Introduction to psychology MIDTERMS PPT
CHAPTER 5: LEARNING Stimulus generalization - the tendency to
Learning - any relatively permanent change in
behavior brought about by experience or
practice
 When people learn anything, some part of
their brain is physically changed to record
what they have learned.
 Any kind of change in the way an
organism behaves is learning.
CLASSICAL CONDITIONING
Ivan Pavlov - Russian physiologist who
studies the workings of the body, Pavlov
discovered classical conditioning through his
work on digestion in dogs
Classical conditioning - learning to make a
reflex response to a stimulus other than the
original, natural stimulus that normally
produces the reflex
Unconditioned stimulus (UCS)
– a naturally occurring stimulus that leads to an
involuntary response.
Unconditioned response (UCR) – an
involuntary response to a naturally occurring or
unconditioned stimulus.
Conditioned stimulus (CS) - stimulus that
becomes able to produce a learned reflex
response by being paired with the original
unconditioned stimulus.
Conditioned - means "learned."
Unconditioned - means "unlearned" or
"naturally occurring."
neutral stimulus - can become a conditioned
stimulus when paired with an unconditioned
stimulus.
Conditioned response (CR) / also called a
conditioned reflex - learned reflex response
to a conditioned stimulus.
Acquisition - the repeated pairing of the NS
and the UCS; the organism is in the process of
acquiring learning.
Although classical conditioning
happens quite easily, there are a
few basic principles that researchers
have discovered:
 The CS must come before the UCS.
 The CS and UCS must come very close
together in time—ideally, only several
seconds apart.
 The neutral stimulus must be paired
with the UCS several times, often many
times, before conditioning can take
place.
 The CS is usually some stimulus that is
distinctive or stands out from other
competing stimuli.
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respond to a stimulus that is only similar to the
original conditioned stimulus with the
conditioned response
Stimulus discrimination - the tendency to
stop making a generalized response to a
stimulus that is similar to the original
conditioned stimulus because the similar
stimulus is never paired with the unconditioned
stimulus
Extinction - the disappearance or weakening
of a learned response following the removal or
absence of the unconditioned stimulus (in
classical conditioning) or the removal of a
reinforcer (in operant conditioning).
Spontaneous recovery – the reappearance of
a learned response after extinction has
occurred.
Learning - is a relatively permanent change in
behavior.
Higher-order conditioning - occurs when a
strong conditioned stimulus is paired with a
neutral stimulus, causing the neutral stimulus
to become a second conditioned stimulus.
CONDITIONED EMOTIONAL
RESPONSE
Conditioned emotional response (CER) -
emotional response that has become
classically conditioned to occur to learned
stimuli, such as a fear of dogs or the emotional
reaction that occurs when seeing an attractive
person.
CERs may lead to phobias – irrational fear
responses
Vicarious conditioning - classical
conditioning of a reflex response or emotion by
watching the reaction of another person.
Conditioned taste aversion - development of
a nausea or aversive response to a particular
taste because that taste was followed by a
nausea reaction, occurring after only one
association.
Biological preparedness - the tendency of
animals to learn certain associations, such as
taste and nausea, with only one or few pairings
due to the survival value of the learning.
Stimulus substitution - original theory in
which Pavlov stated that classical conditioning
occurred because the conditioned stimulus
became a substitute for the unconditioned
stimulus by being paired closely together.
Cognitive perspective - modern theory in
which classical conditioning is seen to occur
because the conditioned stimulus provides COMPARISON OF TWO
information or an expectancy about the coming CONDITIONING
of the unconditioned stimulus. OPERANT CLASSICAL
OPERANT CONDITIONING CONDITIONING CONDITIONING
Operant conditioning - the learning of End result: increase in End result: creation of
voluntary behavior through the effects of the rate of an already a new response of a
pleasant and unpleasant consequences to occurring response stimuli that did not
responses normally produce that
Thorndike’s Law of Effect - law stating that if response
a response is followed by a pleasurable Responses are Responses are
consequence, it will tend to be repeated, and if voluntary, emitted by involuntary and
followed by an unpleasant consequence, it will the organism reflexive, elicited by a
tend not to be repeated. stimulus
Behaviorist - wanted to study only observable, Consequences are Antecedent stimuli are
measurable behavior. important in forming important in forming
Operant - any behavior that is voluntary an association an association
Reinforcement - any event or stimulus, that Reinforcement should CS must occur
when following a response, increases the be immediate immediately before the
probability that the response will occur again. UCS
Primary reinforcer - any reinforcer that is An expectancy An expectancy
naturally reinforcing by meeting a basic develops for develops for UCS to
biological need, such as hunger, thirst, or reinforcement to follow CS
touch. follow a correct
Secondary reinforcer - any reinforcer that response
becomes reinforcing after being paired with a
primary reinforcer, such as praise, tokens, or
SCHEDULES OF REINFORCEMENT
gold stars.
Partial reinforcement effect - the tendency
Positive reinforcement - the reinforcement of
for a response that is reinforced after some,
a response by the addition or experiencing of a
but not all, correct responses to be very
pleasurable stimulus.
resistant to extinction.
Negative reinforcement - the reinforcement of
Continuous reinforcement - the
a response by the removal, escape from, or
reinforcement of each and every correct
avoidance of an unpleasant stimulus.
response.
Shaping - the reinforcement of simple steps in
Fixed ratio schedule of reinforcement -
behavior that lead to a desired, more complex
schedule of reinforcement in which the number
behavior.
of responses required for reinforcement is
Successive approximations - small steps in
always the same.
behavior, one after the other, that lead to a
Variable interval schedule of reinforcement
particular goal behavior.
- schedule of reinforcement in which the
Extinction – occurs if the behavior (response)
interval of time that must pass before
is not reinforced.
reinforcement becomes possible is Fixed ratio
Operantly conditioned responses - also can
schedule of reinforcement - schedule of
be generalized to stimuli that are only similar to
reinforcement in which the number of
the original stimulus.
responses required for reinforcement is always
Spontaneous recovery - reoccurrence of a
the same.
once extinguished response, it also happens in
Variable interval schedule of reinforcement
operant conditioning
- schedule of reinforcement in which the
interval of time that must pass before
reinforcement becomes possible is different for
each trial or event different for each trial or
event.

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Fixed ratio schedule of reinforcement -  Punishment of the wrong behavior
schedule of reinforcement in which the number should be paired, whenever possible,
of responses required for reinforcement is with reinforcement of the right behavior.
always the same. OPERANT STIMULI AND STIMULUS
CONTROL
Variable interval schedule of reinforcement Discriminative stimulus - any stimulus, such
- schedule of reinforcement in which the as a stop sign or a doorknob, that provides the
interval of time that must pass before organism with a cue for making a certain
reinforcement becomes possible is different for response in order to obtain reinforcement.
each trial or event. Shaping – the reinforcement of simple steps
Variable ratio schedule of reinforcement - that leads to a desired complex behavior
schedule of reinforcement in which the number Successive approximations – small steps,
of responses required for reinforcement is one after another that lead to a particular goal
different for each trial or event. behavior
PUNISHMENT Instinctive drift - tendency for an animal’s
Punishment - any event or object that, when behavior to revert to genetically controlled
following a response, makes that response patterns.
less likely to happen again. BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION
Punishment by application - the punishment Behavior modification - the use of operant
of a response by the addition or experiencing conditioning techniques to bring about desired
of an unpleasant stimulus. changes in behavior.
Punishment by removal - the punishment of Token economy - type of behavior
a response by the removal of a pleasurable modification in which desired behavior is
stimulus. rewarded with tokens.
Punishment has several drawbacks: Time-out - a form of mild punishment by
 may cause avoidance of the punisher removal in which a misbehaving animal, child,
instead of the behavior being punished or adult is placed in a special area aw Applied
 may encourage lying to avoid behavior analysis (ABA) – modern term for a
punishment form of behavior modification that uses
 creates fear and anxiety shaping techniques to mold a desired behavior
FOUR WAYS TO MODIFY BEHAVIOR or response.ay from the attention of others.
REINFORCEMENT PUNISHMENT Biofeedback- the use of feedback about
Positive Something valued or Something biological conditions to bring involuntary
(adding) desirable unpleasant responses such as blood pressure and
Positive Punishment by relaxation under voluntary control.
reinforcement application Neurofeedback - form of biofeedback using
Ex: getting a star for Ex: getting a brainscanning devices (fMRI) to provide
good behavior in spanking for feedback about brain activity in an effort to
school disobeying modify behavior.
Negative Something unpleasant Something
COGNITIVE LEARNING THEORY
(removin valued or
g or desirable  Early days of learning – focus was on
avoiding) behavior.
Negative Punishment by  1950s and more intensely in the 1960s,
reinforcement removal many psychologists were becoming
aware that cognition, the mental events
Ex: Avoiding a ticket Ex: losing a that take place inside a person’s mind
by stopping at a red privilege while behaving, could no longer be
light ignored.
Edward Tolman – early cognitive scientist.
HOW TO MAKE PUNISHMENT
MORE EFFECTIVE teaching three groups of rats the same
 Punishment should immediately follow maze, one at a time (Tolman & Honzik,
the behavior it is meant to punish. 1930b) - Edward Tolman’s best-known
 Punishment should be consistent. experiments in learning

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 o Group 1 – rewarded each time at end
of maze.
Learned maze quickly.
o Group 2 – in maze every day; only
rewarded on 10th day.
Demonstrated learning of maze almost
immediately after receiving reward.
o Group 3 – never rewarded.
Did not learn maze well
Latent learning - learning that remains hidden
until its application becomes useful.
Insight - the sudden perception of
relationships among various parts of a
problem, allowing the solution to the problem
to come quickly.
Learned helplessness - the tendency to fail to
act to escape from a situation because of a
history of repeated failures in the past.
OBSERVATIONAL LEARNING
Observational learning - learning new
behavior by watching a model perform that
behavior
Learning/performance distinction - referring
to the observation that learning can take place
without actual performance of the learned
behavior
Albert Bandura’s famous Bobo doll
experiment - the doll was used to demonstrate
the impact of observing an adult model
performing aggressive behavior on the later
aggressive behavior of children
4 ELEMENTS OF OBSERVATIONAL
LEARNING
Attention - To learn anything through
observation, the learner must first pay attention
to the model
Memory - The learner must also be able to
retain the memory of what was done, such as
remembering the steps in preparing a dish that
was first seen on a cooking show
Imitation - The learner must be capable of
reproducing, or imitating, the actions of the
model
Motivation - the learner must have the desire
to perform the action
CHAPTER 6: MEMORY
Memory - an active system that receives
information from the senses, organizes and alters it
as it stores it away, and then retrieves the
information from storage
3 PROCESSES OF MEMORY
Encoding - the set of mental operations that
people perform on sensory information to convert
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that information into a form that is usable in the
brain’s storage systems.
Sensory memory All information lost within a
second or so
Short-term Unrehearsed information is
memory lost in about 15 to 30 seconds
Long-term memory Information is retained
indefinitely although some
information may be difficult to
retrieve
Storage - holding onto information for some period
of time.
Retrieval - getting information that is in storage
into a form that can be used
MODELS OF MEMORY
Information-processing model - assumes the
processing of information for memory storage is
similar to the way a computer processes memory in
a series of three stages
Levels-of-processing model - assumes
information that is more "deeply processed," or
processed according to its meaning rather than just
the sound or physical characteristics of the word or
words, will be remembered more efficiently and for
a longer period of time.
Parallel distributed processing (PDP) model -
memory processes are proposed to take place at
the same time over a large network of neural
connections
THREE-STAGE PROCESS OF MEMORY
Information enters through the sensory system,
briefly registering in sensory memory. Selective
attention filters the information into short-term
memory, where it is held while attention (rehearsal)
continues. If the information receives enough
rehearsal (maintenance or elaborative), it will enter
and be stored in long-term memory.
Sensory memory - the very first stage of memory,
the point at which information enters the nervous
system through the sensory systems
Iconic memory - visual sensory memory, lasting
only a fraction of a second.
 Capacity – everything that can be seen at
one time
 Duration - information that has just entered
iconic memory will be pushed out very
quickly by new information, a process called
masking
Eidetic imagery - the rare ability to access a visual
memory for 30 seconds or more.
Echoic memory - the brief memory of something a
person has just heard.
 Capacity - limited to what can be heard at
any one moment and is smaller than the
capacity of iconic memory
 Duration – lasts longer that iconic, about 2
to 4 seconds
Short-term memory (STM) (working memory) -
the memory system in which information is held for
brief periods of time while being used.
 Duration of STM - lasts from about 12 to 30
seconds without rehearsal.
 STM is susceptible to interference (e.g., if
counting is interrupted, have to start over).
Selective attention – the ability to focus on only
one stimulus from among all sensory input
Digit-span test – memory test in which a series of
numbers is read to subjects in the experiment who
are then asked to recall the numbers in order
 Conclusion are that the capacity of STM is
about seven items or pieces of information,
plus or minus two items, or from five to nine
bits of information.
 Magical number – 7
Chunking – bits of information are combined into
meaningful units, or chunks, so that more
information can be held in STM
Maintenance rehearsal - practice of saying some
information to be remembered over and over in
one’s head in order to maintain it in short-term
memory (STMs tend to be encoded in auditory
form)
Long-term memory (LTM) - the system of
memory into which all the information is placed to
be kept more or less permanently
Elaborative rehearsal - a method of transferring
information from STM into LTM by making that
information meaningful in some way
Procedural (nondeclarative) memory - type of
long-term memory including memory for skills,
procedures, habits, and conditioned responses.
These memories are not conscious but are implied
to exist because they affect conscious behavior.
Declarative memory – type of long-term memory
containing information that is conscious and known
(memory for facts).
Tower of Hanoi - a puzzle that is solved in a series
of steps by moving one disk at a time. The goal is
to move all of the disks from peg A to peg C; the
rules are that a larger disk cannot be moved on top
of a smaller one and a disk cannot be moved if
there are other disks on top of it. Amnesia patients
were able to learn the procedure for solving the
puzzle but could not remember that they knew how
to solve it
Anterograde amnesia - loss of memory from the
point of injury or trauma forward, or the inability to
form new long-term memories. Usually does NOT
affect procedural LTM.
Procedural memory (often called implicit
memory) - memory that is not easily brought into
conscious awareness
Procedural (Nondeclarative) LTM – skills that
people know how to do, it also includes:
 Emotional associations
 Habits
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Declarative Explicit memory
memory
Episodic memory Events experienced by a
person
Semantic memory Facts and general knowledge
Procedural Motor skills, habits, and
memory (implicit classically conditioned
memory) reflexes
 Simple conditioned reflexes that may or
may not be in conscious awareness
Declarative LTM – all the things that people know
Semantic memory - type of declarative memory
containing general knowledge, such as knowledge
of language and information learned in formal
education
Episodic memory - type of declarative memory
containing personal information not readily
available to others, such as daily activities and
events
 Semantic and episodic memories are forms
of explicit memory - memory that is
consciously known
TYPES OF LONG TERM MEMORY
Long-term memory can be divided into declarative
memories, which are factual and typically
conscious (explicit) memories, and nondeclarative
memories, which are skills, habits, and conditioned
responses that are typically unconscious (implicit).
Declarative memories are further divided into
episodic memories (personal experiences) and
semantic memories (general knowledge)
LTM is organized in terms of:
 Related meanings
 Concepts
Semantic network model - model of memory
organization that assumes information is stored in
the brain in a connected fashion, with concepts that
are related stored physically closer to each other
than retrieval cue a stimulus for remembering
Retrieval cue – a stimulus for remembering.
Encoding specificity - the tendency for memory of
information to be improved if related information
(such as surroundings or physiological state)
available when the memory is first formed is also
available when the memory is being retrieved
State-dependent learning - memories formed
during a particular physiological or psychological
state will be easier to recall while in a similar state
Recall - type of memory retrieval in which the
information to be retrieved must be "pulled" from
memory with very few external cues.
Retrieval failure – recall has failed (at least
temporarily)
Serial position effect - tendency of information at
the beginning and end of a body of information to
be remembered more accurately than information
in the middle of the body of information
Primacy effect - tendency to remember
information at the beginning of a body of
information better than the information that follows
Recency effect - tendency to remember
information at the end of a body of information
better than the information ahead of it
Recognition - the ability to match a piece of
information or a stimulus to a stored image or fact
False positive – error of recognition in which
people think that they recognize some stimulus that
is not actually in memory
 False positive occur when people
mistakenly believe they have recognized
someone or something that they have
actually never seen.
Elizabeth Loftus study.
-Showed that what people see and hear about
an event after the fact can easily affect the
accuracy of their memories of that event.
-Eye witness testimony not always reliable.
Automatic encoding - tendency of certain kinds of
information to enter long-term memory with little or
no effortful encoding.
Flashbulb memories - type of automatic encoding
that occurs because an unexpected event has
strong emotional associations for the person
remembering it
How LTMs are formed - remembering is more like
making up a story than it is like reading one printed
in a book
Constructive processing - referring to the
retrieval of memories in which those memories are
altered, revised, or influenced by newer information
Hindsight bias - the tendency to falsely believe,
through revision of older memories to include
newer information, that one could have correctly
predicted the outcome of an event
Misinformation effect - the tendency of
misleading information presented after an event to
alter the memories of the event itself
False memory syndrome - the creation of
inaccurate or false memories through the
suggestion of others, often while the person is
under hypnosis
- Evidence suggests that false memories
cannot be created for just any kind of
memory.
-The memories must at least be plausible
Curve of forgetting - a graph showing a distinct
pattern in which forgetting is very fast within the
first hour after learning a list and then tapers off
gradually
 Ebbinghaus found that his recall of words
from his memorized word lists was greatest
immediately after learning the list but rapidly
decreased within the first hour. After the
first hour, forgetting leveled off.
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Distributed practice - will produce better retrieval
than massed practice
Encoding failure The information is not
attended to and fails to be
encoded
Decay or disuse Information that is not
accessed decays from the
storage system over time
Proactive Older information already in
interference memory interferes with the
learning of new information
Retroactive Newer information interferes
interference with the retrieval of older
information
Encoding failure - failure to process information
into memory
Memory trace - physical change in the brain that
occurs when a memory is formed.
Decay - loss of memory due to the passage of
time, during which the memory trace is not used.
Disuse - another name for decay, assuming that
memories that are not used will eventually decay
and disappear
Memories after many years – not explained by
memory trace theory
Proactive interference - memory retrieval problem
that occurs when older information prevents or
interferes with the retrieval of newer information
Retroactive interference - memory retrieval
problem that occurs when newer information
prevents or interferes with the retrieval of older
information
REASONS FOR FORGETTING
Consolidation - the changes that take place in the
structure and functioning of neurons when an
memory is formed.
Hippocampus – area of brain responsible for the
formation of LTMs. Case of H.M.
Retrograde amnesia - loss of memory from the
point of some injury or trauma backwards, or loss
of memory for the past.
Anterograde amnesia - loss of memory from the
point of injury or trauma forward, or the inability to
form new long-term memories ("senile dementia");
anterograde amnesia is the primary memory
difficulty in Alzheimer’s
Infantile amnesia - the inability to retrieve
memories from much before age 3.
Autobiographical memory - the memory for
events and facts related to one’s personal life story
(usually after age 3)

CHAPTER 7: COGNITION
Thinking (cognition) - mental activity that goes on
in the brain when a person is organizing and
attempting to understand information and
communicating information to others.
Mental images - mental representations that stand
for objects or events and have a picture-like quality
Concepts - ideas that represent a class or
category of objects, events, or activities.
Superordinate concept - the most general form of
a type of concept, such as "animal" or "fruit."
Basic level type - an example of a type of concept
around which other similar concepts are organized,
such as "dog," "cat," or "pear."
Subordinate concept – the most specific category
of a concept, such as one’s pet dog or a pear in
one’s hand.
Formal concepts - concepts that are defined by
specific rules or features.
Natural concepts - concepts people form as a
result of their experiences in the real world
Prototype - an example of a concept that closely
matches the defining characteristics of a concept
FROM PROTOTYPES TO ATYPICAL EXAMPLES
(most typical to least typical)
VEHICLES FRUITS
Car Orange
Bus Apple
Train Peach
Bicycle Grape
Airplane Strawberry
Boat Grapefruit
Wheelchair Watermelon
Sled Date
skates Tomato
elevator olive
Problem solving - process of cognition that occurs
when a goal must be reached by thinking and
behaving in certain ways
Trial and error (mechanical solution) – problem-
solving method in which one possible solution after
another is tried until a successful one is found
Algorithms - very specific, step-by-step
procedures for solving certain types of problems
Heuristic (rule of thumb) - an educated guess
based on prior experiences that helps narrow down
the possible solutions for a problem
Representative heuristic – assumption that any
object (or person) sharing characteristics with the
members of a particular category is also a member
of that category
Availability heuristic - estimating the frequency or
likelihood of an event based on how easy it is to
recall relevant information from memory or how
easy it is for us to think of related examples
Means–end analysis - heuristic in which the
difference between the starting situation and the
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goal is determined and then steps are taken to
reduce that difference
Insight - sudden perception of a solution to a
problem
Functional fixedness - a block to problem solving
that comes from thinking about objects in terms of
only their typical functions
Mental set - tendency for people to persist in using
problem-solving patterns that have worked for them
in the past
Confirmation bias - tendency to search for
evidence that fits one’s beliefs while ignoring any
evidence that does not fit those beliefs
Creativity - the process of solving problems by
combining ideas or behavior in new ways
Convergent thinking - type of thinking in which a
problem is seen as having only one answer, and all
lines of thinking will eventually lead to that single
answer, using previous knowledge and logic
Divergent thinking – type of thinking in which a
person starts from one point and comes up with
many different ideas or possibilities based on that
point (kind of creativity)
STIMULATING DIVERGENT THINKING
Brainstorming Generate as many ideas as possible in a
short period of time, without judging each
idea’s merits until all ideas are recorded
Keeping a Carry a journal to write down ideas as
journal they occur or a recorder to capture those
same ideas and thoughts
Freewriting Write down or record everything that
comes to mind about a topic without
revising or proofreading until all of the
information is written or recorded in some
way. Organize it later.
Mind or Start with a central idea and draw a map
subject with lines from the center to other related
mapping ideas, forming a visual representation of
the concepts and their connections
Intelligence - ability to learn from one’s
experiences, acquire knowledge, and use
resources effectively in adapting to new situations
or solving problems
Spearman’s theory
g factor – ability to reason and solve problems, or
general intelligence
s factor – ability to excel in certain areas, or
specific intelligence
Gardner’s theory – multiple intelligences
TYPE OF DESCRIPTION SAMPLE
INTELLIGENCE OCCUPATION
Verbal/ Ability to use language Writer,
linguistic speakers
Musical Ability to compose or perform musicians
music
Logical/ Ability to think logically and to Scientist,
mathematical solve mathematical problems engineers
Visual/spatial Ability to understand how Pilots,
 objects are oriented in space astronauts, many golf balls did each person
artists, receive?
navigators
Movement Ability to control one’s body Dancers,
motions athletes
Interpersonal Sensitivity to others and Psychologist, PROCESSING SPEED INDEX
understanding motivation of managers Symbol Visually scan a group of symbols to
others search identify specific target symbols, within
intrapersonal Understanding of one’s emotions Various a specified time limit
and how they guide actions people- Coding Learn a different symbol for specific
oriented numbers and then fill in the blank
careers under the number with the correct
naturalist Ability to recognize the patterns Farmers,
symbol (this test is timed)
found in nature landscapers,
biologists,
botanists Intelligence quotient (IQ) - a number representing
existentialist Ability to see the big picture of Various a measure of intelligence, resulting from the
the human world by asking careers, division of one’s mental age by one’s chronological
questions about life, death and philosophical age and then multiplying that quotient by 100.
the ultimate reality of human thinkers Stanford-Binet Intelligence Test - yields an IQ
existence score

Triarchic theory of intelligence - Sternberg’s Wechsler Intelligence Tests - yield a verbal score
theory that there are three kinds of intelligences and a performance score, as well as an overall
Analytical the ability to break problems down score of intelligence
intelligence into component parts, or analysis, Standardization - the process of giving the test to
for problem solving a large group of people that represents the kind of
Creative the ability to deal with new and people for whom the test is designed
intelligence different concepts and to come up Validity - the degree to which a test actually
with new ways of solving problems measures what it’s supposed to measure
Practical the ability to use information to get Reliability - the tendency of a test to produce the
intelligence along in life and become same scores again and again each time it is given
successful to the same people

Simulated sample items from the Wechsler
adult intelligence scale (WAIS-IV)
VERBAL COMPREHENSION INDEX
Similarities In what way are a circle and a
triangle alike? In what way are a
saw an a hammer alike?
Vocabulary What is a hippopotamus? What
does “resemble” mean?
information What is steam made of? What is
pepper?
PERCEPTUAL REASONING INDEX
Block After looking at a patter, try to arrange
design small cubes in the same pattern
Matrix After looking at an incomplete matrix
reasoning pattern or series, select an option that
completes the matrix or series
Visual Look at a completed puzzle and
puzzles select three components from a set of
options that would re-create the
puzzle, all within a specified time limit
WORKING MEMORY INDEX
Digit span Recall lists of numbers, some lists
forward and some lists in reverse
order, and recall a mixed list of
numbers in correct ascending order
Arithmeti Three women divided 18 golf balls
c equally among themselves. How
Test can be reliable but still be invalid
Test must be reliable to be valid
Deviation IQ scores - a type of intelligence
measure that assumes that IQ is normally
distributed around a mean of 100 with a standard
deviation of about 15
Developmentally delayed - condition in which a
person’s behavioral and cognitive skills exist at an
earlier developmental stage than the skills of others
who are the same chronological age. A more
acceptable term for intellectual disability
Intellectual disability or developmental delay - a
condition in which IQ falls below 70 and adaptive
behavior is severely deficient for a person of a
particular chronological age.
Causes of developmental delay:
 Deprived environments
 Chromosome and genetic disorders
 Dietary deficiencies
CLASSIFICATION OF INTELLECTUAL
DISABILITY
CLASSIFI IQ ADAPTIVE LIMITATIONS POP
CATION SCORES ULA
TION
Mild 55-70 Can reach 6th grade skill 90%
level. Capable, with
training, of living

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 independently and being
self-supporting. This
category makes up the
vast majority of those with
intellectual disabilities
Moderate 40-55 Can reach 2nd grade skill
level. Can work and live in
sheltered environments
with supervision
Severe 25-40 Can learn to talk and
perform basic self-care but
needs constant
supervision
Profound Below Very limited ability to learn,
25 may only be able to learn
very simple tasks; poor
language skills and limited
self-care
Gifted - the 2 percent of the population falling on
the upper end of the normal curve and typically
possessing an IQ of 130 or above
Terman - conducted a longitudinal study that
demonstrated that gifted children grow up to be
successful adults for the most part
Terman’s study - has been criticized for a lack of
objectivity because he became too involved in the
lives of his participants, even to the point of
interfering on their behalf
Emotional intelligence – the awareness of and
ability to manage one’s own emotions as well as
the ability to be self-motivated, able to feel what
others feel, and socially skilled. Viewed as a
powerful influence on success in life
Stronger correlations - are found between IQ
scores as genetic relatedness increases.
Heritability of IQ - estimated at 0.50.
The Bell Curve - book that made widely criticized
claims about the heritability of intelligence
Language - a system for combining symbols (such
as words) so that an unlimited number of
meaningful statements can be made for the
purpose of communicating with others
Grammar - system of rules governing the structure
and use a of language
Syntax - system of rules for combining words and
phrases to form grammatically correct sentences
Morphemes - smallest units of meaning within a
language
Semantics - rules for determining the meaning of
words and sentences
Phonemes - basic units of sound in language.
Pragmatics - aspects of language involving the
practical ways of communicating with others, or the
social "niceties" of language
Linguistic relativity hypothesis - the theory that
thought processes and concepts are controlled by
language.
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Cognitive universalism – theory that concepts are
universal and influence the development of
language
6%
CHAPTER 8: DEVELOPMENT ACROSS
THE LIFE SPAN
3 DEVELOPMENTAL RESEARCH DESIGNS
3% Cross-sectional design – different participants of
various ages are compared at one point in time to
determine age-related differences
Group one: 20 yr old participants
1% Group two: 40 yr old participants
Group three: 60 yr old participants
Research done in 2011
Longitudinal design – the same participants are
studied at various ages to determine age-related
changes
study one: 20 yr old participants
study two: same participants at 40 yr old
study three: same participant are now 60 yr old
Research done in 1971
Research done in 1991
Research done in 2011
Cross-sequential design – different participants
of various ages are compared at several point s in
time, to determine both age-related differences and
age-related differences
Study one:
Group one: 20 yr old participants
Group two: 40 yr old participants
Study two:
Group one: participants will be 25 years old
Group two: participants will be 45 years old
Research done in 2011
Research to be done in 2016
Human development - scientific study of the
changes that occur in people as they age from
conception until death
Longitudinal design - research design in which
one participant or group of participants is studied
over a long period of time
Cross-sectional design - research design in
which several different age groups of participants
are studied at one particular point in time
Cross-sequential design - research design in
which participants are first studied by means of a
cross-sectional design but also followed and
assessed for a period of no more than six years
Nature - the influence of our inherited
characteristics on our personality, physical growth,
intellectual growth, and social interactions
Nurture - the influence of the environment on
personality, physical growth, intellectual growth,
and social interactions
Behavioral genetics – focuses on nature vs.
nurture
Genetics - science of inherited traits
DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) - special molecule Embryonic period - the period from two to eight
that contains the genetic material of the organism weeks after fertilization, during which the major
Amines – the rungs of the ladder that link the two organs and structures of the organism develop
strands and contain the genetic codes for building Critical periods - times during which certain
the proteins that make up organic life environmental influences can have an impact on
Model of DNA molecule – two strands making up the development of the infant
the sides of the twisted ladder and composed of Teratogen - any factor that can cause a birth
sugars and phosphates defect
Gene - section of DNA having the same COMMON TERATOGENENIC AGENT AND
arrangement of chemical elements ITS EFFECT ON DEVELOPMENT
Dominant - a gene that actively controls the Rubella Blindness, deafness, heart defects,
expression of a trait brain damage
Recessive - a gene that only influences the Marijuana Irritability, nervousness, tremors;
expression of a trait when paired with an identical infant is easily disturbed, startled
gene Cocaine Decreased height, low birth weight,
Chromosome - tightly wound strand of genetic respiratory problems, seizures,
material or DNA. learning difficulties; infant is difficult to
Chromosome disorders include: soothe
 Down syndrome, Alcohol Fetal alcohol syndrome (intellectual
 Klinefelter’s syndrome disability, delayed growth, facial
 Turner’s syndrome malformation), learning difficulties,
Genetic disorders include: smaller than normal head
 PKU Nicotine Miscarriage, low birth weight,
 cystic fibrosis stillbirth, short stature, intellectual
 sickle cell anemia disability, learning disabilities
 Tay-Sachs disease Mercury Intellectual disability, blindness
Conception - the moment at which a female Syphilis Intellectual disability, deafness,
becomes pregnant meningitis
Ovum - the female sex cell, or egg Caffeine Miscarriage, low birth weight
Fertilization - the union of the ovum and sperm. Radiation Higher incidence of cancers, physical
Zygote - cell resulting from the uniting of the ovum deformities
and sperm; divides into many cells, eventually for High water Increased chance of neural tube
Monozygotic twins - identical twins formed when temperatures defects
one zygote splits into two separate masses of cells, Fetal period - time from about eight weeks after
each of which develops into a separate embryo. conception until the birth of the child
Accounting for about 1 in 250 births Fetus - name for the developing organism from
Created when a single egg is fertilized by one eight weeks after fertilization to the birth of the
sperm baby
The egg split into halves, each develops into a Five infant reflexes
fetus with the same genetic composition 1. Grasping reflex
2. Startle reflex or moro reflex
Dizygotic twins (fraternal twins) - occurring
3. Rooting reflex – when you touch a baby‘s
when two eggs each get fertilized by two different
cheek it will turn toward your hand, open its
sperm, resulting in two zygotes in the uterus at the
mouth, and search for the nipple
same time. ming the baby
4. Stepping reflexes
Twice as common as identical twins
5. Sucking reflexes
Fraternal arise when two eggs, are released at These infant reflexes can be used to check the
once health of an infant’s nervous system. If a reflex is
If both eggs are fertilized by separate sperm, two absent or abnormal, it may indicate brain damage
fetuses form. Genetically they are just ordinary or some other neurological problem.
siblings SIX MOTOR MILESTONES
Germinal period - period of pregnancy, first two Raising head and chest 2 to 4 months
weeks after fertilization, during which the zygote Rolling over 2 to 5 months
moves down to the uterus and begins to implant in Sitting up with support 4 to 6 months
the lining embryo name for the developing Sitting up without 6 to 7 months
organism from two weeks to eight weeks after support
fertilization Crawling 7 to 8 months
Walking 8 to 18 months

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motor milestones - develop as the infant gains
greater voluntary control over the muscles in its
body, typically from the top of the body downward.
This pattern is seen in the early control of the neck
muscles and the much later development of control
of the legs and feet
4 critical areas of adjustment for the newborn:
 Respiration
 Digestion
 Circulation
 Temperature regulation
Infants are born with reflexes that help the infant
survive: sucking, rooting, Moro (startle), grasping,
and Babinski
The senses, except for vision, are fairly well
developed at birth.
Gross and fine motor skills develop at a fast pace
during infancy and early childhood.
Immunizations - are far less dangerous than the
diseases they are designed to prevent and are one
of the most effective weapons in the fight against
infectious diseases
Cognitive development - the development of
thinking, problem solving, and memory scheme
(plural schemas) a mental concept formed through
experiences with objects and events
Sensorimotor stage - Piaget’s first stage of
cognitive development in which the infant uses its
senses and motor abilities to interact with objects in
the environment
Object permanence - the knowledge that an
object exists even when it is not in sight
PIAGET’S STAGES OF COGNITIVE
DEVELOPMENT
Sensorimotor
Birth to 2 years old
Children explore the world using their senses and
ability to move. They develop object permanence
and the understanding that concepts and mental
images represent objects, people, events
Preoperational
2 to 7 years old
Young children can mentally represent and refer to
objects and events with words or pictures they can
pretend. However, they can’t conserve, logically
reason, or simultaneously consider many
characteristics of an object
Concrete operations
7 to 12 years old
Children at this stage are able to conserve, reverse
their thinking, and classify objects in terms of their
many characteristics. They can also think logically
and understand analogies but only about concrete
events
Formal operations
12 years old to adulthood
People at this age can use abstract reasoning
about hypothetical events or situations, think about
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logical possibilities, use abstract analogies, and
systematically examine and test hypotheses. Not
everyone can eventually reason in all these ways.
Preoperational stage - Piaget’s second stage of
cognitive development in which the preschool child
learns to use language as a means of exploring the
world
Egocentrism - the inability to see the world
through anyone else’s eyes.
Centration - in Piaget’s theory, the tendency of a
young child to focus only on one feature of an
object while ignoring other relevant features
Conservation - in Piaget’s theory, the ability to
understand that simply changing the appearance of
an object does not change the object’s nature
Irreversibility - in Piaget’s theory, the inability of
the young child to mentally reverse an action
Concrete operations stage - third stage of
cognitive development in which the school-age
child becomes capable of logical thought
processes but is not yet capable of abstract
thinking
Formal operations - Piaget’s last stage of
cognitive development in which the adolescent
becomes capable of abstract thinking
VYGOTSKY’S THEORY
Scaffolding - process in which a more skilled
learner gives help to a less skilled learner, reducing
the amount of help as the less skilled learner
becomes more capable
Zone of proximal development (ZPD) -
Vygotsky’s concept of the difference between what
a child can do alone and what that child can do
with the help of a teacher
NEWER THEORY
Child-directed speech – children attend to higher
pitched, repetitious, sing-song speech
Language acquisition device - governs the
learning of language during infancy and early
childhood
Stages of language development:
 Cooing
 Babbling
 One-word speech / holophrases
 Telegraphic speech
Temperament - the behavioral characteristics that
are fairly well established at birth
Easy Regular, adaptable, and happy
Difficult Irregular, nonadaptable, and irritable
Slow to warm Need to adjust gradually to change
up
Attachment - emotional bond between an infant
and the primary caregiver
Secure willing to explore, upset when mother
departs but easily soothed upon her
return
Avoidant unattached; explore without "touching
base."
Ambivalent insecurely attached; upset when
 mother leaves and then angry with
mother upon her return
Disorganized- insecurely attached and sometimes
disoriented abused or neglected; seemed fearful,
dazed, and depressed
ERIKSON’S FIRST 4 STAGES
Trust versus mistrust - first stage of personality
development in which the infant’s basic sense of
trust or mistrust develops as a result of consistent
or inconsistent care.
Autonomy versus shame and doubt - second
stage of personality development in which the
toddler strives for physical independence
Initiative versus guilt - third stage of personality
development in which the preschool-aged child
strives for emotional and psychological
independence and attempts to satisfy curiosity
about the world
Industry versus inferiority - fourth stage of
personality development in which the adolescent
strives for a sense of competence and self-esteem

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