Cognitive Development in Middle Childhood

Flashcards covering key vocabulary and concepts related to cognitive development in middle childhood, including Piaget's concrete operational stage and information processing strategies.

Concrete Operational Stage

Piaget's stage of cognitive development from approximately 7 to 12 years old, characterized by logical thought, reversibility, and conservation.

Conservation

Understanding that the amount of a substance remains the same even if its appearance changes; a key attainment of the concrete operational stage.

Decentration

The ability to focus on multiple aspects of a problem and understand their interconnections; a characteristic of concrete operational thought.

Reversibility

The capacity to think through steps of a problem and mentally reverse direction, returning to the starting point; essential for problem-solving in the concrete operational stage.

Classification

Ability to group objects into hierarchical categories; a key cognitive skill developed during the concrete operational stage.

Seriation

The ability to arrange items along a quantitative dimension, such as length or weight; develops during the concrete operational stage.

Transitive Inference

The ability to infer the relationship between two objects based on their relationship with a third object (e.g., if A>B and B>C, then A>C); develops during the concrete operational stage.

Spatial Reasoning

The capacity to understand and mentally manipulate spatial relationships, including cognitive maps and understanding of scale.

Cognitive Maps

Mental representations of familiar large-scale spaces, such as a neighborhood or school.

Continuum of Acquisition

The gradual mastery of logical concepts during the concrete operational stage, reflecting individual differences in development.

Neo-Piagetians

Theorists who built on Piaget's work by emphasizing the role of information processing and working memory in cognitive development.

Executive Function

A set of cognitive processes that are necessary for the cognitive control of behavior.

Rehearsal

A basic memory strategy that involves repeating information to oneself.

Organization

A memory strategy that involves grouping related items or key components together to aid recall.

Elaboration

A memory strategy that involves creating a relationship or shared meaning between two or more pieces of information that are not members of the same category.

Semantic Memory

A type of long-term memory that stores general knowledge and facts, organized into elaborate, hierarchically structured networks.

Recursive Thought

An empathetic view that considers and evaluates multiple perspectives.

Metacognition

Awareness and understanding of one's own thought processes.

Cognitive Self-Regulation

The process of continuously monitoring progress toward a goal, checking outcomes, and redirecting unsuccessful mental efforts.

Whole Language Reading Approach

An approach to reading instruction that emphasizes functional, real-world purposes for writing and reading, integrating reading, writing, listening, and speaking.

Phonics Reading Approach

An approach to reading instruction that focuses on the relationship between sounds and letters, essential for word knowledge.

The Science of Reading (SoR)

Identifies five essential components that make up the 'Simple View of Reading': Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, Fluency, Vocabulary, and Comprehension.