Psychology Unit 3 Vocabulary Flashcards
Chromosomes
Threadlike structures made of DNA molecules that contain the genes
Genes
The biochemical units of heredity that make up the chromosomes; segments of DNA
Heredity
The genetic transfer of characteristics from parents to offspring
Interaction
The interplay that occurs when the effect of one factor (such as environment) depends on another factor (such as heredity)
Epigenetics
The study of environmental influences on gene expression that occur without a DNA change
Zygote
The fertilized egg; it enters a 2-week period of rapid cell division and develops into an embryo
Embryo
The developing human organism from about 2 weeks after fertilization through the second month
Fetus
The developing human organism from 9 weeks after conception to birth
Teratogen
An agent, such as a chemical or virus, that can reach the embryo or fetus during prenatal development and cause harm
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
Physical and mental abnormalities in children caused by a pregnant woman’s heavy drinking
Maturation
Biological growth processes loading to orderly changes in behavior, mostly independent of experience
Temperament
A person’s characteristic emotional reactivity and intensity
Critical Period
A period in early life when exposure to certain stimuli or experiences is needed for proper development
Cognition
All the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating
Schema
A concept or framework that organizes and interprets information
Sensorimotor stage
In Piaget’s theory, the stage (from birth to nearly 2 years of age) during which infants know the world mostly in terms of their sensory impressions and motor activities
Preoperational stage
In Piaget’s theory, the stage (from about 2 to 6 or 7 years of age) in which a child learns to use language but cannot yet perform the mental operations of concrete logic
Conservation
The principle (which Piaget believed to be a part of concrete operational reasoning) that properties such as mass, volume, and number remain the same despite changes in shapes
Egocentrism
In Piaget’s theory, the preoperational child’s difficulty taking another’s point of view
Theory of mind
People’s ideas about their own and other’s mental states - about their feelings, perceptions, and thoughts, and the behaviors these might predict
Concrete operational stage
In Piaget’s theory, the stage of cognitive development (from about 6 to 7 to 11 years of age) during which children gain the mental operations that enable them to think logically about concrete events
Formal operational stage
In Piaget’s theory, the stage of cognitive development (normally beginning at about age 12) during which people begin to think logically about abstract concepts
Adolescence
The transition period from child to adulthood, extending from puberty to independence
Puberty
The period of sexual maturation, during which a person becomes capable of reproducing
Intimacy
In Erikson’s theory, the ability to form close, loving relationships; a primary developmental task in early adulthood
Emerging adulthood
A period from about 18 to the mid-twenties, when many in Western cultures are no longer adolescents but have not yet achieved full independence as adults
Menopause
The end of menstruation; the biological transition a woman experiences from before until after the end of menstruation
Social clock
The culturally preferred timing of social events such as marriage, parenthood, and retirement
Associative learning
Learning that certain events occur together. The events may be two stimuli (classical conditioning) or a response and its consequences (operant conditioning)
Cognitive learning
The acquisition of mental information, whether by observing events, by watching others, or through language
Generalization
In classical conditioning, the tendency, after conditioning, to respond similarly to stimuli that resemble the conditioned stimulus
Discrimination
In classical conditioning, the learned ability to distinguish between a conditioned stimulus and other irrelevant stimuli
In social psychology, unjustifiable negative behavior toward a group and its members
Law of effect
Thorndike’s principle that behaviors followed by favorable consequences become more likely, and that behaviors followed by unfavorable consequences become less likely
Behaviorism
The view that psychology (1) should be an objective science that (2) studies behavior without reference to mental processes. Most psychologists agree with (1) but not with (2)
Latent learning
Learning that is not apparent until there is an incentive to demonstrate it
Mirror neuron
Neuron that fires when we perform certain actions and when we observe others performing those actions; neural basis for imitation and observational learning
Sensory memory
The immediate, very brief recording of sensory information in the memory system
Short-term memory
Activated memory that holds a few items briefly (such as the seven digits of a phone number while dialing) before the information is stored or forgotten
Long-term memory
The relatively permanent and limitless storehouse of the memory system. Includes knowledge, skills, and experiences
Working memory
A newer understanding of short-term memory that stresses conscious, active processing of incoming auditory and visual-spatial information, and of information retrieved from long-term memory
Explicit memory
Memory of facts and personal events you can consciously retrieve (also called declarative memory)
Mnemonics
Memory aids, especially techniques that use vivid imagery and organizational devices
Flashbulb memory
A clear memory of an emotionally significant moment or event
Amnesia
Literally “without memory” - a loss of memory, often due to brain trauma, injury, or disease
Memory trace
Lasting physical changes in the brain as a memory forms
Repression
In psychoanalytic theory, the basic defense mechanism that banishes from consciousness the thoughts, feelings, and memories that arouse anxiety
Misinformation effect
When a memory has been corrupted by misleading information
Deja vu
That eerie sense that “I’ve experienced this before”. Cues from the current situation may unconsciously trigger retrieval of an earlier experience
