Chapter 2 Flashcards
An average, or typical, standard of behavior or accomplishment, such as the norm for age of walking or the norm for greeting a stranger.
Norm
A group of ideas, assumptions, and generalizations that interpret and illuminate the thousands of observations that have been made about human growth.
Developmental theory
A grand theory of human development that holds that irrational, unconscious drives and motives, often originating in childhood, underlie human behavior.
Psychoanalytic theory
A grand theory of human development that studies observable behavior.
Behaviorism
According to behaviorism, the processes by which responses become to linked to particular stimuli and learning takes place.
Conditioning
The learning process in which meaningful stimulus is connected with a neutral stimulus that had no special meaning before conditioning.
Classical conditioning
The learning process by which a particular action is followed by something desired or by something unwanted.
Operant conditioning
When a behavior is followed by something desired, such as food for a hungry animal or a welcoming smile for a lonely person.
Reinforcement
An extension of behaviorism that emphasizes the influence that other people have over a person’s behavior.
Social learning theory
The central process of social learning, by which a person observes the actions of others and then copies them.
Modeling
In social learning theory, the belief of some people that they are able to change themselves and effectively alter the social context.
Self-efficacy
A grand theory of human development that focuses on changes in how people think over time.
Cognitive theory
In cognitive theory, a state of mental balance in which people are not confused because they can use their existing thought processes to understand current experiences and ideas.
Cognitive equilibrium
The reinterpretation of of new experiences to fit into old ideas.
Assimilation
The restructuring of old ideas to include new experiences.
Accommodation
