AP PSYCH UNIT 3

Nature: The influence of genetics and biological factors on behavior and development. For example, a child may inherit a genetic predisposition for high intelligence.

Nurture: The influence of environmental factors such as upbringing, culture, and experience on behavior and development. For example, language development is influenced by exposure and interaction.

Teratogens: Harmful agents, such as drugs or viruses, that can cause defects in a developing embryo or fetus. Example: Alcohol can cause fetal alcohol syndrome.

Reflexes: Automatic, inborn responses to specific stimuli. For example, infants have a sucking reflex.

Rooting Reflex: When a baby's cheek is touched, they turn their head and open their mouth to search for a nipple.

Sucking Reflex: An automatic response in infants to suck on objects placed in their mouths.

Grasping Reflex: When an object is placed in an infant's palm, they will grasp it tightly.

Moro Reflex: A startle response in infants, where they flail their limbs and then retract them.

Babinski Reflex: When the sole of a baby's foot is stroked, their toes fan outward.

Visual Cliff: A test for depth perception in infants, showing they can perceive depth once they start crawling.

Motor Skills: Abilities required to control large and small muscle movements.

Gross Motor Skills: Involve large muscle movements such as walking or jumping.

Gender Schema: Cognitive framework that organizes information related to gender roles and expectations.

Discontinuous: A perspective in developmental psychology that sees development as occurring in distinct stages.

Growth Spurt: A rapid increase in height and weight during puberty.

Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD): Vygotsky's concept of the range of tasks a child can perform with guidance but not alone.

Psychosocial Stage Theory: Erikson's theory that individuals pass through eight stages of social and emotional development.

Trust vs. Mistrust: First stage (infancy); if needs are dependably met, infants develop a sense of trust.

Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt: Second stage (toddlerhood); toddlers learn to exercise will and do things for themselves.

Initiative vs. Guilt: Third stage (preschool); children learn to initiate tasks or feel guilty about efforts to be independent.

Industry vs. Inferiority: Fourth stage (elementary); children learn the pleasure of applying themselves to tasks or feel inferior.

Identity vs. Role Confusion: Fifth stage (adolescence); teens work at refining a sense of self or become confused.

Intimacy vs. Isolation: Sixth stage (young adulthood); individuals form close relationships or feel isolated.

Generativity vs. Stagnation: Seventh stage (middle adulthood); focus on contributing to the world or feeling purposeless.

Integrity vs. Despair: Eighth stage (late adulthood); reflecting on life with satisfaction or regret.

Imaginary Audience: Adolescents' belief that others are constantly watching and judging them.

Assimilation: Interpreting new experiences using existing schemas. Example: Calling a zebra a horse.

Accommodation: Adapting schemas to incorporate new information. Example: Learning that a zebra is different from a horse.

Schemata: Mental structures used to organize knowledge.

Object Permanence: Understanding that objects continue to exist even when not seen. Develops during the sensorimotor stage.

Mental Symbols: The use of images or words to represent objects or events.

Egocentric: In Piaget's theory, the inability of the preoperational child to see another's point of view.

Pretend Play: Using imagination to create scenarios; develops in the preoperational stage.

Theory of Mind: Understanding that others have thoughts, feelings, and perspectives different from one's own.

Concepts of Conservation: The idea that quantity remains the same despite changes in shape or appearance.

Formal Operational Stage: Piaget's stage (12+) where people develop abstract and hypothetical reasoning.

Abstract Reasoning: The ability to think about concepts and ideas not physically present.

Hypothetical Thinking: The ability to imagine and reason about situations that are not real.

Concrete Operational Stage: Piaget's stage (7-11); children gain a better understanding of mental operations and think logically about concrete events.

Metacognition: Thinking about one's own thinking processes.

Personal Fable: Adolescents' belief that they are unique and invulnerable.

Phonemes: The smallest distinctive sound units in a language. Example: "b" or "t".

Morphemes: The smallest units of meaning. Example: "un-", "break", and "-able" in "unbreakable".

Syntax: The rules for combining words into grammatically correct sentences.

Semantics: The meaning derived from words and sentences.

Babbling: Early stage of language development, involving spontaneous utterance of sounds.

Holophrastic Stage: One-word stage; toddlers use one word to represent a complete idea. Example: "Milk!"

One-word Stage: Another term for holophrastic stage.

Telegraphic Speech: Two-word phrases often used by toddlers that are like telegrams. Example: "Want juice."

Two-word Stage: The stage when toddlers begin using two-word combinations.

Overgeneralization: Applying grammar rules too widely. Example: "I goed to the park."

Overregularization: Misapplication of grammar rules. Same as overgeneralization.

Critical Period: A window of time in which language acquisition is easiest; after which learning language becomes much harder.

Attachment Parenting: Parenting approach focusing on close physical and emotional bonds.

Temperament: An individual's innate personality characteristics and emotional reactivity.

Secure Attachments: Children who show distress when parent leaves but are comforted upon return.

Avoidant Attachments: Children who avoid or ignore the caregiver and show little emotion when the caregiver departs or returns.

Anxious/Ambivalent Attachments: Children who are anxious about caregiver availability, showing clinginess and difficulty being comforted.

Resistant Attachments: Another term for anxious/ambivalent attachments.

Insecure Attachments: Includes avoidant and ambivalent; children have inconsistent or minimal emotional connection with caregivers.

Separation Anxiety: Distress when separated from a primary caregiver.

Microsystem: The immediate environment that directly influences a child (e.g., family, school).

Mesosystem: Interactions between microsystems (e.g., relationship between family and school).

Exosystem: Indirect environmental settings that affect the child (e.g., a parent's workplace).

Macrosystem: Cultural and societal influences on development.

Chronosystem: The patterning of environmental events and transitions over the life course.

Authoritarian Parents: Strict, impose rules and expect obedience, often without explanation.

Permissive Parents: Submit to their children’s desires, make few demands, and use little punishment.

Authoritative Parents: Demanding and responsive; set rules but explain and encourage open discussion.

Puberty: The period of sexual maturation during which a person becomes capable of reproduction.

Menopause: The time of natural cessation of menstruation; marks the end of a woman's reproductive years.

Classical Conditioning: A learning process that occurs when two stimuli are repeatedly paired. Example: Pavlov’s dogs.

Associative Learning: Learning that certain events occur together; includes classical and operant conditioning.

Unconditioned Stimulus (US or UCS): A stimulus that naturally triggers a response. Example: Food.

Unconditioned Response (UR or UCR): The unlearned, naturally occurring response to the UCS. Example: Salivation.

Conditioned Response (CR): The learned response to a previously neutral stimulus. Example: Salivation to a bell.

Conditioned Stimulus (CS): A previously neutral stimulus that now triggers a conditioned response.

Acquisition: The initial stage of learning, during which a response is established.

Trace Conditioning: The CS is presented, then removed, and then the US is presented.

Simultaneous Conditioning: The CS and US are presented at the same time.

Backward Conditioning: The US is presented before the CS; generally ineffective.

Extinction: The diminishing of a conditioned response when the US no longer follows the CS.

Spontaneous Recovery: The reappearance of a weakened CR after a pause.

Generalization: The tendency to respond similarly to stimuli similar to the CS.

Discrimination: The learned ability to distinguish between a CS and other irrelevant stimuli.

Higher-order Conditioning: A new neutral stimulus becomes a new CS by association with an already established CS.

Taste Aversions: A learned avoidance of a particular food after it causes illness.

One-trial Learning: Learning that occurs after only one pairing of a CS and US.

Biological Preparedness: The idea that people and animals are inherently inclined to form associations between certain stimuli and responses.

Association: A mental connection between concepts, events, or mental states.

Operant Conditioning: Learning in which behavior is strengthened if followed by a reinforcer or diminished if followed by a punisher.

Law of Effect: Thorndike's principle that behaviors followed by favorable consequences become more likely.

Reinforcement: Any event that strengthens a behavior it follows.

Positive Reinforcement: Adding a desirable stimulus to increase behavior.

Negative Reinforcement: Removing an aversive stimulus to increase behavior.

Punishment: An event that decreases the behavior that it follows.

Shaping: Reinforcing successive approximations toward a desired behavior.

Reinforcement Discrimination: Learning to respond only to the original stimulus.

Discriminative Stimulus: A stimulus that elicits a response after association with reinforcement.

Primary Reinforcers: Innately reinforcing stimuli like food or water.

Secondary Reinforcers: Stimuli that gain reinforcing power through association with primary reinforcers.

Generalized Reinforcer: A secondary reinforcer associated with multiple primary reinforcers, e.g., money.

Continuous Reinforcement: Reinforcing the desired response every time it occurs.

Partial-Reinforcement Effect: Responses learned under partial reinforcement are more resistant to extinction.

Fixed-Ratio (FR): Reinforcement after a set number of responses.

Variable-Ratio (VR): Reinforcement after a random number of responses.

Fixed-Interval (FI): Reinforcement after a fixed time has passed.

Variable-Interval (VI): Reinforcement at unpredictable time intervals.

Instinctive Drift: The tendency for animals to revert to instinctive behaviors that interfere with learning.

Modeling: Learning by observing and imitating others.

Vicarious Learning: Learning through observing the consequences of others' behavior.

Social Learning Theory: Bandura’s theory that we learn social behavior by observing, imitating, and by being rewarded or punished.

Latent Learning: Learning that occurs but is not apparent until there is an incentive to demonstrate it.

Cognitive Map: A mental representation of one's environment. Example: Rats creating a mental map of a maze.

Insight Learning: Sudden realization of a problem's solution without trial-and-error.