AP psychology Unit Test

zygote

the fertilized egg; it enters a 2 week period of rapid cell division and develops into an embryo

• germinal stage

• less than ½ survive beyond 2 weeks

embryo

The developing human organism from about 2 weeks after fertilization through the second month

• made from the zygote’s inner cells

• The heart begins to beat

• organs begin to form and function

• many outer cells become the placenta

  • life link that transfers nutrients from mother to baby

Fetus

the developing human organism from 9 weeks after conception to birth

• organs such as the stomach begin to develop enough to give the fetus a good chance of surviving and thriving if born prematurely

• The fetus is responsive to sound

  • exposed to the sound of the mother’s muffled voice

• babies’ cries can have a similar tone to mothers

  • babies with french speaking mother’s cry with the rising intonation

order of prenatal development

1. zygote - conception to 2 weeks

2. embryo - 2 weeks through 2nd month

3. fetus - 9 weeks after conception

teratogens

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

• “Monster makers”

• why women are advised not to smoke or drink

Maturation

Biological growth process that enables orderly changes in behavior, relatively uninfluenced by experience

Self concept development

all our thoughts and feelings about ourselves in answer to the question, “Who am I?”

• Childhood’s major social achievement is a positive sense of self

• Charles Garwin believes we form self-concept as soon as we can see ourselves in the mirror and understand that it is us

  • book says this is at about the age of 12 when people have self-concept fully developed

• By age 8—10, self-image is stable

Gender

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

gender role

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

gender identity

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

Gender typing

Taking on a traditional masculine or feminine role

• critics believe that gender typing varies from child to child

Authoritarian

• Parents are coercive (using force or threats)

• Impose rules and expect obedience

  • Ex. “Don’t interrupt.” “Why? Because I said so.” “Don’t stay out too late or else you’ll be grounded.”

Permissive

• Parents are unrestrained (uncontrolled)

• Make few demands

• Set few limits

• Use little punishment

Negligent

• Parents are uninvolved

• neither demanding nor responsive

• careless and inattentive

• does not seek close relationship with child

authoritative

• parents are confronting (confrontational)

• both demanding and responsive

• exert control by setting rules

• encourages open discussion and allows exceptions

  • especially with older kids

Characteristics of those with autism

• poor communication among brain regions that normally work together to let us take another viewpoint

• less eye contact

• intuition is harder for those with ASD

• difficulty inferring and remembering others’ thoughts, and feelings, and appreciating that people might view things differently

• Children with ASD make friends, but their peers typically find the relationship unsatisfying

• Some people with ASD generally function at a high level with normal intelligence, however, struggle with social and communication skills

• tend to be distracted by irrelevant stimuli

Autism spectrum disorder

a disorder that appears during childhood and is marked by significant deficiencies in communication and social interaction, and by rigidly fixated interests and repetitive behaviors

Critical period

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

imprinting

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

The Harlow’s and their monkey experiment

They studied… 

• Body contact, dependency needs, and maternal-separation. 

In a study they did with monkeys, they found that the monkeys preferred a fake mother that was covered with comfy blankets over a fake mother that was bare wire but had food. 

• The study helped to show that human infants become attached to parents when they are soft & warm and cuddled & fed them. It also showed that human attachment forms a “secure base” and “safe haven” for when one may be in distress. 

  • These findings manifested the importance of caregiving and companionship to social and cognitive development

temperament

Types…

• Easy going - low reactivity

• Slow to warm - gradual reactivity

• Difficult - high reactivity

attachment

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

Secure attachment

• Infants who comfortably explore environments in the presence of a caregiver

• show only temporary distress when the caregiver leaves

• finds comfort in the caregiver’s return

Insecure attachment

Demonstrated by infants who display either a clinging anxious attachment or an avoidant attachment that resists closeness

Gender confusion/dysphoria

Gender dysphoria occurs when there is a conflict between the sex you were assigned at birth and the gender with which you identify. This can create significant distress and can make you feel uncomfortable in your body. People with gender dysphoria may want to change the way that they express their gender.

schema

A concept or framework that organizes and interprets information

Piaget’s theory and current thinking

believed that children construct their understanding of the world while interacting with it

• their minds experience spurts of change, followed by greater stability as they move from one cognitive plateau to the next

• Researchers believe Piaget and his followers underestimated young children’s competence

  • referring to babies math and physics

Sensorimotor stage

Piaget’s theory: The stage during which infants know the world mostly in terms of their sensory impressions and motor activities

• looking, hearing, touching, mouthing, and grasping

• from birth to nearly 2 years of age

• Key milestones

  • object permanence

  • stranger anxiety

    • the distress babies feel when left alone with company unfamiliar to them

Object permanance

the awareness that things continue to exist even when not perceived

• Before 6 months babies lack object permanence

• around 8 months they start to look for it but eventually stop

• at 9-10 months babies will actively look for the object

preoperational stage

the stage during which a child learns to use language but does not yet comprehend the mental operations of concrete logic

• About 2 to 6/7 years old

• representing things with words and images

  • using intuitive rather than logical reasoning

• Key milestones

  • pretend play

  • egocentrism

egocentrism

The preoperational child has difficulty taking another point of view

Ex. When asked to show a picture, the child will hold the photo facing themselves instead of the other person

Ex. When asked how to get on the other side of the river, a child will respond “you are on the other side’

conservation

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

• Piaget believed to be a part of concrete operational reasoning

theory of mind

people’s ideas about their own and others’ mental states - about their feelings, perceptions, and thoughts, and the behaviors these might predict.

• Children on the autism spectrum have difficulty understanding and differentiating these feelings or thoughts

Ex. When Little Red Riding Hood realized the wolf was her grandmother, she quickly revised her ideas about his intentions and raced away

concrete operational stage

the stage of cognitive development during which children gain the mental operations that enable them to think logically about concrete events

• from about 7 to 11

• key milestones

  • conservation

  • mathematical transformations

formal operational stage

the stage of cognitive development during which people begin to think logically about abstract concepts.

• normally beginning around 12 through adulthood

• key milestones

  • abstract logic

  • potential for mature moral reasoning

Vygotsky

• disagreed with piaget because he believed that the childs mind grows through interaction with the social environment

  • believes we can guide/help the zone of proximal development

    • Zone of proximal development: What a child can or can’t learn with the help of others