Nature vs. nurture
Debate over genes vs. experience; developmental psychology shows both interact to shape behavior.
ThemesCross-sectional study
Compares different age groups at one point in time — fast but can't track individual change.
ResearchLongitudinal study
Follows the same participants over many years — tracks individual change but costly.
ResearchTeratogens
Harmful agents (alcohol, drugs, viruses) that can damage prenatal development during sensitive periods.
Physical Dev.Critical/sensitive period
Window when an organism is especially open to specific environmental influences (e.g., language acquisition).
Physical Dev.Piaget's stages
Sensorimotor, Preoperational, Concrete Operational, Formal Operational — each marking new cognitive abilities.
Cognitive Dev.Object permanence
Understanding that objects exist when out of sight; achieved in sensorimotor stage around 8 months.
Cognitive Dev.Conservation
Understanding that quantity stays constant despite changes in shape; achieved in concrete operational stage.
Cognitive Dev.Theory of mind
Ability to recognize that others have beliefs, desires, and perspectives different from your own.
Cognitive Dev.Vygotsky's ZPD
Zone of proximal development — gap between what a learner can do alone vs. with guidance; optimal teaching zone.
Cognitive Dev.Babbling stage
~4-month speech stage where infants produce sounds that narrow to native-language phonemes over time.
LanguageErikson's stages
8 psychosocial stages from infancy to old age, each centered on a conflict (trust vs. mistrust, identity vs. role confusion, etc.).
Social-EmotionalAttachment
Deep emotional bond between infant and caregiver; Ainsworth identified secure, avoidant, ambivalent, and disorganized styles.
Social-EmotionalAuthoritative parenting
Warm + firm parenting style; generally linked to the best developmental outcomes.
Social-EmotionalIdentity formation
Erikson's adolescent task of integrating values, goals, and beliefs into a coherent sense of self.
Social-EmotionalClassical conditioning
Pavlov's learning: neutral stimulus paired with meaningful stimulus comes to trigger same response.
Classical Cond.UCS / UCR / CS / CR
Unconditioned stimulus/response (natural); conditioned stimulus/response (learned after pairing).
Classical Cond.Extinction
Fading of conditioned response when CS appears repeatedly without UCS.
Classical Cond.Stimulus generalization
Responding to stimuli similar to the original CS.
Classical Cond.Operant conditioning
Skinner: behavior shaped by consequences — reinforcement increases, punishment decreases behavior.
Operant Cond.Positive vs. negative reinforcement
Both increase behavior. Positive adds something pleasant; negative removes something unpleasant.
Operant Cond.Positive vs. negative punishment
Both decrease behavior. Positive adds something unpleasant; negative removes something pleasant.
Operant Cond.Schedules of reinforcement
Fixed/variable and ratio/interval patterns — affect persistence and resistance to extinction.
Operant Cond.Observational learning
Learning by watching and imitating others (Bandura's Bobo doll study).
Social Cog.Latent learning
Learning that occurs without reinforcement and only appears when there's a reason to use it (Tolman).
Social Cog.Shaping
Reinforcing successive approximations of a desired behavior to build complex behaviors step by step.
Operant Cond.Sex vs. gender
Sex = biological characteristics; gender = socially constructed roles, identity, and expectations.
GenderTheory of mind
Recognition that others have distinct mental states; typically develops around age 3–4.
Cognitive Dev.Spontaneous recovery
Reappearance of a previously extinguished conditioned response after a rest period.
Classical Cond.Bobo doll study
Bandura's experiment showing children imitate aggressive behavior they observe in adults.
Social Cog.