AP Psychology Unit 3 Development and Learning

Developmental psychology

the branch of psychology that studies, physical, cognitive, and social change throughout the lifespan.

Nature vs nurture

how does our genetic inheritance interact with our experiences.

Continuity vs stages

what parts of development are gradual and continuous.

Stability vs change

which of our traits persists through life? How do we change as we age?

Cross sectional study

compare data across different ages.

Longitudinal study

follows a group of people of the same age for many years.

Conception

one vs a million. one egg and a million sperm

Zygote

enters a 2-week period of rapid cell division as it travels to the uterus and develops into an embryo.

Embryo

protected by the placenta, a specialized organ that transmits nutrients and oxygen from the mother to the embryo.

Fetus

the developing human organism.

Threshold of viability

what the fetus reaches at 22-23 weeks, meaning it has developed enough and is likely to survive if born prematurely.

Teratogens

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

Stress

stress hormones can cause early delivery.

Illness

certain illnesses should be avoided at all costs while pregnant, as they can affect the development of a fetus.

Diet

pregnant people are encouraged to eat lots of fruits and vegetables, and discouraged from deli meats, soft cheeses, fish, raw/meat eggs, sugar, spicy food, and fast food.

Drugs

drugs and alcohol should be strictly avoided during pregnancy.

Fetal alcohol syndrome

physical and cognitive abnormalities in children caused by excessive drinking during pregnancy.

Factors that increase infertility

stress, diet/weight, genes, environmental factors, age, egg/sperm quality and quantity.

Habituation

decreasing responsiveness with repeated stimulation- similar to sensory adaptation. Stop responding to a stimulus after repeated exposure.

Maturation

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

Critical period

a time during someone's development in which a particular skill or characteristic is believed to be most readily acquired.

Infantile Amnesia

we recall little before age 3.

Adolescence

transition period from childhood to adulthood, extending from puberty to independence.

Puberty

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

Selective pruning

the process of eliminating unnecessary neural connections.

Menopause

the time of natural cessation of menstruation.

Sex

biological status defined by your chromosomes and anatomy.

Gender

socially influenced characteristics by which people define boy, girl, man, and woman.

Intersex

individuals who are born with unusual amounts of male and female chromosomes, hormones, and anatomy.

Menarche

the first menstrual cycle- signals the beginning of puberty in females around age 11.

Spermarche

the first ejaculation- signals the beginning of puberty in males around age 13.

Female

XX.

Male

XY.

Estrogen

main female hormone.

Testosterone

main male hormone.

Primary sex characteristics

include the body structures that make reproduction possible.

Secondary sex characteristics

non reproductive sexual traits.

Gender Role

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

Gender Identity

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

Gender typing

the acquisition of a traditional masculine or feminine role.

Androgyny

displaying both traditional masculine and feminine physiological characteristics.

Transgender

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

Sexual orientation

how people express the direction of their sexual interest.

STD

sexually transmitted disease

HIV

human immunodeficiency syndrome- transmits AIDS (Acquired immune deficiency syndrome)

Cognitive Development Stages

4 stages of cognitive development: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, formal operational

Stage 1 Sensorimotor

babies take in the world through their senses and actions- through looking, hearing, touching, mouthing, and grasping

Object Permanence

the awareness that things continue to exist even when not perceived

Stranger Anxiety

fear and apprehension infants commonly display around those unfamiliar to them

Stage 2 Preoperational

able to represent things with words and images but too young to perform mental operations

Egocentrism

a child's difficulty in seeing another's point of view

Lack of Conservation

the principle that properties such as mass, volume, and number remain the same despite changes in form

Stage 3 Concrete Operational

Given concrete materials, they begin to grasp operations such as conservation

Stage 4 Formal Operational

abstract logic, potential for mature reasoning

Scaffold

a framework that offers children temporary support as they develop higher levels of thinking

Theory of Mind

People's ideas about their own and other's mental states (feeling, perceptions, thoughts) etc.

Moral Intuitions

quick gut feelings, or affectively laden intuitions

Delay Gratification

decline small rewards now for bigger rewards later

Neurocognitive Disorders

those marked by cognitive deficits, often related to Alzheimer's disease, brain injury or disease, or substance abuse

Alzheimer's Disease

neurocognitive disorder marked by neural plaques and entailing a progressive decline in memory and cognitive abilities

Language

spoken, written, or signed words and the ways we combine them to communicate meaning

Nativist Theory

Believed we are naturally equipped with a 'language acquisition device' that helps us acquire language easily and rapidly but if language acquisition does not occur by a certain time, it may be impossible

Behaviorist Theory

Believed that we learned language through imitation and reinforcement

Sociocultural Theory

believed we learned language through social interaction

Receptive Language

focus on those that are speaking to us and try to respond

Babbling

uttering sounds

Telegraphic Speech

simple two-word phrases

Aphasia

impairment of language

Visual Cortex

receives written words as visual stimulation

Angular Gyrus

transforms visual representations into an auditory code

Wernicke's Area

interprets auditory code

Broca's Area

controls speech muscles via the motor cortex

Motor Cortex

word is pronounced

Linguistic Determinism

the theory that our language influences the nature of our thoughts and how we interpret the world around us

Attachment

an emotional tie with another person, shown in children by seeking closeness to their caregiver and showing distress on separation

Critical Period

an optimal period when certain events must take place to facilitate proper development

Imprinting

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

Secure Attachment

in the mother's presence they play comfortably, happily exploring their new environment

Insecure Attachment

mom is in the room, but child doesn't leave mom's side

Strange Situation

a 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

Temperament

a person's characteristic emotional reactivity and intensity

Basic Trust

a sense that the world is predictable and reliable

Self-Concept

a person's understanding and assessment of who they are

Self-Esteem

how someone feels about who they are

Authoritarian

rigid, punitive, strict standards.

Authoritative parenting styles

firm, sets limits and goals, uses reasoning, encourages independence.

Permissive

lax, inconsistent, undemanding.

Uninvolved/negligent

detached emotionally, sees role as only providing food, clothing, and shelter.

Identity

our sense of self gained through testing and integrating various roles as an adolescent.

Social identity

our sense of self in relation to our group memberships.

Emerging adulthood

a period from about age 18 to the mid-20s when many in Western cultures are no longer adolescents but have not yet achieved full independence as adults.

Midlife crisis

distress that peaks in midlife.

Social clock

a culture's preferred timing for social events, such as marriage, parenthood, and retirement.

Learning

the process of acquiring new and relatively enduring information or behaviors.

Associative learning

realizing that certain events occur together.

Habituation

decreasing responsiveness with repeated exposure to a stimulus (like sensory adaptation).

Classical conditioning

a type of passive learning in which we link two or more stimuli (behavior comes 2nd).

Behaviorism

the view that psychology should be an objective science that studies observable actions without reference to internal mental processes.

Stimulus

any event or situation that evokes a response.

Respondent behavior

behavior that occurs as an automatic response to some stimulus.