psy223 exam 2 study guide

Animism

Belief that inanimate objects have lifelike qualities and can behave as if they are alive.

Centration

Focusing on one aspect of a situation and ignoring others.

Child-centered kindergarten

An educational approach that focuses on the child's interests and needs.

Conservation

Understanding that quantity doesn't change even when its shape does.

Developmentally appropriate practice (DAP)

Educational practices that are tailored to children's developmental stages.

Egocentrism

Inability to see the world from another person's perspective.

Executive attention

Ability to focus and manage cognitive tasks.

Fast mapping

A process by which children rapidly learn a new word by associating it with an existing mental concept.

Intuitive-thought substage

Stage in preoperational development where children use primitive reasoning.

Montessori approach

Educational method emphasizing self-directed activity and hands-on learning.

Morphology

Study of the form of words and how they combine to create meaning.

Myelination

Process of forming a myelin sheath around a nerve to allow faster electrical impulses.

Operations

Mental processes used to solve problems and manipulate symbols.

Phonology

Study of the sounds of a language.

Pragmatics

The social rules and conventions of language use.

Preoperational stage

Piaget's second stage of cognitive development, from about 2 to 7 years old.

Project Head Start

A program aimed at increasing school readiness for disadvantaged children.

Semantics

The study of meaning in language.

Short-term memory

The capacity for holding a small amount of information in an active, readily available state.

Social constructivist approach

Learning theory that emphasizes the collaborative nature of learning.

Sustained attention

The ability to maintain focus on a specific task or stimulus over time.

Symbolic function substage

A substage of Piaget's preoperational stage where children begin to use symbols.

Syntax

The arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences.

Theory of mind

The ability to understand that others have thoughts, beliefs, and perspectives different from one's own.

Zone of proximal development

The difference between what a learner can do without help and what they can do with help.