trust

according to erik erikson, a sense that the world is predictable and trustworthy; said it to be formed during infancy by appropriate experiences with responsive caregivers

self concept

all of our thoughts and feelings about ourselves in answer to the question, “who am i?”

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

social identity

the “we” aspect of our self concept; the part of our answer to “who am i?” that comes from our group membership

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

social clock

the culturally preferred timing of social events

sex

in psych, the biologically influences characteristics by which people define male and female

gender

in psych, the socially influenced characteristics by which people define boy, girl, man, women

aggression

any physical or verbal behavior intended to harm someone physically or emotionally

relational aggression

an act of aggression intended to harm a person’s relationship or social standing

roles

set of expectations (norms) about a social position, defining now those in the position ought to behave

gender roles

set of expected behaviors, attitudes, traits for males and females

gender identity

our sense of being male, female, or some combination of the two

social learning theory

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

gender typing

the acquisition of a traditional masculine or feminine role

androgyny

displaying both traditional masculine and feminine psychological characteristics

transgender

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

learning

process of acquiring through experience new and relatively enduring information or behaviors

habituates

decreasing responsiveness with repeated to a stimulus

associative learning

learning that certain events occur together

stimulus

any event or situation that evokes a response

respondent behavior

behavior that occurs as an automatic response to some stimulus

operant behavior

behavior that operates on the environment, producing consequences

cognitive learning

acquisition of mental information, whether by observing events, by watch others, or through language

classical conditioning

type of learning in which we link two or more stimuli; as a result, to illustrate with Pavlov’s classical experiment, the first stimulus comes to elicit behavior in anticipation of the second stimulus

behaviorism

psychology should be an objective science that studies behavior without reference to mental processes

neutral stimuli

classical conditioning, a stimulus that elicits no response before conditioning

unconditioned response

in classical conditioning, an unlearned naturally occurring response to an unconditioned stimulus

unconditioned stimulus

in classical conditioning, a stimulus that unconditionally, naturally and automatically, triggers and unconditioned response

conditioned response

in classical conditioning, a learned response to previously neutral but now conditioned stimulus

conditioned stimulus

in classical conditioning, an originally neutral stimulus that after association with an unconditioned stimulus, comes to trigger a conditioned response

acquisition

in classical conditioning, initial state when one links a neutral stimulus begins triggering the conditioned response

higher order conditioning

procedure in which the conditioned stimulus in one conditioning experience is paired with a new neutral stimulus, creating a second conditioned stimulus

extinction

diminishing of a conditioned response, when an unconditioned stimulus, occurs in operant conditioning when a response is no longer reinforced

spontaneous recovery

the reappearance after a pause of an extinguished conditioned response

generalization

tendency, once a response has been conditioned for stimuli similar to the conditioned stimulus to elicit similar responses

discrimination

learned ability to distinguish between a conditioned stimulus and similar stimuli that do not signal an unconditioned stimulus

law of effect

Throndike’s principle that behaviors followed by favorable consequences become more likely and that behaviors followed by unfavorable consequences become less likely

operant conditioning

type of learning in which a behavior becomes more likely to recur if followed by a punishment

operant chamber

a chamber containing a bar or key that an animal can manipulate to obtain a food or water reinforcer; attached devices record the animals rate of bar pressing ore key pecking

reinforcement

in operant conditioning, any event that strengthens the behavior it follows

shaping

operant conditioning procedure in which reinforcers guide behavior toward closer and closer approximations of the desired behavior

discriminative stimulus

stimulus that elicits a response after association with reinforcement

positive reinforcement

increasing behavior by presenting positive reinforcers

negative reinforcers

increasing behavior by stopping or reducing aversive stimuli

primary reinforcers

an innately reinforcing stimulus, such as one that satisfies a biological need

conditioned reinforcers

stimulus that gains its reinforcing power through its association with a primary reinforcer

reinforcement schedules

pattern that defines how often a desired response will be reinforced

continuous reinforcement

reinforcing the desired response every time it occurs

partial reinforcement schedules

reinforcing a response only part of the time; results in slower acquisition of a response but much greater resistance to extinction than does continuous reinforcement

fixed ratio schedules

in operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response only after a specified number of responses

variable ratio schedules

in operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response after an unpredictable number of responses

fixed interval schedules

in operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response only after a specified time has elapsed

variable interval schedules

in operant conditioning, a reinforcement schedule that reinforces a response at unpredictable time intervals

punishment

event that tends to decrease the behavior that it follows

biofeedback

system for electronically recording, amplifying, and feeding back information regarding a subtle physiological state

preparedness

biological predisposition to learn associations

instinctive drift

the tendency of learned behavior to gradually revert to biologically predisposed patterns

cognitive map

mental representation of the layout of one’s environment

latent learning

learning that occurs but is not apparent until there is an incentive to demonstrate it

insight

sudden realization of a problem’s solution; contrasts with strategy based solutions

intrinsic motivation

desire to perform a behavior effectively for its own sake

extrinsic motivation

desire to perform a behavior to receive promised reward or avoid threatened punishment

problem focused coping

attempting to alleviate stress directly, by changing the stressor or the way we interact with that stressor

emotion focused copying

attempting to alleviate stress by avoiding or ignoring a stressor and attending to emotional needs related to our stress reaction

learned helpness

the hopelessness and passive resignation an animal or person learns when unable to avoid repeated aversive events