AP Psychology Unit 3: Development and Learning

Developmental psychology

The branch of psychology that studies physical cognitive and social changes throughout the human lifespan.

Life-span psychologists

Psychologists who study human development from conception through old age rather than focusing on a single period of life.

Child psychologists

Psychologists who specialize in studying the physical cognitive and social development of children.

Nature-nurture debate

The ongoing question of how much behavior and development are shaped by genetics versus environment and experience.

Maturationists

Psychologists who emphasize that development is primarily driven by biological maturation rather than environmental experience.

Maturation

The biological process of growth and development that unfolds according to a genetically programmed sequence.

Environmentalists

Psychologists who emphasize that development is primarily shaped by environmental experiences rather than genetics.

Continuous development

The view that development occurs gradually and smoothly rather than in distinct stages.

Discontinuous development

The view that development occurs in distinct stages with qualitatively different abilities emerging at each stage.

Critical period

A specific window of time during which an organism is especially sensitive to certain environmental experiences necessary for normal development.

Normative development

Development that follows the typical sequence and timing expected for most members of a species or culture.

Cross-sectional method

A research design that compares people of different ages at the same point in time to study developmental differences.

Longitudinal method

A research design that follows the same group of people over an extended period of time to track developmental changes.

Physical development

Changes in body size strength motor skills and biological maturation that occur across the lifespan.

Teratogens

Environmental agents such as drugs alcohol or viruses that can cause harm to a developing embryo or fetus.

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD)

A range of physical and cognitive impairments caused by prenatal exposure to alcohol.

Reflexes

Automatic involuntary responses present at birth that help infants survive such as rooting and sucking.

Rooting

A newborn reflex in which the infant turns its head and opens its mouth in the direction of a touch on the cheek.

Plasticity

The brain's ability to reorganize and adapt by forming new neural connections especially in response to experience or injury.

Menarche

The first occurrence of menstruation marking the beginning of female puberty.

Spermarche

The first occurrence of ejaculation marking the beginning of male puberty.

Menopause

The cessation of menstruation typically occurring in middle adulthood marking the end of female reproductive capacity.

Gender identity

A person's internal sense of their own gender which may or may not correspond to their biological sex.

Gender typing

The process by which children acquire behaviors attitudes and preferences considered appropriate for their gender.

Gender constancy

The understanding that a person's gender remains stable regardless of changes in appearance or behavior.

Androgyny

The possession of both traditionally masculine and feminine psychological characteristics in one person.

Kinsey Scale

A scale developed by Alfred Kinsey to describe sexual orientation as a continuum from exclusively heterosexual to exclusively homosexual.

Equilibration

Piaget's concept of the drive to balance assimilation and accommodation to achieve cognitive stability.

Assimilation

Piaget's concept of incorporating new information into an existing schema without changing the schema.

Schema

A mental framework or organized pattern of knowledge used to interpret and understand the world.

Accommodation

Piaget's concept of modifying an existing schema or creating a new one to fit new information that doesn't fit current schemas.

Sensorimotor stage

Piaget's first stage of cognitive development from birth to age 2 in which infants learn through sensory experiences and physical actions.

Object permanence

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

Preoperational stage

Piaget's second stage from ages 2 to 7 characterized by symbolic thinking but limited by egocentrism and lack of conservation.

Symbolic thinking

The ability to use words images and symbols to represent objects and ideas developed during the preoperational stage.

Egocentrism

Piaget's term for the preoperational child's inability to take another person's perspective or viewpoint.

Artificialism

The preoperational belief that natural phenomena are created by people or human-like forces.

Animism

The preoperational belief that inanimate objects have feelings thoughts and intentions.

Theory of mind

The ability to understand that other people have their own beliefs desires and perspectives different from one's own.

Concrete operational stage

Piaget's third stage from ages 7 to 11 in which children can think logically about concrete objects and events.

Reversibility

The concrete operational understanding that actions can be mentally reversed and that things can return to their original state.

Conservation

The concrete operational understanding that quantity remains the same despite changes in shape or appearance.

Formal operational stage

Piaget's fourth stage beginning around age 12 in which individuals can think abstractly and reason hypothetically.

Metacognition

The ability to think about and monitor one's own thinking processes.

Hypothetical reasoning

The ability to think about possibilities and test hypotheses systematically developed during the formal operational stage.

Internalization

Vygotsky's concept that children absorb knowledge from social interactions and gradually perform tasks independently.

Zone of proximal development

Vygotsky's term for the range of tasks a child can perform with guidance but not yet independently.

Actual development level

The level of tasks a child can perform completely independently without any assistance.

Potential development level

The level of tasks a child can perform with the help of a more knowledgeable person.

Wisdom

Accumulated knowledge and good judgment developed through life experience typically associated with older adulthood.

Fluid intelligence

The ability to think flexibly and solve novel problems which tends to peak in young adulthood and decline with age.

Crystallized intelligence

Accumulated knowledge and verbal skills that tend to remain stable or increase throughout adulthood.

Dementia

A progressive decline in cognitive function including memory language and problem-solving severe enough to interfere with daily life.

Phonemes

The smallest units of sound in a language that distinguish one word from another.

Morphemes

The smallest units of meaning in a language including root words prefixes and suffixes.

Grammar

The system of rules that governs the structure and use of a language.

Syntax

The rules that govern how words are arranged to form grammatically correct sentences.

Semantics

The study of meaning in language including how words phrases and sentences convey meaning.

Prosody

The rhythm stress and intonation patterns of spoken language that convey meaning and emotion.

Holophrases

Single words used by infants to express complete thoughts or sentences such as saying milk to mean I want milk.

Overextension

A language error in which a child applies a word too broadly such as calling all men daddy.

Underextension

A language error in which a child applies a word too narrowly such as using dog only for their own pet.

Telegraphic speech

Early two-word utterances that include only essential content words leaving out grammatical fillers such as want cookie.

Overgeneralization

A language error in which a child applies a grammatical rule too broadly such as saying goed instead of went.

Ecological systems theory

Bronfenbrenner's theory that development is influenced by a nested set of environmental systems from immediate to broad societal influences.

Microsystem

The innermost level of Bronfenbrenner's model consisting of immediate environments such as family school and peers.

Mesosystem

The level of Bronfenbrenner's model consisting of interactions between the microsystems such as the relationship between home and school.

Exosystem

The level of Bronfenbrenner's model consisting of settings that indirectly affect the individual such as a parent's workplace.

Macrosystem

The outermost level of Bronfenbrenner's model consisting of broad cultural values laws and customs.

Chronosystem

The dimension of time in Bronfenbrenner's model including life transitions and historical events that influence development.

Authoritarian parenting

A strict parenting style characterized by high demands and low responsiveness with little explanation for rules.

Authoritative parenting

A balanced parenting style characterized by high demands combined with warmth responsiveness and explanation of rules.

Permissive parenting

An indulgent parenting style characterized by high warmth and low demands with few rules or consequences.

Psychosocial development

Erikson's theory that personality develops through eight stages of life each involving a central conflict to resolve.

Fidelity

Erikson's virtue associated with the identity vs role confusion stage in which adolescents develop a sense of loyalty to their values and identity.

Generativity

Erikson's term for the concern in middle adulthood with contributing to and guiding the next generation.

Stagnation

Erikson's term for the feeling of unproductiveness and self-absorption that results from failing to achieve generativity.

Temperament

Innate individual differences in emotional reactivity activity level and self-regulation present from early infancy.

Surgency

A temperament dimension characterized by high activity positive emotion and approach toward new stimuli.

Negative affect

A temperament dimension characterized by frequent negative emotions such as fear sadness and frustration.

Effortful control

A temperament dimension reflecting the ability to regulate attention and behavior through deliberate effort.

Attachment

The strong emotional bond that develops between an infant and their caregiver providing a sense of safety and security.

Strange situation

Ainsworth's experimental procedure used to assess attachment quality by observing infant reactions to separation and reunion with a caregiver.

Secure

An attachment style in which the infant uses the caregiver as a safe base and is easily comforted upon reunion.

Avoidant

An attachment style in which the infant shows little distress at separation and avoids the caregiver upon reunion.

Ambivalent

An attachment style in which the infant shows extreme distress at separation and is difficult to comfort upon reunion.

Disorganized

An attachment style characterized by inconsistent and confused behavior toward the caregiver often associated with trauma or abuse.

Separation anxiety

The distress an infant shows when separated from their primary caregiver typically peaking around 8 to 12 months.

Parallel play

A type of play in which young children play near each other but independently without direct interaction.

Pretend play

A type of play in which children use imagination and symbolic thinking to act out scenarios and roles.

Peer relationships

Social connections formed with age-mates that become increasingly important throughout childhood and adolescence.

Imaginary audience

The adolescent belief that others are constantly watching and evaluating their behavior and appearance.

Adolescent egocentrism

The heightened self-consciousness of adolescents including the imaginary audience and personal fable phenomena.

Adolescent identity development

The process during adolescence of exploring and committing to a sense of self including values goals and beliefs.

Achievement

An identity status in which a person has explored alternatives and made a firm commitment to an identity.

Diffusion

An identity status in which a person has neither explored alternatives nor made any commitment to an identity.

Foreclosure

An identity status in which a person has committed to an identity without exploring alternatives usually adopting parental values.

Moratorium

An identity status in which a person is actively exploring identity alternatives but has not yet made a commitment.

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs)

Traumatic events occurring in childhood such as abuse neglect or household dysfunction that can have lasting negative effects on development and health.

Social clock

The culturally defined timeline of expected life events such as marriage career and parenthood.