Summary PSY1005S Exam Notes: Quantitive Research, Intelligence, & Community psychology

CHAPTER 4: NATURE, NURTURE, AND HUMAN DIVERSITY Behavior genetics: the study of the relative power and limits of genetic and environmental influences on behavior Environment: every non-genetic influence, from prenatal nutrition to the people and things around us Chromosomes: threadlike structures made of DNA molecules that contain the genes DNA: a complex molecule containing the genetic information that makes up the chromosomes Genes: the biochemical units of heredity that make up the chromosomes; a segment of DNA capable of synthesizing a protein Genome: the complete instructions for making an organism, consisting of all the genetic material in that organism’s chromosomes Identical twins: twins who develop from a single fertilized egg that splits in two, creating two genetically identical organisms Fraternal twins: twins who develop from separate fertilized eggs. They are genetically no closer than brothers and sisters, but they share a fetal environment Genetic relatives vs. environmental relatives: related family vs. adopted family and friends Adopted children do not acquire similar personalities to their adoptive parents; always develop similar characteristics to their biological parents Temperament: a person’s characteristic emotional reactivity and intensity Difficult babies: irritable, intense, unpredictable Easy babies: cheerful, relaxed, predictable Slow-to-warm-up babies: resist/withdraw from new people and situations Temperament in infanthood is a good predictor of temperament in adulthood Heritability: the proportion of variation among individuals that we can attribute to genes. The heritability of a trait may vary, depending on the range of populations and environments shared Differences among people in a population, NOT differences between genes and environment in an individual. As environments become more similar, heredity as a source of differences necessarily becomes more important Interaction: the interplay that occurs when the effect of one factor (environment) depends on another factor (heredity) Molecular genetics: the subfield of biology that studies the molecular structure and function of genes Evolutionary psychology: the study of the evolution of behavior and the mind, using principles of natural selection Natural selection: the principle that, among the range of inherited trait variations, those that lead to increased reproduction and survival will most likely be passed on to succeeding generations (most commonly used Darwinian theory, used by evolutionary psychologists) Men are more likely than women to initiate sexual activity—major gender difference Gender: in psychology, the biologically and socially influenced characteristics by which people define “male” and “female” Culture: the enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, values, and traditions shared by a group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next Children will be more influenced by their peers than their parents Norm: an understood rule for accepted and expected behavior. Norms prescribe “proper” behavior Personal space: the buffer zone we like to maintain around our bodies Individualism: giving priority to one’s own goals over group goals and defining one’s identity in terms of personal attributes rather than group identifications Collectivism: giving priority to goals of one’s group (extended family most often, or work group) and defining one’s identity accordingly Among your 46 chromosomes, 45 are unisex Men are more aggressive; females are more interdependent “tend & befriend” Up til 7 weeks in utero, you are anatomically gender neutral. Then genes on 23rd chromosome determines your sex X chromosome: the sex chromosome found in both men and women. Females have two x chromosomes, males have one. An x from each parent produces a female Y chromosome: the sex chromosome found only in males. When paired with an x from the mother it produces a male Testosterone: the most important of the male sex hormones. Both males and females have it, but the additional testosterone in males stimulates the growth of the male sex organs in the fetus and the development of the male sex characteristics during puberty During 4th and 5th months, sex hormones bathe fetal brain and develop appropriate wiring Thicker frontal lobes in women (verbal fluency), thicker parietal lobes in men (spatial perception) Role: a set of expectations (norms) about a social position, defining how those in the position ought to behave. Gender role: a set of specific expected behaviors for males or females Gender identity: our sense of being female or female Gender typing: the acquisition of a traditional masculine or feminine role Social learning theory: the theory that we learn social behavior by observing and imitating and by being rewarded or punished Individual development: Biological influences—shared human genome, individual genetic variations, prenatal environment, sex-related genes, hormones, and physiology Psychological influences—gene-environment interaction, neurological effect of early experiences, responses evoked by our own temperament, gender, etc. Social-cultural influences—parental influences, peer influences, cultural individualism or collectivism, cultural gender norms CHAPTER 5: DEVELOPING THROUGH THE LIFESPAN Developmental psychology: a branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive, and social change throughout the lifespan 3 major issues: 1. Nature vs. nurture 2. Continuity vs. stages (gradual development or sequential?) 3. Stability vs. change (early personality that persists or changes?) Zygote: the fertilized egg; it enters a 2 week period of rapid cell division and develops into an embryo Embryo: the developing human organism from about 2 weeks after fertilization to the second month Fetus: the developing human organism from 9 weeks to birth Teratogens: agents such as chemicals and viruses that can reach the embryo or fetus during prenatal development and cause harm Fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS): physical and cognitive abnormalities in children caused by a pregnant woman’s heavy drinking. In severe cases, symptoms include noticeable facial disproportions Habituation: decreasing responsiveness with repeated stimulation. As infants gain familiarity with repeated exposure to a visual stimulus, their interest wanes and they look away sooner Maturation: biological growth processes that enable orderly changes in behavior, relatively uninfluenced by experience Cognition: all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating Schema: a concept or framework that organizes and interprets information Assimilation: interpreting our new experiences in terms of our existing schemas Accommodation: adapting our current understandings (schemas) to incorporate new information Sensorimotor stage: in Piaget’s theory, the stage from birth to about 2 years during 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 Piaget’s 4 stages of cognitive development: Birth to 2 years—sensorimotor; experience through sense and motor; object permanence (6 months out of sight was out of mind) 2-6/7 years—preoperational; words and images; intuitionlogic; pretend play and egocentrism (if I can’t see you, you can’t see me) 7-11 years—concrete operational; logical thinking about concrete events and analogies; arithmetic operations; conservation and math 12 years to adulthood—formal operational; abstract reasoning; abstract logic; potential for mature moral reasoning Preoperational stage: 2-7 years during which a child learns to use language but does not yet understand the mental operations of concrete logic Conservation: the principle that properties such as mass, volume, and number remain the same despite changes in the form of the object Egocentrism: child’s difficulty taking another’s point of view Theory of mind: people’s ideas about their own and other’s mental states—about their feelings, perceptions, and thoughts; the behaviors these might predict Concrete operational stage: stage of cognitive development (7-11) that children gain the mental operations that enable them to think logically about concrete events Formal operational stage: (12 and up) people begin to think logically about abstract concepts Autism: a disorder that appears in childhood and is marked by deficient communication, social interaction, and understanding of other’s states of mind Stranger anxiety: the fear of strangers that infants commonly display by about 8 months Attachment: an emotional attachment with another person Critical period: an optimal period shortly after birth when an organism’s exposure to certain stimuli or experiences produces proper development Imprinting: the process by which certain animals form attachments during a critical period very early in life 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 P