Dev Psych Test 2

prefrontal cortex

part of the brain responsible for planning, organizing actions, and maintaining attention

myelination

insulation of nerve cells with fat cells

aerobic exercise

exercise linked to gains in attention, memory, and goal-directed thinking

childhood obesity trajectory

overweight 5 year olds are more likely to be overweight/obese at 14 and into adulthood

preoperational stage

ages 2-7

thinking in words, images, and drawings

symbolic function substages

ages 2-4

using words/images to represent the world, pretend play

intuitive thought substage

ages 4-7

primitive reasoning, asking lots of questions

centration

focusing on one characteristic, excluding others

conservation

understanding that physical changes don’t alter basic properties

egocentrism

inability to distinguish own perspective from another’s

animism

belief that inanimate objects have lifelike qualities/intentions

concrete operational stage

ages 7-11

logical thinking about concrete objects

seriation

ordering objects along a quantitative dimension (size, length)

transivity

logically combining relations (if A > B and B > C, then A > C)

reversibility

understanding an action can be reversed mentally

operations/hypotheses

mental actions that follow logical rules

Piaget’s moral stages

heteronomous morality (first stage), autonomous morality

heteronomous morality

ages 5-10

rules are fixed, absolute, handed down by authority - can’t be changed

judges actions by outcome/consequences, not intent (breaking 10 cups by accident = worse than breaking 1 cup by purpose)

believes in immanent justice - punishment automatically follows wrongdoing

autonomous morality

ages 10+

rules are seen as flexible, created by mutual agreement, and can be changed if everyone agrees

judges actions by intent/motive, not just outcome

understands that punishment isn’t automatic

social constructivist approach

knowledge built through social interaction

zone of proximal development (ZPD)

range of tasks too hard alone but doable with help

scaffolding

adjusting support level as child’s competence grows

private speech

self-talk used for self-regulation

inner speech

private speech that becomes silent/internalized

Vygotsky’s classroom strategies

assisted discovery, ZPD-based teaching, encouraging self-talk

What is the different between Piaget and Vygotsky’s thinking?”

Piaget - children construct knowledge via adaptation of schemes (assimilation/accommodation)

Vygotsky - children construct knowledge through social interaction

executive attention

action planning, goal allocation, error detection, monitoring

sustained attention

focused, extended engagement with a task

cognitive flexibility

deliberately shifting attention/strategy

cognitive inhibition

resisting an impulse or habitual response

delayed gratification

resisting immediate reward for a later one

executive function

self-control/inhibition, working memory, flexibility

metacognition

knowing about knowing

metamemory

knowing about memory

short-term memory

holding/repeating information briefly (digit span)

eyewitness suggestibility

children’s memories vulnerable to suggestion

divergent thinking

generating many possible solutions/ideas

convergent thinking

arriving at one correct answer

creative thinking

producing new and unusual solutions

Sternberg’s triarchic intelligence

analytic, creative, practical

culture-reduced tests

Sternberg’s term acknowledging no test is fully culture-fair

learning disability gender ratio

boys diagnosed 3x as often, partly due to referral bias

dyslexia

impairment in reading/spelling

dysgraphia

impairment in handwriting/written expression

dyscalculia

impairment in math ability

ADHD

increasing diagnosis rates, 3x more common in boys

neurofeedback/mindfulness training

used to manage ADHD symptoms

therapeutic technique that records brainwave activity and provides real-time audiovisual feedback to help clients self-regulate irregular signals

autistic disorder

onset in first 3 yers

social, communication, behavioral impairments

Ellen Winner’s giftedness traits

precocity (the state of developing certain skills, mental abilities, or physical characteristics much earlier than is considered normal or typical), marching to their own drummer, passion to master

self-concept

domain-specific self-evaluations

self-esteem

global self-worth evaluations

self-efficacy

belief in one’s ability to master a situation

self-regulation

managing behavior deliberately, tied to prefrontal cortex development

emotion regulation

managing frustration/emotional responses adaptively

self-conscious emotions

pride, embarrassment, guilt, shame - emerge with self-awareness (18 months)

emotion-coaching parents

nutrurant, use scaffolding/praise

linked to better focus, memory, social competence

transactional activity

mutual back-and-forth exchange between caregiver and infant (imitation, turn-taking play)

coregulation

parent supervises while child self-regulates moment-to-moment

preconventional reasoning

avoiding punishment, self-interest

preconventional stage 2

individualism, instrumental purpose, and exchange

conventional reasoning

conforming to social expectation

conventional stage 3

mutual interpersonal expectation

pleasing others, avoiding disappointment

conventional stage 4

social systems morality

law and order, social system function

post conventional stage 5

social contract or utility and individual rights

postconventional stage 6

universal ethical principles

follows conscience over law

social conventional reasoning

following rules established by social consensus (not necessarily moral reasoning)

authoritarian parenting

strict, punitive, low warmth (parenting)

authoritative parenting

warm, high expectation, encourages independence (parenting)

indulgent parenting

warm, few demands/limits (parenting)

neglectful parenting

uninvolved, low warmth, and low demands (parenting)

higher-SES parenting

more conversational, treats children as equal participants (parenting)

lower-SES parenting

more directive, less conversational (parenting)

intergenerational abuse transmission

roughly 1/3 of abused children go on to abuse their own children

child neglect

failure to provide adequate food, shelter, supervision, or care for a child’s basic needs

child-centered kindergarten

play-based, firsthand experience, unique developmental paths (not focused on sitting sit/formal prep)

Montessori approach

freedom/spontaneity in choosing activities, self-regulation

developmentally appropriate practice (DAP)

instruction matched to age and individual development

constructivist approach

children build knowledge through active exploration and social interaction

direct instruction approach

structured, teacher-centered, high expectations, maximizes academic time

Project Head Start

mixed research results on long-term effectiveness

biological processes

physical changes (toddler’s physical aggression as a motor/biological act)

cognitive processes

thought-related changes

socioemotional processes

changes in emotion, personality, relationships