DevPsy Shaffer: S Flashcards
a common sexually transmitted disease that
may cross the placental barrier in the middle and later
stages of pregnancy, causing miscarriage or serious
birth defects.
syphilis
the structure of a language; the rules specifying
how words and grammatical markers are to be combined to produce meaningful sentences.
syntax
the notion that young children make inferences about the meaning of words by analyzing the way words are used in sentences and inferring whether they refer to objects (nouns), actions (verbs), or attributes (adjectives).
syntactical bootstrapping
generally harmonious interac
tions between two persons in which participants adjust
their behavior in response to the partner’s feelings and
behaviors.
synchronized routines
formation of connections (synapses) among neurons.
synaptogenesis
the connective space (juncture) between one
nerve cell (neuron) and another.
synapse
feelings of sympathy or
compassion that may be elicited when we experience the emotions of (that is, empathize with) a distressed other; thought to become an important mediator of altruism.
sympathetic empathic arousal
the ability to use symbols (such as images and words) to represent objects and experiences.
symbolic function
the unexplained
death of a sleeping infant who suddenly stops breathing
(also called crib death).
sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)
Guilford’s factor-analytic
model of intelligence, which proposes that there are
180 distinct mental abilities.
structure-of-intellect model
an observational method in
which the investigator attempts to elicit the behavior
of interest and observes participants’ responses in a
laboratory.
structured observation
a technique in which all participants are asked the same questions in precisely the same order so that the responses of different participants can be compared.
structured interview or structured questionnaire
goal-directed and deliberately implemented
mental operations used to facilitate task performance.
strategies
processes involved as one consciously
attempts to retain or retrieve information.
strategic memory
a series of eight separation and reunion episodes to which infants are exposed in order to determine the quality of their attachments.
Strange Situation
a wary or fretful reaction that infants and toddlers often display when approached by an unfamiliar person.
stranger anxiety
when people’s behavior is influenced by a desire to contradict the stereotypes they believe may be applied to them.
stereotype threat
the modern descendant of the first successful intelligence test that
measures general intelligence and four factors: verbal
reasoning, quantitative reasoning, spatial reasoning, and short-term memory.
Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale
a bulging of the spinal cord through a gap in
the spinal column.
spina bifida
procedures that ask children
to identify those peers whom they like or dislike or
to rate peers for their desirability as companions;
used to measure children’s peer acceptance (or
nonacceptance).
sociometric techniques
culturally specific rules specifying how language should be structured and used in particular social contexts.
sociolinguistic knowledge
changes that have occurred
in one’s culture and the values, norms, and technologies such a history has generated.
sociohistorical development
Vygotsky’s perspective on cognitive development, in which children acquire their culture’s values, beliefs, and problem-solving strategies through collaborative dialogues with more knowledgeable members of society.
sociocultural theory
the notion that psychological
differences between the sexes and other gender-role
stereotypes are created and maintained by differences in socially assigned roles that men and women play (rather than attributable to biologically evolved
dispositions).
social roles hypothesis:
the use of others’ emotional expressions to infer the meaning of otherwise ambiguous situations.
social referencing
the process by which children acquire the beliefs, values, and behaviors considered desirable or appropriate by their culture or subculture.
socialization
the ability to achieve personal goals in social interactions while continuing to maintain positive relationships with others.
social competence:
the process of defining and evaluating the self by comparing oneself to other people.
social comparison
thinking people display about the thoughts, feelings, motives, and behaviors of themselves and other people.
social cognition
a person’s willingness to engage others in social interaction and to seek their attention or approval.
sociability
infants whose birth weight is far below normal, even when born close to their normal
due dates.
small-for-date babies
a measure of physical maturation based on
the child’s level of skeletal development.
skeletal age
the tendency to perceive an object as the
same size from different distances despite changes in
the size of its retinal image.
size constancy
compliance based primarily on a parent’s power to control the child’s conduct.
situational compliance
a pattern of inheritance in which one allele dominates another so that
only its phenotype is expressed.
simple dominant-recessive inheritance
a genetic blood disease that causes red blood cells to assume an unusual sickle shape and to become inefficient at distributing oxygen.
sickle-cell anemia
the spirit of competition, jealousy, and resentment that may arise between two or more siblings.
sibling rivalry
the second information
processing store, in which stimuli are retained for several seconds and operated on (also called working memory).
short-term store (STS)
an environmental influence that people living together share that should make these individuals similar to one another.
shared environmental influence (SE)
an attribute determined by a recessive gene that appears on the X chromosome; more
likely to characterize males.
sex-linked characteristic
a person’s biological identity: his or her chromosomes, physical manifestations of identity, and hormonal influences.
sex
a research design in which subjects from different age groups are studied repeatedly over a period of months or years; usually shorter than a
longitudinal study.
sequential design
a wary or fretful reaction that infants and toddlers often display when separated from the person(s) to whom they are attached.
separation anxiety
the first information
processing store, in which stimuli are noticed and are
briefly available for further processing.
sensory store (or sensory register)
Piaget’s first intellectual stage, from
birth to 2 years, when infants are relying on behavioral
schemes as a means of exploring and understanding the
environment.
sensorimotor period
the notion that human beings are most proficient at
language learning before they reach puberty.
sensitive-period hypothesis (of language acquisition)
the period of time that is optimal for the development of particular capacities, or behaviors, and in which the individual is particularly sensitive to environmental influences that would foster these
attributes.
sensitive period
detection of stimuli by the sensory receptors
and transmission of this information to the brain.
sensation
the expressed meaning of words and sentences.
semantics
the ability to recognize oneself in a mirror or a photograph.
self-recognition
a feeling of personal discomfort or
distress that may be elicited when we experience the
emotions of (that is, empathize with) a distressed other;
thought to inhibit altruism.
self-oriented distress
a phenomenon whereby people
cause others to act in accordance with the expectations
they have about those others.
self-fulfilling prophecy
one’s evaluation of one’s worth as a person
based on an assessment of the qualities that make up
the self-concept.
self-esteem
one’s perceptions of one’s unique attributes
or traits.
self-concept
the combination of physical and psychological attributes that is unique to each individual.
self
a method of studying
genetic influences by determining whether traits can be
bred in animals through selective mating.
selective breeding experiment
nonrandom loss of participants during
a study that results in a nonrepresentative sample.
selective attrition
the capacity to focus on task- relevant
aspects of experience while ignoring irrelevant or distracting information.
selective attention
the use of a caregiver as a base from which
to explore the environment and to which to return for
emotional support
secure base
an infant–caregiver bond in which the child welcomes contact with a close companion and uses this person as a secure base from which to explore
the environment.
secure attachment
a trend in industrialized societies toward
earlier maturation and greater body size now than in
the past.
secular trend
the period of the birth process
during which the fetus moves through the birth canal
and emerges from the mother’s body (also called the
delivery).
second stage of labor
an initially neutral stimulus that acquires reinforcement value by virtue of its repeated
association with other reinforcing stimuli.
secondary reinforcer
the third substage of
Piaget’s sensorimotor stage; a pleasurable response,
centered on an external object, that is discovered by
chance and performed over and over.
secondary circular reactions
a general representation of the typical sequencing
of events (i.e., what occurs and when) in some familiar
context.
script
the use of objective and replicable methods to gather data for the purpose of testing a theory or hypothesis. It dictates that, above all, investigators must be objective and must allow their data to decide the merits of their thinking.
scientific method
a serious form of mental illness characterized by disturbances in logical thinking, emotional
expression, and interpersonal behavior.
schizophrenia
an organized pattern of thought or action that
one constructs to interpret some aspect of one’s experi
ence (also called cognitive structure).
scheme
the process by which an expert, when
instructing a novice, responds contingently to the
novice’s behavior in a learning situation, so that the
novice gradually increases his or her understanding of
a problem.
scaffolding
Spearman’s term for mental abilities that are specific to
particular tests.
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