Unit 3 Experience 1: Individual & Personality Development 2026

Abilities

Skills one has developed; things one does well

Aptitude

A natural born capacity to do something without trying too much

Behaviorism

John Watson- the science that focuses on observable behavior only; we are a product of learned behaviors

Birth order

the order in which children are born in a family; some believe this has an effect on personality development

Feral children

Individuals who were not raised with human contact or care; severe neglect and lack of nurture and socialization

Genie the Wild Child

Isolated, neglected and abused until age 10-13, no language, never fully developed fully fluent language because she missed the critical period

Sigmund Freud

Austrian neurologist known for his work on personality development and the unconscious mind; Father of psychoanalysis.

Id

The id operates on the pleasure principle, demanding immediate gratification; the basic human drive and instincts for survival (food, water, shelter, procreation)

Ego

the balance between the id and superego; the ego is the conscious YOU, in the moment making a decision

Superego

the internalization of cultural rules, laws, norms, and values that are used as a moral compass to help make the right decision

Heredity

the passing on of physical or mental characteristics genetically from one generation to another.

Identity

our sense of self; who we see ourselves as

instinct

a complex, unlearned behavior that is rigidly patterned throughout a species

Institutionalization

the action of confining someone to an institution or making someone a part of a system with new rules and norms

Extreme Isolation

when a child is completely separated from society and cannot or has not learned basic life skills

Nature v Nurture

Genetics v Environment; Bio v Enviro

Personality

an individual's characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting

Socialization

the process by which individuals internalize the values, beliefs, and norms of a given society and learn to function as members of that society