Ap psych study guide (personality,development,motivation,emotion)

Cross-sectional study

A research method that compares people of different ages at the same time.

Longitudinal study

A research method that follows the same group of people over time.

Biographical (Retrospective) study

Studies one person’s life history to analyze past events and development.

Temperament

A person’s natural emotional reactivity and intensity, often present from birth.

Rooting reflex

When a baby turns its head toward a touch on the cheek to find food.

Sucking reflex

A baby’s instinct to suck when something touches the roof of its mouth.

Grasping reflex

A baby automatically grasps an object placed in its palm.

Visual Cliff

An experiment that tested depth perception in infants by placing them on a table with a glass-covered drop-off.

Sensorimotor Stage

Piaget's stage (0-2 yrs) where infants learn through senses and movement; develops object permanence.

Preoperational Stage

Piaget's stage (2-7 yrs) characterized by egocentric thinking and lack of conservation.

Concrete Operational Stage

Piaget's stage (7-11 yrs) where logical thinking and conservation develop.

Formal Operational Stage

Piaget's stage (12+ yrs) where abstract and hypothetical thinking emerges.

Preconventional morality

Kohlberg's stage based on punishment and rewards.

Conventional morality

Kohlberg's stage where social rules and laws are followed.

Postconventional morality

Kohlberg's stage based on personal moral principles.

Authoritarian parenting

A style with strict rules, high expectations, and little warmth.

Authoritative parenting

A balanced style of discipline and warmth, leading to the best outcomes for children.

Permissive parenting

A style with few rules, indulgent, which may lead to poor self-discipline.

Language Acquisition Device (LAD)

Chomsky’s concept that humans have an innate ability to learn language.

Motivation

A process that initiates, directs, and sustains behavior.

Emotion

A complex state of feeling that includes physiological arousal, behavior, and conscious experience.

Instinct

An unlearned behavior that is biologically programmed.

Primary Motives

Biological needs such as food, water, and sleep.

Secondary Motives

Learned desires such as money and achievement.

Arousal Theory

The theory that we seek an optimal level of arousal.

Drive Reduction Theory

Theory suggesting behavior is motivated by the need to reduce internal tension.

Homeostasis

The body’s ability to maintain a balanced internal state.

Yerkes-Dodson Law

The principle that performance is best at moderate arousal levels.

Intrinsic Motivation

Doing something for internal satisfaction.

Extrinsic Motivation

Doing something for external rewards.

Hierarchy of Needs

Maslow's theory suggesting five levels of human needs, from physiological to self-actualization.

Harry Harlow's Monkey Experiment

Research showing that comfort and affection are more important than food in attachment.

Competence Motivation

The drive to improve and master skills.

Achievement Motivation

The drive to succeed and accomplish goals.

Plutchik’s Theory of Emotion

A theory that suggests eight primary emotions combine to form complex emotions.

Psychodynamic Theory

Freud's theory that personality is shaped by unconscious drives.

Id

The pleasure-seeking, impulsive part of personality.

Ego

The part of personality that balances the id and superego, operating on reality.

Superego

The moral conscience aspect of personality striving for perfection.

Unconscious Mind

The part of the mind containing hidden thoughts, desires, and memories.

Psychosexual Stages of Development

Freud's five stages that outline how personality develops through childhood.

Collective Unconscious

Jung's concept of shared human experiences embodied in archetypes.

Introvert

A person who prefers solitude and deep thinking.

Extrovert

A person who is energized by social interaction.

Erikson’s Stages of Development

Eight stages each with a conflict to resolve throughout a person's life.

Self-Actualization

The realization of one's full potential as a person.

Big Five Personality Traits (OCEAN Model)

A model of personality traits including Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism.