3 Development and Learning

The same observation can be examined through several themes. If language ability changes with age, a researcher might ask whether the change is gradual or stage-like, how inherited and environmental factors contribute, and which language characteristics remain stable. Each theme changes the claim and evidence the researcher seeks.

To study memory across adulthood, a cross-sectional design could compare groups of younger and older adults now. A longitudinal design could retest one group as its members age. The first shows a current difference between age groups; the second directly tracks change within individuals.

The correct causal claim is that these factors can influence development. Their presence identifies a possible developmental influence; it does not by itself prove one inevitable behavioral or mental outcome.

These examples connect physical maturation with behavior: greater coordination expands what a child can do independently, while apparatuses such as the visual cliff let researchers infer abilities from infant responses when verbal reports are unavailable.

Growth, puberty, and reproductive milestones help define adolescent physical development. They identify a developmental transition, but the exact timing and personal experience of that transition can vary.

A developmental explanation links a physical change to possible behavior or mental processes. For example, reduced sensory acuity can alter the information available for perception, while slower reaction time can affect how quickly a person responds.

For example, consistently using only male pronouns when describing a role can communicate that the role is expected to be male. The language cue may reinforce a gender schema even when no one explicitly states the expectation.

A child who understands that quantity remains the same after its appearance changes demonstrates conservation and therefore thinking beyond the characteristic preoperational limitation. The behavior is evidence used to infer a cognitive process; age alone does not prove the stage.

Cognitive capabilities do not all follow one adult trajectory. Crystallized intelligence—accumulated knowledge—remains relatively stable through adulthood, while fluid intelligence—the capacity to solve new problems—tends to wane with age. Dementia is a cognitive disorder affecting adults; it should not be treated as the normal meaning of every age-related cognitive change.

In “cats,” speech sounds combine to form “cat,” while the added morpheme “-s” changes the meaning to more than one. Syntax then controls how that word can combine with others. Changing the arrangement can change meaning even when the same words are present.

Overgeneralization occurs when a learner applies a language rule too broadly. Saying “goed” applies the regular past-tense pattern to an irregular verb. The error is informative: it shows that the learner is generating speech from a rule, not merely repeating every form exactly as heard.

Caregiving is another social influence. Authoritarian, authoritative, and permissive parenting styles are associated with different caregiver-child outcomes, but those outcomes vary across cultures. Parenting labels therefore describe patterns; they do not produce one universal result in every cultural context.

Peer relationships change with age. Children engage in parallel and pretend play. Adolescents rely more on peers and may show egocentrism through an imaginary audience—the belief that others are closely watching them—or a personal fable—the belief that their experience is uniquely special.

Culture helps set the social clock for adulthood and major life events; some cultures recognize emerging adulthood as a transition. Adults form families or family-like relationships based on mutual support and care, and childhood attachment patterns can influence later attachments.

Psychosocial stage theory proposes that each lifespan stage presents a social conflict to resolve. The sequence links changing relationships and social demands to mental processes. Psychosexual stage theory is outside AP Psychology exam scope.

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) can affect relationships across the lifespan. What counts as an ACE and how it affects outcomes can differ socioculturally, so an ACE is a developmental influence rather than a guaranteed outcome.

Adolescents consider possible selves while developing racial or ethnic, gender, sexual-orientation, religious, occupational, and familial identities. These processes concern how a future sense of self is explored and organized.

Emotional responses can be conditioned. Counterconditioning applies this principle therapeutically by pairing a cue linked to an unwanted response with learning that supports a different response. Expectancy theory is outside AP exam scope.

Taste aversion demonstrates one-trial conditioning: an association can be acquired from one pairing without later pairings strengthening it. It also demonstrates biological preparedness, because organisms are predisposed to learn some stimulus-response pairings faster than others.

Primary reinforcers satisfy biological needs; secondary reinforcers gain value through learning. Reinforcement generalization occurs when similar situations cue the reinforced behavior, while discrimination limits responding to the situation in which reinforcement is available.

Shaping rewards successive approximations: reinforcement is first given for a behavior near the goal, then only for closer versions until the target behavior occurs. Instinctive drift limits shaping when biologically typical behavior interferes with the reinforced behavior.

A student watches a similar peer contribute to discussion and receive approval. The student later contributes in the same way. The model supplied the behavior, and the observed approval supplied a vicarious consequence; the observer did not need to be rewarded first.

A cognitive map is a mental representation of spatial relationships. If a person explores a place without reinforcement and later takes an efficient route when a goal appears, the route demonstrates latent knowledge that was acquired before it was performed.

Insight is different: after considering a problem, the learner suddenly recognizes a workable relation among its parts. The solution is not explained by a present model, a direct consequence, or gradual stimulus association.