Child and Adolescent Development: Early Childhood, Middle Childhood, and Adolescence

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering key terms and concepts across Early Childhood, Middle and Late Childhood, and Adolescence.

Growth Hormone

A hormone released by the pituitary gland that is necessary for the development of most body tissues.

Thyroid-Stimulating Hormone

A hormone released by the pituitary gland that stimulates the release of thyroxine, which is necessary for brain development and for growth hormone to have its full impact on body size.

Corpus Callosum

A bundle of nerve fibers that connects the left and right hemispheres of the brain.

Lateralization

The process in which certain cognitive and behavioral functions are located more in one hemisphere of the brain than the other.

Cerebellum

A brain structure that aids in balance and the control of body movement.

Reticular Formation

A brain structure that maintains alertness and consciousness.

Hippocampus

A brain structure that plays a critical role in memory.

Egocentrism (Preoperational)

In Piaget's theory, the inability to distinguish between one's own perspective and someone else's perspective.

Animism

The belief that inanimate objects have lifelike qualities.

Centration

The tendency to focus attention on one characteristic of a situation or object to the exclusion of all others.

Scripts

Broad representations in memory of familiar events and the order in which they occur.

Autobiographical Memory

The memory of particular events from one's own life, which emerges during the preschool period.

Zone of Proximal Development

In Vygotsky's sociocultural theory, the difference between what a learner can do with assistance and what one can do alone.

Scaffolding

A teaching process in which a teacher or more skilled peer matches the level of assistance provided to the learner's needs.

Private Speech

Comments used by children to regulate their own behavior.

Naming Explosion

The rapid expansion of a child's vocabulary that occurs by approximately $18$ months of age.

Fast Mapping

The process used by preschoolers wherein new words are associated with their meaning after only a brief encounter.

Grammatical Morphemes

The minimal units of meaning in a language.

Child-Centered Programs

Preschool programs in which learning takes place primarily through play.

Academic Programs

Preschool programs where teachers structure children's learning of academic skills through formal lessons.

Montessori Education

A type of child-centered program that uses materials designed to promote exploration and child-chosen activities, placing equal emphasis on academic and social development.

Head Start

An early intervention program that typically provides children with $1$ or $2$ years of preschool along with nutritional and health services.

Collectivistic Orientation

A cultural perspective that promotes interdependence among individuals.

Individualistic Orientation

A cultural perspective that emphasizes personal identity and the uniqueness of the individual.

Gender Typing

Any association of objects, activities, roles, or traits with one sex or the other.

Gender Schemas

Cognitive frameworks that organize information relevant to gender.

Gender Labeling

Kohlberg's stage in which children understand that they are either boys or girls.

Gender Stability

Kohlberg's stage in which children understand that gender is stable over time.

Gender Consistency

Kohlberg's stage in which children understand that gender does not change over different situations.

Parallel Play

A form of play where children play alone but remain interested in what others are doing.

Associative Play

A form of play where children engage in similar activities and offer each other toys.

Cooperative Play

A form of play where children organize their play around a theme and take on roles based on that theme.

Authoritarian Parenting

A parenting style characterized by high control with little warmth and little give-and-take.

Authoritative Parenting

A parenting style characterized by a fair degree of control and warmth, where parents explain rules and encourage discussion.

Permissive/Indulgent Parenting

A parenting style characterized by warmth but little control, with infrequent punishment.

Uninvolved/Neglectful Parenting

A parenting style characterized by no warmth and no control, providing basic needs but little else.

Cycle of Violence Hypothesis

The hypothesis that the abuse and neglect children suffer predisposes them as adults to abuse and neglect their own children.

Resilience

The ability to overcome circumstances that place a child at high risk for psychological or physical damage.

Moral Realism

Piaget's second stage of moral development in which children believe rules are created by adults and must be followed.

Immanent Justice

The belief that breaking a rule always leads to punishment.

Moral Relativism

Piaget's third stage of moral development in which children understand that rules are created to help people get along.

Instrumental Aggression

Aggression used to achieve an explicit goal.

Hostile Aggression

Aggression used specifically to intimidate, harass, or humiliate another person.

Reactive Aggression

Aggressive behavior triggered when one person's behavior leads directly to another's aggression.

Relational Aggression

Aggression that involves the undermining of social relationships.

Growing Pains

Stiffness and aches in the legs that are common during middle childhood.

Obesity (Childhood)

A condition defined as body weight that is more than $20\%$ above the average for a person of a given age and height.

Learning Disabilities

Disabilities characterized by difficulty mastering an academic subject in children with normal intelligence who do not suffer from other conditions that could explain poor performance.

Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

A behavioral disorder involving inattention, impulsivity, and excessive motor activity.

Mental Operations

Cognitive strategies and rules that children begin to use in Piaget's concrete operational stage, limited to tangible and real objects.

Working Memory

The active site of ongoing cognitive activity.

Metamemory

An understanding about the processes that underlie memory.

Rehearsal

A memory strategy that involves repeating information to oneself.

Organization (Memory Strategy)

A memory strategy in which material is structured so that related information is placed together.

Elaboration

A memory strategy that involves embellishing information to make it more memorable.

Cooperative Learning

A learning approach in which small groups of classmates work together toward a common goal.

Emergent Literacy

The knowledge about literacy and language that children acquire before learning to read.

Phonological Awareness

The ability to hear and distinguish the distinctive sounds of letters.

Dyslexia

A reading disability characterized by problems such as letter reversals, slow reading, and reduced comprehension.

Phonics

A reading instruction method that focuses on letter names, then letter sounds, and then syllables and words.

Whole-Word Method

A reading instruction approach in which children learn to recognize whole words on sight.

Whole-Language Approach

A reading instruction method that immerses the child in language rather than teaching individual components in isolation.

Intelligence

The ability to solve problems and to adapt to and learn from experiences.

Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-IV (WISC-IV)

An intelligence test used with $6$- to $16$-year-olds that measures verbal ability and performance skills.

Fluid Intelligence

Intelligence that reflects information-processing capabilities, reasoning, and memory.

Crystallized Intelligence

An individual's accumulated store of knowledge and information.

Intellectual Disability

A condition characterized by substantially below-average intelligence.

Inclusive Classrooms

Classrooms in which students with learning difficulties learn alongside typical students for all or part of the school day.

Giftedness

A categorization traditionally defined by IQ scores of $130$ or higher.

Acceleration

An educational approach for gifted students that allows them to move ahead at their own pace, which may include skipping grades.

Enrichment

An educational approach for gifted students in which they are given individual activities to allow greater depth of study.

Stereotype Threats

A phenomenon where knowledge of negative stereotypes regarding one's group leads to anxiety and reduced test performance.

Social Comparison

The evaluation of one's own behavior, abilities, and expertise by comparing them to those of others.

Downward Social Comparisons

Comparing oneself to others who are less competent or successful.

Self-Esteem

A person's judgment and feelings about his or her own worth.

Preconventional Level

Kohlberg's first level of moral reasoning, in which moral decisions are based on punishment and rewards.

Conventional Level

Kohlberg's second level of moral reasoning, in which decisions are based on following social rules and gaining the approval of others.

Postconventional Level

Kohlberg's highest level of moral reasoning, where moral choices are governed by universal abstract principles.

Peer Acceptance

Likeability—the extent to which a child is viewed as a worthy social partner.

Popular Children

Children who are well liked by the majority of their peers.

Rejected Children

Children who are actively disliked by their peers.

Controversial Children

Children who are both liked and disliked by many peers.

Neglected Children

Children who are ignored by peers, being neither liked nor disliked.

Co-Regulation

A transitional period during middle childhood in which children and parents jointly control children's behavior.

Sibling Rivalry

Competition or quarreling between siblings, which tends to increase during middle childhood.

Self-Care Children

Children who let themselves into their homes after school and wait alone until their caregivers return.

Blended Families

Families consisting of a biological parent, a stepparent, and children.

Adolescence

The developmental stage that lies between childhood and adulthood.

Puberty

The developmental period during which the sexual organs mature, beginning when the pituitary gland signals other glands to produce sex hormones.

Primary Sex Characteristics

Organs that are directly involved in reproduction.

Secondary Sex Characteristics

Physical signs of maturity that are not linked directly to the reproductive organs.

Menarche

The onset of first menstruation in females.

Spermarche

The first ejaculation of semen-containing ejaculate in males.

Anorexia Nervosa

An eating disorder marked by a refusal to eat and an irrational fear of being overweight.

Bulimia Nervosa

An eating disorder marked by alternating cycles of binge eating and purging.

Prefrontal Cortex (PFC)

The area of the brain undergoing profound changes during adolescence that allows individuals to think, evaluate, and make complex judgments.

Formal Operations Stage

Piaget's final cognitive stage ($11$ to $15$ years) in which individuals can think hypothetically and reason deductively.

Adolescent Egocentrism

A state of self-absorption that emerges during adolescence.

Imaginary Audience

An adolescent's belief that others are constantly watching and evaluating them.

Personal Fable

An adolescent's belief that their experiences and feelings are completely unique.