Kin Selection

Biological concept explaining how altruistic behaviors (actions that benefit others at a cost to the individual) can evolve through natural selection

Fertile Females Theory

That women’s mating preferences, behaviors, and perceptions shift during their most fertile ovulatory phase to maximize reproductive success

Older-Brother Effect

The finding that men who have older brothers are more likely to be gay than those with older sisters or no older siblings

Cognition

All the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating

Schemas

A concept or framework that organizes and interprets information

Assimilation

Interpreting our new experiences in terms of our existing schemas

Accommodation

In developmental psychology, adapting our current schemas (understandings) to incorporate new information

Sensorimotor Stage

In Piaget’s theory, the stage (from birth to nearly 2 years of age) at which infants know the world mostly in terms of their sensory impressions and motor activities

Object Permanence

The awareness that things continue to exist even when not perceived

Preoperational Stage

In Piaget’s theory, the stage (from about 2 to 6 or 7 years of age) at which a child learns to use language but does not yet comprehend the mental operations of concrete logic

Conservation

The principle (which Piaget believed to be a part of concrete operational reasoning) that properties such as mass, volume, and number remain the same despite changes in the forms of objects

Pretend Play

A form of imaginative play where children use their imagination to create scenarios, assign roles, and act out events, often mimicking real-life situations or characters

Egocentric

In Piaget’s theory, the preoperational child’s difficulty taking another’s point of view

Animism

A belief that inanimate objects are alive or have lifelike feelings and motivations

Concrete Operational Stage

In Piaget’s theory, the stage of cognitive development (from about 7 to 11 years of age) at which children can perform the mental operations that enable them to think logically

Formal Operational Thinking

In Piaget’s theory, the stage of cognitive development (normally beginning about age 12) at which people begin to think logically about abstract concepts

Social Cultural

The interplay and combination of social and cultural factors that influence the behaviors, beliefs, and interactions of individuals and groups within a society

Scaffold

In Vygotsky’s theory, a framework that offers children temporary support as they develop higher levels of thinking

Zone of Proximal Development

Place between what a child can and can't do

Theory of Mind

People’s ideas about their own and others’ mental states — about their feelings, perceptions, and thoughts, and the behaviors these might predict

Autism Spectrum Disorder

Any of a group of neurodevelopmental conditions of variable severity having features regarded as characteristic of this disorder (especially difficulties with social interaction and communication)

Personal Fable

Believing they are unique and special and what happens to “most people” would never happen to them

Moral Intuitions

Quick gut feelings

Dementia

A cognitive disorder that impairs memory, cognition, and decision-making

Cross-sectional Studies

Comparing people of different ages

Longitudinal Studies

Restudying same people over time

Terminal Decline

Last 3-4 years of life where cognition rapidly deteriorates

Language

Our agreed-upon systems of spoken, written, or signed words and the ways we combine them to communicate meaning

Language Acquisition Device

A hypothetical mental faculty proposed by Noam Chomsky that suggests humans are born with an innate ability to learn language

Phonemes

In a language, the smallest distinctive sound unit

Morphemes

In a language, the smallest unit that carries meaning; may be a word or a part of a word (such as a prefix)

Grammar

In a language, a system of rules that enables us to communicate with and understand others. Semantics is the language’s set of rules for deriving meaning from sounds, and syntax is its set of rules for combining words into grammatically sensible sentences

Universal Grammar (UG)

Humans’ innate predisposition to understand the principles and rules that govern grammar in all languages

Receptive Language

Babies’ abilities to understand what is said to and about them

Productive Language

Babies’ abilities to produce words

Babbling Stage

The stage in speech development beginning around 4 months, during which an infant spontaneously utters various sounds that are not all related to the household language

One-word Stage

The stage in speech development, from about age 1 to 2, during which a child speaks mostly in single words

Two-word Stage

Beginning about age 2, the stage in speech development during which a child speaks mostly in two-word statements

Telegraphic Speech

The early speech stage in which a child speaks like a telegram — “go car” — using mostly nouns and verbs

Aphasia

Impairment of language, usually caused by left hemisphere damage either to Broca’s area (impairing speaking) or to Wernicke’s area (impairing understanding)

Broca's Area

A frontal lobe brain area, usually in the left hemisphere, that helps control language expression by directing the muscle movements involved in speech

Wernicke's Area

A brain area, usually in the left temporal lobe, involved in language comprehension and expression

Linguistic Determinism

Whorf’s hypothesis that language determines the way we think

Linguistic Relativism

The idea that language influences the way we think

Outcome Simulation

Using a model or a process to predict or understand the future results of a real-world situation or event

Process Simulation

Involves creating models, both mental and computational, to replicate and analyze behaviors and cognitive processes in a controlled environment, offering insights into how individuals think, reason, and solve problems

Ecological Systems Theory

A theory of the social environment’s influence on human development, using five nested systems (microsystem; mesosystem; exosystem; macrosystem; chronosystem) ranging from direct to indirect influences

Separation Anxiety

A common childhood developmental stage characterized by excessive fear and distress when separated from primary caregivers, such as parents or siblings

Stranger Anxiety

The fear of strangers that infants commonly display, beginning by about 8 months of age

Attachment

An emotional tie with others; shown in young children by their seeking closeness to caregivers and showing distress on separation

Contact Comfort

The psychological concept that individuals, especially infants, find comfort, security, and well-being from physical contact and closeness with a caregiver or others, rather than solely from nourishment

Secure Base

A caregiver or safe space that provides a child with the comfort and confidence to explore their environment, knowing they can return for reassurance and support when distressed

Imprinting

The process by which certain animals form strong attachments during early life

Strange Situation

A procedure for studying child-caregiver attachment; a child is placed in an unfamiliar environment while their caregiver leaves and then returns, and the child’s reactions are observed

Secure Attachment

Demonstrated by infants who comfortably explore environments in the presence of their caregiver, show only temporary distress when the caregiver leaves, and find comfort in the caregiver’s return

Insecure Attachment

Demonstrated by infants who display either a clinging, anxious attachment or an avoidant attachment that resists closeness

Disorganized Attachment

No consistent behavior during separations and reunions with caregivers

Temperament

A person’s characteristic emotional reactivity and intensity

Basic Trust

According to Erik Erikson, a sense that the world is predictable and trustworthy; said to be formed during infancy by appropriate experiences with responsive caregivers

Anxious Attachment

People constantly crave acceptance, remain alert to possible rejection

Avoidant Attachment

Experience discomfort when getting close to others, avoidant to maintain distance

Self-Concept

All our thoughts and feelings about ourselves in answer to the question, “Who am I?”

Family Self

What shames the child shames the family, what honors the family honors the self

Identity

Our sense of self; according to Erikson, the adolescent’s task is to solidify a sense of self by testing and integrating various roles

Social Identity

The “we” aspect of our self-concept; the part of our answer to “Who am I?” that comes from our group memberships

Possible Selves

The versions of adolescents that they may imagine becoming in the future

Intimacy

In Erikson’s theory, the ability to form close, loving relationships; a primary developmental task in young adulthood

Selection Effect

Adolescents seeking out peers with similar attitudes, interests, and traits

Emerging Adulthood

A period from about age 18 to the mid-twenties, when many persons in Western cultures are no longer adolescents but have not yet achieved full independence as adults