Child Development Exam 2

Fine motor skills

Skills that involve the use of small muscles for tasks such as reaching, grasping, and drawing.

Gross motor skills

Skills that involve large muscle movements such as crawling, walking, and jumping.

Dynamic-systems theory

A theory stating that the mastery of motor skills involves acquiring increasingly complex systems of action.

Central nervous system development

Necessary component in the acquisition of new motor skills according to dynamic-systems theory.

Movement possibilities

The physical capabilities of the body that influence motor skill development.

Motivation/goals

The desire or aim that drives children to acquire new motor skills.

Environmental support

The help or resources provided by the environment that facilitate learning motor skills.

The gap study

Research indicating children learn to judge safety in different postures through experience with very little transfer of knowledge.

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS)

A condition with the greatest risk at 2-4 months of age associated with sleeping position and other risk factors.

Risk factors for SIDS

Sleeping stomach-down, low birth weight, low APGAR score, maternal smoking during pregnancy, soft bedding, overheating.

Piaget's Theory

A theory suggesting that cognitive development occurs through stages and is influenced by observation of children.

Cognitive Development Stages

The distinct phases of cognitive growth defined by Piaget, where skills in each stage build upon prior abilities.

Active learners

Children who actively seek out experiences to understand the world rather than passively absorbing information.

Critiques of Piaget

Lack of clarity on cognitive development mechanisms, underestimated sophistication of infants, and sociocultural influences.

Sensorimotor Stage 1: Simple Reflexes

The initial stage of Piaget’s model, where infants exhibit innate reflexive behaviors from birth to 1 month.

Sucking reflex

An example of a simple reflex exercised during the first stage of sensorimotor development.

Sensorimotor Stage 2: Primary Circular Reactions

Stage occurring from 1 to 4 months, centered on accidental movements related to the infant's own body.

Circular reaction

Repetition of an action that results in pleasure.

Sensorimotor Stage 3: Secondary Circular Reactions

Stage from 4 to 8 months where actions are directed towards objects outside the body.

Object permanence

The understanding that objects and people continue to exist even when they cannot be seen.

Sensorimotor Stage 4: Coordination of Secondary Circular Reactions

Stage from 8 to 12 months where infants can find hidden objects and display object permanence.

A not B error

The mistake infants make in locating hidden objects where they search in the original hiding spot rather than the new one.

Trial and error

The exploratory behavior exhibited by infants in sensorimotor Stage 5 when manipulating objects.

Tertiary Circular Reactions

Stage from 12 to 18 months involving actions varied through trial and error to achieve desired outcomes.

Deferred imitation

Imitating observed actions from memory after a delay, characteristic of Stage 6 in sensorimotor development.

Preoperational Stage

Paiget's developmental stage from ages 2-7 where children cannot yet perform mental operations.

Conservation

Understanding that quantity remains the same despite changes in appearance.

Egocentrism

The inability to consider other perspectives, thinking others see the world as they do.

Perspective taking

The ability to understand that others have different thoughts and feelings.

Concrete Operations Stage

Piaget's stage from age 7-11 where children think more logically and systematically about the physical world.

Adaptation in Piaget's Theory

Involves assimilation and accommodation to deal with new information.

Assimilation

Integrating new experiences into existing schemas.

Accommodation

The process of changing schemas to incorporate new information.

Information-processing approaches

Cognitive development perspective emphasizing cognitive processes across all ages rather than stages.

Vygotsky's Sociocultural Theory

The theory that emphasizes social interaction and cultural context in cognitive development.

Social scaffolding

Support provided by more competent people to help children achieve higher levels of thinking.

Zone of proximal development (ZPD)

The gap between what a child can do independently and what they can achieve with assistance.

Phonology

The study of the sound systems of language.

Phonological development

The process of acquiring knowledge about the sound system of language.

Phoneme

The smallest unit of sound that changes the meaning of words.

Prosody

The patterns of stress, rhythm, and intonation in spoken language.

Cooing

The production of vowel-like sounds by infants around 2 months of age.

Babbling

Consonant-vowel combinations produced by infants as they practice sounds.

Semantics

The study of meaning in language.

Nominals

Words that label objects, people, or events, typically acquired around the first year.

Mutual exclusivity bias

The assumption that a word refers to one, and only one, object.

Whole object bias

The tendency for children to assume that words refer to whole objects rather than parts.

Morphology

The rules for forming words in language.

Overregularization

The misuse of grammatical rules in speech, such as 'goed' instead of 'went'.

Syntax

The grammatical rules dictating how words combine to form sentences.

Pragmatics

The rules governing effective language use in social contexts.

Turn-taking

The conversational practice of alternating speaking roles.

Social referencing

The act of looking to others for cues about how to react emotionally.

Empathy

The ability to understand and share another person's feelings.

Emotion display rules

Social norms dictating when, where, and how to express emotions.

Emotional contagion

The phenomenon of sharing emotions across individuals, such as crying in response to another's cry.

Behavioral Inhibition

the tendency to withdraw and express fear in the face of stressful novel situations

Self Regulation

The ability to manage emotions and reactions

Goodness-of-fit

Children develop best if there is a good fit between the temperament of the child and environmental demands

Evolutionary Theories

Emphasize the existence of discrete emotions that are shared by all humans

Differentiation Theories

Emphasize that discrete emotions are not present at birth but only develop gradually

Functionalist Theories

Emphasize how emotions serve social functions, for example, signaling desired goals both to self and others

Internalization Theory

Focuses on how children’s emotion expression and regulation in social contexts are guided by adults and cultural norms

Social Smile

Expression of happiness in response to interacting with others, first appearing at age 2-3 months

Prosocial Behavior

Positive behavior toward others, including kindness, friendliness, and sharing

Temperament

Innate responses to the physical and social environment