AP Psychology - Development Psychology

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.

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS)

physical and cognitive abnormalities in children caused by a pregnant woman's heavy drinking. In severe cases, symptoms include noticeable facial misproportions.

Aggression

physical or verbal behavior intended to hurt someone.

Erikson

Proposed that individuals go through 8 distinct, universal stages of development. Each stage consists of a developmental task that confronts individuals with a crisis. Infant; 0-2 years: Trust Vs. mistrust 2. Toddler; 2-3 years: Autonomy Vs shame and doubt 3. Preschool; 3-5 years: Initiative Vs guilt 4. School age; 6-12 years: Industry Vs inferiority 5. Adolescent; 12-18 years: Identity Vs identity (or role) confusion 6. Young adult: 18-25 years: Intimacy Vs isolation 7. Middle adult: 25-45 years: Generativity Vs stagnation 8. Older adult: 45-death: Ego integrity Vs despair

object permanence

The realization of infants that objects continue to exist even when they are out of sight

Accommodation

Development - adapting our current understandings (schemas) to incorporate new information.

Kubler-Ross

Her theory proposes that the terminally ill pass through a squence of 5 stages: 1. denial, 2. anger/resentment, 3. bargaining with God, 4. depression, and 5. acceptance

fluid intelligence

One's ability to reason speedily and abstractly; tends to decrease during late adulthood.

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 for males or for females.

Cross-Sectional Study

a study in which people of different ages are compared with one another.

Emerging Adulthood

for some people in modern cultures, a period from the late teens to mid-twenties, bridging the gap between adolescent dependence and full independence and responsible adulthood.

Adolescence

the transition period from childhood to adulthood, extending from puberty to independence.

Vygotsky

Believed that cognitive development was largely the result of the child's interaction with members of his or her own culture rather than his or her interaction with concrete objects Zones of Proximal Devl: social interaction influences learning. Students learn best when teachers teach them something they don't know yet, and then provide students opportunities to practice and learn with other peers and adults supporting.

stages vs. continuity

Debate over development occurring in set time periods verses continual or individual changes and development

palmar reflex

when you place your finger in an infant's palm, he will grasp it

Moro reflex

Infant startle response to sudden, intense noise or movement. When startled the newborn arches its back, throws back its head, and flings out its arms and legs. Usually disappears after four months.

Babinski reflex

Reflex in which a newborn fans out the toes when the sole of the foot is touched

Bandura

Social Learning Theory Observational learning; Bobo dolls; social-cognitive theory Social Learning Theory - emphasizes modeling or observational learning as a powerful source of development and behavior modification

Developmental Psychology

a branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive, and social change throughout the life span.

Schema

a concept or framework that organizes and interprets information.

Autism

a disorder that appears in childhood and is marked by deficient communication, social interaction, and understanding of others' states of mind.

Temperament

a person's characteristic emotional reactivity and intensity.

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.

Teratogens

agents, such as chemicals and viruses, that can reach the embryo or fetus during prenatal development and cause harm.

Self-Concept

all our thoughts and feelings about ourselves, in answer to the question, "Who am I?"

Cognition

all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating.

Attachment

an emotional tie with another person; shown in young children by their seeking closeness to the caregiver and showing distress on separation.

Critical Period

an optimal period shortly after birth when an organism's exposure to certain stimuli or experiences produces proper development.

Maturation

biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in behavior, relatively uninfluenced by experience.

Alzheimer's disease

chronic, progressive, degenerative cognitivedisorder that accounts for more than 60% of all dementias an irreversible, progressive brain disorder, characterized by the deterioration of memory, language, and eventually, physical functioning

Habituation

decreasing responsiveness with repeated stimulation. As infants gain familiarity with repeated exposure to a visual stimulus, their interest wanes and they look away sooner.

Intimacy

in Erikson's theory, the ability to form close, loving relationships; a primary developmental task in late adolescence and early adulthood.

Egocentrism

in Piaget's theory, the preoperational child's difficulty taking another's point of view.

Preoperational Stage

in Piaget's theory, the stage (from 2 to about 6 or 7 years of age) during which a child learns to use language but does not yet comprehend the mental operations of concrete logic.

Sensorimotor Stage

in Piaget's theory, the stage (from birth to about 2 years of age) during which infants know the world mostly in terms of their sensory impressions and motor activities.

Concrete Operational Stage

in Piaget's theory, the stage of cognitive development (from about 6 or 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 about age 12) during which people begin to think logically about abstract concepts.

Gender

in psychology, the biologically and socially influenced characteristics by which people define male and female.

crystalized intelligence

intelligence that gets better as we get older, accumalated knowledge from experience

Assimilation

interpreting our new experience in terms of our existing schemas.

latchkey children

latchkey kid or latchkey child is a child who returns from school to an empty home because their parent or parents are away at work, or a child who is often left at home with little parental supervision. are left unsupervised after school and are at a higher risk for accidents, isolated and alone

Secondary Sex Characteristics

nonreproductive sexual characteristics, such as female breasts and hips, male voice quality, and body hair.

holographic speech

one word declarations by children at about age 1

Fluid Intelligence

our ability to reason speedily and abstractly; tends to decrease during late adulthood.

Crystallized Intelligence

our accumulated knowledge and verbal skills; tends to increase with age.

Gender Identity

our sense of being male or female.

Identity

our sense of self; according to Erikson, the adolescent's task is to solidify a sense of self by testing and integrating various roles.

Longitudinal Study

research in which the same people are restudied and retested over a long period.

Social Identity

the "we" aspect of our self-concept; the part of our answer to "Who am I?" that comes from our group memberships.

Gender Typing

the acquisition of a traditional masculine or feminine role.

Object Permanence

the awareness that things continue to exist even when not perceived.

Primary Sex Characteristics

the body structures (ovaries, testes, and external genitalia) that make sexual reproduction possible.

social clock

the culturally preferred timing of social events such as marriage, parenthood, and retirement

Social Clock

the culturally preferred timing of social events such as marriage, parenthood, and retirement.

Fetus

the developing human organism from 9 weeks after conception to birth.

Embryo

the developing human organism from about 2 weeks after fertilization through the second month.

Stranger Anxiety

the fear of strangers that infants commonly display, beginning by about 8 months of age.

Zygote

the fertilized egg; it enters a 2-week period of rapid cell division and develops into an embryo.

Menarche

the first menstrual period.

Testosterone

the most important of the male sex hormones. Both males and females have it, but the additional levels in males stimulates the growth of the male sex organs in the fetus and the development of the male sex characteristics during puberty.

Puberty

the period of sexual maturation, during which a person becomes capable of reproducing.

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.

Imprinting

the process by which certain animals form attachments during a critical period very early in life.

X Chromosome

the sex chromosome found in both men and women. Females have two of these; males have one. One chromosome from each parent produces a female child.

Y Chromosome

the sex chromosome found only in males. When paired with an X chromosome from the mother, it produces a male child.

Social Learning Theory

the theory that we learn social behavior by observing and imitating and by being rewarded or punished.

Menopause

the time of natural cessation of menstruation; also refers to the biological changes a woman experiences as her ability to reproduce declines.

Piaget

theorist that developed a series of stages in which an individual passes during cognitive development. Growth occurs in stages - sensory motor (0-2), pre-operational, experiential (2-7), concrete operational (7-11) formal operational (11+) formal and abstract operations

Kohlberg

theorist who claimed individuals went through a series of stages in the process of moral development. Development; Concepts: stages of moral development; Study Basics: Studied boys responses to and processes of reasoning in making moral decisions. Most famous moral dilemma is "Heinz" who has an ill wife and cannot afford the medication. Should he steal the medication and why? Developing children progress through a predictable sequence of stages of moral reasoning (preconventional, conventional, postconventional).