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PSYCH TEST UNIT 5

Terms in this set (88)

Prenatal period
The time between conception and birth. This period is generally divided into three stages: the germinal stage, the embryonic stage, and the fetal stage.
Germinal stage
The two-week period after conception
Zygote
formed when a sperm cell combines with an egg cell
Implantation
Around 7 days after conception, the ball of cells starts to become embedded in the wall of the uterus. Takes about a week to complete.
Placenta
Formed during germinal stage. Passes oxygen and nutrients from the mother's blood into the embryo or fetus
and removes waste materials from the embryo or fetus.
Embryonic Stage
Lasts from the end of the germinal stage to two months after conception. In this stage, all the major organs form, and the embryo becomes very fragile.
Fetal Stage
Lasts from two months after conception until birth
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
Babies with this may have problems such as small head size, heart defects, irritability, hyperactivity, mental retardation, or slowed motor development.
Schema
Children develop mental models to represent the world.
Assimilation
The broadening of an existing schema to include new information.
Accommodation
is the modification of a schema as new information is incorporated.
Object Permanence
The ability to recognize that an object can exist even when it's no longer perceived or in one's sight.
Symbolic Thought
Kids can represent objects in terms of mental symbols
Conservation
The ability to recognize that measurable physical features of objects, such as length, area, and volume, can be the same even when objects appear different.
Centration
The tendency to focus on one aspect of a problem and ignore other key aspects
Hierarchical classification
Kids can't classify things according to more than one level. Due to centration.
Irreversibility
The inability to mentally reverse an operation.
Egocentrism
The inability to take someone else's point of view.
Animism
The belief that even inanimate objects are living, results from egocentrism. Children assume that since they are alive, all other things must be too. Results from Egocentrism.
Development
The series of age-related changes that happen over the course of a life span.
Stage
A period in development in which people exhibit typical behavior patterns and establish particular capacities.
THREE things that various stage theories share
1. People pass through stages in a specific order, with each stage building on capacities developed in the previous stage.

2. Stages are related to age.

3. Development is discontinuous, with qualitatively different capacities emerging in each stage.
Sigmund Freud's Theory of Personality
First described personality development as a series of stages. Of these stages, he believed that early childhood was the most important. He believed that personality developed by about the age of five.
Erik Erikson's Theory of Psychosocial Development
Personality development happens over the entire course of a person's life
Conflict Faced: Trust vs. mistrust
Typical Age Range: First year of life
Major Challenge: Having basic needs met, attaching to people
Conflict Faced: Autonomy vs. shame & doubt
Typical Age Range: 1-3 years
Major Challenge: Gaining independence
Conflict Faced: Initiative vs. guilt
Typical Age Range: 3-6 years
Major Challenge: Acting in a socially responsible way
Conflict Faced: Industry vs. Inferiority
Typical Age Range: 6-12 years
Major Challenge: Competing with peers, preparing for adult roles
Conflict Faced: Identity vs. role confusion
Typical Age Range: Adolescence
Major Challenge: Determining one's identity
Conflict Faced: Intimacy vs. isolation
Typical Age Range: Early adulthood
Major Challenge: Developing intimate relationships
Conflict Faced: Generativity vs. Stagnation/Self Absorbtion
Typical Age Range: Middle adulthood
Major Challenge: Being productive
Conflict Faced: Integrity vs. despair
Typical Age Range: Old age
Major Challenge: Evaluating one's life
Critique of Erikson's Theory
He describes only a typical pattern. The theory doesn't acknowledge the many differences among individuals.
Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development
Children's thought processes change as they mature physically and interact with the world around them. children develop schema, or mental models, to represent the world. As children learn, they expand and modify their schema through the processes of assimilation and accommodation
Stage: 1 - Sensorimotor
Age: First two years of life
Important Features: Object permanence, symbolic thought
Stage: 2 - Preoperational
Age: 2-7 years
Important Features: Centration, hierarchial classification, irreversibility, egocentrism, and animism are weaknesses (developing towards conservation)
Stage: 3 - Concrete operational
Age: 7-11 years
Important Features: Reversibility, decentration, decrease in egocentrism, conservation
Stage: 4 - Formal operational
Age: 11 through adulthood
Important Features: Abstract thought
Critiques of Piaget's Theories (4)
1. Recent research has shown that he greatly underestimated children's capabilities. For example, researchers have shown that babies achieve object permanence much sooner than Piaget said they do.
2. Children sometimes simultaneously develop skills that are characteristic of more than one stage, which makes the idea of stages seem less viable.
3. Piaget ignored cultural influences. Research has shown that children from different cultures tend to go through Piaget's stages in the same order, but the timing and length of stages vary from culture to culture.
4. Some people never develop the capacity for formal reasoning, even as adults.
Kohlberg's Theory of Moral Development
Focused on why people think the way they do about right and wrong. Influenced by Piaget. People pass through three levels of moral development.
Level: 1 - Pre-conventional
Stage: 1, 2
What Determines Right and Wrong: Punishment by adults; Reward by adults
Level: 2 - Conventional
Stage: 3, 4
What Determines Right and Wrong: Rules set by close people; Rules set by society
Level: 3 - Post-conventional
Stage: 5, 6
What Determines Right and Wrong: Rules set by society but not absolute and judged by what's personally important; Rules based on abstract ethical principles
Critiques of Kohlberg's Theories
1. People often show the reasoning characteristic of several different levels simultaneously. For instance, in one situation, a person might reason as if he is at a conventional stage, and in another situation, he might use reasoning typical of a post-conventional stage.
2. Kohlberg's theory of moral development favors cultures that value individualism. In other cultures, highly moral people may base their reasoning on communal values rather than abstract ethical principles.
Innate abilities
abilities that are present from birth
Motor development
the increasing coordination of muscles that makes physical movements possible
Developmental norms
the median age at which babies develop specific behaviors and abilities
Maturation
genetically programmed growth and development
Temperament
the kind of personality features babies are born with
Alexander Thomas and Stella Chess
two researchers who study temperament, described three basic types of temperament
Easy Temperament
children tend to be happy and adapt easily to change. They have regular sleeping and eating patterns and don't upset easily.
Slow-to-warm-up Temperament
children tend to be less cheerful and less adaptable than easy children. They are cautious about new experiences. Their sleeping and eating patterns are less regular than those of easy children.
Difficult Temperament
children tend to be glum and irritable, and they dislike change. Their eating and sleeping patterns are irregular.
Contact comfort
comfort derived from physical closeness with a caregiver
Mary Ainsworth
her and her colleagues found that attachment happens through a complex set of interactions between mothers and infants.
Strange Situation
Experiment devised by Mary Ainsworth in order to study attachment behavior.
Secure attachment
These infants expressed unhappiness when their mothers left but still played with the stranger. When their mothers returned, the infants looked happy. The infants displayed greater attachment to their mothers than to the stranger.
Anxious-ambivalent attachment
These infants became upset when their mothers left but resisted contact with their mothers when they returned.
Avoidant attachment
These infants didn't seem upset when their mothers left and avoided their mothers when they returned. Researchers did not see a significant difference in the way these infants treated their mothers and the stranger.
Separation anxiety
the emotional distress infants show when they separate from people to whom they are attached. Begins at about 6-8 months of age and reaches peak intensity when an infant is about 14-18 months old.
Sex
a biological distinction between males and females
Gender
a learned distinction between masculinity and femininity
Gender stereotypes
societal beliefs about the characteristics of males and females
Primary Sex Characteristics
the body structures that make sexual reproduction possible... present at birth
Secondary Sex Characteristics
sex-specific physical characteristics that are not essential for reproduction. These develop in pubescence (the two years before puberty)
puberty
After pubescence and at the beginning of adolescence. The point at which sexual organs mature.
Menarche
The first menstrual period, marks the onset of puberty in girls. The average age of this for American girls is about 12.5. Ends at 16.
nocturnal emissions
So-called "wet dreams", marks the onset of puberty in boys. American boys typically begin to produce sperm by about 14. Ends at 18.
James Marcia
The psychologist who described four identity states based on where people stand on the path to identity
Identity foreclosure
happens when a person prematurely commits to values or roles that others prescribe.
Identity moratorium
happens when a person delays commitment to an identity. He or she may experiment with various values and roles.
Identity diffusion
occurs when a person lacks a clear sense of identity but still hasn't explored issues related to identity development.
Identity achievement
occurs when a person considers alternative possibilities and commits to a certain identity and occurs when a person considers alternative possibilities and commits to a certain identity and path in life path in life.
Social Clock
Indicates the typical life events, behaviors, and issues for a particular age. Different for every culture and historical period.
Mid-life Crisis
A time of doubt and anxiety in middle adulthood
Empty Nest
The time in parents' lives when their children have grown up and left home
Menopause
The gradual, permanent cessation of menstruation and usually begins between ages 45 and 55
Dementia
A condition characterized by several significant psychological deficits. (Decline in mental abilities)
Crystalized Intelligence
Intelligence based on a life span of knowledge and skills
Certain Experiences that Occur during Adulthood:
Marriage
Parenthood
The empty nest
The midlife crisis
Menopause (for women)
Aging
Functions that Decline as you get older:
- lose neurons in the brain
- vision and hearing tend to decline
- Some aspects of memory decrease; decline in the speed of mental processing (not necessarily related to dementia)
Functions that Improve as you get older:
- Crystallized intelligence
- Physical exercise and mental stimulation can form new connections between neurons in brains of older adults
- Most people's overall sense of well-being increases as they get older
Authoritarian Parenting
Impose rules and expect obedience. They do not typically tolerate any questioning of their authority.
Permissive Parenting
These parents submit to their children's desires, make few demands, and use little punishment.
Authoritative Parenting
These parents are both demanding and responsive. They expect their children to follow their rules, but want their children to understand the reasoning behind their rules. Children with the highest self-esteem, self-reliance, and social competence usually have these type of parents. However, correlation is not causation.
Neglectful Parenting
Dismissive of children's emotions; emotionally unsupportive and only provide children's basic needs.
Western Parenting
emphasis on independence, being true to yourself
Asian/ African Parenting
tends to have greater emphasis on emotional closeness and family self
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