AP Psych Unit 9/10 Vocab

Developmental psychology → The study of how people change physically, cognitively, and socially throughout life.

Zygote → The fertilized egg; it undergoes rapid cell division and develops into an embryo.

Embryo → The developing human organism from about 2 weeks to 2 months after fertilization.

Fetus → The developing human from 9 weeks after conception to birth.

Teratogens → Harmful agents, such as chemicals or viruses, that can reach the embryo or fetus and cause harm.

Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) → A condition caused by a mother’s heavy drinking during pregnancy, leading to physical and cognitive abnormalities.

Habituation → A decrease in response to a stimulus after repeated exposure.

Maturation → Biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in behavior, relatively uninfluenced by experience.

Cognition → All mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating.

Schema → A mental framework that helps organize and interpret information.

Assimilation → Interpreting new experiences in terms of existing schemas.

Accommodation → Adapting current schemas to incorporate new information.

Sensorimotor stage → Piaget’s first stage (0-2 years) where infants learn through sensory impressions and motor activities.

Object permanence → The awareness that objects continue to exist even when not seen.

Preoperational stage → Piaget’s second stage (2-7 years) where children learn to use language but lack logical reasoning.

Conservation → The understanding that quantity remains the same despite changes in shape.

Egocentrism → The difficulty in seeing things from another person’s perspective.

Theory of mind → The ability to understand others’ thoughts, beliefs, and feelings.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) → A developmental disorder characterized by difficulties in social interaction and communication.

Concrete operational stage → Piaget’s third stage (7-11 years), where children begin logical thinking about concrete events.

Formal operational stage → Piaget’s fourth stage (12+ years), where abstract and moral reasoning develop.

Stranger anxiety → Fear of strangers, commonly appearing around 8 months of age.

Attachment → An emotional bond between an infant and caregiver.

Critical period → A specific time in development when exposure to certain experiences is necessary for proper development.

Imprinting → The process by which certain animals form strong attachments during early life.

Temperament → A person’s characteristic emotional reactivity and intensity.

Basic trust → A sense that the world is predictable and trustworthy, formed in infancy.

Self-concept → A person’s understanding of who they are.

Gender → The socially constructed roles and characteristics of male and female.

Aggression → Any physical or verbal behavior intended to harm.

Gender role → A set of expected behaviors for males and females.

Role → A set of norms about a social position.

Gender identity → A person’s sense of being male or female.

Social learning theory → The theory that we learn social behavior by observing, imitating, and rewards/punishments.

Gender typing → The acquisition of a traditional masculine or feminine role.

Transgender → A person whose gender identity differs from their assigned sex at birth.

Adolescence → The transition period from childhood to adulthood.

Identity → A person’s sense of self, often developed during adolescence.

Social identity → The part of self-concept derived from group membership.

Intimacy → The ability to form close relationships, a primary developmental task in early adulthood.

Emerging adulthood → The transition period from adolescence to full adulthood.

X chromosome → A sex chromosome found in both males and females.

Y chromosome → A sex chromosome found only in males.

Testosterone → The primary male sex hormone that influences male sex organ development.

Puberty → The period of sexual maturation.

Primary sex characteristics → The body structures that make reproduction possible.

Secondary sex characteristics → Nonreproductive sexual traits, such as breasts and voice change.

Menarche → A female’s first menstrual period.

AIDS → A life-threatening disease caused by HIV that weakens the immune system.

Sexual orientation → A person’s sexual attraction towards the same, opposite, or both sexes.

Menopause → The time in a woman’s life when menstrual cycles end.

Cross-sectional study → A study that compares different age groups at the same time.

Longitudinal study → A study that follows and tests the same group of people over time.

Social clock → The culturally preferred timing of life events.

Personality → An individual’s characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting.

Free association → A method in psychoanalysis where a person says whatever comes to mind.

Psychoanalysis → Freud’s theory of personality that attributes thoughts and actions to unconscious motives.

Unconscious → A reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories.

Id → The part of personality that seeks pleasure and immediate gratification.

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

Superego → The part of personality that represents internalized ideals and morals.

Psychosexual stages → Freud’s stages of childhood development, where pleasure focuses on different body areas.

Oedipus complex → A boy’s unconscious sexual desires for his mother and rivalry with his father.

Identification → The process by which children incorporate their parents’ values into their superego.

Fixation → A lingering focus on an earlier psychosexual stage due to unresolved conflicts.

Defense mechanisms → The ego’s protective methods of reducing anxiety.

Repression → A defense mechanism that banishes anxiety-arousing thoughts from consciousness.

Psychodynamic theories → Theories that view personality as stemming from unconscious motives and childhood experiences.

Collective unconscious → Jung’s theory of shared, inherited memory traces from our species’ history.

Projective test → A personality test that provides ambiguous stimuli to reveal unconscious desires.

Thematic Apperception Test (TAT) → A projective test where people tell stories about ambiguous pictures.

Rorschach inkblot test → A projective test using inkblots to analyze inner thoughts.

False consensus effect → The tendency to overestimate how much others share our beliefs and behaviors.

Terror-management theory → A theory about how people deal with their fear of death.

Humanistic theories → Theories that focus on the potential for human growth.

Self-actualization → Maslow’s idea of fulfilling one’s potential.

Unconditional positive regard → Accepting and valuing a person regardless of their behavior.

Self-concept → A person’s answer to “Who am I?”

Trait → A characteristic pattern of behavior.

Personality inventory → A questionnaire assessing personality traits.

Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) → The most widely used personality test.

Empirically derived test → A test developed by selecting items that discriminate between groups.

Social-cognitive perspective → A theory that behavior is influenced by interactions with others and personal thinking.

Behavioral approach → The idea that personality is shaped by learned responses.

Reciprocal determinism → The interacting influences of behavior, cognition, and environment.

Positive psychology → The scientific study of human flourishing.

Self → The center of personality and organizer of thoughts and feelings.

Spotlight effect → Overestimating how much others notice our appearance and actions.

Self-esteem → One’s feelings of self-worth.

Self-efficacy → One’s sense of competence.

Self-serving bias → A tendency to perceive oneself favorably.

Narcissism → Excessive self-love and self-focus.

Individualism → Prioritizing personal goals over group goals.

Collectivism → Prioritizing group goals over personal goals.

Jean Piaget – Developed the theory of cognitive development, outlining four stages:

• Sensorimotor stage (0-2 years) – Object permanence develops.

• Preoperational stage (2-7 years) – Egocentrism and lack of conservation.

• Concrete operational stage (7-11 years) – Logical thinking about concrete events.

• Formal operational stage (12+ years) – Abstract and moral reasoning.

Lev Vygotsky – Proposed the sociocultural theory of cognitive development, emphasizing:

• The zone of proximal development (ZPD) – What a child can do with help vs. alone.

• The role of scaffolding – Guidance from a more knowledgeable other.

• Language and social interaction as critical for cognitive development.

Konrad Lorenz – Studied imprinting in animals, showing that certain species form attachments during a critical period early in life.

Harry Harlow – Conducted monkey attachment studies, demonstrating that:

• Infant monkeys preferred comfort over nourishment (wire mother vs. cloth mother).

• Contact comfort is crucial for social and emotional development.

Margaret Harlow – Assisted in attachment research with Harry Harlow, reinforcing the importance of early emotional bonds.

Mary Ainsworth – Designed the Strange Situation experiment, classifying attachment styles:

• Secure attachment – Comfortable exploring but seeks parent when distressed.

• Insecure-avoidant – Avoids caregiver and is indifferent to their return.

• Insecure-resistant – Clingy and difficult to soothe.

Diana Baumrind – Identified parenting styles:

• Authoritarian – Strict, little warmth, expects obedience.

• Authoritative – Warm yet firm, promotes independence with limits.

• Permissive – Lenient, few rules or structure.

• Neglectful (later added) – Uninvolved, little emotional connection.

Carol Gilligan – Criticized Kohlberg’s moral development theory for being male-centered, arguing that:

• Women’s morality focuses more on relationships and care, rather than justice.

Albert Bandura – Developed social learning theory, emphasizing:

• Observational learning (modeling) – Children learn behaviors by watching others.

• Conducted the Bobo doll experiment, showing how aggression can be learned.

Lawrence Kohlberg – Created a theory of moral development, proposing three levels:

Erik Erikson – Developed the psychosocial stages of development, with key crises at each stage (e.g., identity vs. role confusion in adolescence).

Sigmund Freud – Founder of psychoanalysis, proposed:

• Id, Ego, Superego – Structures of personality.

• Psychosexual stages – Development driven by unconscious desires.

• Defense mechanisms – Ways the ego protects itself (e.g., repression, denial).

Alfred Adler – Introduced individual psychology, emphasizing:

• Inferiority complex – Feeling of inadequacy that drives behavior.

• Striving for superiority – Primary human motivation.

Karen Horney – Criticized Freud’s theories, arguing:

• Personality is shaped by social and cultural factors, not just unconscious drives.

• Challenged Freud’s "penis envy" with "womb envy" (men’s envy of childbearing).

Carl Jung – Developed the concept of the collective unconscious, containing:

• Archetypes – Universal symbols and themes in human experience (e.g., hero, shadow).

• Differentiated between introversion and extraversion.

Abraham Maslow – Proposed the hierarchy of needs, with self-actualization at the top.

Carl Rogers – Humanistic psychologist who emphasized:

• Unconditional positive regard – Accepting people without judgment.

• Self-concept – How we view ourselves impacts personality.

Robert McCrae & Paul Costa – Developed the Big Five personality traits (OCEAN):

• Openness – Creativity and willingness to try new things.

• Conscientiousness – Organization and dependability.

• Extraversion – Sociability and energy level.

• Agreeableness – Compassion and cooperativeness.

• Neuroticism – Emotional instability and anxiety.

Albert Bandura – Developed the social-cognitive perspective, introducing:

• Reciprocal determinism – Interaction between behavior, cognition, and environment.

• Self-efficacy – One’s belief in their ability to succeed.

Martin Seligman – Studied learned helplessness, leading to:

• The foundation of positive psychology, focusing on human strengths and well-being.