Educational Psychology and Development Flashcards

A set of 30 vocabulary flashcards reviewing key research concepts, cognitive stages, moral theories, and classroom learning techniques from the lecture notes.

Case Study

A research design that provides rich, detailed information about one specific individual or patient over time.

Experimental Research

A research method essential for determining direct cause-and-effect relationships by randomly assigning participants and manipulating independent variables.

Independent Variable

The variable manipulated by a researcher in an experiment, such as sleep, food, or noise level.

Cephalocaudal Principle

The developmental principle describing growth as proceeding from the head downward to the lower body parts.

Nature vs. Nurture Debate

A debate about whether human behavior and traits are primarily determined by genetics or by environmental influences.

Longitudinal Design

A research design where researchers track and study the same group of individuals over an extended period of time.

Informed Consent

An ethical principle requiring researchers to fully explain the purpose and procedures of a study to participants before they agree to take part.

Correlation Coefficient of $-0.85$

A numerical correlation value indicating a strong negative relationship between two variables.

Scaffolding

An instructional technique where a teacher provides step-by-step prompts and gradually removes support as the student gains confidence.

Zone of Proximal Development

A concept in sociocultural theory describing the learning area where scaffolding and targeted support take place.

Manipulatives

Hands-on tools like dice, number lines, and counting bags used to build physical and spatial recognition of numbers.

Concrete Operational Stage

A cognitive development stage characterized by logical thinking skills, including the mastery of conservation and reversibility.

Preoperational Stage

An early cognitive development stage marked by the prevalence of egocentric thought patterns.

Object Permanence

A cognitive milestone involving the understanding that objects continue to exist even when hidden from sight.

Conservation

The understanding that quantity or properties remain equal despite structural changes in shape or appearance.

Imaginary Audience

An adolescent cognitive phenomenon describing the belief that one is constantly under observation by others.

Identity vs. Role Confusion

An Erik Erikson psychosocial stage where an adolescent struggles to establish personal values and vocational goals.

Preconventional Level

The initial level of moral development where sense of morality is externally controlled by authority figures and avoiding punishment.

Postconventional Level

The level of moral reasoning where an individual defines right and wrong based on internal, self-chosen ethical principles.

Mesosystem

In ecological systems theory, the system encompassing direct interactions between two or more persons/settings, such as parents and classroom teachers.

Accommodation

A developmental process that occurs when new environmental information forces a child to modify an existing cognitive structure.

Assimilation

The cognitive process of fitting new information into an existing cognitive schema.

Moral Realism

A stage of moral development where rules are viewed as unyielding, absolute constraints imposed by authorities with automatic consequences.

Self-Efficacy

Albert Bandura's concept regarding academic confidence and problem-solving beliefs, which can be increased through vicarious experiences.

Sensory Memory

An information processing memory component with an unlimited capacity but a duration of less than a few seconds ($0.25$ to $0.5$ seconds).

Autonomous Moral Level

A stage in moral development where individuals understand that rules are made by people and intentions matter more than strict outcomes.

Reciprocal Determinism

A sociocultural concept involving the dynamic interaction between behavioral, personal, and environmental factors.

Working Memory

A short-term active retention component of information processing memory.

Personal Fable

An adolescent cognitive phenomenon characterized by a belief in one's personal uniqueness and specialness.

Peer Modeling

Providing vicarious experiences through peer interaction to enhance student confidence and collaborative problem solving.