Cognitive Development in Infancy and Toddlerhood

These flashcards cover key concepts from Piaget's and Vygotsky's theories, stages of cognitive development, information processing, and language acquisition in early childhood.

What is Piaget's cognitive developmental theory?

Children move through 4 stages of cognitive development between infancy and adolescence.

What characterizes the sensorimotor stage according to Piaget?

Children younger than 2 'think' with their eyes, ears, and hands.

Define adaptation in Piaget's theory.

Building schemes through direct interaction with the environment.

What is the difference between assimilation and accommodation?

Assimilation is using current schemes to interpret the world, while accommodation is creating or adjusting schemes to better fit the environment.

What phenomenon does cognitive equilibrium refer to?

A balance between assimilation and accommodation, leading to a stable understanding of the world.

What is the A-not-B search error?

When infants look for an object at a first hiding place even after it has been moved.

What cognitive ability emerges in substage 6 of Piaget's sensorimotor stage?

Mental representations and problem-solving involving invisible displacement.

What is deferred imitation?

The ability to replicate actions observed at an earlier time, showing memory capabilities in infants.

What role does the violation-of-expectation method play in cognitive research?

It helps to discover what infants know about physical reality by observing their reactions to unexpected events.

What is Vygotsky's view on cognitive development?

Complex mental activities originate in social interaction.

What is the zone of proximal development?

The range of tasks that a child cannot handle alone but can achieve with help.

What is the significance of the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development?

These scales test perceptual and motor responses, early language, cognition, and social behavior.

What is telegraphic speech?

Toddlers' two-word utterances that convey meaning without grammatical completeness.

What does 'underextension' in language development refer to?

Using a word too narrowly, such as using 'dog' only for the family pet.

How does the social environment influence language development?

A rich social environment enhances young children's natural readiness to speak their native language.

What are two important structures in the brain associated with language?

Broca’s area and Wernicke’s area.