AP Psychology: Nature, Nurture, and Human Diversity

preconventional morality (lvl 1)

(around 9 and under)- no personal code of morality; the moral code is shaped by the standards of adults and the consequences of following or breaking their rules. Authority is outside the individual, reasoning is based on physical consequences of actions.

Teratogens

(literally, "monster maker") Agents, such as chemicals and viruses, that can reach the embryo or fetus during prenatal development and cause harm.

Conventional Morality (lvl 2)

(most adolescents & adults)- they begin to internalize the moral standards of valued adult role models.Authority is internalized but not questioned, and reasoning is based on the norms of the group to which the person belongs.

pace of life

(phrase) the speed at which sb does things, or the speed at which things happen and change in sb's life

Lev Vygotsky

1896-1934; Field: child development; Contributions: investigated how culture & interpersonal communication guide development, zone of proximal development; play research people begin to think logically about abstract concepts. Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky studied how children think and learn Whether out loud or inaudibly, talking to themselves helps children control their behavior and emotions and master new skills. Vygotsky emphasized how the child's mind grows through interaction with the social environment. Language, an important ingredient of social mentoring, provides the building blocks for thinking, noted Vygotsky

Developmental psychology

A branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive, and social change throughout the life span. Focuses on: Nature and nurture, Continuity and stages, Stability and change

Personal Fable

A cognitive distortion experienced by adolescents, in which they believe they are so special and unique that they are destined for greatness.

DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid)

A complex molecule containing the genetic information that makes up the chromosomes. Things written in pen you cannot change that's DNA, things written in pencil you can that's epigenetics.

Individualism

A cultures that values independence. They promote personal ideals, strengths, and goals, pursued in competition with others, leading to individual achievement and finding a unique identity. giving priority to one's own goals over group goals and defining one's identity in terms of personal attributes rather than group identifications

Autism

A developmental disorder marked by an inability to relate to other people normally, extreme self-absorption, and an inability to acquire normal speech. -Lack theory of mind -No eye contact when communicating -No imitation -Social relationship difficulties -Dysfunction of mirror neurons, large amygdala, larger brain -Treatments = medicine to correct chemical imbalance, squeeze vest to monitor arousal, intensive therapy -More common in men

Zygote

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

Adolescent Egocentrism

A heightened self-consciousness of adolescents. Thinking becomes very introspective and teens often go through periods of extreme self-absorption.

Authoritative

A parenting style that is characterized by demanding and responsive parents who set rules with explanation and encourage discussion. parents are confrontive. They are both demanding and responsive. They exert control by setting rules, but, especially with older children, they encourage open discussion and allow exceptions. Research indicates that children with the highest self-esteem, self-reliance, and social competence usually have warm, concerned, authoritative parents

Neglectful

A parenting style that is characterized by disengaged parents with low expectations and little investment into their children's lives.

Permissive

A parenting style that is characterized by the parent making few demands on the child, submitting to the child's desires, and using little punishment. parents are unrestraining. They make few demands and use little punishment. They may be indifferent, unresponsive, or unwilling to set limits. those with permissive parents tend to be more aggressive and immature.

Authoritarian

A parenting style that is characterized by the parent placing many demands on the child without explanation. parents are coercive. They impose rules and expect obedience: "Don't interrupt." "Keep your room clean." "Don't stay out late or you'll be grounded." "Why? Because I said so." Those with authoritarian parents tend to have less social skill and self-esteem

Midlife Transition

A period of time in between ages 40-44 that serves as a bridge from early to middle adulthood. In this time individuals question life structure, reassess goals, and create new ones.

Foreclosure

A person who has committed to their identity without adequate prior exploration. Often from the expectations of parents.

Temperament

A person's characteristic emotional reactivity and intensity. (genetically influenced) some children are more difficult or easy from the start in temperament differences typically persist

Nurture

A person's environmental experience that contribute to their makeup.

natural selection

A process in which individuals that have certain inherited traits tend to survive and reproduce at higher rates than other individuals because of those traits. The principle that, among the range of inherited trait variations, those contributing to the reproduction and survival will most likely be passed on to succeeding generations organisms varied offspring compete for survival certain biological behavioral variations increase organisms reproductive and survival chances in their particular environment offspring that survive are more likely to pass their genes to ensuing Generations thus, overtime, population characteristics may change Belyaev and Trut's experiment Evolutionary psychologists also agree with their critic that some traits and behaviors are hard to explain, such a suicide, in terms of natural selection

Mutation

A random error in gene replication that leads to a change.

Zone of Proximal Development

A range of skills that the child can perform with assistance, but not quite independently.

Self Concept

A sense of one's identity and personal worth. all our thoughts and feelings about ourselves, in answer to the question, "Who am I?" Children who form a positive self-concept are more confident, independent, optimistic, assertive, and sociable By school age, children's self-concept has blossomed into more detailed descriptions that include their gender, group memberships, psychological traits, and similarities and differences compared with other children. They come to see themselves as good and skillful in some ways but not others. They form a concept of which traits, ideally, they would like to have. By age 8 or 10, their self-image is quite stable.

Secondary Sex Characteristics

A sex-differentiating characteristic that doesn't relate directly to reproduction, such as breast enlargement in women and deepening voices in men, and body hair

Twin Study

A study in which the behavioral similarity of identical twins is compared with the behavioral similarity of fraternal twins.

Evolutionary Psychology

A subfield of psychology that sees behavior and mental processes in terms of their genetic adaptations for survival and reproduction. the study of the evolution of behavior and the mind, using principles of natural selection

Language

A system of communication through the use of speech or signs, a collection of sounds understood by a group of people to have the same meaning. our spoken, written, or signed words and the ways we combine them to communicate meaning.

pruning process

A use-it-or-lose-it process that shuts down unused links and strengthens others Nature and nurture interact to sculpt our synapses By puberty, this pruning process results in massive loss of unemployed connections the maturing brains rule: use it or lose it

Fitness

Ability of an organism to survive and reproduce in its environment; our adaptive flexibility in responding to different environments contributes to our fitness

Conservation

Ability to recognize that objects can be transformed in some way, visually or physically, yet still be the same in number, weight, substance, or volume (concrete operations stage).

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. He theorized that infants blessed with sensitive, loving caregivers form a lifelong attitude of trust rather than fear.

Imaginary Audience

Adolescents' belief that they are the focus of everyone else's attention and concern.

Environmental Relatives

Adoptive parents and siblings.

longer phrases

After telegraphic speech, children begin uttering longer phrases (Mommy get ball) with syntactical sense, and by early elementary school they are employing humor. Moving out of the two-word stage, children quickly begin uttering longer phrases.By early elementary school, children understand complex sentences and begin to enjoy the humor conveyed by double meanings

Cognition

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

Dementia

An abnormal condition marked by multiple cognitive defects that include memory impairment.

Invincibility Fable

An adolescent's egocentric conviction that he or she cannot be overcome or even harmed by anything that might defeat a normal mortal, such as unprotected sex, drug abuse, or high speed driving.

Insecure Attachment

An attachment marked either by anxiety or avoidance of trusting relationships. The infant is less likely to explore their surroundings; they may even cling to their mother. When she leaves, they either cry loudly and remain upset or seem indifferent to her departure and return .

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 experience produces proper development. For example, exposure to language must occur by 7 in order for a person to develop it. Learning new languages gets harder with age.

Broca's Area

Area of the frontal lobe in the left hemisphere that directs muscle movement involved in speech. Damage to Broca's Area → struggle to speak words while still being able to sing familiar songs and comprehend speech.

Angular Gyrus

Area of the parietal lobes that transforms visual representations into an auditory code of language.

Individualism and Exchange (stage 2)

At this stage, children recognize that there is not just one right view that is handed down by the authorities. Different individuals have different viewpoints.

Men

Attracted to: Healthy, young, waist 1/3 narrower than hips - ensuring success of passing on genes (their genes are easier to pass) Primary Sex Characteristics: Testes Secondary Sex Characteristics: Deep voice; facial hair; increased muscle mass. Brain: smaller hippocampus, verbal center in only left hemisphere, smaller corpus callosum. More aggressive.

Women

Attracted to: Wealth, power, and security - promoting survival of offspring. Primary Sex Characteristics: Estrogen Secondary Sex Characteristics: Breast development; widening of hips Brain: larger hippocampus, verbal centers in both hemispheres, larger corpus callosum Less aggressive.

Parenting Styles

Authoritarian, permissive, and authoritative. The association between certain parenting styles (being firm but open) and certain childhood outcomes (social competence) is correlational. Correlation is not causation. Parents who struggle with conflicting advice should remember that all advice reflects the advice-giver's values Different parenting styles may be preferred depending on personality/environment/etc.

Two-Word Stage

Beginning about age 2, the stage in speech development during which a child speaks mostly in two-word statements.

Babbling Stage

Beginning at about 4 months, the stage of speech development in which the infant spontaneously utters various sounds at first unrelated to the household language.

Chomsky

Believed humans are born with a special biological brain mechanism called a Language Acquisition Device (LAD) and that nature is more important than nurture.

Maturation

Biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in behavior, relatively uninfluenced by experience. genetic growth tendencies are inborn. Maturation (nature) sets the basic course of development; experience (nurture) adjusts it. (Genes and scenes interact.)

Genetic Relatives

Biological parents and siblings.

Nature via Nurture View

Both biology and culture interact to create gender identity. Your inborn tendencies and the environment in which you live, shape your gender identity. _____together produce gender. we are like coloring books, with certain lines predisposed and experience filling in the full picture; we are formed by nature and nurture Our experience influences our development Maturation (nature) sets the basic course of development; experience (nurture) adjusts it. (Genes and scenes interact.)

Wernicke's Area

Brain area involved in language comprehension and expression; usually in the left temporal lobe. Damage to wernicke's area → people could speak only meaningless words and disrupts understanding

Easy

Cheerful, relaxed infants that sleep and feed on predictable schedules.

Benefits of adoption

Child neglect, abuse, and divorce are rare because parents are carefully screened. Most children thrive because there's likely a good environment and good relationships with parents (less psychological problems, etc.) Not surprising that adoptive children Thrive because adopted homes are carefully screened and natural parents are not Children adopted as infants grew up with fewer problems than were experienced by child whose biological mothers initially register them for adoption but then decided to raise the children themselves; most adopted children benefit from adoption

Inborn Universal Grammar

Chomsky opposed Skinner's ideas and suggested that the rate of language acquisition is so fast that it cannot be explained through learning principles, and thus most of it is inborn.

language acquisition device (LAD)

Chomsky's concept of an innate, prewired mechanism in the brain that allows children to acquire language naturally. hardwired, biological foundations for grammar and learning the unique rules of a culture's language Genes are turned on and off by exposure to language

Alzheimer's Disease

Chronic, progressive, degenerative cognitivedisorder that accounts for more than 60% of all dementias, characterized by formation of amyloid plaques in the brain and neurofibrillary tangles within neurons. a neurocognitive disorder marked by neural plaques, often with an onset after age 80, and entailing a progressive decline in memory and other cognitive abilities. Alzheimer's destroys even the brightest of minds. First memory deteriorates, then reasoning. after 5 to 20 years, the person becomes emotionally flat, then disoriented and disinhibited, then incontinent, and finally mentally vacant—a sort of living death, a mere body stripped of its humanity. Underlying the symptoms of Alzheimer's are a loss of brain cells and a deterioration of neurons that produce the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, which is vital to memory and thinking. An autopsy reveals two telltale abnormalities in these acetylcholine-producing neurons: shriveled protein filaments in the cell body, and clumps of a free-floating protein fragment that accumulate as plaque at neuron tips where synaptic communication normally occurs. Long before its symptoms occur, new technologies can now test for the Alzheimer's susceptibility gene or check spinal fluid for the culprit protein fragments x Such discoveries have stimulated a race to invent and test drugs that may forestall the disease, such as by reducing the activity of a memory inhibiting neurotransmitter, called GAB hearing loss, and its associated social isolation, predicts risk of depression and accelerated mental decline. Compared with people with good hearing, those with hearing loss show declines in memory, attention, and learning about three years earlier. In people at risk for Alzheimer's, brain scans have also revealed—before symptoms appear—the degeneration of critical brain cells and diminished activity in Alzheimer's-related brain areas Alzheimer's is somewhat less common among those who exercise their minds as well as their bodies. As with muscles, so with the brain: Those who use it less often lose it.

Identity Achievement

Commitment to values, beliefs, and goals following a period of exploration.

Variation over time

Cultures vary and compete for resources, and thus evolve over time.

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.

Belyaev and Trut

Demonstrated the theory of evolution; used a breed of fox to show how to make favorable traits appear (tameness). Belyaev and Trut's experiment took the character of being in tame and only selected the top 5 to 20%. In doing so, he was able to tame a wild fox demonstrating natural selection and showing how humans once turned fearful wolves into loving dogs

developmental similarities across groups

Despite diverse cultural backgrounds, humans are more similar than different in many ways. We share the same genetic profile, life cycle, capacity for language, and biological needs.

Identical Twins (monozygotic twins)

Develop from a single fertilized egg that splits in two, creating two genetically identical organisms.(genetically identical) Same genes, but not always the same number of copies of those genes one in every three sets of identical twins have separate placentas which may provide slightly better and nourishment which could contribute to the differences between twins a person whose identical twin has autism spectrum disorder, for example, has about a three in four risk of being similarly diagnosed greater similarity in extraversion and neuroticism and identical twins, drinking and driving convictions are 12 times greater among those who have an identical twin with such a conviction

Fraternal Twins

Develop from separate fertilized eggs that are genetically no closer than ordinary siblings, but share a prenatal environment. a person whose fraternal twin has autism spectrum disorder, for example, has about a one in three risk of being similarly diagnosed

Jean Piaget

Developmental psychologist who believed that children's mind develop in stages, and that they reason differently than adults. studied cognitive development Helped us understand that children reason differently than adults child's mind develops through a series of stages, in an upward march from the newborn's simple reflexes to the adult's abstract reasoning power. core idea: our intellectual progression reflects an unceasing struggle to make sense of our experiences. Criticisms of piaget Development is seen as more continuous rather than discrete stages Cognitive abilities result from modeling and learning rather than maturation x Vygotsky - children learn to Think Through guided participation (scaffolding) in Social experiences that explore the world; adult instruction and encouragement are crucial and the child's intellectual growth x zone of proximal development: a range of skills that the child can perform with assistance but not quite independently some of his Ages were Incorrect and he studied his own children which was biased and not big enough of a sample

Puberty

Developmental stage at which a person becomes capable of reproduction. adolescence begins with puberty; the period of sexual maturation, during which a person becomes capable of reproducing.

Integrity vs. despair

Erikson's eighth and last stage. From age 65 to death, people who look back on their lives with satisfaction develop a sense of wholeness. Others look back with regret and disappointment in the lives they have led.

Identity vs. role confusion

Erikson's fifth stage from teens to 20s in which people develop a sense of who they are. Successful resolution leads to positive identity, unsuccessful resolution leads to identity confusion or a negative identity.

Trust vs. Mistrust

Erikson's first stage during the first year of life, infants learn to trust when they are cared for in a consistent warm manner (age 0-1)

Industry vs. inferiority

Erikson's fourth stage from ages 6 to puberty in which a sense of competence in Elementary school is found, or a child feels incapable.

Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt

Erikson's second stage from ages 1-2 in which those given the opportunity to experience independence (feeding, dressing, bathing) will gain a sense of independence and children that are overly restrained or punished harshly will not.

Generativity vs. stagnation

Erikson's seventh stage during middle adulthood in which caring for others in family, friends and work leads to sense of contribution to later generations.

Intimacy vs. isolation

Erikson's sixth stage during early adulthood in which you have a clear and comfortable sense of who you are, you gain the capacity to hold commitments with others.

Initiative vs. guilt

Erikson's third stage from ages 3-5 in which the child goes to preschool and a sense of accomplishment is possibly found, or the child is made to feel too anxious or irresponsible.

Critiquing the Evolutionary Perspective (3)

Evolutionary psychologists take a behavior and work backward to explain it in terms of natural selection. Evolutionary psychology proposes genetic determinism and undercuts morality in establishing society. Where genders are unequal, gender preferences are wide, but when they are closely equal, preferences narrow down. -------------------------------------------------------------- It starts with an effect and works backward to propose an explanation (hindsight bias?) unethical and immoral men could use such explanations to rationalize their behavior towards women this explanation May Overlook the effects of cultural expectations and socialization

Lawrence Kohlberg

Famous for his theory of moral development in children.

Preconventional Morality

First level of Kohlberg's stages of moral development in which the child's behavior is governed by the consequences of the behavior.

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. a period from about age 18 to the mid-twenties, when many in Western cultures are no longer adolescents but have not yet achieved full independence as adults.

Physical Development

From infancy on, brain and mind—neural hardware and cognitive software—develop together. brain's association areas—those linked with thinking, memory, and language—are the last cortical areas to develop→ once they do mental abilities surge Walking is preferred to crawling putting babies to sleep on their backs to reduce the risk of a smothering crib death) has been associated with somewhat later crawling but not with later walking Genes guide motor development. Identical twins typically begin walking on nearly the same day the nervous system and our two-track mind somehow remember what the conscious mind does not know and cannot express in words Learning a language as an infant and relearning it later → they could relearn subtle sound contrasts in these languages that other people could not learn

Active/Inactive

Genes are either _________ because environmental factors turn genes on and off. either active or inactive; environmental events 'turn on' genes which cause genes to provide the code for creating protein molecules

99.99

Genetically people are _____% similar.

Collectivism

Giving priority to the goals of one's group (often one's extended family or work group) and defining one's identity accordingly.

Methods to study infant thinking

Habituation, novelty-preference procedure, head turning, sucking, length of gaze.

Minimal shared-environment effect

Heredity's influence over personality. Environment shared by a family's children has virtually no discernible impact on their personalities.

Variations across cultures

Human nature manifests human diversity. We see our adaptability in cultural variations among our beliefs and our values, in how we raise our children and bury our dead, and in what we wear (or whether we wear anything at all). When cultures collide, their differing norms often befuddle.

Chimpanzee

Humans are 96% similar to a ________

Kenyans, Icelanders

If after a worldwide catastrophe only _______, ________ survived, the human species would suffer only a tiny reduction its genetic diversity.

Aphasia

Impairment of language, usually caused by left hemisphere damage either to Broca's area (impaired speaking) or to Wernicke's (impaired understanding). Cases of aphasia suggest that language is complex, and that different brain areas must serve different language functions.

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 - through 3 years. They assume that something will be clear to others if it is clear to themselves

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.

Grammar

In a language, a system of rules that enables us to communicate with and understand others.

Phoneme

In language, the smallest distinctive sound unit.

Sex

In psychology, the biologically influenced characteristics by which people define males and females. (Defined by chromosomes and Anatomy)

Gender

In psychology, the socially influenced characteristics by which people define men and women. (cultures expectations) biology does not dictate gender, but it can influence it in two ways: genetically- males and females have differing sex chromosomes psychologically: males and females have differing concentrations of sex hormones, which other atomical differences

Harlow Monkey Experiment

In this experiment the wire surrogate "mother" provides the food for this infant rhesus monkey, but the infant spends all its time with the soft, cloth-covered surrogate. This demonstrates the importance of contact comfort in attachment. psychologists Harry Harlow & Margaret Harlow bred monkeys for their learning studies. They separated the infant monkeys from their mothers and raised them in individual cages, which included a cheesecloth baby blanket. When their soft blankets were taken to be laundered, the monkeys became distressed. the intense attachment to the blanket contradicted the idea that attachment derives from an association with nourishment. x the monkey babies would cling to their cloth mothers when anxious. When exploring their environment, they used her as a secure base. Researchers soon learned that other qualities—rocking, warmth, and feeding—made the cloth mother even more appealing. Human infants, too, become attached to parents who are soft and warm and who rock, feed, and pat. Much parent-infant emotional communication occurs via soothing or arousing touch. As we mature, our secure base and safe haven shift—from parents to peers and partners

Secure Attachment

In this type of attachment, in their mother's presence, the infant play comfortably, happily exploring their new environment. When she leaves, they become distressed; when she returns, they seek contact with her.

Infantile amnesia

Inability of adults to remember personal experiences that took place before they were 3-5 years old because their memory areas were not yet developed.

Assimiliation

Inclusion of new events into existing schemas. interpreting our new experiences in terms of our existing schemas.

Postconventional morality (lvl 3)

Individual judgment is based on self-chosen principles, and moral reasoning is based on individual rights and justice. this level of moral reasoning is as far as most people get. Only 10-15% are capable of the kind of abstract thinking necessary for stage 5 or 6. Most people take their moral views from those around them and only a minority think through ethical principles for themselves.

Culture and Child Rearing

Individualist cultures (North American, European) raise their children as independent individuals whereas collectivist cultures (Asian, African) raise their children as interdependent.

Slow-to-warm up

Infants who resist or withdraw from new people and situations.

Nature

Inherited, biological makeup, determined by genetics. Nature selects behaviors that increase the likelihood of sending ones genes into the future; we are designed to prefer whatever worked for our ancestors and their environments

Reflexes

Involuntary and often self-protective responses.

Difficult

Irritable, intense, fidgety, and unpredictable infants.

The linguistic genius of babies

Language has a critical period for learning, babies and children are geniuses until they turn 7 at learning languages and after puberty humans fall off the map Babies can discriminate all the sounds of all the languages no matter what country we are testing or what language we are using but adults can not do that Babies take statistics in a new language but ONLY from a human being.. Not audio or tv Bilinguals must keep two sets of statistics in their mind at once and flip between them one after the other MEG allows us to see a baby's brain as they hear a word from their language causing auditory areas to light up and then subsequently areas surrounding it light up.

social power

Leadership tends to go to males and Men traditionally receive more of a salary for doing the same job When leading men tend to be more directive, telling people what they want and how to achieve it, while women tend to be more democratic, more welcoming of others input in decision-making.

initiating sexual activity - gender differences

Men have more of a sexual drive part of this reason is because woman have more at stake The evolutionary explanation of sexuality predicts that women will be choosier than men in selecting their sexual partners and will be less willing to hop into bed with a complete stranger but this could also be explained because women learn social scripts-- they may learn that sexual encounters with strangers are dangerous, and men who ask for casual sex will not offer women much sexual pleasure

Schema

Mental structure or framework that permits classification/organization of new information. concepts that help us make sense of our world. Our gender schemas organized our experiences of male-female characteristics and helped us think about our gender identity, about who we are To explain how we use and adjust our schemas, Piaget proposed two more concepts. We use our existing schemas to assimilate new experiences. But sometimes we need to accommodate (adjust) our schemas to include new experiences. (assimilation & accommodation)

self-awareness

Mirror images fascinate infants from the age of about 6 months. Only at about 18 months, however, does the child recognize that the image in the mirror is "me."

Accommodation

Modification of schemas to allow for new information to be integrated into new schemas. in developmental psychology, adapting our current understandings (schemas) to incorporate new information.

Nature vs. Nurture

Name for a controversy in which it is debated whether genetics or environment is responsible for driving behavior. How does our genetic inheritance (our nature) interact with our experiences (our nurture) to influence our development?

Fluid Intelligence

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

Crystallized Intelligence

One's accumulated knowledge and verbal skills; tends to increase with age.

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. group identities are often formed by how we differ from those around us.

parents deserve little credit

Parents do matter but, parenting real its largest effects at the extremes personality from biological parents --> should be blamed less for the children who do not turn out great and given less credit for the children who turn out great Kids seek to fit in with the group -will adopt accents from children/peers and not from households -teams usually start smoking because they have friends who models smoking suggests its pleasures and offer a cigarette but also part of this Pierre similarity may result from a selection effect as kids seek out peers with similar interests and attitudes -putting two teams together causes their brains to become more hypersensitive to reward and the increased activation explained by teens take more driving risks when with friends than they do when alone Parents are more important when it comes to education, discipline, responsibility, orderliness, charitableness, and ways of interacting with authority figures although youngsters may find their peers more interesting, they will look to their parents when contemplating their own futures the power to select a child's neighborhood in schools gives parents inability to influence the culture that shapes the child's fear grew if the vapors of a toxic climate are seeping into a child's life, that climate- not just a child- needs reform it

Avoidant Attachment

Pattern in which an infant rarely cries when separated from the primary caregiver and avoids contact on his or her return.

Universal Principles (stage 6)

People at this stage have developed their own set of moral guidelines which may or may not fit the law. The principles apply to everyone. Kohlberg doubted few people reached this stage. EX. human rights, justice, and equality. The person will be prepared to act to defend these principles even if it means going against the rest of society in the process and having to pay the consequences of disapproval and or imprisonment.

Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS)

Physical and cognitive abnormalities in children caused by a pregnant woman's heavy drinking. In severe cases, signs include a small, out-of-proportion head and abnormal facial features. alcohol has an epigenetic effect: It leaves chemical marks on DNA that switch genes abnormally on or off

Preoperational Stage

Piaget's second stage of cognitive development (lasting from about age 2 to age 7), during which the child begins to represent the world symbolically, especially through language, but does not yet comprehend the mental operations of concrete logic. (egocentrism, begin forming a theory of mind, lack the concept of conservation)

Concrete Operational Stage

Piaget's thrid stage of cognitive development (lasting from about age 7 to 12), during which the child develops the ability to understand constant factors in the environment, rules, and higher-order symbolic systems. people begin to think logically about abstract concepts.

Rouge Experiment

Placing rouge/blush on the nose of a 9-24 month old in front of a mirror. Before 18 months, the child does not recognize themselves, but once 18+ months, the child touched their own nose instead of the mirror.

Parallel Processing

Processing of many aspects of a problem simultaneously; the brain's natural mode of information processing for many functions.

Erik Erikson

Psychoanalytic psychologist, known for his eight psychosocial stages.

Self-regulating genes

Rather than genes acting as blueprints that lead to the same result no matter the context, genes react based on environmental factors that can block or trigger gene expression.

Novelty preference

Refers to the fact that infants are more likely to pay attention to new objects or people than those they've seen before.

Skinner

Researcher who believed that we can explain how babies acquire language entirely with principles of learning, such as the association of objects with the sounds of words, the imitation of language modeled by others, and the reinforcement of correct use of words and syntax by parents and teachers. Skinner believed that language development may be explained on the basis of learning principles: Association- sights of things with the sounds of words Imitation- words and syntax modeled by others Reinforcement- smiles and hugs when the child says something right

Konrad Lorenz

Researcher who focused on critical attachment periods in baby birds, a concept he called imprinting. Everywhere that Konrad went, the ducks were sure to go. Although baby birds imprint best on their own species, they also will imprint to a variety of moving objects—an animal of another species, a box on wheels, a bouncing ball. Once formed, this attachment is difficult to reverse. Children—unlike ducklings—do not imprint. However, they do become attached to what they've known. Mere exposure to people and things fosters fondness. Familiarity is a safety signal. Familiarity breeds content.

Conventional Morality

Second level of Kohlberg's stages of moral development in which the child's behavior is governed by conforming to the society's norms of behavior.

Genes

Segments of DNA that makes up chromosomes. They contain instructions for traits that are passed from parent to child. The biochemical units of hereditary that make up the chromosomes; segments of DNA capable of synthesizing proteins (Small segments of the giant DNA molecules) 20,000-25,000 genes; either active or inactive; environmental events 'turn on' genes which cause genes to provide the code for creating protein molecules There is no single obesity Gene, but their genes that influence how quickly the stomach tells the brain I'm full, While others might dictate how much fuel the muscle needs, how many calories are burned off by fidgeting, and how effectively the body converts extra calories into fat. genes are not solo players

seperated twins

Separation shortly after birth does not amplify personality differences between twins Critics have pointed out that the plural of anecdote is not data; if you compared 2 strangers you are likely to find many similarities The environment shared by a family's children has virtually no discernible impact on their personalities; personality is more like blood parents The parents that raise the child to influence their children's attitudes, values, manners, politics, and faith

Baby Mathematics

Shown a numerically impossible outcome, infants stare longer (sensorimotor stage) - 3 months

Genetic flexibility

Some genetic make-ups are more susceptible to the environment and vice-versa. Some kids are more moldable than others.

Mary Ainsworth

Studied attachment in infants using the "strange situation" model. She labeled infants' attachments as "secure", "insecure", etc. Mary Ainsworth (1979) designed the strange situation experiment. She observed mother- infant pairs at home during their first six months. Later she observed the 1-year-old infants in a strange situation (usually a laboratory playroom). Such research has shown that about 60 percent of infants display secure attachment. In their mother's presence they play comfortably, happily exploring their new environment. When she leaves, they become distressed; when she returns, they seek contact with her. Other infants avoid attachment or show insecure attachment, marked either by anxiety or avoidance of trusting relationships. They are less likely to explore their surroundings; they may even cling to their mother. When she leaves, they either cry loudly and remain upset or seem indifferent to her departure and return - Ainsworth and others found that sensitive, responsive mothers—those who noticed what their babies were doing and responded appropriately—had infants who exhibited secure attachment. Insensitive, unresponsive mothers—mothers who attended to their babies when they felt like doing so but ignored them at other times—often had infants who were insecurely attached. → caring parents matter

Rosenzweig and Krech

Tested rats to see the effects of impoverish vs enriched environments. Impoverished environments led to significantly less synaptic connections in the brain than enriched environments. In 1962, Mark Rosenzweig, David Krech, and their colleagues raised rats either in solidarity, in an environment enriched with other rats. Rats in the enriched environment developed significantly more cerebral cortex (relative to the rest of the brain's tissue) than did those in the impoverished environment. results motivated improvements in environments for laboratory, farm, zoo animals, and for children in institutions.

Promoters

The "switches" that control gene expression. They can be altered by nurture. Our experiences laid down epigenetic marks (are often organic methyl molecules attached to part of a DNA strand) if a mark instructs the cell to ignore any Gene present in the DNA segment, the genes will be 'turned off' and will prevent the DNA from producing the proteins normally coded by that Gene

Social Identity

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

Theory of Mind

The ability to understand people's ideas about their own and others' mental states (feelings, perceptions, and thoughts, and the behaviors these might predict) - 4-5 years. During Preoperational Stage stage they begin forming a theory of mind; they begin to tease, empathize, and persuade.

Gender Typing

The acquisition of a traditional masculine or feminine role.

Relational Aggression

The act of physical or verbal aggression intended to harm a person's relationship or social standing - women do this more).

Semantics

The analysis of the meaning of language, especially of individual words. In a given language, semantics is the set of rules for deriving meaning from sounds, and syntax is the set of rules for combining words into grammatically sensible sentences the set of rules by which we derive meaning from morphemes, words, and sentences in a given language Ex. adding -ed to a word makes it past

Syntax

The arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences in a language. Ex. adjectives come before nouns

Moral reasoning

The aspect of cognitive development that has to do with how an individual reasons about moral decisions, Kohlberg studied this.

Object Permanence

The awareness that things continue to exist even when not perceived; it is developed during the sensorimotor stage - 6-8 months Young infants lack this concept -- around 8 months they develop it Today's researchers believe object permanence unfolds gradually, and they see development as more continuous than Piaget did.

Primary Sex Characteristics

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

Maintaining the Social Order (stage 4)

The child/individual becomes aware of the wider rules of society, so judgments concern obeying the rules in order to uphold the law and to avoid guilt.

Social Contract and Individual Rights (stage 5)

The child/individual becomes aware that while rules/laws might exist for the good of the greatest number, there are times when they will work against the interest of particular individuals. The issues are not always clear-cut. EX. in Heinz's dilemma, the protection of life is more important than breaking the law against stealing.

obedience and punishment orientation (stage 1)

The child/individual is good in order to avoid being punished. If a person is punished, they must have done wrong.

Good Interpersonal Relationships (stage 3)

The child/individual is good in order to be seen as being a good person by others. Therefore, answers relate to the approval of others.

Genome

The complete instructions for making an organism, consisting of all the genetic material in the organisms chromosomes. Human Genome researchers found the common sequence within human DNA this shared genetic profile makes us humans

Social clock

The culturally preferred timing of social events such as marriage, parenthood, and retirement. The once-rigid sequence has loosened; the social clock still ticks, but people feel freer about being out of sync with it.

Stability vs. Change

The debate about which early traits and characteristics persist through life or change as we age. Which of our traits persist through life? How do we change as we age? Temperament is usually really stable; your temperament and emotionality at 3 is likely the same when you are older Attitudes are way less stable than temperament; we learn new ways of coping Life requires BOTH stability and change Stability provides identity; It enables us to depend on others and be concerned about children's healthy development. Our potential for change gives us our hope for a brighter future. It motivates our concerns about present influences and lets us adapt and grow with experience.

Continuity vs. Stages

The debate of which parts of development occur in stages and which are continuous through life. What parts of development are gradual and continuous, like riding an escalator? What parts change abruptly in separate stages, like climbing rungs on a ladder? Developmental researchers who emphasize learning and experience are supporting continuity; those who emphasize biological maturation are supporting stages.

Fetus

The developing human organism from 9 weeks after conception until birth. The learning of language begins in the womb.

Embryo

The developing human organism from about 2 weeks after fertilization through the second month. Many inner cells of the zygote become the embryo.

adult attachment styles

The different ways in which adults relate to romantic partners, based on Mary Ainsworth's infant attachment styles. (Adult attachment styles are classified as secure, or preoccupied/ambivalent insecure, or avoidant/dismissive insecure.) Our adult styles of romantic love tend to exhibit (1) secure, trusting attachment; (2) insecure, anxious attachment; or (3) the avoidance of attachment x anxiety, people constantly crave acceptance but remain vigilant to signs of possible rejection. (Being sensitive to threat, anxiously attached people also tend to be skilled lie detectors and poker players In the other, avoidance, people experience discomfort getting close to others and use avoidant strategies to maintain distance from others. In romantic relationships, an anxious attachment style diminishes social connections and support. An avoidant style decreases commitment, increases openness to infidelity, and increases conflict x Adult attachment styles can also affect relationships with one's own children

Problems with Kohlberg's Theory

The dilemmas are artificial (i.e., they lack ecological validity) The sample is biased x all-male sample → stages reflect a male definition of morality (it's androcentric). x Mens' morality is based on abstract principles of law and justice, while women is based on principles of compassion and care. The dilemmas are hypothetical (i.e., they are not real) x In a real situation, what course of action a person takes will have real consequences - and sometimes very unpleasant ones for themselves. Would subjects reason in the same way if they were placed in a real situation? We just don't know. → a question to the validity of the results obtained through this research. Poor research design x His research was cross-sectional, meaning that he interviewed children of different ages to see what level of moral development they were at. A better way to see if all children follow the same order through the stages would have been to carry out longitudinal research on the same children. x However, longitudinal research on Kohlberg's theory has since been carried out since and they it supported Kohlberg's original conclusion

Stranger Anxiety

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

Menarche

The first menstrual period.

Placenta

The life-link that transfers nutrients and oxygen from mother to embryo. Many outer cells of the zygote become this.

Ambivalent/Resistant Attachment

The most emotionally severe signs of distress when the mom leaves, pushes away or clings to the mother, and resists comfort.

Imprinting

The process by which certain animals form attachments during a critical period very early in life. Children—unlike ducklings—do not imprint. However, they do become attached to what they've known. Mere exposure to people and things fosters fondness. Familiarity is a safety signal. Familiarity breeds content.

Heritability

The proportion of variation among individuals that we can attribute to genes. It may vary, depending on the range of populations and environments studied. Genetic influence explains about 66% of The observed variation among people, we can never say what percentage of an individual's personality or intelligence is inherited, But heritability refers to the extent to which differences among people are due to genes As environments become more similar heredity becomes the primary source of differences if all schools weird uniform, All Families equally loving, and neighborhoods are equally healthy, her ability would increase (differences due to environment would decrease); if all people had similar heredities but we're raised and drastically different environments heritability would be much lower Heritable individual differences need not imply heritable group differences (If some individuals are genetically disposed to more aggressive than others, that needn't explain why some groups are more aggressive than others)

Diffusion

The relative absence of exploration and commitment. People in this stage are often uninterested and apethetic.

X chromosome

The sex chromosome found in both men and women. Females have two X chromosomes; males have one. An X chromosome from each parent produces a female child.

Morphemes

The smallest units of meaning in a language.

One-Word Stage

The stage in speech development, at about age 1, during which a child speaks mostly in single words.

Moratorium

The state of active exploration without much commitment.

molecular behavior genetics

The study of how the structure and function of genes interact with our environment to influence behavior One goal of molecular Behavior genetics is to find some of the many genes that together orchestrate complex traits such as body weight, sexual orientation, and impulsivity

Behavior Genetics

The study of the relative power and limits of genetic and environmental influences on behavior.

Molecular genetics

The subfield of biology that studies the molecular structure and function of genes.

Gilligan's Theory

The theory suggesting that there is a different process of moral development in women than in men. Girls are often found to be at stage 3 in Kohlberg's system (good boy-nice girl orientation) whereas boys are more often found to be at stage 4 (Law and Order orientation). Gilligan is claiming that there is a sex bias in Kohlberg's theory. He neglects the feminine voice of compassion, love, and non-violence, which is associated with the socialization of girls. Gilligan concluded that Kohlberg's theory did not account for the fact that women approach moral problems from an 'ethics of care', rather than an 'ethics of justice' perspective, which challenges some of the fundamental assumptions of Kohlberg's theory.

Gender schema theory

The theory that children internally learn a concept of what it means to be male and female and that they adjust their behavior accordingly. Our gender schemas organized our experiences of male-female characteristics and helped us think about our gender identity, about who we are

Social Intuitionist

The theory that moral feelings precede moral reasoning. Claims that moral judgment involves quick gut feelings, which then trigger moral reasoning. Moral reasoning aims to convince others of what we intuitively felt.

Social Learning theory

The theory that we learn gender role behavior by imitation, and by rewards and punishments that shape our behavior.

Menopause

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

Jonathan Haidt

Theorist who proposed that moral thoughts were not necessarily logical, because they are prompted by moral feelings, which are the equivalent of gut feelings.

Postconventional Morality

Third level of Kohlberg's stages of moral development in which the person's behavior is governed by moral principles that have been decided on by the individual and which may be in disagreement with accepted social norms.

Nucleus

This part of every human cell contains the chromosomes.

Chromosomes

Threadlike structures made of DNA molecules that contain the genes. Every human has 23 chromosomes from their mother and 23 chromosomes from their father

Outdated Tendencies

Traits that our ancestors possessed that would be harmful to humans today.

Jim Lewis and Jim Springer

Two identical twins raised separately who lived strikingly similar lives.

Parentese (motherese)

Used to describe the words adults use when talking with young children; e.g. baba for sheep or tummy for stomach. Parents exaggerate their words, facial expressions and body language when talking with young children. aspects of the social world that helps infants acquire language

Scaffolding

Vygotskian learning mechanism in which parents provide initial assistance in children's learning but gradually remove structure as children become more competent (guided participation)

Protein Molecules

When genes are turned on, they provide the code for creating _________, our body's building blocks.

Overgeneralization

When grammatical rules are incorrectly generalized to irregular cases where they do not apply (ex: I hitted the ball)

sallys ball experiment

Which cupboard has sally's ball experiment Children with autism spectrum disorder had difficulty understanding that Sally's state of mind differed from their own—that Sally, not knowing the ball had been moved, would return to the red cupboard.

Linguistic Determinism

Whorf's hypothesis that language determines the way we think. suggests that we cannot think about things unless we have words for those concepts or ideas. students were asked to describe themselves in English or Chinese The English-language self-descriptions expressed mostly positive self-statements and moods. Responding in Chinese, the same students gave typically Chinese self-descriptions, reporting more agreement with Chinese values and roughly equal positive and negative self-statements and moods. So our words may not determine what we think, but they do influence our thinking To expand language is to expand the ability to think. it is very difficult to think about or conceptualize certain abstract ideas (commitment, freedom, or rhyming) without language! Whorf (1956) suggested that language determines the way we think. For example, he noted that the Hopi people do not have the past tense for verbs. Therefore, the Hopi cannot think readily about the past.

Parents

_______ typically influence a child's attitudes, values, manners, faith, and political opinions.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

a disorder that appears in childhood and is marked by significant deficiencies in communication and social interaction, and by rigidly fixated interests and repetitive behaviors Rate of people getting ASD has increased significantly; The increase in ASD diagnoses has been offset by a decrease in the number of children with a "cognitive disability" or "learning disability," which suggests a relabeling of children's disorders The underlying source of ASD's symptoms seems to be poor communication among brain regions that normally work together to let us take another's viewpoint. From age 2 months on, as other children spend more and more time looking into others' eyes, those who later develop ASD do so less and less said to have an impaired theory of mind; have difficulty inferring and remembering others' thoughts and feelings Impacts about 4 boys for every girl People with LSD brains' display less than normal mirroring activity Different levels of severity x Some can function at a high level (normal intelligence, often accompanied by exceptional skill/talent in a specific area, but deficient social and communication skills and a tendency to become distracted by irrelevant stimuli) Influences x genetic influences and abnormal brain development, contribute to ASD, along with prenatal environment matters, especially when altered by maternal infection and inflammation, psychiatric drug use, or stress hormones - If one identical twin is diagnosed with ASD, the chances are 50 to 70 percent that the co-twin will be as well and A younger sibling of a child with ASD also is at a heightened risk - No one "autism gene" accounts for the disorder. Rather, many genes—with more than 200 identified so far—appear to contribute

Transsexual

a person who emotionally and psychologically feels that they belong to the opposite sex. They prefer to live as members of the other birth sex.

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 males or for females.

neurocognitive disorders (NCDs)

acquired (not lifelong) disorders marked by cognitive deficits; often related to Alzheimer's disease, brain injury or disease, or substance abuse. In older adults neurocognitive disorders were formerly called dementia

seperation anxiety

an infant's distress when a familiar caregiver leaves, most obvious between 9 and 14 months Children's anxiety over separation from parents peaks at around 13 months, then gradually declines; Our capacity for love grows, and our pleasure in touching and holding those we love never ceases.

disorder of sexual development

an inherited condition that involves unusual development of sex chromosomes and anatomy

biopsychosocial approach

an integrated approach that incorporates biological, psychological, and social-cultural levels of analysis

Transgender

an umbrella term describing people whose gender identity or expression differs from that associated with their birth sex

Norms

an understood rule for accepted and expected Behavior; Norm's prescribed 'proper' behavior

Agression

any physical or verbal Behavior intended to harm someone physically or emotionally Men are more likely to be aggressive

Steven Pinker

argued that grammar is an innate algorithm evolved by NS that requires a few parameters to be set by language experience Steven pinker a psychologist who believes children have an instinct for language it's kids astonishing ability to soak up language that's led Pinker to conclude we must be born with its building blocks already in our heads In his studies, he presented kids with random made up words or verbs and would see if the kids would apply already known grammar rules to these made up words -- and they did

social script

culturally models guide for how to act in various situations

early maturation

early maturation has mixed effects for boys. Boys who are stronger and more athletic during their early teen years tend to be more popular, self-assured, and independent, though also more at risk for alcohol use, delinquency, and premature sexual activity ( For girls, early maturation can be a challenge (Mendle et al., 2007). If a young girl's body and hormone-fed feelings are out of sync with her emotional maturity and her friends' physical development and experiences, she may begin associating with older adolescents or may suffer teasing or sexual harassment. She may also be somewhat more vulnerable to an anxiety disorder

telagraphic speech

early speech stage in which a child speaks like a telegram—"go car"—using mostly nouns and verbs.

environment

every nongenetic influence, from prenatal nutrition to the people and things around us

spermarche

first ejaculation

the nurture of gender

gender is also socially constructed masculine or feminine toys gender roles: the behaviors we expect of those who occupy a particular social position if we deviate we feel anxious perceived with world through a gender schema social learning theory - gender roles are reinforced through observation, rewards, and punishments

moral development

growth in the ability to tell right from wrong, control impulses, and act ethically

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. Ex. looking, hearing, touching, mouthing, and grasping start to develop Object permanence around 8 months Preschoolers think like little scientists. They test ideas, make causal inferences, and learn from statistical patterns infants are smarter than Piaget appreciated

Cultural Influences

include culture, subculture, and social class influences that marketers use to study buying behavior

Gender Development

includes biological influences, cognitive influences (learned schemas), learning influences (cultural influences)

Dishabituation

increasing responsiveness to something new or impossible

social connectedness

males tend to be independent and females tend to be more interdependent; women's Brains are better wired to improve social relations and men's Brains to connect perception with action Women tend to take leadership in caring for their child and care more about reduced work hours than money/ status; women's emphasis on caring helps explain why an extra 20% of kids felt close to their mom; Women are more likely to turn to others for support (tend and befriend) men value freedom and self-reliance, are usually less religious and pray less

Gender Identity

our sense of being male, female, or a combination of the two.

peer influence

peers are more important for learning cooperation, for finding the road to popularity, for inventing styles of interaction among people of the same age

prenatal genetic testing

performed during pregnancy to assess health status of fetus; offered when there is increased risk There are many searches being conducted about targeting conditions such a specific learning disorder, depression, schizophrenia, alcohol use disorder, genes that make people vulnerable to the emotional swings of bipolar disorder, etc. but identifying specific corporate genes is often difficult because single genes typically have only a small effect Many ethical questions arise from this contrary topic, for example in China and India since boys are more highly valued testing for offspring sex has enabled selective abortions resulting in millions of 'missing woman'

culture shock

personal disorientation when experiencing an unfamiliar way of life when a person does not understand what is expected or accepted they may experience this culture shock

Sex hormones

progestrone, estrogen, and testosterone; hormones that regulate the development and functioning of reproductive organs and that stimulate the devolopment of male and female sexual characteristics

Longitudinal study

same group of individuals studies repeatedly over time. Advantage: allows the study of developmental patterns or changes over time. Disadvantage: time; must wait many years for results, subjects "drop out" of study (death, move, etc.) Preferred method

Morphology

study of form; how morphemes can be combined to make words

Allen Gardner and Beatrix Gardner

taught a chimpanzee named Washoe how to communicate through use of sign language In late 1960s, psychologists Allen Gardner & Beatrix Gardner built on chimpanzees' natural tendencies for gestured communication by teaching sign language to a young chimpanzee named Washoe. After 4 years, Washoe could use 132 signs; by the time she died she used more than 245 signs Were the chimps language champs or were the researchers chumps? apes gain their limited vocabularies only with great difficulty. (like saying humans can fly because they can jump.) The apes' signing might be nothing more than aping their trainers' signs and learning that certain arm movements produce rewards Studies of perceptual set show that when information is unclear, we tend to see what we want or expect to see. Interpreting chimpanzee signs as language may be little more than the trainers' wishful thinking Washoe trained her adopted son Loulis to use the signs she had learned. After her second infant died, Washoe became withdrawn when told, "Baby dead, baby gone, baby finished." Two weeks later, researcher-caretaker Roger Fout signed better news: "I have baby for you." Washoe reacted with instant excitement. So, how should we interpret these studies? Are humans the only language-using species? If by language we mean verbal or signed expression of complex grammar, most psychologists would now agree that humans alone possess language. If we mean, more simply, an ability to communicate through a meaningful sequence of symbols, then apes are indeed capable of language.

brain plasticity

the brain's ability to change, especially during childhood, by reorganizing after damage or by building new pathways based on experience

personal space

the buffer zone we like to maintain around our bodies

mental practice

the cognitive rehearsal of a physical skill in the absence of overt physical movements we often think in images x Albert Einstein reported that he achieved some of his greatest insights through visual images and later put them into words For someone who has learned a skill watching the activity will activate the brain's internal simulation of it; imagining a physical experience, which activates some of the same neural networks that are active during the actual experience the team's free-throw accuracy increased from approximately 52% to 65% after mental practice. Players had repeatedly imagined making free throws under various conditions, including being "trash-talked" by their opposition It's better to spend your fantasy time planning how to get somewhere than to dwell on the imagined destination. thinking affects our language, which then affects our thought

Culture

the enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, and traditions shared by a large group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next (our capacity for culture is one thing that unites everyone)

interaction

the interplay that occurs when the effect of one factor (such as environment) depends on another factor (such as heredity) Our genes affect how people react and influence us nature via nurture Our experience influences our development we are like coloring books, with certain lines predisposed and experience filling in the full picture; we are formed by nature and nurture

Testosterone

the most important of the male sex hormones. Both males and females have it, but the additional testosterone in males stimulates the growth of the male sex organs during the fetal period, and the development of the male sex characteristics during puberty. about seven weeks after conception, a singular chromosome triggers the testes to develop and produce testosterone

Androgeny

the presence of masculine and feminine characteristics in the same person displaying both traditional masculine and feminine psychological characteristics.

proximodistal principle

the principle that development proceeds from the center of the body outward EX: activities involving the trunk are mastered first (roll over before walking or holding a bottle)

cephalocaudal principle

the principle that growth follows a pattern that begins with the head and upper body parts and then proceeds down to the rest of the body EX: head lifts before roll over, sit up before (controls legs to) crawl

expression

the process of making known one's thoughts or feelings

Y chromosome

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

Epigenetics

the study of environmental influences on gene expression that occur without a DNA change Our experiences laid down epigenetic marks (are often organic methyl molecules attached to part of a DNA strand) if a mark instructs the cell to ignore any Gene present in the DNA segment, the genes will be 'turned off' and will prevent the DNA from producing the proteins normally coded by that Gene Things written in pen you cannot change that's DNA, things written in pencil you can that's epigenetics.

Phonology

the study of speech sounds in language; how phonomes can be combined to make morphenes

adolescence

the transition period from childhood to adulthood, extending from puberty to independence starts with the physical beginnings of sexual maturity and ends with the social achievement of independent adult status

Cross-sectional study

uses participants of different ages to compare how variables change over lifespan Advantage: immediate comparison of developmental differences Disadvantage: cannot tell if an individual stays the same or changes over time.

cooing

vowel sounds produced 2-4 months

Carolyn Rovee-Collier

• after researching nonverbal infant memory, by allowing infants to control a mobile, found infants can learn at an early age babies kicked more when hitched to a mobile, but only to the original mobile