AP Psych: Unit 3 Flashcards
Vocab words from Unit 3 of AP Psychology. (132 cards)
1
Q
Nature vs. Nurture
A
The debate of weather you are shaped by your environment or genes.
2
Q
Stability and Change
A
The debate that explores whether personality traits, established early in life, remain consistent or fluctuate throughout a person’s lifespan.
3
Q
Continuous Development
A
View that development is a cumulative process: gradually improving on existing skills.
4
Q
Discontinuous Development
A
View that development takes place in unique stages, which happen at specific times or ages.
5
Q
Maternal Illnesses
A
Any disease or infection a mother experiences during pregnancy that can affect the developing fetus.
6
Q
Teratogens
A
Agents, such as chemicals and viruses, that can reach the embryo or fetus during prenatal development and cause harm.
7
Q
Genetic Mutations
A
A permanent change in an organism’s DNA sequence, which can affect how genes function and express themselves, potentially leading to observable changes in an individual’s traits or characteristics.
8
Q
Rooting
A
A baby’s tendency, when touched on the cheek, to turn toward the touch, open the mouth, and search for the nipple.
9
Q
Imprinting
A
The process by which certain animals form strong attachments during an early-life critical period.
10
Q
Visual Cliff
A
A laboratory device for testing depth perception in infants and young animals.
11
Q
Critical Periods
A
Periods in the developmental sequence during which an organism must experience certain kinds of social or sensory experiences in order for normal development to take place.
12
Q
Adolescence
A
The developmental stage between childhood and adulthood, typically ranging from ages 10 to 19.
13
Q
Puberty
A
The period of sexual maturation, during which a person becomes capable of reproducing.
14
Q
Primary Sex Characteristics
A
The body structures (ovaries, testes, and external genitalia) that make sexual reproduction possible.
15
Q
Secondary Sex Characteristics
A
Nonreproductive sexual characteristics, such as female breasts and hips, male voice quality, and body hair
16
Q
Menarche
A
The first menstrual period.
17
Q
Spermarche
A
First ejaculation. (I hate my life)
18
Q
Menopause
A
The time of natural cessation of menstruation; also refers to the biological changes a woman experiences as her ability to reproduce declines.
19
Q
Sex
A
Refers to the biological differences between individuals, primarily relating to anatomy, physiology, and genetics.
20
Q
Gender
A
The social, cultural, and psychological traits associated with being male, female, or another gender identity.
21
Q
Schema
A
Concepts or mental frameworks that organize and interpret information.
22
Q
Assimilation
A
Interpreting our new experiences in terms of our existing schemas.
23
Q
Accommodation
A
Adapting our current understandings (schemas) to incorporate new information.
24
Q
Sensorimotor Stage
A
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.
25
Object Permanence
The awareness that things continue to exist even when not perceived.
26
Preoperational Stage
In Piaget's theory, the stage (from about 2 to 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
27
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.
28
Reversibility
The capacity to think through a series of steps and then mentally reverse direction, returning to the starting point.
29
Egocentrism
In Piaget's theory, the preoperational child's difficulty taking another's point of view.
30
Theory of Mind
An awareness that other people's behavior may be influenced by beliefs, desires, and emotions that differ from one's own.
31
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.
32
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.
33
Abstract Thinking
Capacity to understand hypothetical concepts.
34
Scaffolding
Adjusting the support offered during a teaching session to fit the child's current level of performance.
35
Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)
Vygotsky's concept of the difference between what a child can do alone and what that child can do with the help of a teacher.
36
Crystallized Intelligence
Our accumulated knowledge and verbal skills; tends to increase with age.
37
Fluid Intelligence
Our ability to reason speedily and abstractly; tends to decrease during late adulthood.
38
Dementia
A slowly progressive decline in mental abilities, including memory, thinking, and judgment, that is often accompanied by personality changes.
39
Phonemes
In language, the smallest distinctive sound unit.
40
Morphemes
The smallest units of meaning in a language.
41
Semantics
The set of rules by which we derive meaning from morphemes, words, and sentences in a given language; also, the study of meaning.
42
Grammar
In a language, a system of rules that enables us to communicate with and understand others.
43
Syntax
Sentence structure.
44
Cooing
Early vowel-like sounds that babies produce
45
Babbling
Stage of language development at about 4 months when an infant spontaneously utters nonsense sounds.
46
One-Word Stage
The stage in speech development, from about age 1 to 2, during which a child speaks mostly in single words.
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Telegraphic Speech
Tarly speech stage in which a child speaks like a telegram—"go car"—using mostly nouns and verbs.
48
Overgeneralization
Applying a regular grammatical rule in an irregular situation. Ex. Thinked instead of though.
49
Ecological Systems Theory
Views the person as developing within a complex system of relationships affected by multiple levels of the surrounding environment.
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Microsystem
The people and objects in an individual's immediate environment
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Mesosystem
Connections between microsystems.
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Exosystem
Social settings that a person may not experience firsthand but that still influence development.
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Macrosystem
Consists of cultural values, laws, customs, and resources.
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Chronosystem
Historical changes that influence the other systems.
55
Attachment Styles
The expectations people develop about relationships with others, based on the relationship they had with their primary caregiver when they were infants.
56
Authoritarian Parenting
Style of parenting in which parent is rigid and overly strict, showing little warmth to the child.
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Authoritative Parenting
Parenting style characterized by emotional warmth, high standards for behavior, explanation and consistent enforcement of rules, and inclusion of children in decision making
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Permissive Parenting
A parenting style characterized by the placement of few limits on the child's behavior.
59
Secure Attachment
A relationship in which an infant obtains both comfort and confidence from the presence of his or her caregiver.
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Insecure Attachment
Demonstrated by infants who display either a clinging, anxious attachment or an avoidant attachment that resists closeness
61
Avoidant Attachment
An insecure attachment style characterized by a strong desire for independence and a tendency to avoid intimacy and closeness.
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Anxious Attachment
Attachments marked by anxiety or ambivalence. an insecure attachment style.
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Disorganized Attachment
Characterized by the child's odd behavior when faced with the parent; type of attachment seen most often with kids that are abused.
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Separation Anxiety
The distress displayed by infants when a customary care provider departs.
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Stranger Anxiety
The distress or fear experienced by infants and young children when confronted with unfamiliar people.
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Temperament
A person's characteristic emotional reactivity and intensity.
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Parallel Play
Activity in which children play side by side without interacting.
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Pretend Play
Make-believe activities in which children create new symbolic relations, acting as if they were in a situation different from their actual one.
69
Imaginary Audience
Adolescents' belief that they are the focus of everyone else's attention and concern.
70
Personal Fable
Type of thought common to adolescents in which young people believe themselves to be unique and protected from harm.
71
Social Clock
The culturally preferred timing of social events such as marriage, parenthood, and retirement.
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Emerging 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.
73
Psychosocial Stages of Development
Erikson's theory; 8 stages with distinct conflicts between two opposing states that shape personality.
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Trust vs. Mistrust
Refers to a stage of development from birth to approximately 18 months of age, during which infants gain trust of their parents or caregivers if their world is planned, organized, and routine.
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Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt
Erikson's stage in which a toddler learns to exercise will and to do things independently; failure to do so causes shame and doubt.
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Initiative vs. Guilt
3rd stage in Erikson's model; preschoolers must learn to start and direct creative tasks, or they may feel guilty about asserting themselves.
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Industry vs. Inferiority
4th stage in Erikson's model; children must master the skills valued by their society or feel inferior.
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Identity vs. Role Confusion
5th stage in Erikson's model; adolescents must develop a sense of identity or suffer lack of direction
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Intimacy vs. Isolation
6th stage in Erikson's model; young adults must form close, satisfying relationships or suffer loneliness.
80
Generativity vs. Stagnation
Erikson's 7th stage of social development in which middle-aged people begin to devote themselves more to fulfilling one's potential and doing public service.
81
Integrity vs. Despair
8th stage in Erikson's model; when reflecting at the end of life, an older adult must feel a sense of satisfaction or experience despair (feelings of having wasted one's life).
82
Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)
Stressful or traumatic experiences, including abuse, neglect, and a range of household dysfunction, such as witnessing domestic violence or growing up with substance abuse, mental disorders, parental discord, or crime in the home.
83
Identity
An individual's sense of self, encompassing their unique characteristics, affiliations, and social roles.
84
Achievement (of Identity)
Stage of adolescent identity development that occurs when identity commitments are made after a period of exploration.
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Diffusion (of Identity)
Stage of adolescent identity development where no commitments are made to identity.
86
Foreclosure (of Identity)
Stage of adolescent identity development where commitments are made to identity without first an exploration.
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Moratorium (of Identity)
Stage of adolescent identity development where they are actively engaged in identity exploration.
88
Learning
A relatively permanent change in behavior or knowledge that results from experience.
89
Associative Learning
Learning that certain events occur together.
90
Behavioral Perspective
An approach to the study of psychology that focuses on the role of learning in explaining observable behavior.
91
Classical Conditioning
A type of learning in which one learns to link two or more stimuli and anticipate events.
92
Acquisition
In classical conditioning, the initial stage, when one links a neutral stimulus and an unconditioned stimulus so that the neutral stimulus begins triggering the conditioned response. In operant conditioning, the strengthening of a reinforced response.
93
Unconditioned Stimulus (US)
In classical conditioning, a stimulus that naturally and automatically triggers a response.
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Unconditioned Response (UR)
In classical conditioning, the unlearned, naturally occurring response to the unconditioned stimulus.
95
Conditioned Stimulus (CS)
In classical conditioning, an originally irrelevant stimulus that, after association with an unconditioned stimulus, comes to trigger a conditioned response.
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Conditioned Response (CR)
In classical conditioning, the learned response to a previously neutral (but now conditioned) stimulus.
97
Extinction
The diminishing of a conditioned response; occurs in classical conditioning when an unconditioned stimulus does not follow a conditioned stimulus; occurs in operant conditioning when a response is no longer reinforced.
98
Spontaneous Recovery
The reappearance, after a pause, of an extinguished conditioned response.
99
Stimulus Discrimination
A differentiation between two similar stimuli when only one of them is consistently associated with the unconditioned stimulus.
100
Stimulus Generalization
Learning that occurs when stimuli that are similar but not identical to the conditioned stimulus produce the conditioned response.
101
Higher-Order Conditioning
A procedure in which the conditioned stimulus in one conditioning experience is paired with a new neutral stimulus, creating a second (often weaker) conditioned stimulus.
102
Counterconditioning
A behavior therapy procedure that uses classical conditioning to evoke new responses to stimuli that are triggering unwanted behaviors; includes exposure therapies and aversive conditioning.
103
One-Trial Conditioning
When one pairing of CS and a US produces considerable learning.
104
Biological Preparedness
The idea that humans and other animals are inherently predisposed to learn certain associations more readily than others, particularly those that have been crucial for survival throughout evolutionary history.
105
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.
106
Operant Conditioning
A type of learning in which behavior is strengthened if followed by a reinforcer or diminished if followed by a punisher.
107
The 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.
108
Punishment
An event that decreases the behavior that it follows.
109
Positive Punishment
Decreasing behaviors by presenting negative stimuli. Any stimulus that, when presented after a response, weakens the response.
110
Negative Punishment
Decreasing behaviors by stopping positive stimuli. Any stimulus that, when removed after a response, weakens the response.
111
Reinforcement
In operant conditioning, any event that strengthens the behavior it follows.
112
Positive Reinforcement
Increasing behaviors by presenting positive stimuli. Any stimulus that, when presented after a response, strengthens the response.
113
Negative Reinforcement
Increasing behaviors by stopping negative stimuli. Any stimulus that, when removed after a response, strengthens the response.
114
Primary Reinforcers
Reinforcers that are inherently reinforcing because they satisfy biological needs.
115
Secondary Reinforcers
Learned reinforcers, such as money, that develop their reinforcing properties because of their association with primary reinforcers.
116
Reinforcement Discrimination
The learning process where an individual learns to respond to a specific stimulus and not others, because only the specific stimulus is consistently followed by reinforcement.
117
Reinforcement Generalization
The tendency for a learned behavior to be performed in situations that are similar to the one where the behavior was originally reinforced.
118
Shaping
An operant conditioning procedure in which reinforcers guide behavior toward closer and closer approximations of the desired behavior.
119
Instinctive Drift
The tendency of learned behavior to gradually revert to biologically predisposed patterns.
120
Learned Helplessness
The hopelessness and passive resignation an animal or human learns when unable to avoid repeated aversive events.
121
Continuous Reinforcement
A schedule where a specific behavior is rewarded every single time it occurs.
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Partial Reinforcement
A desired behavior is only reinforced some of the time.
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Fixed-Interval Schedule
Reinforcement is given after fixed periods of time if an action is completed.
124
Variable-Interval Schedule
Reinforcement is given after varying periods of time if an action is completed.
125
Fixed-Ratio Schedule
Reinforcement given after an action is completed a fixed number of times.
126
Variable-Ratio Schedule
Reinforcement is given after an action is completed a varying number of times.
127
Social Learning Theory
The theory that we learn social behavior by observing and imitating and by being rewarded or punished.
128
Vicarious Conditioning
Classical conditioning of a reflex response or emotion by watching the reaction of another person.
129
Modeling
Learning by imitating others; copying behavior.
130
Insight Learning
The process of learning how to solve a problem or do something new by applying what is already known.
131
Latent Learning
Learning that occurs but is not apparent until there is an incentive to demonstrate it.
132
Cognitive Maps
An internal representation of the spatial relationships between objects in an animal's surroundings.
