Psych 201

cognitive development

the development of thinking, problem solving, and memory

Culture

Beliefs, customs, and traditions of a specific group of people.

developmental psychopathology

field of psychology that focuses on determining what is abnormal at any point in the developmental process by comparing and contrasting it with normal and expected changes that occur

Equifinality

one symptom can have many causes

Multifinality

various outcomes may stem from similar beginnings

Incremental theories

theories in which development is a result of continuous quantitative changes

Intersectionality

the interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class, and gender as they apply to a given individual or group, regarded as creating overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage.

Nature vs. Nurture

Do genes (nature) or environmental factors (nurture) contribute more to a person's being?

niche-picking

tendency to actively choose environments that complement our heredity

parental ethnotheories

parental cultural belief systems

peer review

a review by people with similar professional qualification

perceptual bias

the tendency to see and understand something based on the way you expected it to be

Physical Development

development involving the body's physical makeup, including the brain, nervous system, muscles, and senses, and the need for food, drink, and sleep

positive youth development

an approach to finding ways to help all young people reach their full potential

Qualitative changes

changes in the overall nature of what you are examining

quantitative changes

Gradual, incremental change, as in the growth of a pine tree's girth.

social policy

a national government's course of action designed to promote the welfare of its citizens

social-emotional development

Type of development involving a person's disposition, interaction with people and social groups, and emotions

socialization

the process by which individuals internalize the values, beliefs, and norms of a given society and learn to function as members of that society

socioeconomic status (SES)

A division of population based on occupation, income, and education.

stage theories

approaches that propose that development involves a series of discontinuous, age-related phases

Accommodation vs. Assimilation

using one's existing schema to interpret info vs. adapting one's schema to incorporate new info.

anal stage

Freud's pychosexual period during which a child learns to control his bodily excretions

applies behavior analysis

application of reinforcement principles to teach skills and change behavior to shape social and language skills

Behaviorism

the science of behavior that focuses on observable behavior only

Chronosystem

in the bioecological model, historical changes that influence the other systems

classical conditioning

a type of learning in which one learns to link two or more stimuli and anticipate events

connectionist network

-based on neural networks but are not necessarily identical to them

Constructivism

an extension of symbolic interaction theory which proposes that reality is what humans cognitively construct it to be

developmental cognitive neuroscience

explores links between development, cognitive processes, and the brain

developmental theory

A group of ideas, assumptions, and generalizations that interpret and illuminate the thousands of observations that have been made about human growth. A developmental theory provides a framework for explaining the patterns and problems of development.

dynamic assessment

a testing procedure that uses a test-intervene-test procedure to assess the examinee's potential to change

dynamic systems theory

the view that development is a self-organizing process, in which new forms of behavior emerge through consistent interactions between a biological being and cultural and environmental contexts

Ecological Systems Theory

views the person as developing within a complex system of relationships affected by multiple levels of the surrounding environment

ego

the largely conscious, "executive" part of personality that, according to Freud, mediates among the demands of the id, superego, and reality. The ego operates on the reality principle, satisfying the id's desires in ways that will realistically bring pleasure rather than pain.

Id

a reservoir of unconscious psychic energy that, according to Freud, strives to satisfy basic sexual and aggressive drives. The id operates on the pleasure principle, demanding immediate gratification.

Superego

the part of personality that, according to Freud, represents internalized ideals and provides standards for judgment (the conscience) and for future aspirations

embodied cognition

the influence of bodily sensations, gestures, and other states on cognitive preferences and judgements

Equilibration

A mechanism that Piaget proposed to explain how children shift from one stage of thought to the next.

Ethology

The scientific study of how animals behave, particularly in natural environments.

Exosystem

social settings that a person may not experience firsthand but that still influence development

Extinction (operant conditioning)

decreases in the frequency of a behavior when the behavior is no longer reinforced

genital stage

Freud's last stage of personality development, from the onset of puberty through adulthood, during which the sexual conflicts of childhood resurface (at puberty) and are often resolved during adolescence).

Imprinting

the process by which certain animals form attachments during a critical period very early in life

latency stage

the fourth psychosexual stage, in which the primary focus is on the further development of intellectual, creative, interpersonal, and athletic skills

Macrosystem

consists of cultural values, laws, customs, and resources

Mesosystem

provides connections across microsystems

Microsystem

immediate environment

negative reinforcement

Increasing behaviors by stopping or reducing negative stimuli, such as shock. A negative reinforcer is any stimulus that, when removed after a response, strengthens the response. (Note: negative reinforcement is not punishment.)

operant conditioning

a type of learning in which behavior is strengthened if followed by a reinforcer or diminished if followed by a punisher

oral stage

Freud's first stage of psychosexual development during which pleasure is centered in the mouth

phallic stage

Freud's third stage of development, when the penis becomes the focus of concern and pleasure

phobia

fear

positive reinforcement

Increasing behaviors by presenting positive stimuli, such as food. A positive reinforcer is any stimulus that, when presented after a response, strengthens the response.

psychoanalytic theory

A theory developed by Freud that attempts to explain personality, motivation, and mental disorders by focusing on unconscious determinants of behavior

psychosexual stages

the childhood stages of development (oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital) during which, according to Freud, the id's pleasure-seeking energies focus on distinct erogenous zones

psychosocial stages

In Erikson's theory, the developmental stages refer to eight major challenges that appear successively across the lifespan, which require an individual to rethink his or her goals and relationships with others.

punishment

an event that decreases the behavior that it follows

Reinforcement

in operant conditioning, any event that strengthens the behavior it follows

Scaffolding

the support for learning and problem solving that encourages independence and growth

Schema

a concept or framework that organizes and interprets information

self-efficacy

one's sense of competence and effectiveness

shaping behavior

the process of guiding learning in graduated steps using reinforcement or lack of reinforcement

social cognitive theory

referring to the use of cognitive processes in relation to understanding the social world

stores model

the idea that information is processed through a series of mental locations (sensory to short-term to long-term memory "stores")

unconscious mind

level of the mind in which thoughts, feelings, memories, and other information are kept that are not easily or voluntarily brought into consciousness

zone of proximal development

phase of learning during which children can benefit from instruction

Applied Research

Research that has the primary goal of solving problems or improving the human condition

Archival records

Data collected at an earlier date that are used for research purposes

Attrition

The loss of participants over the course of a longitudinal study

Basic research

Research that has the primary goal of adding to our body of knowledge rather than having immediate direct application

Case study

An in-depth study of a single individual or small group of individuals that uses multiple methods of study

Checklist

A prepared list of behaviors, characteristics, or judgments observers use to assess a child’s development

Clinical interview

An interview strategy in which the interviewer can deviate from a standard set of questions to gather additional information

Cohort effect

Differences between groups in a crosssectional or sequential study that are attributable to the fact that the participants have had different life experiences

Control group

The group in an experiment that does not get the special treatment and provides a baseline against which the experimental group can be compared

Correlational research design

Research design that measures the strength and direction of the relationship between two or more variables that are not created by the experimenter

Cross-sectional design

A research design that uses multiple groups of participants who represent the age span of interest to the researcher

Dependent variable

The outcome of interest to the researcher that is measured at the end of an experiment

Effect size

A statistical measure of how large the difference is between groups being compared

Ethnography

A qualitative research technique in which a researcher lives with a group of people as a participant observer, taking part in the group’s everyday life while observing and interviewing people in the group

Experimental group

The group in an experiment that gets the special treatment that is of interest to the researcher

Experimental research design

A research design in which an experimental group is administered a treatment and the outcome is compared with a control group that does not receive the treatment

Generalize

To draw inferences from the findings of research on a specific sample about a larger group or population

Hypothesis

A prediction, often based on theoretical ideas or observations, that is tested by the scientific method

Independent variable

The variable in an experiment that the researcher manipulates

Interview

A data collection technique in which an interviewer poses questions to a respondent

Longitudinal design

A research design that follows one group of individuals and gathers data from them at several points in time

Meta-analysis

A statistical procedure that combines data from different studies to determine whether there is a consistent pattern of findings across studies

Microgenetic design

A research design that involves frequent observations of participants during a time of change or transition.

Natural or “quasi” experiment

Research in which the members of the groups are selected because they represent different “treatment” conditions

Negative correlation

A correlation in which increases in one variable are associated with decreases in another variable

Norm

The average or typical performance of an individual of a given age on a test

Observer bias

The tendency for an observer to notice and report events that the observer is expecting to see

Operationalize

To define a concept in a way that allows it to be measured

Population

A set that includes everyone in a category of individuals that researchers are interested in studying (for example, all toddlers, all teenagers with learning disabilities)

Positive correlation

A correlation in which increases in one variable are associated with increases in another variable

Questionnaire

A written form of a survey

Random assignment

Assigning participants to the experimental and control groups by chance so that the groups will not systematically differ from each other

Reliability

The ability of a measure to produce consistent results