Upgrade to remove ads
Only $2.99/month

AP Psychology Unit 9

Terms in this set (69)

Adolescence
the time period between the beginning of puberty and adulthood
Adolescent
a juvenile between the onset of puberty and maturity
Alzheimer's Disease
an irreversible, progressive brain disorder, characterized by the deterioration of memory, language, and eventually, physical functioning
Androgyny
showing characteristics of both sexes
Anxious-Avoidant Insecure Attachment
In general, a child with an anxious-avoidant attachment style will avoid or ignore the parent when he or she returns (in the Strange Situation) - showing little overt indications of an emotional response. Often, the stranger will not be treated much differently from the parent.
Anxious-Resistant Insecure Attachment
In general, a child with an anxious-resistant attachment style will typically explore little (in the Strange Situation) and is often wary of strangers, even when the parent is present. When the mother departs, the child is often highly distressed. The child is generally ambivalent when she returns.
Assimilation
the social process of absorbing one cultural group into harmony with another
Attachment
a feeling of affection for a person or an institution
Cathexis
(psychoanalysis) the libidinal energy invested in some idea or person or object
Centration
The tendency to focus on just one feature of a problem, neglecting other important aspects.
Cognitive Developmental Theory
children actively construct knowledge as they manipulate and explore their world
Concept
a mental grouping of similar objects, events, ideas, or people
Concrete Operational Stage of Development
Children learn to solve more complex problems using basic knowledge.
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
Cross-Sectional Study
a study in which people of different ages are compared with one another
Decentering
the ability to take multiple aspects of a situation into account
Differentiation
a discrimination between things as different and distinct
Disorganized/Disoriented Attachment
The attachment pattern reflecting the greatest insecurity, characterizing infants who show confused, contradictory responses when reunited with the parent after a separation.
Displaced
removed from a place
Displacement
act of taking the place of another especially using underhanded tactics
Egocentrism
In Piaget's theory, the preoperational child's difficulty taking another's point of view
Factor Analysis
any of several methods for reducing correlational data to a smaller number of dimensions or factors
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS)
physical and cognitive abnormalities in children caused by a pregnant woman's heavy drinking. in severe cases, symptoms include noticeable facial misproportions
Formal Operational Stage
In Piaget's theory, the stage of cognitive development (normally beginning about age 12) during which people begin to think logically about abstract concepts
Gender
the properties that distinguish organisms on the basis of their reproductive roles
Gender Identity
your identity as it is experienced with regard to your individuality as male or female
Gender Role
the overt expression of attitudes that indicate to others the degree of your maleness or femaleness
Gender-Typing
the acquisition of a traditional masculine or feminine role
Generativity
In Erikson's theory, a process of making a commitment beyond oneself ex:to family, work, or future generations
Germinal Stage
The first phase of prenatal development, encompassing the first two weeks after conception.
Habituation
a general accommodation to unchanging environmental conditions
Integrity
moral soundness
Intimacy
In Erikson's theory, the ability to form close, loving relationships; a primary developmental task in late adolescence and early adulthood
Intuitive Thought
thinking that reflects preschoolers' use of primitive reasoning and their avid acquisition of knowledge about the world
Maturation
the internally programmed growth of a child
Maturity
the period of time in your life after your physical growth has stopped and you are fully developed
Menarche
the first occurrence of menstruation in a woman
Menopause
the time in a woman's life in which the menstrual cycle ends
Meta Analysis
a procedure for statistically combining the results of many different research studies
Method of Loci
A mnemonic device that involves taking an imaginary walk along a familiar path where images of items to be remembered are associated with certain locations.
Moral Development
growth in the ability to tell right from wrong, control impulses, and act ethically
Moral Reasoning
the thinking that occurs as we consider right and wrong
Object Permanence
the awareness that things continue to exist even when not perceived
Oral Stage
Freud's first stage of personality development, from birth to about age 2, during which the instincts of infants are focused on the mouth as the primary pleasure center. (eating)
Phallic Stage
The third stage in a child's development when awareness of and manipulation of the genitals is supposed to be a primary source of pleasure
Pollyannaish
pleasantly (even unrealistically) optimistic
Postconventional Level
Kohlberg's highest level of moral development, in which moral actions are judged on the basis of personal codes of ethics that are general and abstract and that may not agree with societal norms
Preconventional Level
Stages 1 and 2 of Kohlberg's model of moral reasoning. Children think about moral questions in terms of external authority; acts are wrong because they are punished or right because they are rewarded.
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
Preoperational Thought
Second stage of pigat last from 2-8yrs of age stable concepts are formed,mental reasoning are formed and magical beliefs are constructed
Prepositional Reasoning
logical thinking that involves evaluation a statement or series of statements based on the information in the statement alone
Primary Sex Characteristics
the body structures (ovaries, testes, and external genitalia) that make sexual reproduction possible
Prosocial Behavior
positive, constructive, helpful behavior. The opposite of antisocial behavior
Psychosexual Stages of Development
According to Freudian theory, there are five stages of psychosexual development, each characterized by a dominant mode of achieving sexual pleasure: the oral stage, the anal stage, the phallic stage, the latency stage, and the genital stage.
Puberty
the time of life when sex glands become functional
Reversibility
A child's ability to reverse operations and therefore recognize that the qualities of an object remain the same despite changes in appearance. Occurs in Piaget's Concrete Operational Stage of Cognitive Development (e.g., 1+2=3 to 3-2=1).
Secondary Sex Characteristics
nonreproductive sexual characteristics, such as female breasts and hips, male voice quality, and body hair
Secure Attachment
a relationship in which an infant obtains both comfort and confidence from the presence of his or her caregiver
Sensorimotor Stage of Development
Children learn about the world through their senses and body movements
Sex Differences
Biological differences between males and females, in organs, hormones, and body type.
Sex Roles
the different activities expected of males and females
Sexual Indentity
biological sex, gender inequality, and sexual orientation
Superego
That part of the unconscious mind that acts as a conscience
Symbolic Function Substage
Piaget's first substage of preoperational thought, in which the child gains the ability to mentally represent an object that is not present (between about 2 and 4 years of age).
Temperament
an adjustment of the intervals (as in tuning a keyboard instrument) so that the scale can be used to play in different keys
Teratogen
any agent that interferes with normal embryonic development: alcohol or thalidomide or X-rays or rubella are examples
Transitivity
The ability to logically combine relations to understand certain conclusions.
Type A Personality
A theory used to describe a person with a significant number of traits focused on urgency, impatience, success, and excessive competition.
Type B Personality
Personality characterized by relatively relaxed, patient, easygoing, amicable behavior.
THIS SET IS OFTEN IN FOLDERS WITH...