Sex vs. Gender

Humans share an irresistible urge to organize our worlds into simple categories. Immediately after your birth (or before), everyone wanted to know, “Boy or girl?” Your parents may have offered clues with pink or blue clothing. The answer describes your sex, your biological status defined by your chromosomes and anatomy. For most people, those biological traits help define their assigned gender, the socially influenced characteristics by which people define boy, girl, man, and woman. 

Simply said, your body defines your sex. Your mind defines your gender. But your mind’s understanding of gender arises from the interplay between your biology and your experiences. 

Nature may blur the biological line between males and females. Intersex individuals are born with unusual combinations of male and female chromosomes, hormones, and anatomy. For example, a genetic male may be born with normal male hormones and testes but no penis or a micropenis. Such individuals may struggle with their gender identity.

Biological Differences

In two ways, biology influences our gender psychology:

• Genetically—males and females have differing sex chromosomes.

  • • Females: XX

    • Males: XY

• Physiologically—males and females have differing concentrations of sex hormones, which trigger other anatomical differences.

Six weeks after you were conceived, you and someone of the other sex looked much the same. Then, as your genes kicked in, your biological sex—determined by your twenty-third pair of chromosomes (the two sex chromosomes)—became more apparent. Whether you are male or female, your mother’s contribution to that chromosome pair was an X chromosome. From your father, you received the 1 chromosome out of 46 that is not unisex—either another X chromosome, making you female, or a Y chromosome, making you male.

Forming Gender

• Gender Role: a set of expected behaviors, attitudes, and traits for males and females.

  • Men go to work. Women keep house and raise children.

• Gender Identity is our sense of being male, female, or some combination of the two. In other words, how do you show the world your gender?

• Social Learning Theory: 

• Gender Typing: the acquisition of a traditional masculine or feminine role

  • How did you learn about what it means to be male or female?

• Androgyny: displaying both traditional masculine and feminine physiological characteristics → nonbinary

• Transgender: an umbrella term describing people whose gender identity or expression differs from that associated with their sex designated at birth

Sexual Orientation

We express the direction of our sexual interest in our sexual orientation—which usually is our enduring sexual attraction toward members of our own sex (homosexual) or the other sex (heterosexual). Other variations include an attraction to both sexes (bisexual) or no sexual attraction at all (asexual). We experience our sexual orientation in our interests, thoughts, and fantasies. 

Due to the controversy surrounding differing sexual orientation, research has been done in regards to how it develops and have found the following:

• Sexual orientation as neither willfully chosen nor willfully changed. 

• There is no evidence that environmental influences determine sexual orientation.

• Evidence for biological influences includes the presence of same-sex attraction in many animal species, straight-gay differences in body and brain characteristics, higher rates of homosexuality in certain families and in identical twins, the effect of exposure to certain hormones during critical periods of prenatal development, and the fraternal birth-order effect. 

Studies of Human Sexuality

Dr. Alfred Kinsey became the founding director of the new Institute for Sex Research and published Sexual Behavior in the Human Male in 1948 and the complementary work, Sexual Behavior in the Human Female, in 1953. Both works were based on over 100,000 interviews he conducted on participants’ sexual history. His research concluded that there is more to sex than physical attraction and that human sexuality is a spectrum (known as the Kinsey Scale). 

Let's Talk About Sex!

Among the forces driving sexual behavior are the sex hormones. The main male sex hormone is testosterone. The main female sex hormones are the estrogens, such as estradiol. Both males and females have testosterone and estrogen, though at differing levels. Sex hormones influence us at many points in the life span:

• During the prenatal period, they direct our development as males or females.

• During puberty, a sex hormone surge ushers us into adolescence.

• After puberty and well into the late adult years, sex hormones facilitate sexual behavior.

• When a female enters the fertile window (ovulation), their estrogen levels rise, often causing a rise in testosterone levels of the men nearby. 

Every day, more than 1 million people worldwide acquire a sexually transmitted infection (STI; also called STD, for sexually transmitted disease). Condoms offer only limited protection against certain skin-to-skin STIs, such as herpes, but they do reduce other risks. When used by people with an infected partner, condoms also have been 80 percent effective in preventing transmission of HIV (human immunodeficiency virus), the virus that causes AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome). Although HIV can be transmitted by other means, such as needle sharing during drug use, its sexual transmission is most common. AIDS is a life-threatening, sexually transmitted infection that depletes the immune system, leaving the person vulnerable to infections. 

Sexual attitudes and behaviors vary dramatically across cultures and eras. So, what produces variations in teen sexuality? Twin studies show that genes influence teen sexual behavior—by influencing pubertal development and hormone levels. But what environmental factors contribute?

• Communication about contraception & birth control → knowledge is power

• Impulsivity → frontal lobe is not fully developed yet

• Alcohol Use → decreased inhibition and poor judgement

• Mass Media → Social scripts can pressure teens into engaging in sexual activities to feel normal or fit in.

Factors that increase abstinence (not having sex):

• High Intelligence: Teens with high rather than average intelligence test scores more often delayed sex, partly because they considered possible negative consequences and were more focused on future achievement than on here-and-now pleasures.

• Religious Affiliation & Engagement: Actively religious teens more often reserve sexual activity for adulthood or long-term relationships.

• Presence of Father: Close family attachments—as in families that eat together and where parents know their teens’ activities and friends— predict later sexual initiation.

• Service Learning Participation: Several experiments have found that teens volunteering as tutors or teachers’ aides, or participating in community projects, had lower pregnancy rates than did comparable teens randomly assigned to control conditions. 

Attachment

One-year-olds typically cling tightly to a parent when they are frightened or expect separation. Reunited after being apart, they often shower the parent with smiles and hugs. This striking parent-infant attachment (an emotional tie with another person, shown in children by seeking closeness to their caregiver and showing distress on separation) bond is a powerful survival impulse that keeps infants close to their caregivers. Infants normally become attached to those—typically their parents—who they are comfortable and familiar with. 

Three key studies helped researchers understand the importance of attachment:

• Harry Harlow’s Monkey Experiment

• Konrad Lorenz’s Imprinting Geese

• Mary Ainsworth’s Strange Situation Procedure

Harlow's Monkeys

Harry Harlow, like many other researchers, believed that attachment came from nourishment, believing that we only bond with the caregivers that feed us because they keep us alive. To test this, Harlow designed an experiment in which he took newborn monkeys and placed them with two artificial mothers - one made of wire and one made of cloth. Some monkeys were fed from the cloth mother and some from the wire mother. 

To Harlow’s surprise, the newborn monkeys favored the cloth mother and when frightened, they always went to the cloth mother, regardless of whether they were fed from it or not. His experiment proved the importance of contact comfort in attachment. Furthermore, when these monkeys were reintroduced to their troop, they struggled to form bonds and were often neglectful and abusive parents, proving deprivation of attachment as a newborn led to problems with relationships later on. 

Lorenz's Imprinting

In many animals, attachments based on familiarity form during a critical period—an optimal period when certain events must take place to facilitate proper development. For goslings, ducklings, or chicks, that period falls in the hours shortly after hatching, when the first moving object they see is normally their mother. From then on, the young fowl follow her, and her alone.

Konrad Lorenz explored this rigid attachment process, called imprinting (the process by which certain animals form strong attachments during early life). He wondered: What would ducklings do if he was the first moving creature they observed? What they did was follow him around: Everywhere that Konrad went, the ducks were sure to go. Although baby birds imprint best to their own species, they also will imprint to a variety of moving objects—an animal of another species, a box on wheels, a bouncing ball. Once formed, this attachment is difficult to reverse.

Mary Ainsworth & the Strange Situation

  What accounts for children’s attachment differences? To answer this question, Mary Ainsworth designed the “strange situation” experiment. She observed 1-year-old infants in a strange situation (usually a laboratory playroom) with and without their mothers. Such research has shown that about 60% of infants and young children display secure attachment where, in their mother’s presence they play comfortably, happily exploring their new environment. When she leaves, they become distressed; when she returns, they seek contact with her. Other infants show insecure attachment, marked either by anxiety or by avoidance of trusting relationships. These infants are less likely to explore their surroundings; they may even cling to their mother. When she leaves, they either cry loudly and remain upset or seem indifferent to her departure and return. 

Like Harlow, Ainsworth’s findings also had implications for future social behavior. Infants with insecure attachment often struggle to form meaningful relationships as adults. 

Ainsworth and others found that sensitive, responsive mothers—those who noticed what their babies were doing and responded appropriately—had infants who exhibited secure attachment. Insensitive, unresponsive mothers—mothers who attended to their babies when they felt like doing so but ignored them at other times—often had infants who were insecurely attached.

• Strange situation: a procedure for studying child-caregiver attachment; a child is placed in an unfamiliar environment while their caregiver leaves and the 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 in their absence, and find comfort in their return

• Insecure attachment: demonstrated by infants who display either a clinging, anxious attachment or an avoidant attachment that resists closeness

• Temperament: a person’s characteristic emotional reactivity and intensity

Attachment & Future Relationships

Developmental psychologist Erik Erikson believed that securely attached children approach life with a sense of basic trust—a sense that the world is predictable and reliable. He attributed basic trust not to environment or inborn temperament, but to early parenting. He theorized that infants blessed with sensitive, loving caregivers form a lifelong attitude of trust rather than fear. Therefore, infancy’s major social achievement is attachment. 

Formation of the Self

Childhood’s major social achievement is a positive sense of self. By the end of childhood, at about age 12, most children have developed a self-concept—an understanding and assessment of who they are. Their self-esteem is how they feel about who they are. Children’s views of themselves affect their actions. Children who form a positive self-concept are more confident, independent, optimistic, assertive, and sociable.

To refine their sense of identity, adolescents in individualist cultures usually try out different “selves” in different situations. They may act out one self at home, another with friends, and still another at school or online. If two situations overlap—as when a teenager brings new friends home—the discomfort can be considerable.. The teen often wonders, “Which self should I be? Which is the real me?” The eventual resolution is a self-definition that unifies the various selves into a consistent and comfortable sense of who one is—an identity. 

• Identity: our sense of self gained through testing and integrating various roles as an adolescent

• Social Identity: our sense of self in relation to our group memberships; the “we” aspect of our self-concept

Parenting Styles

Parents do matter. But parenting wields its largest effects at the extremes: the abused children who become abusive, the deeply loved but firmly handled who become self-confident and socially competent. As children mature, what other experiences do the work of nurturing? At all ages, but especially during childhood and adolescence, we seek to fit in with our groups.

• Family environment and parental expectations can affect children’s motivation and future success. Personality, however, is mostly not attributable to the effects of nurture.

• As children attempt to fit in with their peers, they tend to adopt their culture—habits, accents, and slang, for example.

• By choosing their children’s neighborhoods and schools, parents exert some influence over peer group culture.

Some parents spank, others reason. Some are strict, others are lax. Some show little affection, others liberally hug and kiss. How do parenting-style differences affect children? The most heavily researched aspect of parenting has been how, and to what extent, parents seek to control their children. Parenting styles can be described as a combination of two traits: how responsive and how demanding parents are. Investigators like Diana Baumrind have identified four parenting styles:

• Authoritarian parents are coercive. They impose rules and expect obedience.

  • “Don’t interrupt.” “Keep your room clean.” “Don’t stay out late or you’ll be grounded.” “Why? Because I said so.”

• Permissive parents are un-restraining. They make few demands, set few limits, and use little punishment.

• Negligent parents are uninvolved. They are neither demanding nor responsive. They are careless, inattentive, and do not seek to have a close relationship with their children.

• Authoritative parents are confrontive. They are both demanding and responsive. They exert control by setting rules, but, especially with older children, they encourage open discussion and allow exceptions.

Although teens become independent of their parents as they grow older, they nevertheless relate to their parents on a number of things, including religion and career choices. For a some parents and their adolescents, differences lead to real splits and great stress. But most disagreements are at the level of harmless bickering. With sons, the issues often are behavior problems, such as acting out or hygiene; for daughters, the issues commonly involve relationships, such as dating and friendships. 

Peer approval and relationships are also very important. Adolescence is typically a time of diminishing parental influence and growing peer influence. As they are finding their identity, they want to fit in, and this requires peer approval. 

Erik Erikson

Erik Erikson contended that each stage of life has its own psychosocial task, a crisis that needs resolution. Young children wrestle with issues of trust, then autonomy (independence), then initiative. School-age children strive for competence, feeling able and productive. But for teenagers, the task is to synthesize past, present, and future possibilities into a clearer sense of self. Young adults mature and develop capacity for intimacy (the ability to form close loving relationships), while those in the later stages of adulthood look back on their life and wonder if things could be different. 

According to Erikson, each stage of life adds a new layer to our personality. 

• Stage One: Trust vs Mistrust - Is my world supportive or unpredictable? → attachment to caregiver

• Stage Two: Autonomy vs Shame & Doubt - Can I do things for myself or must I rely on others? → potty training

• Stage Three: Initiative vs Guilt - Am I good or bad? → preschool

• Stage Four: Competence vs. Inferiority - Am I capable of success? → elementary school

• Stage Five: Identity vs Role Confusion - Who am I? → high school

• Stage Six: Intimacy vs Isolation - Will I go through my life alone or share it with others? → college, independence, marriage, children

• Stage Seven: Generativity vs Stagnation - What do I want to do before I die? → middle adulthood, possibly midlife crisis

• Stage Eight: Integrity vs Despair - Have I lived a good life? → retirement

Emerging Adulthood

Our concept our adulthood has shifted through the centuries. In the Middle Ages, it was not uncommon to be married and on your own at 14, while today that’s unthinkable. Then again, when your life expectancy was much shorter, it makes sense to become independent at a younger age. Due to improvements in medicine, nutrition, and understanding of development, we are living longer and have a different idea of what it means to be a teenager or adult. 

• Emerging Adulthood: a period from about age 18 to the mid-20s when many in Western cultures are no longer adolescents but have not yet achieved full independence as adults

• Adults do not progress through an orderly sequence of age-related social stages. Chance events can determine life choices. Evidence does not indicate that adults experience a “midlife crisis” or that distress peaks in midlife. The social clock is a culture’s preferred timing for social events, such as marriage, parenthood, and retirement. Adulthood’s dominant themes are love and work, which Erikson called intimacy and generativity.

• accommodation: in the context of Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development, the process of modifying existing cognitive schemas (mental structures) or creating new ones to incorporate new information or experiences.

• acquisition: the initial stage of learning when a response is first established and gradually strengthened through reinforcement

• adolescence: the transitional stage of physical and psychological development that generally occurs during the teenage years, marked by puberty, identity exploration, and increased autonomy.

• adulthood: the stage of life after adolescence, characterized by full development and maturity, typically defined by milestones such as career establishment and family formation.

• adverse childhood experiences (ACEs): Potentially traumatic events that occur in childhood, such as abuse, neglect, and household dysfunction.

• aggression: behavior that is intended to cause harm or injury to another person or object

• Albert Bandura: a psychologist known for his contributions to social learning theory and the concept of self-efficacy; conducted the famous Bobo doll experiment, which demonstrated observational learning and the influence of role models on behavior.

• Alfred Kinsey: a biologist and sexologist known for his pioneering research on human sexuality; provided extensive data on sexual behavior in American men and women.

• Alice Eagly: a psychologist known for her research on gender roles and social psychology. She has contributed to the understanding of gender stereotypes and the role of socialization in shaping behavior.

• animism: the belief that inanimate objects have lifelike qualities and are capable of action, common in young children.

• androgyny: the combination of masculine and feminine characteristics or qualities in an individual, challenging traditional gender roles and stereotypes.

• antisocial behavior: actions that violate social norms, disregard the rights of others, and often involve aggression, deceit, or rule-breaking.

• aphasia: a language disorder caused by damage to the brain, typically resulting in difficulty with language production, comprehension, or both.

• asexual: a lack of sexual attraction to others or a lack of interest in sexual activity.

• assimilation: the process of incorporating new information or experiences into existing cognitive schemas or mental structures

• associative learning: a type of learning that involves forming associations or connections between stimuli and responses, such as classical and operant conditioning

• attachment: the emotional bond that forms between an infant and their primary caregiver, typically characterized by proximity seeking, distress upon separation, and a sense of security.

• authoritarian parenting: strict parenting style characterized by high demands and low responsiveness; parents expect obedience and use punishment.

• authoritative parenting: a parenting style characterized by high demands and high responsiveness; parents set clear standards and are supportive.

• B. F. Skinner: a psychologist known for his work in behaviorism and operant conditioning; developed the operant chamber, a controlled environment for studying behavior, and introduced concepts such as reinforcement and schedules of reinforcement.

• babbling stage: a developmental milestone in infancy when infants produce repetitive, nonsensical sounds as they experiment with vocalizations

• basic trust: according to Erik Erikson's psychosocial theory, the sense of security and confidence in the world that develops during infancy through consistent and nurturing caregiving

• behaviorism: a psychological approach that emphasizes the study of observable behavior and the role of environmental stimuli in shaping behavior, while often disregarding internal mental processes

• Benjamin Lee Whorf: a linguist known for his hypothesis of linguistic relativity, which suggests that the structure of language influences the way individuals perceive and think about the world

• biological preparedness: the idea that people and animals are inherently inclined to form associations between certain stimuli and responses.

• Broca's area: a region of the brain located in the frontal lobe, responsible for speech production and language processing

• Carl Wernicke: a neurologist known for identifying Wernicke's area, a brain region associated with language comprehension and processing

• Carol Gilligan: a psychologist known for her work on gender and moral development. She criticized Lawrence Kohlberg's theory of moral development for its focus on justice and argued for a more relational approach to ethics

• chronosystem: the pattern of environmental events and transitions over the life course, as well as socio-historical circumstances.

• classical conditioning: a type of learning in which a neutral stimulus becomes associated with a meaningful stimulus and acquires the capacity to elicit a similar response

• conditioning: the process of learning associations between environmental events and behavioral responses.

• cognition: mental processes such as perception, thinking, memory, and problem-solving

• cognitive map: a mental representation of one's spatial environment, including landmarks, routes, and relationships between locations

• cognitive learning: learning that involves mental processes such as attention, perception, memory, and problem-solving, as opposed to purely behavioral responses

• concrete operational stage: in Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development, the third stage, occurring from about 7 to 11 years old, characterized by the ability to think logically about concrete events and grasp concrete analogies.

• conditioned reinforcer: a previously neutral stimulus that becomes reinforcing through its association with a primary reinforcer.

• conditioned response: a learned response to a previously neutral stimulus, acquired through classical conditioning

• conditioned stimulus: a previously neutral stimulus that, after being paired with an unconditioned stimulus, elicits a conditioned response.

• conservation: the understanding that certain properties of objects, such as quantity, volume, or number, remain constant despite changes in their physical appearance.

• continuous reinforcement schedule: a reinforcement schedule in which every occurrence of the desired behavior is reinforced

• critical period: a developmental stage during which an organism is particularly sensitive to environmental influences and experiences, which are necessary for the normal development of certain abilities or behaviors

• cross-sectional study: a research method that compares individuals of different ages or developmental stages at a single point in time to examine age-related differences

• crystallized intelligence: the ability to use learned knowledge and experience.

• dementia: group of symptoms affecting memory, thinking, and social abilities severely enough to interfere with daily functioning.

• developmental psychology: the branch of psychology that studies the physical, cognitive, and social changes that occur throughout the lifespan, from infancy to old age

• Diana Baumrind: a psychologist known for her research on parenting styles. She identified three main parenting styles -authoritarian, authoritative, and permissive.

• discrimination: the ability to respond differently to similar but distinct stimuli, or to treat individuals or groups differently based on prejudiced beliefs or attitudes

• discriminative stimulus: a cue or signal that indicates the presence of reinforcement for a particular behavior

• ecological systems theory: proposed by Urie Bronfenbrenner, this theory emphasizes the influence of various environmental systems (such as family, school, community) on individual development

• Edward C. Tolman: a psychologist known for his research on cognitive maps and latent learning, which demonstrated that learning can occur without reinforcement and may not be immediately evident in behavior.

• Edward L. Thorndike: a psychologist known for his research on animal learning and the law of effect, which states that behaviors followed by satisfying consequences are more likely to be repeated.

• egocentrism: the inability to take another person's perspective or understand that others may have different thoughts, feelings, or beliefs.

• emerging adulthood: a developmental stage proposed by Jeffrey Arnett, characterized by identity exploration, instability, self-focus, and possibilities, typically occurring in the late teens and early twenties.

• Erik Erikson: a psychologist known for his theory of psychosocial development, which describes eight stages of development spanning from infancy to old age, each characterized by a unique psychosocial crisis or challenge.

• estrogen: a hormone primarily associated with the development of female secondary sexual characteristics and the regulation of the menstrual cycle.

• exosystem: the larger social system in which the individual does not function directly but which affects the person's microsystem, such as a parent's workplace.

• extinction: the gradual weakening and eventual disappearance of a conditioned response when the conditioned stimulus is no longer paired with the unconditioned stimulus.

• fetal alcohol syndrome: a group of physical and mental birth defects that occur in children whose mothers consumed alcohol during pregnancy.

• fixed-interval schedule: a reinforcement schedule in which the first response is rewarded only after a specified time interval has elapsed.

• fixed-ratio schedule: a reinforcement schedule in which reinforcement is delivered after a fixed number of responses.

• fixed schedule: a schedule of reinforcement where rewards are given after a fixed number of responses or a fixed amount of time.

• fluid intelligence: the capacity to think logically and solve problems in novel situations, independent of acquired knowledge.

• formal operational stage: In Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development, the fourth stage, occurring from about age 12 through adulthood, characterized by the ability to think abstractly, reason logically, and engage in hypothetical thinking.

• gender: the socially constructed roles, behaviors, expressions, and identities associated with being male or female, which can vary across different cultures and societies.

• gender identity: an individual's personal sense of their own gender, which may or may not align with the sex assigned to them at birth.

• gender role: the set of societal expectations, norms, and behaviors that are typically associated with being male or female in a particular culture or society.

• gender typing: the process by which individuals acquire behaviors, preferences, and roles that are typically associated with their gender, often through socialization and reinforcement.

• generalization: the tendency to respond to stimuli that are similar to a conditioned stimulus, even if they have not been explicitly paired with the unconditioned stimulus.

• grammar: the set of rules and principles that govern the structure, composition, and use of language, including syntax, morphology, and semantics.

• habituation: a decrease in response to a stimulus after repeated or prolonged exposure, reflecting a form of learning in which the stimulus becomes less novel or salient over time.

• Harry Harlow: a psychologist known for his research on attachment and social isolation in rhesus monkeys, particularly his experiments with surrogate mothers made of wire or cloth.

• higher-order conditioning: a form of classical conditioning in which a conditioned stimulus is paired with a new neutral stimulus, leading the new stimulus to elicit a conditioned response.

• identity: the distinct characteristics, beliefs, values, and experiences that define an individual's sense of self and contribute to their understanding of who they are.

• identity achievement: the status of individuals who have explored various identities and made a commitment to one.

• identity diffusion: the status of individuals who have neither explored nor made a commitment to any identity.

• identity foreclosure: the status of individuals who have made a commitment to an identity without having explored options.

• identity moratorium: the status of individuals who are currently exploring various identities but have not yet made a commitment.

• imaginary audience: the belief, often held by adolescents, that they are the focus of everyone else's attention and concern.

• imprinting: a form of rapid and irreversible learning that occurs during a critical period, typically in young animals, in which they form strong attachments to a specific individual or object.

• insight: sudden realization of a problem's solution; a form of problem-solving where the answer seems to pop into the mind.

• insecure attachment: a pattern of attachment behavior characterized by anxiety, avoidance, or ambivalence in the relationship between an infant and their caregiver.

• instinctive drift: the tendency of animals to revert to innate, instinctual behaviors that interfere with operant conditioning, despite training to the contrary.

• intersex: a term used to describe individuals born with variations in sex characteristics that do not fit typical definitions of male or female.

• interval schedule: schedule of reinforcement where the first response is rewarded after a certain amount of time has passed

• intimacy: a close, interpersonal connection characterized by emotional closeness, trust, and vulnerability.

• Ivan Pavlov: a Russian physiologist known for his research on classical conditioning, particularly his experiments with dogs, which demonstrated the conditioning of involuntary responses such as salivation.

• Jean Piaget: a Swiss psychologist known for his theory of cognitive development, which describes how children actively construct their understanding of the world through a series of developmental stages.

• John B. Watson: an American psychologist known as the founder of behaviorism and for his famous Little Albert experiment, which demonstrated classical conditioning in humans.

• John Garcia: a psychologist known for his research on taste aversion learning, which showed that animals are more likely to associate illness with tastes that are novel or unusual.

• Konrad Lorenz: an Austrian ethologist known for his research on imprinting and animal behavior, particularly with geese and ducks.

• language: a system of communication consisting of symbols, such as words and gestures, that convey meaning and allow for the expression of thoughts, ideas, and emotions.

• latent learning: a form of learning that occurs without reinforcement and may not be immediately evident in behavior, but becomes apparent when there is an incentive or motivation to demonstrate it.

• law of effect: proposed by Edward L. Thorndike, this states that behaviors followed by satisfying consequences are more likely to be repeated, while behaviors followed by unpleasant consequences are less likely to be repeated.

• learned helplessness: condition in which a person suffers from a sense of powerlessness, arising from a traumatic event or persistent failure to succeed.

• learning: the process of acquiring new knowledge, skills, behaviors, or attitudes through experience, instruction, or observation.

• Lev Vygotsky: Soviet psychologist known for his sociocultural theory of cognitive development, which emphasizes the role of social interaction and cultural context in shaping cognitive growth.

• linguistic determinism: the hypothesis that the structure of language influences or determines the way individuals perceive and think about the world.

• linguistic relativism: the idea that differences in language structure or vocabulary can lead to differences in thought and perception across cultures.

• longitudinal study: a research method that follows the same group of individuals over an extended period of time to examine developmental changes and continuity across the lifespan.

• Margaret Harlow: a psychologist known for her research on attachment and maternal deprivation, conducted in collaboration with her husband, Harry.

• Mary Ainsworth: a psychologist known for her research on attachment theory and the development of the "Strange Situation" procedure to assess attachment styles in infants.

• macrosystem: the broader cultural context, including societal values, laws, and customs.

• maturation: the biologically programmed process of growth and development that unfolds over time, leading to changes in physical, cognitive, and social functioning.

• menarche: the first occurrence of menstruation in females, typically occurring during puberty.

• menopause: the natural cessation of menstruation and reproductive function in females, typically occurring around middle age.

• mesosystem: the interconnections between the microsystems, such as the relationship between family experiences and school experiences.

• microsystem: the immediate environment in which a person interacts, such as family, school, and peers.

• mirror neurons: neurons that fire both when an individual performs an action and when they observe someone else performing the same action, suggesting a role in empathy, imitation, and social learning.

• modeling: a form of observational learning in which individuals learn by observing and imitating the behaviors of others.

• morpheme: the smallest unit of language that carries meaning, such as words, prefixes, suffixes, or grammatical markers.

• negative punishment: the removal of a desired stimulus after a behavior to decrease the likelihood of that behavior occurring again.

• negative reinforcement: the removal or avoidance of an aversive stimulus, which increases the likelihood of a behavior being repeated.

• neutral stimulus: a stimulus that initially does not elicit a response, but can become a conditioned stimulus through association with an unconditioned stimulus.

• Noam Chomsky: a linguist, philosopher, and cognitive scientist known for his theories of generative grammar and universal grammar, which propose innate linguistic structures and rules underlying all human languages.

• object permanence: the understanding that objects continue to exist even when they cannot be seen, heard, or touched, typically developed during the sensorimotor stage of Piaget's theory.

• observational learning: a form of learning in which individuals acquire new behaviors or information by observing and imitating others, without direct reinforcement.

• one-word stage: the one-word stage, also known as the holophrastic stage, is a developmental stage in language acquisition during which children typically use single words to convey entire meanings or concepts.

• operant behavior: behavior that operates on the environment to produce consequences, which in turn affect the likelihood of the behavior occurring again in the future.

• operant chamber: also known as a Skinner box, a controlled environment used in operant conditioning experiments to study animal behavior, typically equipped with levers or buttons for the animal to press in order to receive reinforcement.

• operant conditioning: a type of learning in which behavior is strengthened or weakened by the consequences that follow it, such as reinforcement or punishment.

• overgeneralization: the application of a grammatical rule in cases where it doesn't apply, often seen in children's language development.

• partial (intermittent) reinforcement schedule: a reinforcement schedule in which only some occurrences of the desired behavior are reinforced, leading to slower extinction but greater resistance to extinction over time.

• Paul Broca: French neurologist known for his discovery of Broca's area in the brain, which is associated with language production and speech.

• permissive parenting: lenient parenting style characterized by low demands and high responsiveness; parents are indulgent and may avoid confrontation.

• personal fable: the belief held by many adolescents that they are unique and invincible.

• phoneme the smallest distinctive sound unit in a language, which can differentiate words and change their meanings.

• positive punishment: the presentation of an aversive stimulus after a behavior to decrease the likelihood of that behavior occurring again.

• positive reinforcement: the presentation of a desirable stimulus following a behavior, which increases the likelihood of that behavior being repeated in the future.

• preoperational stage: in Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development, the second stage, occurring from about 2 to 7 years old, characterized by symbolic thought, egocentrism, and the use of language and imagination.

• preparedness: the biological predisposition to learn certain associations more easily than others due to their relevance to survival or evolutionary significance.

• primary reinforcer: a stimulus that is inherently rewarding or satisfying, such as food, water, or relief from pain, without the need for learning.

• primary sex characteristics: the physical structures and organs directly involved in reproduction, such as the reproductive organs and genitalia.

• prosocial behavior: actions that benefit others or society as a whole, such as helping, sharing, and cooperation.

• psychosocial development: Erikson's theory that personality develops in a series of stages, each involving a specific crisis that must be resolved.

• puberty: the period of physical and sexual maturation during adolescence, marked by the development of secondary sex characteristics and reproductive capability.

• punishment: a consequence that decreases the likelihood of a behavior recurring, typically by presenting an aversive stimulus or removing a desirable one.

• ratio schedule: a schedule of reinforcement where a response is reinforced after a specific number of responses.

• reflex: an automatic, involuntary response to a stimulus.

• reinforcement: a consequence that increases the likelihood of a behavior recurring, either by presenting a desirable stimulus (positive reinforcement) or removing an aversive one (negative reinforcement).

• reinforcement schedule: determines how and when reinforcement is delivered following a behavior, such as fixed ratio, variable ratio, fixed interval, or variable interval.

• relational aggression: a form of aggression that involves damaging or manipulating social relationships, such as spreading rumors or social exclusion.

• respondent behavior: behavior that is automatically elicited by a stimulus, such as reflexes or physiological responses.

• reversibility: the understanding that objects can be changed and then returned back to their original form or condition, an important concept in Piaget's theory of cognitive development.

• Robert Rescorla: a psychologist known for his research on classical conditioning and the contingency model of conditioning, which emphasizes the importance of the predictive relationship between the conditioned stimulus and the unconditioned stimulus.

• role: a set of expected behaviors, obligations, and responsibilities associated with a particular status or position in society.

• rooting reflex: a newborn's built-in reaction that occurs when the infant's cheek is stroked, resulting in the baby turning its head toward the touch, looking for something to suck.

• scaffold: the support or guidance provided to learners to help them acquire new skills or knowledge, gradually reducing as the learner becomes more competent.

• schema: a mental framework or organized pattern of thought that helps individuals interpret and understand information about the world.

• secondary sex characteristics: physical features that develop during puberty but are not directly involved in reproduction, such as body hair, breast development, and voice changes.

• secure attachment: a healthy and positive emotional bond between an infant and their primary caregiver, characterized by trust, comfort, and a sense of security.

• self-concept: an individual's perception and evaluation of themselves, including beliefs, attitudes, and self-awareness.

• semantics: the meaning of words and sentences; the aspect of language concerned with meaning.

• sensorimotor stage: the first stage of cognitive development in Jean Piaget's theory, occurring from birth to about 2 years old, characterized by the infant's exploration of the world through sensory experiences and motor actions.

• separation anxiety: distress shown by infants when a primary caregiver leaves, reflecting attachment bonds.

• sex: biological characteristics that distinguish males and females, typically based on anatomy, chromosomes, and reproductive organs

• sexual aggression: behavior that involves using coercion, force, or manipulation to engage in unwanted sexual activity with another person.

• sexual orientation: an individual's enduring pattern of romantic, emotional, and sexual attractions to others, which may be heterosexual, homosexual, or bisexual, among other identities.

• sexuality: a person's sexual orientation, behaviors, attitudes, beliefs, and values related to sex and intimacy.

• shaping: a technique used in operant conditioning to gradually modify behavior by reinforcing successive approximations toward a desired behavior.

• social clock: the culturally prescribed timeline for major life events such as marriage, parenthood, and retirement, which influences individuals' expectations and judgments about the timing of these events.

• social identity: the part of an individual's self-concept that is based on their identification with a particular social group, such as ethnicity, nationality, religion, or occupation.

• social learning theory: proposed by Albert Bandura, this idea emphasizes the role of observation, imitation, and modeling in learning, suggesting that individuals learn through observing others' behavior and its consequences.

• social script: a set of expected behaviors, actions, and responses that guide interactions in specific social situations, such as greetings, conversations, or dating rituals.

• spermarche: the onset of sperm production and ejaculation in males during puberty.

• spontaneous recovery: the reappearance of a previously extinguished conditioned response after a period of time without reinforcement.

• stimulus: any object, event, or experience that evokes a response from an organism, whether it's biological or psychological.

• strange situation: a laboratory procedure developed by Mary Ainsworth to assess the quality of attachment between an infant and their caregiver, based on the infant's reactions to separations and reunions with the caregiver in a novel environment.

• stranger anxiety: the fear or wariness that infants typically display when encountering unfamiliar people, usually beginning around 6 to 8 months of age.

• superstition: a behavior that is repeated because it appears to produce reinforcement, even though it is actually unnecessary.

• syntax: the set of rules that governs the structure of sentences in a language.

• taste aversion: a learned avoidance of a particular food that develops after a negative experience, such as illness, associated with that food.

• telegraphic speech: a stage of language development in which young children speak using short, simple sentences that mainly consist of nouns and verbs, omitting articles, prepositions, and other grammatical elements.

• temperament: an individual's characteristic patterns of mood, activity level, emotional reactivity, and attention span, which are relatively stable over time and across situations.

• teratogens: substances or environmental factors that can cause birth defects or developmental abnormalities in the embryo or fetus, such as drugs, alcohol, or certain medications.

• testosterone: a hormone primarily associated with male development and reproductive functions, such as the development of secondary sex characteristics and sperm production.

• theory of mind: the ability to understand and attribute mental states, such as beliefs, desires, and intentions, to oneself and others, which is crucial for social cognition and perspective-taking.

• two-word stage: a developmental milestone in language acquisition during which children begin to combine two words to form simple phrases or sentences, typically occurring around 18 to 24 months of age.

• unconditioned response: an automatic and unlearned response to a stimulus, such as a reflex, that occurs naturally without prior conditioning.

• variable schedule: a schedule of reinforcement where rewards are given after an unpredictable number of responses or an unpredictable amount of time.

• visual cliff: an experiment designed to assess an infant's depth perception by using a glass-covered platform that appears to drop off sharply.

• unconditioned stimulus: a stimulus that naturally and automatically triggers an unconditioned response without prior learning or conditioning.

• universal grammar: a theory proposed by Noam Chomsky, suggesting that all human languages share a common underlying structure and set of principles, which are innate and genetically programmed.

• variable-interval schedule: a reinforcement schedule in which reinforcement is delivered after varying time intervals, with the average time between reinforcements remaining consistent.

• variable-ratio schedule: a reinforcement schedule in which reinforcement is delivered after a variable number of responses, with the average number of responses required for reinforcement remaining consistent.

• Wernicke's area: a region of the brain located in the left temporal lobe, involved in language comprehension and processing.

• X chromosome: one of the two sex chromosomes, typically found in pairs in females and singly in males, carrying genes that determine various traits and characteristics.

• Y chromosome: one of the two sex chromosomes, typically found singly in males and absent in females, carrying genes related to male development and sex determination.

• zone of proximal development (ZPD): Vygotsky's concept of the difference between what a learner can do without help and what they can do with help.