PSYB20 (midterm 2 - final)

internal working models

cognitive representations of self, others, and relationships that infants construct from their interactions with caregivers.

temperament hypothesis

Kagan’s view that the strange situation measures individual differences in infants’ temperaments rather than the quality of their attachments.

caregiving hypothesis

Ainsworth’s notion that the type of attachment that an infant develops with a particular caregiver depends primarily on the kind of caregiving he or she has received from that person.

amae

Japanese concept; refers to an infant’s feeling of total dependence on his or her mother and the presumption of mother’s love and indulgence.

attachment Q-set (AQS)

alternative method of assessing attachment security that is based on observations of the child’s attachment-related behaviours at home; can be used with infants, toddlers, and preschool children

disorganised/ disoriented attachment

an insecure infant–caregiver bond, characterized by the infant’s dazed appearance on reunion or a tendency to first seek and then abruptly avoid the caregiver.

avoidance attachment

an insecure infant–caregiver bond, characterized by little separation protest and a tendency of the child to avoid or ignore the caregiver.

resistant attachment

an insecure infant–caregiver bond, characterized by strong separation protest and a tendency of the child to remain near but resist contact initiated by the caregiver, particularly after a separation.

secure attachment

an infant–caregiver bond in which the child welcomes contact with a close companion and uses this person as a secure base from which to explore the environment.

strange situation

a series of eight separation and reunion episodes to which infants are exposed in order to determine the quality of their attachments.

separation anxiety

a wary or fretful reaction that infants and toddlers often display when separated from the person(s) to whom they are attached.

stranger anxiety

a wary or fretful reaction that infants and toddlers often display when approached by an unfamiliar person.

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preadapted characteristics

an attribute that is a product of evolution and serves some function that increases the chances of survival for the individual and the species.

imprinting

an innate or instinctual form of learning in which the young of certain species follow and become attached to moving objects (usually their mothers).

secondary reinforcer

an initially neutral stimulus that acquires reinforcement value by virtue of its repeated association with other reinforcing stimuli.

phase of multiple attachments

period when infants are forming attachments to companions other than their primary attachment object.

secure base

use of a caregiver as a base from which to explore the environment and to which to return for emotional support.

phase specific attachment

period between 7 and 9 months of age when infants are attached to one close companion (usually the mother).

phase of indiscriminate attachments

period between 6 weeks and 6 to 7 months of age in which infants prefer social to nonsocial stimulation.

social phase

approximately the first 6 weeks of life, in which infants respond in an equally favourable way to interesting social and nonsocial stimuli.

sybchronised routines

generally harmonious interactions between two persons in which participants adjust their behaviour in response to the partner’s feelings and behaviours.

attachment

a close emotional relationship between two persons, characterized by mutual affection and a desire to maintain proximity.

goodness of fit model

Thomas and Chess’s notion that development is likely to be optimized when parents’ child-rearing practices are sensitively adapted to the child’s temperamental characteristics.

slow to warm up temperament

temperamental profile in which the child is inactive and moody and displays mild passive resistance to new routines and experiences

difficult temperament

temperamental profile in which the child is irregular in daily routines and adapts slowly to new experiences, often responding negatively and intensely.

easy temperament

temperamental profile in which the child quickly establishes regular routines, is generally good-natured, and adapts easily to novelty.

behavioural inhibition

a temperamental attribute reflecting a tendency to withdraw from unfamiliar people or situations

temperament

a person’s characteristic modes of responding emotionally and behaviourally to environmental events, including such attributes as activity level, irritability, fearfulness, and sociability.

empathy

ability to experience the same emotion as other people.

social referencing

the use of others’ emotional expressions to infer the meaning of otherwise ambiguous situations.

emotional self regulation

strategies for managing emotions or adjusting emotional arousal to an appropriate level of intensity.

emotional display rules

culturally defined rules specifying which emotions should or should not be expressed under which circumstances.

complex emotions

self-conscious or self-evaluative emotions that emerge in the second year and depend, in part, on cognitive development.

basic emotions

the set of emotions, present at birth or emerging early in the first year, that some theorists believe to be biologically programmed.

self esteem

one’s evaluation of one’s worth as a person, based on an assessment of the qualities that make up the self-concept.

identity

a sense of who you are, where you are going in life, and how you fit into society.

collectivist (communal) societies

society that values cooperative interdependence, social harmony, and adherence to group norms. These societies generally hold that the group’s well-being is more important than that of the individual.

individualistic society

society that values personalism and individual accomplishments, which often take precedence over group goals. These societies tend to emphasize ways in which individuals differ from each other.

categorical self

a person’s classification of the self along socially significant dimensions such as age and sex.

extended self

more mature self-representation, emerging between ages 3.5 and 5 years, in which children are able to integrate past, current, and unknown future self-representations into a notion of a self that endures over time.

present self

early self-representation in which 2- and 3-year-olds recognize current representations of self but are unaware that past self-representations or self- relevant events have implications for the present.

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self recognition

the ability to recognize oneself in a mirror or photograph.

self concept

one’s perceptions of one’s unique attributes or traits.

personal agency

recognition that one can be the cause of an event.

proprioceptive feedback

sensory information from the muscles, tendons, and joints that helps us locate the position of our body (or body parts) in space.

social cognition

thinking that people display about the thoughts, feelings, motives, and behaviours of themselves and other people.

self

the combination of physical and psychological attributes that is unique to each individual

role taking

the ability to assume another person’s perspective and understand his or her thoughts, feelings, and behaviours

psychological comparisons phase

the tendency to form impressions of others by comparing and contrasting these individuals on abstract psychological dimensions.

psychological constructs

the tendency to base our impressions of others on the stable traits these individuals are presumed to have.

behavioural comparisons

the tendency to form impressions of others by comparing and contrasting their overt behaviours.

person perception

the process by which individuals attribute characteristics or traits to other people.

moral identity

degree to which being a moral person is important to one’s identity.

mechanisms of moral disengagement

cognitive reframing of harmful behaviour as being morally acceptable.

transactive interactions

verbal exchanges in which individuals perform mental operations on the reasoning of their discussion partners.

postconventional morality

Kohlberg’s term for the fifth and sixth stages of moral reasoning, in which moral judgments are based on social contracts and democratic law (Stage 5) or on universal principles of ethics and justice (Stage 6).

conventional morality

Kohlberg’s term for the third and fourth stages of moral reasoning, in which moral judgments are based on a desire to gain approval (Stage 3) or to uphold laws that maintain social order (Stage 4).

preconventional morality

Kohlberg’s term for the first two stages of moral reasoning, in which moral judgments are based on the tangible punitive consequences (Stage 1) or rewarding consequences (Stage 2) of an act for the actor rather than on the relationship of that act to society’s rules and customs.

inequity aversion

the preference for treating others equally and fairly, and resistance to incidental inequalities.

autonomous morality

Piaget’s second state of moral development, in which children realize that rules are arbitrary agreements that can be challenged and changed with the consent of the people they govern.

immanent justice

the notion that unacceptable conduct will invariably be punished and that justice is ever present in the world.

heteronomous morality

Piaget’s first stage of moral development, in which children view the rules of authority figures as sacred and unalterable.

induction

a nonpunitive form of discipline in which an adult explains, by emphasizing its effects on others, why a child’s behaviour is wrong and should be changed.

power assertion

a form of discipline in which an adult relies on his or her superior power (e.g., by administering corporal punishment or withholding privileges) to modify or control a child’s behaviour.

love withdrawal

a form of discipline in which an adult withholds attention, affection, or approval in order to modify or control a child’s behaviour.

situational compliance

compliance based primarily on a parent’s power to control the child’s conduct.

committed compliance

compliance based on the child’s eagerness to cooperate with a responsive parent who has been willing to cooperate with him or her.

relationship

parent–child relationship characterized by mutual responsiveness to each other’s needs and goals and shared positive affect.

internalisation

the process of adopting the attributes or standards of other people—taking these standards as one’s own.

self-oriented distress

feeling of personal discomfort or distress that may be elicited when we experience the emotions of (i.e., empathize with) a distressed other; thought to inhibit altruism

sympathetic distress

feelings of sympathy or compassion that may be elicited when we experience the emotions of (i.e., empathize with) a distressed other.

sympathy or compassion

ability to feel sorrow or concern for another.

social-conventional rules

standards of conduct determined by social consensus that indicate what is appropriate within a particular social context.

moral rules

standards of acceptable and unacceptable conduct that focus on the rights and privileges of individuals.

sanctity / purity

abhorrence for disgusting things, foods, and actions

authority

submitting to tradition and legitimate authority.

loyalty

standing with your group, family, or nation

fairness

rendering justice according to shared rules.

er

cherishing and protecting others.

moral foundations

innate origins of human morality that results from various adaptive challenges in evolutionary history.

morality

a set of principles or ideals that help the individual to distinguish right from wrong, to act on this distinction, and to feel pride in virtuous conduct and guilt (or other unpleasant emotions) for conduct that violates one’s standards.

simple stepparent homes

family consisting of a parent and his or her biological children and a stepparent.

ownness effect

tendency of parents in complex stepparent homes to favour and be more involved with their own biological children than with their stepchildren.

complex stepparent homes

family consisting of two married (or cohabiting) adults, each of whom has at least one biological child living at home.

sibling rivalry

spirit of competition, jealousy, and resentment that may arise between two or more siblings.

transactional model

model of family influence in which parent and child are believed to influence each other reciprocally.

child effects model

model of family influence in which children are believed to influence their parents rather than vice versa.

parent effects model

model of family influence in which parents (particularly mothers) are believed to influence their children rather than vice versa.

psychological control

attempts to influence a child’s behaviour by such psychological tactics as withholding affection and/or inducing shame or guilt.

behavioural control

attempts to regulate a child’s conduct through firm discipline and monitoring of his or her conduct.

uninvolved parenting

a pattern of parenting that is both aloof (or even hostile) and overpermissive, almost as if parents cared about neither their children nor what they might become.

permissive parenting

a pattern of parenting in which otherwise accepting adults make few demands of their children and rarely attempt to control their behaviour

authoritarian parenting

a restrictive pattern of parenting in which adults set many rules for their children, expect strict obedience, and rely on power rather than reason to elicit compliance.

demandingness/ control

a dimension of parenting that describes how restrictive and demanding parents are.

acceptance / responsiveness

a dimension of parenting that describes the amount of responsiveness and affection that a parent displays toward a child.

blended / reconstituted families

new families resulting from cohabitation or remarriage that include a parent, one or more children, and step-relations.

single parent family

family system consisting of one parent (either the mother or the father) and the parent’s dependent child(ren).

autonomy

capacity to make decisions independently, serve as one’s own source of emotional strength, and otherwise manage life tasks without depending on others for assistance.

extended family

a group of blood relatives from more than one nuclear family (e.g., grandparents, aunts, uncles, nieces, and nephews) who live together, forming a household.

co parenting

circumstance in which parents mutually support each other and function as a cooperative parenting team.