Psychology Chapter 3-6

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personal space

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the buffer zone we like to maintain around our bodies

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x chromosome

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the sex chromosome found in both male and female. Females have 2 x chromosomes; males have 1. xx=female

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y chromosome

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the sex chromosome found only in males. when paired with an x chromosome from
xy=male

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testosterone

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the most important of the male sex hormones. Both males and females have it. Helps growth of male sex organs

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role

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a set of expectations about a social position, defining how those in the position ought to behave

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gender role

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a set of expected behaviors for males and females

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gender identity

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one's sense of being male or female

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gender-typing

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the acquisition of a traditional masculine or feminine role

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social learning theory

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the theory that we learn social behaviors by observing and imitating and by being rewarded or punished

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gender schema theory

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the theory that children learn from their cultures a concept of what it means to be male and female and that they adjust their behaviors accordingly

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developmental psychology

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a branch of psychology that studies the physical, cognitive, and social change throughout the life span

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zygote

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the fertilized egg; it enters a 2-week period of rapid cell division and develops into an embryo

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embryo

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the developing human organism from about 2 weeks after fertilization through the second month

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fetus

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the developing human organism from 9 weeks after conception to birth

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teratogens

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agents, such as chemicals and viruses, that can reach the embryo or fetus during prenatal development and cause harm

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fetal alcohol syndrome

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physical and cognitive abnormalities in children caused by a pregnant womans heavy drinking, In severe cases, there are noticeable facial misprportions

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rooting reflex

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a baby's tendency, when touched on the cheek, to open the mouth and search for the nipple

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maturation

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biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in behavior, relatively uninfluenced by expirience

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schema

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a concept or framework that organizes and interprets info

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assimilation

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interpreting one's new experience in terms of one's existing schemas

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accomidation

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adapting one's current understandings to incorporate new info

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cognition

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all the mental activities associated with thinking, remembering, and communicating

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sensorimotor stage

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in Piaget's theory, the stage during which infants know the world mostly in terms of their sensory inpressions and motor activities. (birth to 2 years)

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object permanence

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the awareness that things continue to exist even when not perceived

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concrete operational stage

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in Piagets theory of cognitive development where children gain the mental operations that enable them to think logically about concrete events.
(6 or 7-11yrs)

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formal operational stage

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in Piaget's theory, where ppl begin to think logically about abstract concepts
(begins at age 12)

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strange anxiety

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the fear of strangers that infants commonly display, beginning about 8mos of age

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attachment

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an emotional tie with another person; shown in young children by their seeking closeness to a caregiver and showing distress in separation

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clinical period

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on optiman period shortly after birth when an organism's exposure to certain stimuli or experiences produces proper development

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imprinting

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the process where certain animals form attachments during a critical period early in their lives

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basic trust

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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

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adolescence

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the transition peroid from childhood to adulthood, extending from puberty to independence

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puberty

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the period of sexual maturity, during which a person becomes capable of repoducing.

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primary sex characteristics

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the body structures that make sexual reproduction possible

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secondary sex characteristics

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nonreproductive sexual characteristics, such as female breasts and hips, male voice and hair

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menarche

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the first menstral period

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identity

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

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intimacy

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in Eriksons theory, the ability to form close loving relationships; a primary developmental task in late adolescence and early adulthood

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menopause

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the time of natural cessation of menstration; also refers to biological changes a woman experiences as her ability to reproduce declines

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cross-sectional study

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a study where ppl of different ages are compared to one another

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longitudinal study

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research where the same ppl are restudied and retested over a long period

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crystilized intellegence

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one's accumulated knowledge and verbal skills; tends to increase with age

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fluid intellegence

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ones ability to reason speedily and abstractly; tends to decrease during late adulthood

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social clock

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the culturally preferred timing of social events such as marriage, parenthood, and retirement

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sensation

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the process where our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from our enviroment

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perception

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the process of organizing and interpreting sensory info, enabling us to recognize meaningful objects and events

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bottom-up processing

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analysis that begins with the sense receptors and works up to the brain

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top-down processing

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info processing by higher-level mental processes, as when we construct perception drawing on our experiences and expectations.

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psychophysics

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the study of relationships between the physical characteristics of stimuli, such as their intesity, and our pyschological experience of them

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absolute threshold

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the minimum stimulation needed to detect a particular stimulus 50% of the time

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subliminal

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below one's absolute threshold for concious awareness

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difference threshold

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the minimum difference between 2 stimuli required for detection 50% of the time. We experience this threshold as just a noticeable difference

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Weber's law

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the principle that, to be perceived as different, 2 stimuli must differ by constant minimum percentage.

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sensory adaptations

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diminished sensitivity as a consequence of constant simulations

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wavelength

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the distance from the peak of one light or sound wave to the peak of the next.

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hue

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the dimension of color that is determined by the wavelength of light

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intensity

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the amt of energy in a light or sound wave, which we perceive as brightness or loudness, as determined by the waves amplitude

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accomodation

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the process where the eyes lens changes shape to focus near or far objects on the retina

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retina

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the light-sensitive inner surface of the eye, containing the receptor rods and cones plus layers of neurons that begin the processing of visual info

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rods

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see black and white and gray; necessary for peripheral and twilight vision, when cones dont respond

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cones

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detect color. near center of retina function in daylight or well-lit areas. can detect details

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optic nerve

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the nerve that carries neural impulses from the eye to the brain

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blind spot

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the pt where the optic nerve leaves the eye. No recepter cells located there

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feature detectors

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nerves cells in brain that respond to specific features of the stimulus, such as shape, angle, or movement

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parallel processing

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the processing of several aspects of a problem stimulus; the brains natural mode of info processing for many functions, includin vision.

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Young-Helmholtz trichomatic theory

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the theory that the retina contains 3 different color receptors-red, green, and blue-which can produce any color

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opponent-process theory

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the theory that opposing retinal processes enable color vision. FOr example some cells are stimulated by green and inhibited by red; others are stimulated by red and inhibited by green

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color constancy

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perceiving familiar objects as having consistant color, even if changing illumination alters the wavelengths reflected by the object

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visual capture

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the tendency for vision to dominate the other senses as when we perceive voices in films as coming from the projector behind us.

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audition

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the sense of hearing

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frequency

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the number of complete wavelengths that pass a pt in a given time

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pitch

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the tone's highness or lowness; depends on fequency

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middle ear

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the chamber between the eardrum and cochlea containing 3 tiny bones that concentrate the vibrations of the eardrum on the cochleas oval window

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inner ear

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the innermost part of the ear, containing the cochlea, semicircular canals, and vestibular sacs

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cochlea

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a coiled, bony, fluid-filled tube in the inner ear through which sound waves trigger optic nerve impulses

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gestalt

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an organized whole. Gestalt psychologists emphasized our tendency to integrate pieces of info into meaningful wholes

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figure ground

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the organization of the visual field into objects that stand out from their surroundings

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grouping

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the perceptual tendency to organize stimuli into coherent groups

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depth perception

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the ability to see objects in 3 dimensions although the images that strike the retina are two-dimentional. Allows us to judge distance

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visual cliff

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a laboratory device for testing depth perception in infants and young animals

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binocular cues

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depth cues, such as retinal disparity and convergence, that depend on the use of 2 eyes

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monocular cues

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distance cues, such as linear perspective and overlap, available to either eye alone

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retinal disparity

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a binocular cue for percieving depth: By compairing images from the 2 eyeballs, the brain computes distance-the greater distance the closer the object

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convergence

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a binocular cue for perceiveing depth; the extent to which the eyes converge inward when looking at an object

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perceptual constancy

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perceiving objects as unchanging even as illumination as retinal images change.

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perceptual adaptation

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in vision, the ability to adjust to an artifically displaced or even inverted visual field

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perseptual set

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a mental predisposition to perceive one thing and not another