Unit 3 Part 1 Flashcards
Developmental Psychology
A branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive, and social change throughout the lifespan
Teratogens
Agents, such as chemicals and viruses, that can reach the embryo or fetus during prenatal development and cause harm
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS)
Physical and cognitive function deficits in children caused by their birth mother’s heavy drinking during pregnancy. In severe cases, symptoms include a small, out-of-proportion head and distinct facial features
Habituation
Decreasing responsiveness with repeated stimulation. As infants gain familiarity with repeated exposure to a stimulus, their interest wanes and they look away sooner
Maturation
Biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in behavior, relatively uninfluenced by experience
Critical Period
An optimal period early in the life of an organism when exposure to certain stimuli or experiences produces normal development
Sex
The biologically influenced characteristics by which people define male, female, and intersex
Gender
The attitudes, feelings, and behaviors that a given culture associates with a person’s biological sex
Menarche
The first menstrual period
Role
A set of expectations (norms) about a social position, defining how those in the position ought to behave
Gender Role
A set of expected behaviors, attitudes, and traits for men and for women
Gender Identity
Our personal sense of being male, female, neither, or some combination of male and female, regardless of whether this identity matches our sex assigned at birth, and the social affiliation that may result from this identity
Social Learning Theory
The theory that we learn social behavior by observing and imitating and by being rewarded or punished
Gender Typing
The acquisition of a traditional masculine or feminine role
Androgyny
Displaying traditionally masculine and traditionally feminine psychological characteristics
Sexuality
Our thoughts, feelings, and actions related to our physical attraction to another
Asexual
Having no sexual attraction toward others
Intersex
Possessing male and female biological sexual characteristics at birth
Primary Sex Characteristics
The body structures (ovaries, testes, and external genitalia) that make sexual reproduction possible
Secondary Sex Characteristics
Nonreproductive sexual traits, such as female breasts and hips, male voice quality, and body hair
Spermarche
The first ejaculation
Concrete Operational Stage
In Piaget’s theory, the stage of cognitive development (from about 7 to 11 years of age) at which children can perform the mental operations that enable them to think logically about concrete (actual, physical) events
Formal Operational Stage
In Piaget’s theory, the stage of cognitive development (normally beginning about age 12) at which people begin to think logically about abstract concepts
Lev Vygotsky
Came up with the Vygotsky Sociocultural theory asserting that a child’s cognitive development and learning ability can be guided and mediated by their social interactions
Theory of mind
People’s ideas about their own and others’ mental states — about their feelings, perceptions, and thoughts, and the behaviors these might predict
Phoneme
In a language, the smallest distinctive sound unit
Morpheme
In a language, the smallest unit that carries meaning; may be a word or a part of a word
Grammar
In a language, a system of rules that enables us to communicate with and understand others. Semantics is the language’s set of rules for deriving meaning from sounds, and syntax is its set of rules for combining words into grammatically sensible sentences
Universal Grammar (UG)
Humans’ innate predisposition to understand the principles and rules that govern grammar in all languages
Sexual Orientation
A person’s sexual and emotional attraction to another person and the behavior and/or social affiliation that may result from this attraction
Jean Piaget
Developed Piaget’s theory of cognitive development which proposes four different stages of the child development process
Cognition
All the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating
Schema
A concept or framework that organizes and interprets information
Assimilation
Interpreting our new experiences in terms of our existing schemas
Accommodation
Adapting our current schemas (understandings) to incorporate new information
Sensorimotor Stage
In Piaget’s theory, the stage (from birth to nearly 2 years of age) at which infants know the world mostly in terms of their sensory impressions and motor activities
Object Permanence
The awareness that things continue to exist even when not perceived
Preoperational Stage
In Piaget’s theory, the stage (from about 2 to 6 or 7 years of age) at which a child learns to use language but does not yet comprehend 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 the forms of objects
Egocentrism
In Piaget’s theory, the preoperational child’s difficulty taking another’s point of view
Strange Situation
A procedure for studying child-caregiver attachment; a child is placed in an unfamiliar environment while their caregiver leaves and then returns, and the child’s reactions are observed
Secure Attachment
Demonstrated by infants who comfortably explore environments in the presence of their caregiver, show only temporary distress when the caregiver leaves, and find comfort in the caregiver’s return
Insecure Attachment
Demonstrated by infants who display either a clinging, anxious attachment or an avoidant attachment that resists closeness
Erik Erikson
ASK MRS. PALMER
Developed theory of development, believing that humans’ personalities continued to develop past age five and that the development of personality depended directly on the resolution of existential crises like trust, anatomy, intimacy, individuality, integrity, and identity
Basic Trust
According to Erik Erikson, a sense that the world is predictable and trustworthy; said to be formed during infancy by appropriate experiences with responsive caregivers
Diana Baumrind
Researched parenting styles, theorizing that children’s behavior can be attributed to the specific parenting style they experience in their homes
One-word stage
The stage in speech development, from about age 1 to 2, during which a child speaks mostly in single words
Two-word stage
Beginning about age 2, the stage in speech development during which a child speaks mostly in two-word statements
Telegraphic speech
The early speech stage in which a child speaks like a telegram — “go car” — using mostly nouns and verbs
Aphasia
Impairment of language, usually caused by left hemisphere damage either to Broca’s area (impairing speaking) or to Wernicke’s area (impairing understanding)
Paul Broca
Discovered the speech production center of the brain
Broca’s Area
A frontal lobe brain area, usually in the left hemisphere, that helps control language expression by directing the muscle movements involved in speech
Carl Wernicke
Discovered the area in the cerebrum responsible for receptive language/ speech phenomena in the superior gyrus of the temporal lobe
Wernicke’s Area
A brain area, usually in the left temporal lobe, involved in language comprehension and expression
Linguistic Determinism
Whorf’s hypothesis that language determines the way we think
Linguistic Relativism
The idea that language influences the way we think
Ecological Systems Theory
A theory of the social environment’s influence on human development, using five nested systems (microsystem; mesosystem; exosystem; macrosystem; chronosystem) ranging from direct to indirect influences
Stranger Anxiety
The fear of strangers that infants commonly display, beginning by about 8 months of age
Harry and Margaret Harlow
Showed in their studies that the bond between mother and child in the first few years of life is extremely important for the mental health and development of the child
Unconditioned Stimulus (US)
In classical conditioning, a stimulus that unconditionally — naturally and automatically — triggers an unconditioned response UCR
Unconditional Response (UR)
In classical conditioning, an unlearned, naturally occurring response (such as salivation) to an unconditioned stimulus (UCS) (such as food in the mouth)
Conditioned Response (CR)
In classical conditioning, a learned response to a previously neutral (but now conditioned) stimulus (CS).
Conditioned Stimulus (CS)
In classical conditioning, an originally neutral stimulus that, after association with an unconditioned stimulus (UCS), comes to trigger a conditioned response (CR)
Neutral Stimulus (NS)
In classical conditioning, a stimulus that elicits no response before conditioning
Social Identity
The “we” aspect of our self-concept; the part of our answer to “Who am I?” that comes from our group memberships
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 (as in classical conditioning) or a response and its consequence (as in operant conditioning)
Respondent Behavior
Behavior that occurs as an automatic response to some stimulus
Operant Behavior
Behavior that operates on the environment, producing a consequence
Cognitive Learning
The acquisition of mental information, whether by observing events, by watching others, or through language
