4.00 Psych Journal
1. FAS
Fetal alcohol syndrome, or FAS, is caused when pregnant women drink alcohol. FAS can cause abnormalities in cognitive, physical, and psychological abilities. These abnormalities develop in the fetus and can also stunt fetal growth and weight. Other abnormalities caused by FAS include mental retardation, lifelong brain abnormalities, and skull abnormalities.
2. Teratogen
A teratogen is a chemical agent that can cause harm to the prenatal environment. One of the most common teratogens in alcohol. Alcohol is known for causing harm to prenatal development, which is evident in syndromes such as FAS, mentioned above. It is important for pregnant women to not consume teratogens to keep their child healthy. For example, if a woman is a cocaine addict while pregnant, her child will become a cocaine addict.
3. Avoidant attachment
Avoidant attachment is a type of attachment an infant can have with their parents labeled by psychologist Mary Ainsworth. In this type of attachment, children explore when parents lave them but do not return to parents when they return. For example, if a couple were to take a child to a room and then leave the room, the child would be exploring while the parents were there and even after they left. When the parents come back, the child will not go to them for comfort, in other words, not feel anxious/ambivalent attachment.
4. Social learning theory
The social learning theory says that children learn their gender-linked behaviors by observing and imitating and by being rewarded and/or punished. This basically means that the way people fit into their gender roles is by learning from their environment for what their gender typically does. For example, if a mother tells her son that boys don’t cry, she will be instilling a gender-linked behavior into her son.
5. Gender schema theory
The gender schema theory proposes that boys and girls learn what it means to be male and female, and what behavior is “gender appropriate” in their culture through language, toys, and dress, and then adjust their behaviors accordingly. This would happen if a boy were to realize that dresses are meant for girls or that dolls are not meant for boys.
6. Schema
A schema is a conceptual framework used to solve problems and form judgments about the world. An obvious example would be gender schema. A schema provides an “image” for one when thinking about a specific role. For example, a computer technician is usually associated with someone unfit, on the shorter side, and with glasses. If one were to see a technician very fit, surfer hair, and a farmer’s tan, their schema would change.
7. Object permanence
Object permanence is the awareness that things continue to exist even when not perceived. This is especially prominent in development of children. For example, when playing peek-a-boo with a baby, the baby may believe the face has disappeared because he cannot see it. They are lacking object permanence in this case.
8. Preconventional morality
Preconventional morality is the concept that an individual’s morality is linked to getting rewarded and trying to avoid punishment. For example, one may clean his room not because it’s right but because he’ll get to eat a cookie after. Or one may do their homework only for the thirty-minute television time reward.
9. Authoritarian parents
Authoritarian parents are those who impose rules and expect their children to follow them. Failure to do so will result in punishment. This is a type of parenting style that I can never imagine growing up with. If the parent makes the rule to not be able to watch television on the weekdays, the child is expected to follow without question. Obedience is expected.
10.Crystallized intelligence
Crystallized intelligence is accumulated knowledge that increases up to old age. A very common example is vocabulary and language expansion.
11.Alzheimer’s disease
This is an irreversible and progressive brain disorder. One with Alzheimer’s disease will experience a deterioration of memory, followed by reasoning, and then physical functioning and language. One of the most well-known people with Alzheimer’s disease is Ronald Reagan, with his famous phrase “I don’t recall” when people believed he was trying to get out of a sticky situation.
12.Generativity vs. stagnation
This is a stage of development by Eric Erickson. This usually begins at age thirty-five where adults begin to examine their life to determine if it is on the right track or not. Here, one may experience a mid-life crisis or decide to change something in their life. This can last to the mid-fifties.
13.Ego integrity vs. despair
This is another stage of social development by Erickson. In this stage, however, an individual may evaluate themselves and search for the meaningfulness of life. This usually occurs after the mid-fifties and here one may reflect whether or not they really made a difference in their life and if they succeeded or failed.
14.Development psychology
This is the branch of psychology that deals with physical, cognitive, and social change of humans throughout a life span. This branch deals with how and why humans make decisions throughout our lives, how we learn and develop when we are younger, and what changes will we notice as we grow older in life.
15.Maturation
This is the unfolding of fan individual’s genetic instructions in an orderly sequence of biological growth regardless of the surrounding environment. This physical development sets us for the course for the rest of our lives. The order of maturation is identical for everyone in their life, though the age when we develop certain abilities does differ.
16.Imprinting
Imprinting is the process by which certain birds and mammals form attachments during a critical period, early in their lives. Konrad Lorenz demonstrated this when he showed how baby ducklings develop an attachment to the first thing they see moving.
17.Critical periods
These are specific times in an individual’s development when the development must be healthy. If not, the individual will not develop correctly. Imprinting is an example of an attachment formed during a critical period. In the case of imprinting, if the bird or mammal creates an attachment with something that cannot support them, they may not develop correctly.
18.Secure attachment
Secure attachment is a type of attachment an infant can have with their parents, labeled by psychologist Mary Ainsworth. Unlike avoidant attachment, secure attachment is when an infant explores an area with their parents around but gets distressed when parent leaves. For example, if a parent were to go to a room with their infant, the infant would explore the room confidently. As soon as the parent leaves, the infant will be distressed but when the parent returns, the infant will be happy to see their parent again.
19.Fluid intelligence
Fluid intelligence is the ability to reason abstractly and quickly. This includes solving problems and understanding concepts rather than terms. This decreases slowly until about age 75, but then follows rapid decline.
20.Polygenic
This is the term associated with more complex inheritable traits that are controlled by several genes at once. For example, intelligence and depression are two polygenic traits that are more complex than eye color or height.