Chapter 9: Theories of Social Development

Question 1

achievement motivation

Answer 1

refers to whether children are motivated by learning goals, seeking to improve their competence and master new material, or by performance goals, seeking to receive positive assessments of their competence or to avoid negative assessments

Question 2

anal stage

Answer 2

the second stage in Freud’s theory, lasting roughly from 1 to 3 years of age, in which the primary source of pleasure comes from defecation

Question 3

attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

Answer 3

a syndrome that involves difficulty in sustaining attention

Question 4

behavior modification

Answer 4

a form of therapy based on principles of operant conditioning in which reinforcement contingencies are changed to encourage more adaptive behavior

Question 5

child maltreatment

Answer 5

intentional abuse or neglect that endangers the well-being of anyone under the age of 18

Question 6

chronosystem

Answer 6

in the bioecological model, historical changes that influence the other systems

Question 7

ego

Answer 7

in psychoanalytic theory, the second personality structure to develop. It is the rational, logical, problem-solving component of personality

Question 8

Electra complex

Answer 8

Freud’s term for the conflict experienced by girls in the phallic stage when they develop unacceptable romantic feelings for their father and see their mother as a rival. (The complex is named after a figure in Greek mythology who arranged for the murder of her mother)

Question 9

entity theory

Answer 9

a theory that a person’s level of intelligence is fixed and unchangeable

Question 10

entity/helpless orientation

Answer 10

a general tendency to attribute success and failure to enduring aspects of the self and to give up in the face of failure

Question 11

erogenous zones

Answer 11

in Freud’s theory, areas of the body that become erotically sensitive in successive stages of development

Question 12

ethology

Answer 12

the study of the evolutionary bases of behavior

Question 13

exosystem

Answer 13

in the bioecological model, environmental settings that a person does not directly experience but that can affect the person indirectly

Question 14

genital stage

Answer 14

the fifth and final stage in Freud’s theory, beginning in adolescence, in which maturation and sexual intercourse becomes a major goal

Question 15

hostile attributional bias

Answer 15

in Dodge’s theory, the tendency to assume that other people’s ambiguous actions stem from a hostile intent

Question 16

id

Answer 16

in psychoanalytic theory, the earliest and most primitive personality structure. It is unconscious and operates with the goal of seeking pleasure

Question 17

imprinting

Answer 17

a form of learning in which the young of some species of newborn birds and mammals become attached to and follow adult members of the species (usually their mother)

Question 18

incremental theory

Answer 18

a theory that a person’s intelligence can grow as a function of experience

Question 19

incremental/mastery orientation

Answer 19

a general tendency to attribute success and failure to the amount of effort expended and to persist in the face of failure

Question 20

intermittent reinforcement

Answer 20

inconsistent response to the behavior of another person, for example, sometimes punishing an unacceptable behavior and sometimes ignoring it

Question 21

internalization

Answer 21

the process of adopting as one’s own the attributes, beliefs, and standards of another person

Question 22

latency period

Answer 22

the fourth stage in Freud’s theory, lasting from age 6 to age 12, in which sexual energy gets channeled into socially acceptable activities

Question 23

macrosystem

Answer 23

in the bioecological model, the larger cultural and social context within which the other systems are embedded

Question 24

mesosystem

Answer 24

in the bioecological model the interconnections among immediate, or microsystem, settings

Question 25

microsystem

Answer 25

in the bioecological model, the immediate environment that an individual personally experiences

Question 26

Oedipus complex

Answer 26

Freud’s term for the conflict experienced by boys in the phallic period because of their sexual desire for their mother and their fear of retaliation by their father. (The complex is named for the king in Greek mythology who unknowingly murdered his father and married his mother)

Question 27

oral stage

Answer 27

the first stage in Freud’s theory, occurring in the first year, in which the primary source of satisfaction and pleasure is oral activity

Question 28

parental-investment theory

Answer 28

a theory that stresses the evolutionary basis of many aspects of parental behavior, including the extensive investment parents make in their offspring

Question 29

perceived self-efficacy

Answer 29

an individual’s beliefs about how effectively he or she can control his or her own behavior, thoughts, and emotions in order to achieve a desired goal

Question 30

phallic stage

Answer 30

the third stage in Freud’s theory, lasting from age 3 to age 6, in which sexual pleasure is focused on the genitalia

Question 31

psychic energy

Answer 31

Freud’s term for the collection of biologically based instinctual drives that he believed fuel behavior, thoughts, and feelings

Question 32

reciprocal determinism

Answer 32

Bandura’s concept that child-environment influences operate in both directions; children are affected by aspects of their environment, but they also influence the environment

Question 33

role taking

Answer 33

being aware of the perspective of another person, thereby better understanding that person’s behavior, thoughts, and feelings

Question 34

self-socialization

Answer 34

with regard to gender development, individuals’ use of their beliefs, expectations, and preferences to guide how they perceive the world and the actions they choose

Question 35

superego

Answer 35

in psychoanalytic theory, the third personality structure, consisting of internalized moral standards

Question 36

systematic desensitization

Answer 36

a form of therapy based on classical conditioning, in which positive responses are gradually conditioned to stimuli that initially elicited a highly negative response. This approach is especially useful in the treatment of fears and phobias

Question 37

vicarious reinforcement

Answer 37

observing someone else receive a reward or punishment