Key Concepts in Human Development and Psychology

Language Development Fundamentals

Key Concepts in Language

  • Mutual Exclusivity: A child’s assumption that a given entity has only one name.
  • Gaze Following: The ability to follow another person’s gaze to understand their point of reference.
  • Morphemes: The smallest units of meaning in a language.
  • Phonemes: The smallest units of sound in a language.

Stages of Language Acquisition

  • Prelinguistic Stage: Characterized by babbling, cooing, and crying.
  • Single-word Stage: Uttering single words to convey meaning.
  • Two-
Read More

Child Development: Research Methods & Prenatal Growth

Understanding Processes in Development

What is a Process?

A description of what change happens, along what timeline. Remember that constancy can be thought of as ‘the lack of change’.

Identifying Process Components

Can you identify the cause, mechanism, and outcome of a given process and explain your answer?

  • Cause: The initial factor (e.g., teacher math anxiety).
  • Mechanism: The apparatus, method, or tool – how do we get from cause to outcome?
  • Outcome: The results, change, or lack of change (e.g.,
Read More

Clinical Psychology: Understanding and Practice

What is Clinical Psychology?

Clinical psychology is the field of psychology dedicated to the research, teaching, and services related to understanding, predicting, and alleviating cognitive, emotional, biological, social, and behavioral maladjustment, impairment, distress, and discomfort. This is applied to a wide range of client populations.

Goals of Clinical Psychology

  • Integrate science and practice.
  • Apply integrated knowledge to alleviate suffering and promote health.
  • Meet these goals for clients
Read More

Key Concepts in Social and Organizational Psychology

Social Psychology & Organizational Behavior: Core Concepts

Latané & Darley’s Decision Model (1968)

Latané & Darley’s decision model outlines the steps individuals take when deciding whether to intervene in an emergency:

  1. Notice the incident.
  2. Define the situation as an emergency.
  3. Assume personal responsibility.
  4. Feel competent to help.

Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions

Geert Hofstede’s framework identifies six dimensions reflecting how a society values relationships, social structures, achievements,

Read More

Understanding Human Society: Structure, Dynamics, and Socialization

Definition of Human Society

The term human society refers to any group characterized by shared emotion or rationality. It is a collective where individuals live together, with varying degrees of voluntariness and stability, bound by general rules that apply equally to all. The purpose is to achieve common goals and benchmarks for quality of life, ultimately ensuring the survival of both individuals and the group.

Dimensions of Human Society

Social Structure

Within a society, each member plays different

Read More

Understanding Perception: From Sensation to Meaning

Perception: A Complex Cognitive Process

Perception is a cognitive process of a more complex nature. It involves the mental process of organizing and interpreting sensations. Perception is based on feelings, but it is accompanied by mental representations.

Consider, for example, a chocolate bar. We do not perceive isolated sensations—first its black color, then its rectangular shape, and then its sweet and rich taste. Instead, we conceive of the chocolate as an integrated whole. We also consider

Read More