AP Psychology · Unit 6
Developmental Psychology: every key term you need (+ practice quiz)
24 flashcard terms for AP Psychology Unit 6, written to match the course framework. Study them here, then drill them as interactive flashcards, or test yourself with the 10-question quiz — free, no account needed.
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Developmental Psychology The study of physical, cognitive, and social change across the human lifespan.
Nature vs Nurture The debate over the relative contributions of genes (nature) and experience (nurture) to development.
Continuity vs Stages Whether development is gradual and continuous or proceeds through distinct qualitative stages.
Teratogens Harmful agents (like alcohol or viruses) that can damage a developing embryo or fetus.
Jean Piaget Proposed that children actively construct understanding through four cognitive stages.
Sensorimotor Stage Birth to about 2 years; infants know the world through senses and actions and gain object permanence.
Object Permanence The understanding that objects continue to exist even when they cannot be seen.
Preoperational Stage About 2 to 7 years; children use language and symbols but show egocentrism and lack conservation.
Egocentrism Difficulty taking another person's point of view, typical of the preoperational stage.
Conservation Understanding that quantity stays the same despite changes in shape or appearance.
Concrete Operational Stage About 7 to 11 years; children think logically about concrete events and grasp conservation.
Formal Operational Stage About 12 and up; adolescents reason abstractly and use hypothetical, systematic thinking.
Lev Vygotsky Emphasized social interaction and the zone of proximal development in cognitive growth.
Zone of Proximal Development The gap between what a child can do alone and with guidance, aided by scaffolding.
Harry Harlow Showed with monkeys that attachment depends on comfort and contact, not just feeding.
Mary Ainsworth Used the Strange Situation to identify secure and insecure infant attachment styles.
Secure vs Insecure Attachment Securely attached infants explore and are comforted by caregivers; insecure infants are anxious or avoidant.
Erik Erikson Proposed eight psychosocial stages, each with a crisis to resolve across the lifespan.
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Trust vs Mistrust Erikson's first stage (infancy) in which responsive care builds a sense of basic trust.
Identity vs Role Confusion Erikson's adolescent stage focused on forming a coherent sense of self.
Lawrence Kohlberg Proposed three levels of moral reasoning: preconventional, conventional, and postconventional.
Preconventional Morality Early moral reasoning based on avoiding punishment and gaining rewards.
Postconventional Morality Advanced moral reasoning based on abstract ethical principles and universal rights.
Temperament An infant's innate emotional reactivity and intensity, evident early and fairly stable.
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