CH.6 Early Childhood Vocab

PSYC 306 Lifespan development

Stunting

Process experienced by children who are malnourished and consequently are short for their age

Corpus callosum

Brand of neural fibers connecting the two hemispheres of the brain

Cerebellum

Structure at the base of the brain involved in balance and motor movements

Reticular formation

Part of the lower brain, involved in attention

Infantile amnesia

Inability to remember anything that happened prior to age 4 or 5

Handedness

Preference for using either the right or left hand in gross and fine motor activites

Conservation

Mental ability to understand that the quantity of a substance or material remains the same even if its appearance changes

Reversibility

Ability to reverse an action mentally

Centration

Piaget’s term for young children’s thinking as being centered, or focused, on one noticeable aspect of a cognitive problem to the exclusion of other important aspects

Egocentrism

Cognitive inability to distinguish between one’s own perspective and another person’s perspective

Animism

Tendency to attribute human thoughts and feelings to inanimate objects and forces

Classification

Ability to understand that objects can be part of more than one cognitive group; for example, an object can be classified with red objects as well as with round objects

Critiques of Piaget

It underestimates children’s cognitive capabilities, it exaggerates the extent to which development is stage-like rather than continuous 

Theory of mind

Ability to understand thinking processes in oneself and others

Early intervention program

Program directed at young children who are at risk for later problems, intended to prevent problems from developing

Sensitive period

In the course of development, a period when the capacity for learning in a specific area is especially pronounced

Pragmatics

Social and cultural context of language that guides people as to what is appropriate to say and not to say in a given social situation

Emotional self-regulation

Ability to exercise control over one’s emotions

Undercontrol

Trait of having inadequate emotional self-regulation

Externalizing problems

Problems that involve others, such as aggression

Overcontrol

Trait of having excessive emotional self-regulation

Internalizing problems

Problems that entail distress inward, toward the self, such as depression and anxiety

Initiative vs. guilt

In Erikson’s lifespan theory, the early childhood stage in which alternatives are learning to plan activities in a purposeful way, or being afflicted with excess guilt that undermines initiative

Gender constancy

Understanding that femaleness and maleness are biological and cannot change

Gender roles

Cultural expectations for appearance and behavior specific to males or females

Gender schemas

Gender-based cognitive structure for organizing and processing information, comprising expectations for males and females appearance and behavior

Self-socialization

Process by which people seek to maintain consistency between their gender schemas and their behavior

Parenting styles

Practices that parents exhibit in relation to their children and their beliefs about those practices

Demandingess

Degree to which parents set down rules and expectations for behavior and require their children to comply with them

Responsiveness

Degree to which parents are sensitive to their childrens needs and express love, warmth, and concern for them

Authoritative parents

Parents who are high in demandingness and high in responsiveness

Authoritarian parents

Parents who are high in demandingness but low in responsiveness 

Permissive parents

Parents who are low in demandingness and high in responsiveness

Disengaged parents

Parents who are low in both demandingness and responsiveness

Reciprocal or bidirectional effects

In relations between two persons, the principle that each of them affects the other

Filial piety

Belief that children should respect, obey, and revere their parents throughout life; common in Asian cultures

Familismo

Cultural belief among Latinos that emphasizes the love, closeness, and mutual obligations among family members

Time out

Disciplinary strategy in which child is required to sit still in a designated place for a brief period

Psychological control

Parenting strategy that uses shame and withdrawal of love to influence children’s behavior

Corporal punishment

Physical punishment of children

Child maltreatment

Abuse or neglect of children, including physical, emotional, or sexual abuse

Instrumental aggression

Type of aggression when a child wants something and uses aggressive behavior or words to get it

Hostile aggression

Type of aggression that entails signs of anger and intent to inflict pain or harm on others

Relational aggression

Type of aggression that involves damaging another person’s reputation among peers through social exclusion and malicious gossip