Developmental Themes & Methods
This method tracks the same individuals over a long period of time.
What is a longitudinal study?
The first two years of life are part of this developmental stage.
What is infancy?
This psychologist believed children are born with a language acquisition device.
Who is Noam Chomsky?
This Russian psychologist discovered classical conditioning.
Who is Ivan Pavlov?
Learning by watching others.
What is observational learning?
This type of study compares people of different ages at one point in time.
What is a cross-sectional study?
This cognitive psychologist developed a stage theory of cognitive development.
Who is Jean Piaget?
The ability to understand language before producing it.
What is receptive language?
A stimulus that naturally triggers a response.
What is an unconditioned stimulus?
The psychologist known for the Bobo doll experiment.
Who is Albert Bandura?
The ongoing debate between the influence of genetics versus environment.
What is nature vs. nurture?
The stage where adolescents gain the ability for abstract thinking.
What is the formal operational stage?
The stage where infants begin using two-word phrases.
What is telegraphic speech?
A consequence that strengthens the behavior it follows.
What is reinforcement?
A mental representation of how to navigate an environment.
What is a cognitive map?
The idea that certain periods in life are more sensitive to environmental input.
What is a critical or sensitive period?
Erikson’s stage of psychosocial development during adolescence.
What is identity vs. role confusion?
Culturally defined roles and characteristics assigned to males and females.
What is gender?
This type of reinforcement involves removing an unpleasant stimulus.
What is negative reinforcement?
Learning that occurs but is not immediately demonstrated.
What is latent learning?
A consistent, enduring characteristic pattern of emotional reactivity.
What is temperament?
The process by which unused neural connections are eliminated in the brain.
What is pruning?
The theory that we learn gender identity by observing and imitating others.
What is social learning theory?
A schedule that reinforces a response after an unpredictable number of responses.
What is a variable ratio schedule?
The belief that we control our own fate.
What is an internal locus of control?