*15- Cognitive and Language Development in Middle and Late Childhood

Vocabulary flashcards covering information processing, working memory, attentional control, memory strategy deficiencies, higher-order cognition, language development, and communication disorders in middle and late childhood.

Myelination and synaptic pruning

Brain changes in the cortex that are likely responsible for increases in processing speed and the ability to filter out irrelevant stimuli during middle and late childhood.

Chunking

A memory strategy involving intensive training that aids in improving working memory capacity in children with poor working memory.

Selective attention

The ability to inhibit irrelevant information, which exhibits a sharp improvement from age six into adolescence.

Mediation deficiency

A deficiency in the use of memory strategies that occurs when a child does not grasp the strategy being taught and, consequently, does not benefit from its use.

Production deficiency

A deficiency that occurs when a child does not spontaneously use a memory strategy and must be prompted to do so.

Utilization deficiency

A deficiency that occurs when children employ an appropriate strategy, but it fails to aid their performance.

Knowledge base

Knowledge in particular areas that expands during middle and late childhood, making the acquisition of new information easier.

Metacognition

The knowledge individuals possess regarding their own thinking, paired with the ability to use that awareness to regulate their cognitive processes.

Critical thinking

A detailed examination of beliefs, courses of action, and evidence that involves teaching children how to think.

Fifth-grade vocabulary size

A linguistic milestone in which a child's vocabulary expands to approximately $40,000$ words, growing at a rate faster than that of early childhood.

Fluency disorders

Communication disorders that affect the rate of speech, causing speech to be labored and slow or excessively fast for listeners to follow.

Stuttering

The most common fluency disorder, defined as a speech disorder where sounds, syllables, or words are repeated or prolonged longer than normal.

Articulation disorder

The inability to correctly produce speech sounds (phonemes) due to imprecise placement, timing, pressure, speed, or flow of movement of the lips, tongue, or throat.

Disorders of the voice

Communication disorders that involve difficulties and abnormalities with pitch, loudness, and the quality of the voice.