Cognition
Mental action or process of acquiring knowledge.
Jean Piaget
Developed the four stages of development. One of the first to recognize that children think differently than adults.
Sensorimotor
0-2 years, experience world with senses. Develop motor schemas (physical actions organizing understanding) and object permanence (understanding of an objects presence even when it isn't visible).
Preoperational
2-7 years, creation of mental symbols without logic. Develops operations (systematic rules) and transductive reasoning (following logic based upon what is perceived).Characterized by egocentrism (inability to see another's perspective), animism (applying human characteristics to inanimate objects), and centration (inability to focus on multiple aspects of a situation).
Concrete Operational
7-12 years, thinking logically about concrete subjects. Develops reversibility (ability to reverse mental operations), classifications (ability to fit objects into categories), and seriation (ability to put objects into an order).
Formal Operational
12 years - adulthood, reasoning abstractly and thinking in hypotheticals. Develops hypothetical-deductive reasoning (ability to logically reason hypothetical possibilities), imaginary audience (belief that you are the center of attention), and personal fable (belief that your experience is different than everyone else's).
Post-formal Operations
Not developed or studies by Piaget. Characterized by the ability to conceptualize contradictions, complex situations, uncertainty, imperfections, and compromise.
Intelligence
Active, constructive, and dynamic.
Schemas
How we "make sense" of and organize our experiences.
Assimilation and Accommodation
Key mechanisms of learning process.
Disequalibrium
State of confusion when an experience doesn't fit a schema.
Theory of Core Knowledge
Babies are born with some basic knowledge of the world.
Violation of Expectations
Explains why babies look longer at events that surprise or confuse them.
Lev Vygotsky
Developed sociocultural theory that recognizes the effects of culture and interaction on child development.
Zone of Proximal Development
Level just above what you can accomplish individually.
More Knowledgeable Other
Mentor that influences student.
Scaffolding
How one moves between stages of learning.
Private Speech
Repeating what adults say to oneself. Essential to learning and individually carrying out tasks.
Selective Attention
Tuning in to certain things and tuning out others.
Sustained Attention
Maintaining focus over an extended period of time, develops with age. Predicts positive academic performance.
Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
Interferes with executive functioning/development. Patterns of hyperactivity/impulses, inattentiveness, or a combination of the two.
Scripts
Used by children in familiar situations.
Sensory Memory
Retained briefly in raw form, not deliberate in childhood. Memory increases throughout childhood.
Working/Short-Term Memory
Encodes memories in order to move them to long-term memory.
Long-Term Memory
Capable of permanent storage.
Infantile Amnesia
Events occurring before the age of three are forgotten.
Elaboration
Creation of extra connections that tie information together.
Fuzzy Trace Theory
Gist memory (generalizations) and verbatim memory (details).
Reminiscent Bump
Period between 10-30 years old where one recalls and reminisces on memories.
Period of Recency
Present information remembered, but declines as you approach the reminiscent memories.
Executive Function
Brain organization within the prefrontal cortex. Coordinates attention, memory, and behavioral responses.
Cognitive Flexibility
Ability to switch focus.
Metacognition
Thinking about thinking.
Theory of Mind
Awareness of one's own mental processes and those of others. Perception, emotion, and desire.
Factors of Emotional Intelligence
Self -awareness Regulation Expression Empathy Expressiveness
Fluid Intelligence
Adapting to and solving novel problems.
Crystallized Intelligence
Accumulated knowledge that increases with age.
Intelligence Quotient (IQ)
Number representing general level of intelligence (not the most accurate).
Developmental Quotient (DQ)
Assesses physical and motor skills for infants.
Aptitude Test
Predicts future performance and capacity to learn.
Achievement Test
Assesses what has been learned previously.
Multiple Intelligence Theory
Gardner's theory that there are multiple forms of intelligence. Natural, spatial, musical, logical, interpersonal, kinesthetic, linguistic, intrapersonal.
Triarchic Theory
Sternberg's theory that intelligence is made up of analytical, practical, and creative abilities.
Intellectual Disability
IQ score ranging between 70-75, more common in males.
Specific Learning Disorder (SLD)
Persistent and unexplainable difficulty in a specific academic domain.
Profoundly Gifted
High functioning in intellectual ability, creativity, and task commitment. Require specialized education.
Big-C Creativity
Transforms culture and the way people think/live.
Small-c Creativity
Interaction with everyday challenges.
Self-Regulation
Important for a positive academic outcome, predicts grades more effectively than IQ.
Intrinsic Motivation
Performing a task for the joy and genuine interest of it.
Extrinsic Motivation
Performing a task for a reward.
Motivational Rescilience
Motivated by facing setbacks.
Motivational Vulnerability
Discouraged by facing setbacks.
Growth Mindset
Intelligence can be improved with determination and hard work.
Headstart
Program intended to break the cycle of poverty, yet failed to prevent inequalities due to its systematic structure.
Educational Investments
Yields the highest return in human capital.
Social Promotion
Children promoted to the next grade even when grade-level material hasn't been mastered.
Phonology
Study of sounds in a language.
Morphology
Ways that words form sound and relate.
Syntax
Grammar
Semantics
Meaning of words (content).
Pragmatics
How language is used in social contexts (use).
Broca's Area
Active in producing speech, associated with the motor center that controls the mouth.
Wernicke's Area
Active in understanding speech, associated with the hearing center.
Interactionism
Language development based upon the relationship between a child's biological/natural abilities and their social experiences.
Nativism
Noam Chomsky, theory that brains are innately wired to learn language.
Language Acquisition Device (LAD)
Part of brain triggered when hearing/processing language.
Universal Grammar
Grammar that is consistent among many cultures and believed to be hard-wired into the brain.
Statistical Learning
How children will take statistical value on which sounds are necessary to recognize and use.
Critical Language Development Period
Infancy to 5 years, but up until only 2 years more specifically.
Pre-natal Foundations
Language learning pre-birth or in the womb.
Preverbal Perception
Babies originally have the ability to distinguish sounds from all language but this gradually declines.
Protoconversation/Conversational Turns
Conversation held between infant and caregiver.
Joint Attention
Attention on item and other's responses to it, fosters sustained attention.
Infant-Directed Speech
Universal way of speaking to babies in higher-pitched voice.
Prosody
the patterns of stress and intonation in a language.
Telegraphic Speech
Simple statements that are not grammatically correct, but get a point across.
Site Words
Most common words
Egocentric Speech
Inability for children to consider another's perspective in a conversation.
Discourse Skills
Ability to understand if a story is logical.
Metaliguistics
Thinking about language and how to use it.
Emergent Literacy
Linguistic skills developed before formal schooling.
Dialogue Reading
Active discussion throughout parent and child reading book together.
Whole Language Approach
Uses reading content that interests the child to focus on word recognition.
Autism Spectrum Disorder
Verbal and nonverbal communication lacks connection.
Dyslexia
Language-based learning disorder. Processing issue that doesn't impact intelligence, but the ability to visualize text.
Emotion
Physiological reaction, interpretation, communication, and actions.
Seven Basic Emotions
Happiness Sadness Fear Anger Surprise Disgust
Colic
Excessive crying due to poor digestion.
Social Smile
Response evokes by viewing other facial reactions.
Self-conscious Emotions
Pride, shame, jealousy, embarrassment, and guilt.
Self Awareness
Realization of being a distinct individual whose body, mind, and actions are separate from others. 15-18 months.
Hypothalamus
Regulates bodily functions and hormones. May develop slower in infants exposed to excessive stress.
Temperament
Epigenetic or inborn differences between one another in extraversion, negative emotion, and self-regulation. 50% easy, 10% difficult, 15% slow to warm up.
Emotion Schema
Way of thinking about and forming emotional constructs.
Social Contagion Theory
Tendency for for child's emotions to mimic those of the caregiver.
Social Referencing
Seeking another's expressions for social referencing.
Synchrony
Coordinated, rapid exchanges of responses between caregiver and infants.
Empathy
Experiencing the feelings of others, lack of empathy associated with serious problems in future.
Sympathy
Sharing another's distress.