Key Terms
- abstinence
- not engaging in sexual activity
- affect heuristic
- mental shortcut that causes us to use emotions more than other factors when making a decision
- affective empathy
- being able to vicariously experience someone’s emotions
- affective theory of mind
- ability to draw conclusions about another person’s feelings
- apprenticeship
- paid position involving a combination of on-the-job training, mentoring, and classroom learning
- availability heuristic
- mental shortcut that helps us think of memorable information quickly and use it to make decisions
- barrier method
- type of contraception and STI prevention that prevents exchange of bodily fluids
- cisgender
- describes an individual who has a gender identity compatible with their sex assigned at birth
- civil service job
- government job that doesn’t involve political appointments or legal work; examples include urban planners, budget analysts, sanitation workers, and firefighters
- cognitive empathy
- being able to adopt someone’s point of view
- cognitive theory of mind
- ability to draw conclusions about another person’s intentions and beliefs
- communal norm
- helping others with no expectation of reciprocity
- convergent thought
- using a known solution to deal with a problem
- dental dam
- thin piece of latex of polyurethane that’s placed over the vulva or anus prior to oral sex
- dialectical thinking
- ability to remain practical, flexible, and open to the multiple factors and solutions
- divergent thought
- creating new solutions to deal with a problem; related to creativity
- emerging adulthood
- beginning stages of adulthood characterized by the achievement of new legal statuses as well as intense exploration of career options, beliefs, and relationships
- epiphyses
- ends of long bones like the ones in arms and legs
- exchange norms
- either repaying a debt or anticipating future benefit when deciding whether to help another
- experiential learning
- education that involves “learning by doing” and reflecting on the learning experience
- familiarity heuristic
- mental shortcut that makes us feel more comfortable with things or people we have experience with than with those we have yet to experience or meet
- future orientation
- ability to think about and plan for what lies ahead, including predicting the consequences of one’s actions
- gender expression
- external manifestation of a person’s gender identity, including the way a person dresses, uses their voice, and presents themselves to the world
- heuristic
- mental shortcut used to process information more quickly
- informal education
- education that occurs without a set curriculum
- obesity
- when an individual’s BMI is over 30; correlated with many health issues including high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart disease
- obesity paradox
- observation that people with a high BMI who develop heart disease sometimes live longer and are in better health than people with a lower BMI who develop heart disease
- post-formal thought
- stage beyond formal operations that is more flexible, complex, and capable of recognizing more than one objectively correct answer to problem
- pre-exposure prophylaxis (PreP)
- medication taken regularly to reduce the chances of getting HIV
- presbyopia
- difficulty seeing things close up due to changes in the lens of the eye
- reflective thought
- logical thought processes involving continuous, active evaluation of information and beliefs using evidence and past experiences
- relativism
- idea that cultural standards, values, and ethics are a product of the time and cultural context within which they developed, and what is proper, relevant, or true for one individual may not be for another
- scarcity heuristic
- mental shortcut that causes us to believe that the rarer or less available something is, the more valuable it is
- sexual assault
- nonconsensual sexual contact
- sexual harassment
- unwanted physical or verbal attention with a sexual basis
- sexually transmitted infection (STI)
- disease caused by certain types of viruses, bacteria, or microorganisms and spread through contact with bodily fluids such as semen and blood
- spermicide
- substance that kills sperm cells
- substance abuse
- use of drugs or alcohol in excess or for purposes for which they weren’t intended, leading to problems in physical, social, and/or psychological functioning, often termed substance misuse or problematic substance use in order to avoid stigma of "abuse"; often related to substance use disorder (SUD)