Chapter 3: Personal & Social Development

Question 1

personal development

Answer 1

Development, with age, of distinctive behavioral patterns and increasingly complex self-understandings.

Question 2

social development

Answer 2

Development, with age, of increasingly sophisticated understandings of other people and of society as a whole, as well as increasingly effective interpersonal skills and more internalized standards for behavior.

Question 3

personality

Answer 3

Characteristic ways in which a particular individual behaves, thinks, and feels in a wide range of circumstances.

Question 4

temperament

Answer 4

Genetic predisposition to respond in particular ways to one’s physical and social environments.

Question 5

effortful control

Answer 5

One’s general ability to inhibit immediate impulses in order to think and act productively; believed to be a distinct aspect of temperament that has a biological basis in the brain.

Question 6

attachment

Answer 6

Strong, affectionate bond formed between a child and a caregiver.

Question 7

authoritative parenting

Answer 7

Parenting style characterized by emotional warmth, high standards for behavior, explanation and consistent enforcement of rules, and inclusion of children in decision making.

Question 8

authoritarian parenting

Answer 8

Parenting style characterized by rigid rules and expectations for behavior that children are asked to obey without question.

Question 9

child maltreatment

Answer 9

Consistent neglect or abuse of a child that jeopardizes the child’s physical and psychological well-being

Question 10

socialization

Answer 10

Process of molding a child’s behavior and beliefs to be appropriate for his or her cultural group.

Question 11

culture shock

Answer 11

Sense of confusion when a student encounters a new environment with behavioral expectations very different from those previously learned

Question 12

goodness of fit

Answer 12

Situation in which classroom conditions and expectations are compatible with students’ temperaments and personality characteristics.

Question 13

sense of self

Answer 13

Perceptions, beliefs, judgments, and feelings about oneself as a person; includes self-concept and self-esteem.

Question 14

self efficacy

Answer 14

Belief that one is capable of executing certain behaviors or reaching certain goals

Question 15

imaginary audience

Answer 15

Belief that one is the center of attention in any social situation.

Question 16

personal fable

Answer 16

Belief that one is completely unlike anyone else and so cannot be understood by others.

Question 17

identity

Answer 17

Self-constructed definition of who one is and what things are important to accomplish in life.

Question 18

ethnic identity

Answer 18

Awareness of one’s membership in a particular ethnic or cultural group and willingness to adopt behaviors characteristic of the group.

Question 19

peer contaigon

Answer 19

Phenomenon in which certain behaviors, attitudes, and/or values spread from one child or adolescent to another, perhaps through modeling, peer reinforcement, social sanctions, or self-socialization.

Question 20

self-socialization

Answer 20

Tendency to integrate personal observations and others’ input into self-constructed standards for behavior and to choose actions consistent with those standards.

Question 21

cliques

Answer 21

Moderately stable friendship group of perhaps 3 to 10 members.

Question 22

subculture

Answer 22

Group that resists the ways of the dominant culture and adopts its own norms for behavior.

Question 23

gang

Answer 23

Cohesive social group characterized by initiation rites, distinctive colors and symbols, territorial orientation, and feuds with rival groups.

Question 24

popular students

Answer 24

Students whom many peers like and perceive to be kind and trustworthy

Question 25

rejected students

Answer 25

Students whom many peers identify as being an undesirable social companion

Question 26

controversial students

Answer 26

Student whom some peers strongly like and other peers strongly dislike.

Question 27

neglected students

Answer 27

Student about whom most peers have no strong feelings, either positive or negative.

Question 28

social cognition

Answer 28

Process of thinking about how other people are likely to think, act, and react.

Question 29

perspective taking

Answer 29

Ability to look at a situation from someone else’s viewpoint.

Question 30

mirror neurons

Answer 30

Neuron in the brain that fires either when a person is performing a particular behavior or when the person sees someone else perform the behavior.

Question 31

theory of mind

Answer 31

Self-constructed understanding of one’s own and other people’s mental and psychological states (thoughts, feelings, etc.).

Question 32

recursive thinking

Answer 32

Thinking about what other people may be thinking about oneself, possibly through multiple iterations.

Question 33

social information processing

Answer 33

Mental processes involved in making sense of and responding to social events.

Question 34

aggression

Answer 34

action intentionally taken to hurt another either physically or psychological

Question 35

physical aggression

Answer 35

Action that can potentially cause bodily injury.

Question 36

psychological aggression

Answer 36

Action intended to cause mental anguish or reduce self-esteem.

Question 37

relational aggression

Answer 37

Action that can adversely affect interpersonal relationships; a form of psychological aggression.

Question 38

proactive aggression

Answer 38

Deliberate aggression against another as a means of obtaining a desired goal.

Question 39

reactive aggression

Answer 39

Aggressive response to frustration or provocation.

Question 40

bully

Answer 40

person who frequently threatens, harasses or causes injury to particular peers

Question 41

hostile attributional bias

Answer 41

Tendency to interpret others’ behaviors as reflecting hostile or aggressive intentions.

Question 42

cyberbullying

Answer 42

Engaging in psychological aggression via wireless technologies or the Internet

Question 43

prosocial behavior

Answer 43

Behavior directed toward promoting the wellbeing of people other than oneself.

Question 44

morality

Answer 44

One’s general standards regarding right and wrong behaviors.

Question 45

guilt

Answer 45

Feeling of discomfort about having caused someone else pain and distress

Question 46

shame

Answer 46

Feeling of embarrassment or humiliation after failing to meet certain standards for moral behavior.

Question 47

empathy

Answer 47

Experience of sharing the same feelings as someone in unfortunate circumstances.

Question 48

sympathy

Answer 48

Feeling of sorrow for another person’s distress, accompanied by concern for the person’s well-being.

Question 49

moral transgressions

Answer 49

Action that causes harm or infringes on the needs or rights others

Question 50

conventional transgressions

Answer 50

action that violates a culture’s general expectations regarding socially appropriate behaviors

Question 51

moral dilemmas

Answer 51

Situation in which two or more people’s rights or needs may be at odds and the morally correct action is not clear cut

Question 52

preconventional morality

Answer 52

Lack of internalized standards about right and wrong behaviors; decision making based primarily on what seems best for oneself.

Question 53

conventional morality

Answer 53

Uncritical acceptance of society’s conventions regarding right and wrong behaviors

Question 54

postconventional morality

Answer 54

Thinking in accordance with self-constructed, abstract principles regarding right and wrong behaviors.

Question 55

induction

Answer 55

Explanation of why a certain behavior is unacceptable, often with a focus on the pain or distress that someone has caused another.

Question 56

service learning

Answer 56

Activity that promotes learning and development through contributing to the general betterment of other people and the outside community.