Chapter 4 Key Term

Question 1

Cognition

Answer 1

Human thought processes involving perception, reasoning, and remembering

Question 2

Social self

Answer 2

The basis of self-consciousness in human individuals according to the theory of George H Mead. The social self is the identity conferred upon an individual by the reactions of others. A person achieves self-consciousness by becoming aware of this social identity.

Question 3

socialization

Answer 3

The social processes through which children develop an awareness of social norms and values and achieve a distinct sense of self. Although socialization processes are particularly significant in infancy and childhood, they continue to some degree throughout life.

Question 4

life course

Answer 4

The various transitions and stages people experience during their lives.

Question 5

social reproduction

Answer 5

the process of perpetuating values, norms, and social practices through socialization, which leads to structural continuity overtime.

Question 6

agents of socialization

Answer 6

Groups or social contexts within which processes of socialization take place.

Question 7

resocialization

Answer 7

The process whereby people learn new rules and norms upon entering a new social world.

Question 8

desocialization

Answer 8

The process whereby people unlearn rules and norms upon exiting a particular social world.

Question 9

anticipatory socialization

Answer 9

The process whereby we learn about a social role in advance of enacting the role.

Question 10

hidden cirriculum

Answer 10

Traits of behavior or attitudes that are learned at school but not included in the formal curriculum–for example, gender differences.

Question 11

peer group

Answer 11

A friendship group composed of individuals of similar age and social status.

Question 12

age-grade

Answer 12

The system found in small traditional cultures by which people belonging to a similar age group are categorized together and hold similar rights and obligations.

Question 13

mass media

Answer 13

Forms of communication, such as newspapers, magazines, radio, and television, designed to reach mass audiences.

Question 14

social roles

Answer 14

Socially defined expectations of an individual in a given status or social position.

Question 15

identity

Answer 15

The distinctive characteristics of a person’s (or a group’s) character that relate to who he is and what is meaningful to him. Some of the main sources of identity include gender, sexual orientation, nationality or ethnicity, and social class.

Question 16

social identity

Answer 16

The characteristics that are attributed to an individual by others.

Question 17

master status

Answer 17

A single identity or status that overpowers all the other identities one

Question 18

self-identity

Answer 18

The ongoing process of self-development and definition of our personal identity through which we formulate a unique sense of ourselves and our relationship to the world around us.

Question 19

self-consciousness

Answer 19

Awareness of one’s distinct social identity as a person separate from others. Human beings are not born with self-consciousness but acquire an awareness of self as a result of early socialization. The learning of language is of vital importance to the processes by which a child learns to become a self-conscious being.

Question 20

generalized other

Answer 20

A concept in the theory of G. H. Mead, according to which the individual comes to understand the general rules of a given group or society during the socialization process.

Question 21

looking-glass self

Answer 21

According to Cooley’s theory, the reactions we elicit in social situations create a mirror in which we see ourselves.

Question 22

sensorimotor stage

Answer 22

According to Jean Piaget, a stage of human cognitive development in which a child’s awareness of his or her environment is dominated by perception and touch.

Question 23

preoperational stage

Answer 23

A stage of cognitive development, in Piaget’s theory, in which the child has advanced sufficiently to master basic modes of logical thought.

Question 24

egocentric

Answer 24

According to Piaget, the characteristic quality of a child during the early years of his or her life. Egocentric thinking involves understanding objects and events in the environment solely in terms of one’s own position.

Question 25

formal operational stage

Answer 25

According to Piaget’s theory, a stage of cognitive development at which the growing child becomes capable of handling abstract concepts and hypothetical situations.

Question 26

concrete operational stage

Answer 26

A stage of cognitive development, as formulated by Piaget, in which the child’s thinking is based primarily on physical perception of the world. In this phase, the child is not yet capable of dealing with abstract concepts or hypothetical situations.

Question 27

race socialization

Answer 27

The specific verbal and nonverbal messages that older generations that older generations transmit to younger generations regarding the meaning and significance of race.

Question 28

gender role socialization

Answer 28

The learning of gender roles through social factors such as schooling, the media, and family.

Question 29

gender roles

Answer 29

Social roles assigned to each sex and labeled as masculine or feminine