AP Psych UNIT 3 VOCAB

Developmental Psychology

The study of how and why human beings change over the course of their life.

Cognitive Development

The progression of thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making abilities.

Social Development

The way individuals’ social relationships and social behavior evolve.

Maturation

The natural growth or development of an individual over time.

Stage Theories

Models of development that propose that individuals move through distinct stages.

Critical Period

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

Sensitive Period

A time in development when a person is particularly receptive to certain stimuli.

Nature vs. Nurture

The debate regarding the relative influence of genetics (nature) and environment (nurture) on behavior.

Attachment

A deep emotional bond that develops between a caregiver and a child.

Temperament

An individual's innate traits that influence how one thinks, behaves, and reacts.

Parenting Styles

The manner in which parents raise their children and the associated behaviors and attitudes.

Theory of Mind

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

Cross-Sectional Research

A study that compares individuals from different age groups at the same point in time.

Longitudinal Research

A study that follows the same group of individuals over an extended period.

Classical Conditioning

A learning process that occurs through associations between an environmental stimulus and a naturally occurring stimulus.

Operant Conditioning

A method of learning that employs rewards and punishments for behavior.

Conditioned Stimulus (CS)

A previously neutral stimulus that, through conditioning, elicits a conditioned response.

Unconditioned Stimulus (US)

A stimulus that naturally and automatically triggers a response.

Conditioned Response (CR)

The learned response to a previously neutral conditioned stimulus.

Unconditioned Response (UR)

The natural reaction to an unconditioned stimulus.

Reinforcement

A consequence that increases the likelihood of a behavior being repeated.

Punishment

A consequence that decreases the likelihood of a behavior being repeated.

Shaping

Gradually training behavior by rewarding successive approximations of the desired behavior.

Extinction

The diminishing of a conditioned response when it is no longer reinforced.

Generalization

The tendency to respond in the same way to different but similar stimuli.

Discrimination

The ability to distinguish between different stimuli, responding only to the original conditioned stimulus.

Observational Learning

Learning that occurs through observing the behavior of others.

Cognitive Learning

A learning approach that encompasses attention, memory, and reasoning.

Latent Learning

Learning that occurs without obvious reinforcement and is not immediately reflected in behavior.

Insight Learning

A sudden understanding or realization that often follows a period of contemplation.

Independent Variable (IV)

The variable that is manipulated in an experiment.

Dependent Variable (DV)

The variable that is measured in an experiment; it is affected by the independent variable.

Control Group

A group in an experiment that does not receive the experimental treatment and is used for comparison.

Experimental Group

The group in an experiment that receives the treatment being tested.

Confounding Variable

An outside influence that affects the outcome of an experiment.

Random Assignment

Assigning participants to experimental and control groups by chance to reduce bias.

Operational Definition

A clear, precise definition of a variable, stating how it will be measured.

Ethical Guidelines

Standards that govern the conduct of research to ensure the protection of participants.

Mean

The average value of a set of numbers, calculated by summing all values and dividing by the count.

Median

The middle value in a list of numbers when they are arranged in order.

Mode

The value that occurs most frequently in a data set.

Central Tendency

A statistical measure that identifies a single score as representative of an entire distribution.

Standard Deviation

A measure of how spread out numbers are in a data set.

Correlation

A statistical measure that indicates the extent to which two variables fluctuate together.

Informed Consent

The process of providing potential research participants with information about the study to allow for voluntary participation.

Parental Consent

Approval from a parent or guardian to allow a child to participate in research.

Deception

A method in research where participants are misled about the true nature of the study, often used to maintain the integrity of the experiment.

Debriefing

The process of informing participants about the nature of the study after its completion.

Lifespan Development

definition: refers to the study of how humans grow and change throughout their entire lives, from conception to death, encompassing physical, cognitive, and social-emotional development across different stages like infancy, childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and old age

ex) observing how a child learns to walk (physical development) during toddlerhood

Learning

a relatively permanent change in behavior, knowledge, or attitude acquired through experience, essentially meaning that a person's actions or responses are altered due to interactions with their environment, and this change tends to last over time.