NCE Exam Study Topics Exam Study Guide.
Id - Answer✔In Freudian theory, the primitive and instinctual part of the mind
Ego - Answer✔In Freudian theory, the part of the mind that mediates between the conscious
and unconscious
Superego - Answer✔In Freudian theory, the part of the mind that represents internalized ideals
and provides moral standards
Kohlberg's stages - Answer✔Stages of moral development: Preconventional level—behavior
governed by consequences; conventional level—a desire to conform to socially acceptable
rules; postconventional level—self-accepted moral principles guide behavior. Each level has
two stages.
Psychosexual stages - Answer✔Freudian stages of development related to the changing focus
of sexual energy. Oral (ability to trust, aggression), anal (control), phallic (self-centeredness,
sexual anxiety), latent, genital
Heinz Dilemma - Answer✔A moral dilemma used by Kohlberg to assess moral development
Maturationist Stage theory - Answer✔A theory that emphasizes the role of biological
maturation in development. Genetics and enviro stimuli needed to mature. Freud and Erikson
are maturationist theorists
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Empiricism - Answer✔AKA behaviorism. The theory that all knowledge is derived from
experience. Developmental stages can be measured, quantitative.
Organicism - Answer✔Opposite of empiricism. Developmental change can be internal. theory
that living organisms are fundamentally different from non-living entities. Qualitative change
Structuralist - Answer✔Example of Piaget's view of stages of development.. Qualitative change.
A psychologist who analyzes the basic elements of consciousness
Equilibration - Answer✔The process of achieving balance between assimilation and
accommodation in Piaget's theory
Lorenz theory - Answer✔The theory that aggression is natural and evolutionary. Lorenz studied
critical periods and imprinting
Ego psychologists - Answer✔Psychologists who believe in man's power of reasoning to control
behavior
Formal operational stage - Answer✔The stage of cognitive development characterized by
abstract thought and deduction. Age 12 and older
Preoperational stage - Answer✔Piaget's stage of cognitive development characterized by
symbolic thinking and egocentrism. Centration: focus all attention on one characteristic. Age 2-
7
Ethnocentrism - Answer✔The belief in the inherent superiority of one's own ethnic group or
culture
Cognitive Dissonance Theory - Answer✔The theory that individuals experience discomfort
when their beliefs and behaviors are inconsistent (Festinger)
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