Unit 3: Development & Learning

Behavioral Perspective

Emphasizes learning and behavior in explaining thoughts, feelings, and actions.

Associative Learning

Making connections between events to learn.

Habituation

Becoming less responsive to a repeated stimulus.

Classical Conditioning

Pairing two stimuli to elicit a response.

Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS)

Naturally triggers a response without learning.

Conditioned Stimulus (CS)

Initially neutral, triggers a conditioned response.

Acquisition

Initial learning stage where a response is established.

Extinction

Diminishing of a conditioned response.

Spontaneous Recovery

Reappearance of an extinguished response after a pause.

Stimulus Discrimination

Ability to differentiate between stimuli.

Stimulus Generalization

Conditioned stimulus evokes similar responses.

Higher-Order Conditioning

Pairing a conditioned stimulus with a new one.

Counterconditioning

Uses conditioning to change responses to triggers.

Taste Aversion

Avoidance of food associated with discomfort.

One-Trial Conditioning

Learning with only one pairing of stimulus and response.

Biological Preparedness

Inclination to form associations between stimuli and responses.

Operant Conditioning

Learning through rewards and punishments.

The Law of Effect

Behaviors with favorable consequences are repeated.

Reinforcement

Strengthens behavior it follows.

Primary Reinforcers

Innately reinforcing stimuli satisfying biological needs.

Secondary Reinforcers

Gains reinforcing power through association.

Punishment

Event decreasing behavior it follows.

Shaping

Positive reinforcement of behavior patterns.

Instinctive Drift

Tendency to revert to instinctive behaviors.

Fine Motor Coordination

The ability to make small, precise movements, typically involving the coordination of the hands and fingers with the eyes.

Gross Motor Coordination

The ability to make large, general movements, such as crawling and walking.

Maturation

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

Reflexes

Automatic responses to sensory stimuli, like grasping a finger tightly with the hands.

Rooting Reflex

A baby's tendency, when touched on the cheek, to turn toward the touch, open the mouth, and search for the nipple.

Visual Cliff

A laboratory device for testing depth perception in infants and young animals.

Critical Periods

Specific time periods during which an organism must experience stimuli in order to develop normally.

Sensitive Periods

Times in development when a person is particularly open to certain kinds of experiences.

Imprinting

The process by which certain animals form strong attachments during early life.

Growth Spurt

A rapid increase in growth during puberty.

Puberty

The period of sexual maturation, during which a person becomes capable of reproducing.

Primary Sex Characteristics

The body structures (ovaries, testes, and external genitalia) that make sexual reproduction possible.

Secondary Sex Characteristics

Nonreproductive sexual traits, such as female breasts and hips, male voice quality, and body hair.

Menarche

The first menstrual period.

Spermarche

The first ejaculation.

Menopause

The time of natural cessation of menstruation; also refers to the biological changes a woman experiences as her ability to reproduce declines.

Sex

The biologically influenced characteristics by which people define males and females.

Gender

The socially influenced characteristics by which people define men and women.

Socialization

The process by which people learn the norms, rules, and information of a culture or society.

Jean Piaget

A psychologist known for his study of cognitive development in children.

Sensorimotor Stage

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

The second stage in Piaget's theory, from about 2 to 7 years of age, during which a child learns to use language but does not yet comprehend the mental operations of concrete logic.

Mental Symbols

Internal depictions of information that the mind can manipulate.

Chronosystem

In Bronfenbrenner's theory, this system encompasses changes over time in child development.

Authoritarian Parenting

A parenting style characterized by high demands and low responsiveness. Parents with this style have very high expectations of their children, yet provide very little in the way of feedback and nurturance.

Authoritative Parenting

A parenting style characterized by high demands and high responsiveness. Parents with this style set limits and enforce rules but also listen to their children.

Permissive Parenting

A parenting style characterized by low demands with high responsiveness. These parents tend to be very loving, yet provide few guidelines and rules.

Attachment Styles

Patterns of attachment, defined by different ways of interacting and behaving in relationships.

Secure Attachment

An attachment style characterized by trust, a lack of concern with being abandoned, and the view that one is worthy and well liked.

Insecure Attachment

Attachment styles characterized by fear of abandonment and the feeling that one's needs might not be met.

Avoidant Attachment

An attachment style characterized by difficulty in learning to trust others.

Anxious Attachment

An attachment style where individuals are often anxious about the stability of their relationships.

Disorganized Attachment

An attachment style characterized by a lack of clear attachment behavior.

Temperament

A person's characteristic emotional reactivity and intensity.

Separation Anxiety

Emotional distress seen in many infants when they are separated from people with whom they have formed an attachment.

Contact Comfort

The physical and emotional comfort that an infant receives from being in physical contact with its mother.

Parallel Play

Activity in which children play side by side without interacting.

Pretend Play

Play involving imaginary people and situations; also called fantasy play, dramatic play, or imaginative play.

Egocentrism

The inability to differentiate between self and other. More specifically, it is the inability to understand that others have different feelings, desires, and perspectives from one's own.

Imaginary Audience

A concept in adolescent psychology where an individual believes that his or her behavior is the main focus of others' attention and concern.

Personal Fable

An adolescent's belief that they are unique and protected from harm.

Social Clock

The culturally preferred timing of social events such as marriage, parenthood, and retirement.

Emerging Adulthood

A phase of the life span between adolescence and full-fledged adulthood which encompasses late adolescence and early adulthood, generally ages 18 to 25.

Stage Theory of Psychosocial Development (Erikson)

Erik Erikson's theory that identifies eight stages through which a healthily developing human should pass from infancy to late adulthood.

Trust vs. Mistrust

The first stage of Erik Erikson's theory of psychosocial development. This stage occurs between birth and approximately 18 months of age. During this stage, the infant learns if they can trust the world to fulfill their needs.

Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt

The second stage of Erik Erikson's stages of psychosocial development. This stage occurs between the ages of 18 months to approximately 3 years. The child learns to be independent and confident or experiences shame and doubt about their abilities.

Initiative vs. Guilt

The third stage of Erik Erikson's stages of psychosocial development. This stage occurs during the preschool years, between the ages of 3 to 5 years. Children begin to assert control and power over their environment.

Industry vs. Inferiority

The fourth stage of Erik Erikson's stages of psychosocial development. This stage occurs between the ages of 5 and 12 years. Children learn to cope with new social and academic demands, success leads to a sense of competence, while failure results in feelings of inferiority.

Identity vs. Role Confusion

The fifth stage of Erik Erikson's stages of psychosocial development. This stage occurs during adolescence, from about 12-18 years. During this stage, adolescents explore their independence and develop a sense of self.

Intimacy vs. Isolation

The sixth stage of Erik Erikson's theory of psychosocial development. This stage occurs during young adulthood between the ages of approximately 19 and 40 years. Young adults need to form intimate, loving relationships with other people.

Generativity vs. Stagnation

The seventh stage of Erik Erikson's theory of psychosocial development. This stage takes place during middle adulthood between the ages of approximately 40 and 65. Individuals establish careers, settle down within relationships, begin families, and develop a sense of being a part of the bigger picture.

Integrity vs. Despair

The eighth and final stage of Erik Erikson's stages of psychosocial development. This stage occurs during old age and is focused on reflecting back on life.

Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)

Potentially traumatic events that occur in childhood (0-17 years), such as experiencing violence, abuse, or neglect, witnessing violence in the home or community, and having a family member attempt or die by suicide.

Achievement (adolescent development)

In the context of identity development, this term refers to the successful integration of various aspects of self-concept, based on explorations of roles, values, and beliefs.

Diffusion (adolescent development)

A status of identity development where an individual has not yet experienced a crisis or made any commitments. They are undecided and uninterested in occupational and ideological choices.

Foreclosure (adolescent development)

A status of identity development where an individual has made a commitment without experiencing a crisis. This occurs when people commit to roles or values without exploring alternatives.

Moratorium (adolescent development)

A status of identity development where an individual is in the midst of a crisis but whose commitments are either absent or are only vaguely defined.

Racial/Ethnic Identity

An individual's awareness and experience of being a member of a racial or ethnic group, including the degree to which one's cultural, historical, and social aspects of identity are embraced.

Sexual Orientation

An inherent or immutable enduring emotional, romantic, or sexual attraction to other people.

Religious Identity

An individual's sense of belonging to a religious group, along with the importance of this group membership as it pertains to one's sense of self.

Occupational Identity

How a person identifies themselves based on their job or career choices and how they feel those roles impact their personal identity.

Familial Identity

The part of an individual's identity that is formed by the relationships they have with their family members.

Possible Selves

The aspect of oneself that includes all the ideas of what one might become, what one hopes to become, and what one is afraid of becoming.