ap psych u3

Developmental Psychology

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

Teratogens

Agents, such as chemicals, viruses, or alcohol, that can reach the embryo or fetus during prenatal development and cause harm.

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS)

Physical and cognitive abnormalities in children caused by a pregnant woman’s heavy drinking.

Habituation

Decreasing responsiveness with repeated stimulation, especially in babies during development.

Maturation

The orderly sequence of biological growth, relatively uninfluenced by experience.

Critical period

An optimal period early in the life of an organism when exposure to certain stimuli produces normal development.

Adolescence

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

Puberty

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

Menopause

The time of natural cessation of menstruation and the decline in a woman's ability to reproduce.

Sex

Biologically influenced characteristics that define male, female, and intersex individuals.

Gender

Attitudes, feelings, and behaviors that a culture associates with a person's biological sex.

Intersex

Possessing male and female biological sexual characteristics at birth.

Relational aggression

Aggression that harms relationships or social standing.

X chromosome

The sex chromosome found in females and males; typically, females have two X chromosomes.

Y chromosome

The sex chromosome typically found only in males; when paired with an X chromosome, it produces a male child.

Testosterone

The most important male sex hormone involved in the growth of male sex characteristics.

Estrogen

Sex hormones that contribute to female sex characteristics and are typically produced in greater amounts by females.

Secondary sex characteristics

Non-reproductive traits such as pubic hair, larger hips, and breasts.

Primary sex characteristics

Body structures that make sexual reproduction possible, such as ovaries and testes.

Menarche

The first occurrence of menstruation, typically around the age of 12.

Gender identity

An individual's personal sense of their gender.

Social learning theory

The theory that social behavior is learned through observation, imitation, and reinforcement.

Gender typing

The process of taking on traditional masculine or feminine roles.

Androgyny

A blend of traits traditionally associated with both genders.

Social script

Culturally defined guidelines that dictate how to behave in various situations.

Sexual orientation

The gender(s) to which one is attracted.

Jean Piaget

Psychologist known for his theory of cognitive development in children.

Sensorimotor stage

Piaget's first stage of cognitive development, occurring from birth to age two, characterized by the understanding of the world through senses and actions.

Preoperational stage

Piaget's second stage, from ages 2 to 7, where children begin to use language and engage in symbolic play.

Concrete operational stage

Piaget's third stage, from ages 7 to 11, where children gain the ability to think logically about concrete events.

Formal operational stage

Piaget's fourth stage, from age 12 onwards, characterized by abstract reasoning capabilities.

Schema

Concepts that help organize experiences.

Assimilation

Interpreting new experiences using existing schemas.

Accommodation

Adapting current schemas to incorporate new information.

Object permanence

The understanding that objects continue to exist even when they are not perceived.

Egocentrism

Difficulty in seeing things from perspectives other than one's own.

Conservation

The principle that quantity remains the same despite changes in shape.

Scaffold

A supportive framework that helps children learn by providing temporary assistance.

Lev Vygotsky

Psychologist known for the concept of the zone of proximal development.

Harry Harlow and Imprinting

Research on attachment demonstrating that baby monkeys prefer nurturing parents over those that simply provide food.

Mary Ainsworth & Strange Situation

A procedure for observing child-caregiver attachment behavior in an unfamiliar environment.

Secure attachment

A type of attachment characterized by infants feeling safe to explore when their caregiver is present.

Insecure attachment

An attachment style marked by anxiety or avoidance in relationships.

Stranger anxiety

The fear of strangers typically observed in infants around 8 months of age.

Attachment

An emotional bond between a child and caregiver.

Temperament

A person's characteristic emotional reactivity and intensity.

Trust and mistrust

The first stage of Erikson's theory where infants develop a sense of basic trust when their needs are met.

Autonomy and shame and doubt

The second stage of Erikson's theory focusing on independence in toddlers.

Initiative and guilt

The third stage in preschool where children learn to initiate tasks.

Competence and inferiority

The stage where children learn to apply themselves to tasks or feel inferior.

Identity and role confusion

The stage during teenagers where they test and integrate different roles to form a single identity.

Intimacy and isolation

Young adults' stage where they form close relationships or feel socially isolated.

Generativity and stagnation

Middle-aged individuals' stage where they find purpose in contributing to society or face stagnation.

Integrity and despair

Older adults' reflection stage evaluating their life satisfaction.

Social clock

The culturally preferred timing for life events.

Baumrind’s Parenting Styles

The three main styles of parenting: authoritative, authoritarian, and permissive.

Authoritative

Parenting style characterized by high demands and high responsiveness.

Authoritarian

Parenting style characterized by high demands and low responsiveness.

Permissive

Parenting style characterized by low demands but high responsiveness.

Empty nest syndrome

Emotional and psychological changes experienced by parents when their children leave home.

Death Deferral

The phenomenon where people postpone death to experience a significant event.

Phoneme

The smallest distinctive sound units in a language.

Morpheme

The smallest language units that carry meaning.

Grammar

A set of rules governing structure and use of language.

Universal grammar (UG)

Innate predisposition to understand grammar rules across languages.

Babbling stage

A stage of language development where infants produce a variety of sounds, starting around 4 months.

One-word stage

A stage of language development at about 1 year, characterized by single-syllable words.

Two-word stage

A stage of language development at around 24 months, marked by two-word sentences.

Aphasia

Impairment of language processing, due to brain damage in specific areas.

Broca’s Area

Region in the brain responsible for speech production.

Wernicke’s Area

Region in the brain responsible for language comprehension.

Linguistic determinism

The hypothesis that language shapes the way we think.

Linguistic relativism

The idea that the words we use influence our thoughts.

Ecological systems theory

The theory that different environments affect development.

Associative Learning

The process of linking two events that occur close together.

Behaviorism

The theoretical perspective focusing on learned behaviors.

Cognitive Learning

Acquiring mental information influencing behavior.

Ivan Pavlov

Psychologist known for classical conditioning experiments with dogs.

Classical conditioning

Learning process that associates two stimuli to elicit a response.

Stimulus

Any event that evokes a response.

Respondent behavior

Automatic response to a stimulus.

Neutral stimulus (NS)

A stimulus that initially elicits no response prior to conditioning.

Unconditioned response (UCR)

An automatic, unlearned reaction to an unconditioned stimulus.

Conditioned stimulus (CS)

A previously neutral stimulus that triggers a conditioned response after association with an unconditioned stimulus.

Conditioned response (CR)

The learned response to a previously neutral stimulus.

Unconditioned stimulus (UCS)

A stimulus that naturally triggers a response without prior conditioning.

Acquisition

The initial stage of learning where an association is formed.

Extinction

The reduction in response when the conditioned stimulus no longer signals the unconditioned stimulus.

Spontaneous recovery

The reappearance of a conditioned response after a pause following extinction.

Preparedness

Each species’ predispositions prepare it to learn associations that enhance survival.

Higher-order conditioning

When a neutral stimulus is associated with a conditioned stimulus, forming a new association.

Stimulus generalization

The tendency to respond similarly to similar stimuli.

Stimulus discrimination

The ability to differentiate between a conditioned stimulus and other stimuli.

Operant conditioning

Learning process through associating behavior with its consequences.

BF Skinner

Psychologist known for his work with the operant chamber and reinforcement theories.

Edward Thorndike

Psychologist known for the Law of Effect regarding behavior reinforcement.

Reinforcement

Any event that increases the likelihood of a preceding response.

Shaping

Gradually guiding behavior toward a desired goal through reinforcement.

Discriminative stimulus

A stimulus that signals the availability of reinforcement.

Positive reinforcement

Adding a desirable stimulus to increase a behavior.