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| The idea that the mind is a blank slate at birth. |
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| Well-known father of the psychoanalytic theory, He argued that personality development takes place through a series of universal stages beginning with birth and ending in adolescence. He also posed a structure of the personality which included the id, ego, and superego. |
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| Nature versus Nurture Controversy |
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| A debate regarding the relative influence of heredity versus experience/the environment on development. While some developmental theorists underscore one over the other, both nature and nurture influence development. |
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| Cognitive development theorist- sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, abstract. Theorist who constructed a stage model of cognitive development and who argued that cognitive development is the result of the child constructing schema based on his or her activity with objects in the environment. His theory is a discontinuity theory of development which emphasizes universals in development. |
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| The psychologist who constructed the psychosocial theory of personality development. He argued personality develops throughout the lifespan and his model contains eight stages beginning with birth and ending in old age. During each stage of development the person faces a psychosocial crisis which can be resolved in a positive or negative way. Erikson is also well known for his discussion of identity development in adolescence. Life span perspective. |
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| Contemporary approach to development suggesting development occurs throughout the entire life span. Historically, developmental theories have suggested development is complete at adolescence. This perspective changes the view that childhood experiences shape who we become. |
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| The principle that developmental changes occur the same in all people across all cultures. |
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| The psychologist who created the ecological systems theory of development. |
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| Name used for cultures that value the common good rather than individual achievement. |
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| Name used for cultures that value individual achievement and drive rather than the common good. |
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| Piaget’s term for the process of modifying an existing scheme in order to include a new experience. |
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| Piaget’s term for the process of modifying an experience to make it fit into a preexisting scheme. |
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| Cognitive-Developmental theory |
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| This theory describes and explains changes in thinking that occur with age. Jean Piaget is the most influential theorist within this perspective. Piaget constructed a stage model of cognitive development and he argued that these stages were universal. He suggested that a child constructs schema based on the result of his or her actions in the environment. A scheme is an organized pattern of thought or action. Schema become more logical and organized as the child progresses through the four stages, which are sensorimotor intelligence, preoperations, concrete operations, and formal operations. |
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| The term used by theorists like Piaget who argue that the developing child actively constructs ideas derived from an active exploration of his or her environment. |
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| The psychologist who studied moral reasoning and suggested a stage model of moral development. This model contains three stages: preconventional moral reasoning, conventional moral reasoning, and post-conventional moral reasoning. He presented moral dilemmas to subjects and observed differences in reasoning about these dilemmas across age groups. |
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| The behavioral psychologist who created the classical conditioning theory within the Learning theory approach. Pavlov discovered that a previously reflexive response could be conditioned to be emitted in response to a novel stimulus. He discovered classical conditiong serendipitously while conducting experiences on the salivary reflex in dogs. |
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| The learning process discovered by Ivan Pavlov by which a reflexive response is elicited by a new stimulus. This conditioning is accomplished by the new stimulus, called the conditioned stimulus, becoming associated with the unconditioned stimulus which initially controlled the reflex. |
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| Unconditioned response(UCR) |
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| This is the term in Pavolv’s classical conditioning theory for the motor response part of a reflex. |
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| Unconditioned stimulus(UCS) |
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| This is the stimulus that elicits a reflexive response in Pavlov’s classical conditioning theory. |
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| Pavlov’s term for when a conditioned response can be elicited by related conditioned stimuli, e.g. similar tone frequencies. |
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| The gradual process of conditioning a response to only occur to a specific stimulus, e.g. a bell of a certain tone, rather than a collection of tones that are similar in frequency. |
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| Pavlov’s term for the process that reverses conditioning in the classical conditioning paradigm. This is accomplished by successively presenting the conditioned stimulus(UCS). Eventually the CS no longer elicits the conditioned response(CR). |
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| The behavioral psychologist who created the operant conditioning theory within the learning theory approach. Skinner argued behavior is shaped through reinforcement and punishment. If a behavior is reinforced, the probability that it will occur again in the same stimulus conditions increases. Punishment, on the other hand, reduces the probability that a behavior will be repeated. Skinner’s approach has been very infuential in classroom management as well as in clinical approaches to treating disorders. |
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| A type of learning, described by B.F. Skinner, in which behavior is shaped through the use of reinforcement and punishment. A behavior which is followed by reinforcement will tend to be repeated and a behavior followed by punishment will tend not to be repeated. |
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| In Skinner’s operant conditiong theory, this is a type of reinforcement used to shape behavior. Positive reinforcement is presenting a reward to a person or animal after the goal behavior is emitted. This term is formally defined by Skinner as any thing that is given to a subject after a behavior is emitted that increases the probability the behavior will be repeated under the same stimulus conditions. |
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| In Skinner’s operant conditioning theory, this is the term for a reward that involves removing a noxious stimulus or condition after a goal behavior is emitted. This term is formally defined by Skinner as the removal of a noxious stimulus after a behavior is emitted that increases the probability the behavior will be repeated under similar stimulus conditions. |
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| Psychologist who created the social learning theory. He also conducted the classic study which showed that children who previously viewed an adult model be aggressive toward a doll imitated the adult model when placed in a room with the doll. |
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| A contemporary modification of traditional learning theory. Social learning theorists argue that changes occur in behavior as a result of modeling the behavior of others. In this way, new behaviors are acquired not through the process of shaping and direct reinforcement and punishment, but through vicarious reinforcement. Albert Bandura formulated the social learning theory. The Social Learning theory suggests that our cognitions about the behavior of others we observe influence our own behavior. |
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| The term for the control over an individual’s behavior that is a consequence of observing a model being reinforced. Social learning theorists argue an individual is more likely to imitate a model’s behavior if he or she observes that behavior being rewarded. |
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| A method used in descriptive research to collect information about a person or event. Overt behavior is observed and recorded in a natural setting. |
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| The term for the sexual instinct or drive in Freud’s theory of psychoanalysis. |
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| Creating false but plausible excuses to justify unacceptable behavior |
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| Pushing unacceptable id impulses out of awareness and back into the unconscious. Sometimes called “motivated forgetting.” |
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| Behaving exactly the opposite of one’s true feelings. |
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| Reversion to immature patterns of behavior |
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| Attributing one’s own thoughts, feelings, motives, or shortcomings to others. |
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| Shifting unacceptable feelings from their original source to a safer, substitute target. |
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| A useful, socially acceptable course of behavior replaces a socially unacceptable or distasteful impulse. |
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| By dealing with a stressful situation in an intellectual and unemotional manner, a person detaches him- or herself from the stress. |
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| Denying that a very unpleasant thing has happened. |
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| An individual’s cognitive development occurs within a context of interaction between the individual and other members of the individual’s culture. Hence, sociocultural values and beliefs are transmitted to younger generations in a society. |
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| The principle that suggests development is the result of the bidirectional relationship between the person and the environment. |
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| The Russian theorist who created the sociocultural theory of development. |
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| The name Charles Darwin used for the process through which species evolve over time. |
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