AP Psych Chapter 9-10

nature vs nurture

debate that involves the extent to which behaviors are a product of either inherited (i.e., genetic) or acquired (i.e., learned) influences

cross sectional research

uses participants of different ages to compare how certain variables may change over the life span

longitudinal research

study that takes place over a long period of time with the same individuals that are tested on the same variable after a defined length of time

teratogens

certain chemicals that can cause harm if ingested or contracted by the mother during pregnancy (ex-alcohol)

fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS)

disorder that develops during pregnancy as a result of excess drinking by the mother and leads to small, malformed skulls and developmental disabilities in the baby

fetal alcohol effect

conditions where baby does not display physical aspects of FAS but have many developmental problems

reflexes

inborn, automatic processes to certain stimuli

rooting reflex

when touched on the cheek, a baby will turn their head and attempt to put the object in its mouth

sucking reflex

baby will suckle things and put it in its mouth

grasping/Palmer reflex

if object is placed into a baby’s palm, it will curl its fingers to grasp the object

Moro reflex

when startled, a baby will fling its limbs out and then quickly retract them, making itself as small as possible

Babinski reflex

when a baby’s foot is stroked, he or she will spread her big toe

other features of babies

taste for sugar, terrible eyesight (8-12 inches in front of them), hearing in utero, rolling at 5.5 months, standing at 8-9 months, walking by 15 months

imprinting

newborn bonds to whoever it meets at birth and begins to model its behavior after them

Harry Harlow

psychologist that ran the experiment with the soft wire monkey and the hard wire monkey; soft was for comfort, hard was for food; baby monkey preferred the soft one even though it was being fed from the other one (demonstrates the importance of physical attachment from parents)

Mary Ainsworth

psychologist that put children in new situations and observed their reactions when parents left and returned

secure attachment

66% of population- child confidently explores the novel environment while the parents are present, is distressed when they leave, and goes to the parents when they return

avoidant attachment

21% of population- child may resist being held by parents and will go to explore new environment, they don’t go to parents for comfort after they return from absence

anxious/ambivalent attachment

12% of population- child has ambivalent reactions to their parents, may show extreme stress when the parents leave, but resist being comforted when they come back

disorganized attachment

erratic relationship with caretaker and older adults, attachment style common in severe cases of neglect/abuse

Diana Baumrind

psychologist that researched parent-child interactions

Permissive parenting

parents do not set clear guidelines for children, the rules that do exist are constantly changing/not reinforced (children from these households are more likely to have emotional control problems and are more dependent)

Authoritarian parenting

parents set strict standards for behavior and apply punishments for violations of rules, punishment for undesired behavior is more often used than reinforcement for desired behavior (children from these households are more likely to distrust and be withdrawn from peers)

Authoritative parenting

parents have set consistent and reasonable standards for behavior and the standards are reasonable and explained, praise as often as they punish, and encourage explanations in the household (children from these households are more socially and academically capable)

Lev Vygotsky

psychologist that created the concept of proximal development

proximal development

range of tasks a child can perform independently and those tasks that the child can perform independently and those tasks that the child needs assistance with

actual development

range of tasks a child can perform now

potential development

ability a child could attain

oral stage

ages 0-1, focus=mouth, weaning off breastfeeding, adult fixation→ smoking, overeating, nail-biting

anal

ages 1-3, focus=anus, toilet training, adult fixation→ controlling/orderliness or disorganized/messiness

phallic

ages 3-5, focus=genitals, resolving oedipus/elecra complex, adult fixation→ deviancy/sexual dysfunction

latency

ages 6-12, focus=nothing, developing defense mechanisms, adult fixation→ none

genital

ages 12+, focus=genitals, reaching sexual maturity, adult development→ sexual/mental health/maturity (if all other stages complete)

Erik Erikson

neo-Freudian psychologist that adapted Freud’s ideas to create the Psychosocial Stage Theory

Infancy (birth-18months)

feeding + trust/mistrust → child develops sense of mistrust when caregivers provide reliable care, lack of care leads to mistrust

Early childhood (2-3 yrs)

toilet training+ autonomy vs shame & doubt → child needs to develop personal control over physical skills and a sense of independence; success = autonomy, failure = shame & doubt

Preschool (3-5 yrs)

exploration+ initiative vs guilt → child needs to assert control and power over environment; success = purpose, failure = disapproval & guilt

School age (6-11 yrs)

school + industry vs inferiority → child needs to cope with new social and academic demands; success = competence, failure = inferiority

Adolescence (12-18 yrs)

social relationships + identity vs role confusion → teen needs to develop sense of self and personal identity; success = ability to stay true to self, failure = role confusion and weak sense of self

Young adulthood (19-40 yrs)

relationships + intimacy vs isolation→ young adult needs to form intimate, loving relationships with other people; success = strong relationships, failure = loneliness and isolation

Middle adulthood (40-65 years)

work & parenthood & generativity vs stagnation→ adults need to create/nurture things that will outlast them (typically through children or career/work); success = feelings of usefulness, failure = feelings of stagnation

maturity (65-death)

reflection in life + ego integrity vs despair→ older adult needs to look back on life and feel a sense of fulfillment; success = feelings of wisdom, regret = bitterness/despair

schemata

cognitive framework that helps organize/interpret information

assimilation

ability to incorporate new knowledge into existing knowledge

accomodation

when new information or experiences cause you to modify your existing schemas

Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development

children go through a series of developmental stages that occur in a fixed order (a child can be in only one stage at a time) [the video had the girl counting coins- she counts the correct amount when they’re close together and she guesses a higher amount when they’re spread out]

Sensimotor stage

age 0-2- coordination of senses with motor response, language used for demands and cataloguing, object permanence develops

Pre-operational stage

ages 2-7- symbolic thinking, use of syntax and grammar, imagination and intuition develop, egocentrism strong during this stage, abstract thought and reasoning are nonexistent

Concrete operational stage

ages 7-11- concepts attached to concrete situations; time, space, and quantity are understood and applied; hierarchical classification develops, mastery of conversation

Formal operational stage

ages 11+- theoretical and hypothetical thinking develop, abstract logic and reasoning, strategy and planning develop, concepts learned in one area can be applied in other domains, displays metacogniton

information processing model

our abilities to memorize, interpret, and perceive gradually develop as we age, rather than occurring in distinct stages, the process is continuous

Theory of Mind (TOM)

cognitive ability to attribute mental states (beliefs, intents, desires, emotions, knowledge) to oneself, and to others, and to understand that other have beliefs, desires, intentions, and perspectives that are different from one’s own [the video had the boy thinking he knew the crayon box was full of candles]

Lawrence Kohlberg

psychologist that theorized the Stages of Moral Development

preconventional

most common in children; individuals focus on direct consequences perceived of actions for themselves, an action is perceived as wrong because the person is punished or good because the person is rewarded

conventional

most common in adolescents; an action is considered right or wrong by comparing it to society’s views and expectations

post-conventional

the realization that individuals are separate from society, and the individual’s perspective may override society’s expectation (principles- basic human rights, liberty, justice + general welfare of planet, humans, animals)

Carol Gilligan

psychologist that challenged Kohlberg; theorized that boys and girls develop differently, boys→ absolute view / girls→ situation based view

gender

identifying with some socially defined norm (male/female)

gender typing

developing sex-related roles

gender constancy

the belief that gender is fixed

social psychologist

focus on external explanations of why something might be

cognitive psychologist

focus on internal interpretations that we make from our environment

gender-schema theory

explains that we internalize messages about gender into cognitive rules about how each gender should behave

personality

unique set of attitudes, behaviors, and emotions that an individual has

Type A personality

individuals tend to feel a sense of time pressure and are easily angered; are competitive and ambitious

Type B Personality

individuals tend to be more relaxed and easygoing

Psychoanalytic theory

suggests that personality is determined by early childhood experiences, and remain the same throughout life

conscious mind

all current thoughts in your mind

preconscious

just below consciousness; its what you’re not thinking about but could be if you focused on it

unconscious

inaccessible region of the mind that we spend a tremendous amount of energy trying to keep threatening thoughts there

eros

life instinct/ desire for sex

thanatos

death instinct/ aggression

libido

energy that directs the life instinct

ID

part of the unconscious mind, pursues immediate gratification, exists from birth and remains the same throughout a persons mind and does not change with experience, not affected by logic, reality, or experience

ego

operates according to reality principle, often compromising or postponing satisfaction to avoid negative consequences of society; ego considers social realities and norms, etiquette, and rules in deciding how to behave, ego develops within 2-3 years of age

superego

aspect of personality that holds all of our internalized moral about right and wrong taught by parents and society (emerges around age 3-5)

repression

unconscious mechanism employed by the ego to keep disturbing or threatening thoughts from becoming conscious

denial

blocking external events from awareness; if a situation is too much to handle, the person refuses to experience it

displacement

satisfying an impulse, such as aggression, with a substitute object

projection

individuals attribute their own unacceptable thoughts/feelings/motives to another person

repression

when one is faced with stress, this is movement back in time in psychological time

sublimation

satisfying an impulse, such as aggression, with a substitute object in a socially acceptable way

reaction formation

acting in exactly the opposite way to one’s unacceptable impulses

rationalization

creating false excuses for one’s unacceptable feelings/thoughts/behaviors

repression

unknowingly placing an unpleasant memory or thought in the consciousness

intellectualization

dealing with emotional conflict or stress by excessive use of thinking and generalization

womb envy

theory posited by Karen Horney and Nancy Chodorow to argue against Freud’s ‘penis envy‘ theory; states that men suffer from jealousy of women’s reproductive capabilities

Jungian Theory

(Carl Jung) proposed that the unconscious consists of 2 different parts

personal unconscious

accumulation of experiences from a person’s lifetime that could not be consciously recalled

complexes

personal unconscious, core pattern of emotions, memories, perceptions, and wishes organized around a common theme

collective unconscious

inherited; consists of pre-existent forms/archetypes, which can only become conscious secondarily and which give definite form to certain psychic contents

shadow

archetype that represents the dark side of personality

personality

people’s creation of a public image

Adlerian theory

downplays the unconscious, inferiority vs superiority, importance of birth order

inferiority

fear of failure

superiority

desire to achieve

Hans Eyesnck

psychologist that believed by classifying people along an introversion-extraversion scale and a stable-unstable scale, we could describe their personality entirely

nomothetic approach

belief that the same basic set of traits can be used to describe all people’s personalities

Raymond Cattell

developer of 16 personality factor test

Paul Costa and Robert McCrae

Proposed that personality can be described using the Big 5 Personality Traits