Untitled Flashcard Set

phoneme

The smallest unit of sound in a language.

syntax

The set of rules that govern the structure of sentences in a language.

semantics

The branch of linguistics that studies the meaning of words and sentences.

critical period

A time frame in which an individual is particularly sensitive to language cues and most easily acquires language.

babbling

The stage of early speech development where infants produce repetitive consonant-vowel combinations, such as 'goo goo'.

telegraphic speech

Early speech stage in which a child speaks like a telegram, using mostly nouns and verbs and omitting auxiliary words.

overgeneralization

The application of a grammatical rule too widely, resulting in incorrect forms.

hypothetical thinking

The ability to think about possibilities and scenarios that are not necessarily real.

social learning theory

Lev Vygotsky's theory that focuses on how children learn through social interactions with more knowledgeable others.

cross-sectional research

A research method that involves studying different groups of people at one point in time.

longitudinal research

A research method that studies the same group of individuals over an extended period.

attachment styles

Patterns of attachment behavior exhibited by children towards caregivers, often categorized as secure, ambivalent, avoidant, or disorganized.

authoritarian parenting

A parenting style characterized by high demand and low responsiveness.

authoritative parenting

A parenting style characterized by high demand and high responsiveness.

permissive parenting

A parenting style characterized by low demand and high responsiveness.

sexual differentiation

The biological process that determines the sex of an individual based on genetic information.

stimulus discrimination

The ability to differentiate between similar stimuli and respond differently to them.

vicarious learning

Learning that occurs by observing the behaviors of others and the consequences that result.

positive reinforcement

The introduction of a rewarding stimulus following a desired behavior, increasing the likelihood of that behavior occurring again.

negative reinforcement

The removal of an aversive stimulus after a desired behavior, increasing the likelihood of that behavior occurring again.

positive punishment

The introduction of an aversive stimulus following an undesired behavior, decreasing the likelihood of that behavior occurring again.

negative punishment

The removal of a rewarding stimulus following an undesired behavior, decreasing the likelihood of that behavior occurring again.

conservation

The understanding that certain properties of objects, like volume or number, remain the same despite changes in their form or arrangement.