Growing Up
The name for the 9-month period of development inside the womb
What is the prenatal period?
The understanding that things continue to exist even when you can’t see them (learned in the sensorimotor stage).
What is object permanence?
The scientist who used "comfort monkeys" to prove that touch/warmth is more important for attachment than just food.
Who is Harry Harlow?
In Pavlov’s experiment, the bell started as a "neutral" stimulus but became this after being paired with food.
What is the conditioned stimulus (CS)?
Adding a desirable stimulus (like a gold star or money) to increase a behavior.
What is positive reinforcement?
Research that compares people of different ages at the same point in time.
What is a cross-sectional study?
The inability of a young child to see the world through anyone else’s eyes but their own.
What is egocentrism?
The parenting style that is "just right"—they have rules but are also warm and explain the reasons for those rules.
What is authoritative?
When a dog starts salivating to a doorbell because it sounds similar to the bell used in the experiment.
What is stimulus generalization?
He is the "father" of operant conditioning and created a special "box" to study how rats learn from consequences.
Who is B.F. Skinner?
The automatic, unlearned brain growth that allows a child to walk or talk when they are physically ready.
What is maturation?
If you pour juice from a short glass into a tall glass and the child thinks there is "more" juice, they lack this concept.
What is conservation?
Kohlberg’s first level of morality, where children obey rules just to avoid punishment or get rewards.
What is preconventional?
The disappearance of a learned response when the bell is rung repeatedly without any food being presented.
What is extinction?
A reinforcement schedule where you get a reward after a specific, set number of responses (like "buy 10 coffees, get 1 free").
What is a fixed-ratio schedule?
A biological "window" of time during which a certain skill (like language) must be learned or it may never develop fully.
What is a critical period?
Fitting new information into your existing "mental folders" without changing the folder itself.
What is assimilation?
According to Erikson, the main "crisis" teenagers face where they try to figure out who they are.
What is Identity vs. Role Confusion?
The initial stage of learning when a neutral stimulus is first linked to an unconditioned stimulus.
What is acquisition?
This occurs when you learn something by watching others, demonstrated by Bandura’s "Bobo Doll" experiment.
What is observational learning (or modeling)?
Decreasing responsiveness to a stimulus after being exposed to it repeatedly; used to see what babies "know."
What is habituation?
The final stage of Piaget's theory where teenagers begin to think about abstract concepts and hypothetical "what if" situations.
What is formal operational?
The term for a person's characteristic emotional reactivity and intensity, which is often visible right from birth.
What is temperament?
The psychologist who conducted the "Little Albert" study to prove that even fear can be conditioned.
Who is John B. Watson?
This type of punishment involves taking away something "good" (like your phone) to decrease a bad behavior.
What is negative punishment