unit 2

ecological systems theory

A framework that explains how different environmental systems influence individual development, emphasizing the interactions between a person and their surroundings.

Authoritarian Parenting

is a parenting style characterized by high demands and low responsiveness, where parents enforce strict rules and expect obedience without providing much warmth or emotional support.

Permissive Parenting

is a parenting style marked by low demands and high responsiveness, where parents are lenient, indulgent, and may avoid setting firm boundaries.

Authoritative Parenting

is a parenting style that combines high demands with high responsiveness, where parents set clear rules and expectations while also being supportive and nurturing.

Temperment

refers to the innate characteristics that influence how individuals react to their environment, including their emotional responses, activity levels, and sociability.

Imprinting

is a rapid learning process occurring at a specific life stage, often seen in animals, where they form attachments and recognize caregivers or objects.

Contact Comfort

is the physical and emotional comfort derived from being in close physical contact with a caregiver, which is crucial for the development of attachment and security in infants.

Separation Anxiety

is the distress experienced by infants when separated from their primary caregiver, typically manifesting around six to eight months of age.

Attachment Styles

are the patterns of attachment behavior exhibited by individuals, often developed during early interactions with caregivers, influencing relationships throughout life.

Secure Attachment

is a strong emotional bond between an infant and their caregiver, characterized by the infant's ability to explore their environment while seeking comfort and reassurance from the caregiver.

Avoidant Attachment

is a pattern of attachment behavior where an infant shows little distress when separated from their caregiver and avoids contact upon reunion, often due to a caregiver's unresponsive or distant behavior.

Avoidant Attachment

is a style of attachment where individuals often have difficulty trusting others and may struggle with emotional intimacy in relationships.

Anxious Attachment

is a pattern of attachment characterized by excessive worry about the caregiver's availability and responsiveness, leading to clinginess and heightened distress upon separation.

Disorganized Attachment

is a style of attachment where infants display a lack of clear attachment behavior, often exhibiting confusion or apprehension towards their caregiver, typically as a result of inconsistent or frightening caregiving.

ACES

are Adverse Childhood Experiences that can negatively impact an individual's social-emotional development and overall well-being.

Social Clock

A cultural timetable that dictates the appropriate timing for life events such as marriage, parenthood, and career milestones. It influences individuals' perceptions of their life progress and societal expectations.

Emerging Adulthood

A developmental stage between adolescence and full adulthood, typically occurring from ages 18 to 25, characterized by exploration and identity formation.

Adolescent Egocentrism

A developmental phenomenon where adolescents are overly focused on themselves and believe that their experiences are unique, leading to difficulties in understanding others' perspectives.

Imaginary Audience

A psychological concept where adolescents believe they are the center of attention and that others are constantly observing and judging their behavior.

Personal Fable

A belief held by adolescents that their feelings and experiences are special and unique, leading them to think they are invincible or that no one else can truly understand them.

Possible Selves

Concept referring to the various identities or life paths that adolescents envision for themselves in the future, reflecting their hopes, fears, and aspirations.

Social Identity

The part of an individual's self-concept derived from their membership in social groups, influencing their behaviors, attitudes, and interactions with others.

Identity Diffusion

A state in which an adolescent has not yet explored or committed to any particular identity, leading to confusion and lack of direction in their self-concept.

Identity Foreclosure

A state in which an adolescent has committed to an identity without exploring other options, often leading to a rigid self-concept.

Identity Moratorium

A state in which an adolescent is actively exploring different identities but has yet to make a commitment, allowing for personal growth and self-discovery.

Identity Achievement

A state in which an adolescent has explored various identities and made a commitment to a specific one, resulting in a stable and coherent self-concept.

Sex

The biological distinction between male and female, often based on reproductive anatomy and function.

X Chromosome

A sex chromosome that is present in both males (one X) and females (two Xs), playing a crucial role in determining female biological characteristics.

Y Chromosome

A sex chromosome found only in males (one Y), crucial for male biological characteristics and sex determination.

Primary Sex Characteristics

The physical and anatomical features directly related to reproduction, such as the presence of ovaries in females and testes in males.

Gender

The socially constructed roles, behaviors, and attributes that a society considers appropriate for men and women, influencing identity and expectations.

Sexual Orientation

A person's emotional, romantic, or sexual attraction to individuals of the same or different genders.

Gender Identity

An individual's personal sense of their own gender, which may or may not align with the sex assigned at birth.

Gender Roles

The behaviors, attitudes, and expectations that society considers appropriate for individuals based on their gender.

Gender Typing

The process by which a child becomes aware of their gender and adopts behaviors and attitudes that are considered appropriate for their gender.

Prenatal Development

The process of growth and development of a fetus during pregnancy, encompassing stages such as germinal, embryonic, and fetal.

Teratogens

Substances that can cause malformation or harm to a developing fetus during pregnancy.

Reflexes

Automatic, involuntary responses to specific stimuli, often present at birth.

Rooting Reflex

A reflex that causes an infant to turn its head and open its mouth in response to a touch on the cheek, aiding in feeding.

Maturation

The process of biological growth and development that occurs in a predictable sequence, influencing physical and cognitive abilities.

Sensitive Period

A phase during development when an organism is particularly responsive to certain stimuli or experiences, which can significantly influence skills or behaviors.

Fine Motor Coordination

The ability to use small muscle movements, particularly in the hands and fingers, to perform tasks such as writing, buttoning, and manipulating objects.

Gross Motor Coordination

The ability to use large muscle groups for movements such as walking, running, and jumping.

Visual Cliff

A laboratory device used to test depth perception in infants and young animals by creating an illusion of a cliff.

Puberty

The period of physical and hormonal changes in adolescents leading to sexual maturity and reproductive capability.

Adolescent Growth Spurt

A rapid increase in height and weight that occurs during puberty, typically beginning in early adolescence.

Menopause

The natural cessation of menstruation and reproductive capability in women, typically occurring in middle age.

Developmental Psychology

The scientific study of how and why human beings change over the course of their life, focusing on physical, cognitive, and social development.

Nature & Nurture

The interplay between genetic inheritance and environmental factors in shaping human development.

Continuity & Stages

A theory in developmental psychology that examines whether development is a gradual, continuous process or a series of distinct stages.

Stability & Change

A concept in developmental psychology that explores whether individuals maintain consistent traits throughout their lives or undergo significant changes.

Longitudinal Research

A research design that involves repeated observations of the same variables over long periods, often used to study developmental changes.

Cross-Sectional Research

A research design that compares individuals of different ages at one point in time to understand developmental differences.

Psychosocial Development

A theory developed by Erik Erikson that describes eight stages through which a healthy developing individual passes from infancy to late adulthood, each characterized by a specific conflict crucial for personal growth.

Jean Piaget

A Swiss psychologist known for his pioneering work in child development. He proposed the theory of cognitive development, which outlines how children construct their understanding of the world through stages.

Schemas

Mental structures that organize knowledge and guide cognitive processes.

Assimilation

The process of incorporating new information into existing schemas, allowing individuals to make sense of new experiences.

Accommodation

The process of altering existing schemas or creating new ones in response to new information, enabling individuals to adjust their understanding of the world.

Sensorimotor Stage

The first stage of cognitive development in Piaget's theory, occurring from birth to about 2 years of age, where infants learn about the world through their senses and actions.

Object Permanence

The understanding that objects continue to exist even when they cannot be seen or heard, typically developing during the sensorimotor stage.

Preoperational Stage

The second stage of cognitive development in Piaget's theory, occurring from about 2 to 7 years of age, characterized by the development of language and symbolic thinking, but lacking the ability to perform operations mentally.

Pretend Play

A form of play in which children use their imagination to create scenarios and act them out, often seen in the preoperational stage of cognitive development.

Parallel Play

A type of play where children play alongside each other but do not interact directly, typically observed in early childhood.

Animism

The belief that inanimate objects have feelings, thoughts, and intentions, commonly seen in children's thinking during the preoperational stage.

Egocentrism

A cognitive characteristic of children in the preoperational stage where they are unable to see a situation from another person's perspective.

Theory of Mind

The ability to understand that others have thoughts, beliefs, and perspectives different from one's own, typically developing in early childhood.

Concrete Operational Stage

The third stage of cognitive development in Piaget's theory, occurring roughly between ages 7 and 11, characterized by the development of logical thought about concrete objects and events.

Conservation

The understanding that certain properties of objects, such as volume or mass, remain the same despite changes in their shape or appearance, typically developed during the concrete operational stage.

Reversibility

The ability to recognize that actions can be reversed, allowing one to understand that changes in objects can be undone, typically developing during the concrete operational stage.

Formal Operational Stage

The fourth stage of cognitive development in Piaget's theory, beginning around age 12, characterized by the ability to think abstractly, logically, and systematically, enabling problem-solving and hypothetical reasoning.

Lev Vygotsky

A Russian psychologist known for his sociocultural theory of cognitive development, emphasizing the role of social interaction and cultural tools in learning.

Scaffolding

A teaching method that involves providing support to students as they learn new concepts, gradually removing assistance as they become more competent.

Zone of Proximal Development

The range of tasks that a learner can perform with guidance but not yet independently, highlighting the potential for learning through social interaction.

Crystallized Intelligence

The ability to use learned knowledge and experience effectively, often improving with age and education.

Fluid Intelligence

The capacity to think logically and solve problems in novel situations, independent of acquired knowledge.

Dementia

A decline in cognitive function that interferes with daily life, often characterized by memory loss, confusion, and difficulty with communication.

Language

A system of communication using sounds, symbols, or gestures that enables individuals to convey ideas, emotions, and information.

Critical Period

A specific time frame during early development when the acquisition of language is most easily and effectively achieved.

Phonemes

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

Morphemes

The smallest meaningful units of language that can be combined to form words. Morphemes include both root words and affixes.

Semantics

The branch of linguistics that studies the meaning of words, phrases, and sentences in a language.

Grammer

The set of rules that govern the structure of sentences in a language, including syntax and morphology.

Syntax

The arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences in a language.

Cooing

The early stage of language development in infants, characterized by the production of simple vowel sounds and vocalizations.

Babbling Stage

The stage in language development where infants produce repetitive consonant-vowel combinations, typically occurring between 4 to 6 months of age.

One-Word Stage

The stage of language development in which infants begin to use single words to communicate meanings, typically occurring around 12 months of age.

Two-Word Stage

The stage of language development where infants start to combine two words to form simple sentences, typically occurring around 18 to 24 months of age.

Overgeneralization

A language development phenomenon where children apply regular grammatical rules to irregular words, resulting in errors like "goed" instead of "went."

Nonverbal Manual Gestures

Communication methods using body movements, signs, or facial expressions to convey meaning, often observed in early language development.

Learned Helplessness

A psychological condition in which an individual learns to feel powerless and unable to change their situation, often resulting from repeated exposure to uncontrollable events.

Social Learning Theory

A theory that suggests individuals learn behaviors, attitudes, and emotional reactions through observing and imitating others, particularly in social contexts.

Vicarious Conditioning

Learning by observing the consequences of others' actions, without directly experiencing those consequences oneself.

Insight Learning

A sudden understanding of a problem or situation that leads to a solution without prior trial and error, often accompanied by a feeling of "aha" or realization.

Latent Learning

Learning that occurs without any obvious reinforcement or motivation, but is not demonstrated until there is a reason to do so.

Cognitive Maps

Mental representations of spatial relationships or layouts, allowing individuals to navigate and understand their environment.

Operant Conditioning

A learning process through which behavior is shaped and maintained by reinforcement or punishment. It emphasizes the role of consequences in influencing behavior.