AP Psyc Test 3

Key Concepts:

Developmental Psychology

The study of how people change physically, mentally, and socially throughout their lives.

Research Methods in Development

Cross-sectional Research:

Comparing different age groups at one point in time to see differences between them.

Longitudinal Research:

Following the same individuals over an extended period to observe changes as they grow.

Critical Periods & Sensitive Periods

Sensitive Period:

A time when a person is especially open to certain experiences or learning (but missing it might not be irreversible).

Critical Period (in animal behavior):

A narrow window when an organism must receive specific experiences for normal development; if missed, the change can’t occur later.

Key Developmental Processes

Imprinting:

A rapid learning process shortly after birth where an animal forms an attachment, often to its parent.

Maturation:

The natural, genetically driven growth process that unfolds over time, independent of learning.

Developmental Milestones:

Expected skills or behaviors (like crawling, talking) that most children achieve by certain ages.

Attachment:

The emotional bond that forms between a child and caregiver, providing a sense of security.

Fine Motor Skills:

Small movements using hands and fingers (like grasping or drawing) that develop as children grow.

Prenatal Development & Influences

Prenatal Development:

The process of growth from conception to birth.

Teratogens:

Harmful substances (like drugs or infections) that can cause developmental problems during pregnancy.

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS):

A condition caused by alcohol exposure in the womb, leading to physical, cognitive, and behavioral issues.

Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development

Overview:

Children actively build knowledge through stages as they interact with the world.

Cognitive Stages:

Sensorimotor (0-2 years): Learning through senses and actions.

Preoperational (2-7 years): Developing language and symbolic thinking, though still egocentric.

Concrete Operational (7-11 years): Beginning logical thought about concrete events; understand concepts like conservation.

Formal Operational (12+ years): Capable of abstract and hypothetical thinking.

Egocentrism: The inability to see a situation from another’s perspective, common in young children.

Object Permanence:

The understanding that objects still exist even when they are not visible, usually developing in infancy.

Symbolic Thinking:

Using symbols (like words or images) to represent objects and ideas.

Animism:

Believing that inanimate objects have lifelike qualities, typical in the preoperational stage.

Conservation:

Realizing that quantity doesn’t change even when the form or appearance does.

Habituation:

Decreased response to a stimulus after repeated exposure, indicating that it is no longer new or significant.

Vygotsky’s Theory of Cognitive Development

Overview:

Emphasizes the role of social interactions and culture in learning and development.

Scaffolding:

Support provided by a more knowledgeable person to help a learner perform a task until they can do it independently.

Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD):

The gap between what a learner can do alone and what they can do with help.

Role of Social Interaction in Learning:

Learning is enhanced when we interact, share ideas, and work with others.

Language Development

Language Acquisition:

The natural process by which infants learn to understand and use language.

Language Acquisition Milestones:

Key stages such as cooing, babbling, first words, and combining words into sentences.

Bilingualism:

The ability to speak and understand two languages fluently.

Babbling Stage:

Early stage when infants produce repeated sounds (like “ba-ba-ba”) as they experiment with language.

Overregularization:

When children apply grammatical rules too broadly (e.g., “goed” instead of “went”).

Phonemes and Morphemes:

Phonemes: The smallest units of sound in a language.

Morphemes: The smallest units of meaning (could be whole words or parts of words).

Syntax:

The rules that determine the structure of sentences.

Grammar:

The overall system of a language, including its syntax, morphology, and rules for usage.

Language Development in Toddlers:

A period of rapid vocabulary growth and the beginning of simple sentence formation.

Language Structure:

How words and sentences are organized and used within a language.

Intelligence and Aging

Crystallized Intelligence:

The ability to use learned knowledge and experience; often remains stable or increases with age.

Fluid Intelligence:

The capacity to solve new problems and think abstractly; usually declines as one gets older.

Aging and Cognitive Changes:

While some mental processes slow down with age, accumulated knowledge and experience can help maintain functioning.

Social Development, Gender, and Parenting

Gender Roles:

The behaviors and attitudes society expects from men and women.

Gender Role Socialization:

The process by which individuals learn and internalize these societal expectations.

Gender Stereotypes:

Oversimplified and generalized ideas about what men and women are like.

Social Learning Theory:

The concept that people learn behaviors by observing others and imitating them, influenced by rewards and punishments.

Parenting Styles:

Different approaches to raising children (e.g., authoritative, authoritarian, permissive, and neglectful), each affecting child development in unique ways.

Social Development in Children:

How children learn to interact, build relationships, and understand emotions.

Erikson’s Psychosocial Stages:

A theory that proposes individuals pass through stages of social and emotional challenges (like trust vs. mistrust, identity vs. role confusion) that shape personality.

Temperament:

A child’s natural style of reacting to the world, such as being easygoing or more intense.

Social & Emotional Development:

The progression of skills needed to manage emotions, interact with others, and form relationships.

Behavioral Categories:

Classifications of behaviors, often used in learning theories to analyze responses to stimuli or consequences.

Learning Theories

Classical Conditioning:

Learning by association, where a neutral stimulus becomes linked with a meaningful one (as in Pavlov’s dogs).

Pavlov’s Experiments:

Demonstrated that dogs could learn to salivate at the sound of a bell if it was consistently paired with food.

Unconditioned Stimulus (UCS):

A stimulus that naturally triggers a response (e.g., food causing salivation).

Unconditioned Response (UCR):

The natural response to the UCS (e.g., salivation in response to food).

Conditioned Stimulus (CS):

A previously neutral stimulus that, after being paired with the UCS, triggers a response (e.g., the bell).

Conditioned Response (CR):

The learned response to the CS (e.g., salivating when hearing the bell).

Generalization:

When a conditioned response is elicited by stimuli that are similar to the original CS.

Extinction in Conditioning:

The gradual weakening of the CR when the CS is repeatedly presented without the UCS.

Biological Preparedness:

The idea that we are evolutionarily predisposed to learn some associations more easily than others.

Garcia Effect (Taste Aversion):

A form of learning where an organism avoids a food after just one instance of it being paired with illness.

One-Trial Learning:

Learning that happens after a single exposure to a stimulus or event.

Operant Conditioning:

Learning that is shaped by rewards and punishments following a behavior.

Reinforcement vs. Punishment:

Reinforcement: Increases the likelihood of a behavior.

Punishment: Decreases the likelihood of a behavior.

Reinforcement and Punishment (Negative and Positive):

Positive Reinforcement: Adding a pleasant stimulus to increase behavior.

Negative Reinforcement: Removing an unpleasant stimulus to increase behavior.

Positive Punishment: Adding an unpleasant stimulus to decrease behavior.

Negative Punishment: Removing a pleasant stimulus to decrease behavior.

Shaping (in skill acquisition):

Gradually reinforcing closer approximations of a desired behavior until the target behavior is achieved.

Ratio and Interval Schedules:

Ways to schedule reinforcement:

Ratio schedules: Based on the number of responses (e.g., reward after every 5 responses).

Interval schedules: Based on the passage of time (e.g., reward after a set time period).

Observational & Cognitive Learning:

Learning by watching others and processing the information, rather than through direct rewards or punishments.

Modeling:

Imitating the behavior of others after observing them.

Latent Learning:

Learning that isn’t immediately obvious until there’s an incentive to demonstrate it.

Insight Learning:

A sudden understanding of a problem’s solution, often without trial-and-error.

Cognitive Map:

A mental representation of one’s environment that helps with navigation and understanding spatial relationships.