Child Development: Perception, Language, Intelligence, and Social Development

Comprehensive practice flashcards covering infant perception, motor milestones, learning mechanisms, language acquisition, theories of intelligence, psychosexual/psychosocial theories, and ecological systems models.

How is sensation defined in infant perception?

Taking in information through your senses.

How is perception defined in infant development?

Making sense of information from your senses.

What is the key difference between sensation and perception?

Sensation is receiving information, whereas perception is understanding information.

What is preferential looking?

A research method where researchers see which of two things a baby looks at longer.

What is habituation?

Losing interest in something after seeing it repeatedly.

What does visual acuity measure?

How clearly someone can see details.

What is contrast sensitivity?

The ability to notice differences between light and dark.

What occurs during perceptual narrowing?

A baby becomes better at recognizing familiar things while becoming less sensitive to unfamiliar differences.

What is object segregation?

Understanding where one object ends and another begins.

What procedure is used in the violation of expectancy paradigm?

Researchers show an event that is impossible or unexpected to see whether babies look longer.

What is intermodal perception?

Using information from more than one sense together.

What is the focus of cross-cultural research on motor milestones?

Studying how children from different cultures develop movement skills.

What is self-locomotion?

Moving yourself from place to place.

What is a scale error?

When a child tries to use an object that is too small for their body.

What is statistical learning?

Learning patterns and regularities from repeated experiences.

How is classical conditioning defined in infant learning?

Learning by associating two things together.

What is operant conditioning (also known as instrumental conditioning)?

Learning through the consequences of your behavior.

What is positive reinforcement?

Adding something pleasant to increase a behavior.

What is observational learning?

Learning by watching someone else.

What is imitation?

Copying someone else's behavior.

What is rational and active learning in infants?

Babies actively explore and learn about the world rather than just passively receiving information.

What are symbols in language development?

Things that represent something else.

What is the difference between comprehension and production in language?

Comprehension is understanding language, whereas production is using language to communicate.

What are phonemes?

The smallest units of sound in a language.

What are morphemes?

The smallest units of meaning in language.

What is syntax?

Rules for putting words together into sentences.

What are pragmatics?

Rules for using language appropriately in social situations.

What does it mean that language is species-specific?

It is a characteristic unique to a particular species (specific to humans).

What does it mean that language is species-universal?

It is something shared by all members of a species (all typically developing human children acquire language).

What is a sensitive period in language acquisition?

A time when the brain is especially ready to learn something.

What is infant-directed speech?

The higher-pitched, slower, exaggerated way adults often speak to babies.

What is prosody?

The rhythm, pitch, and emphasis of speech.

What is categorical perception in speech perception?

Hearing speech sounds as belonging to distinct categories.

What is word segmentation?

Figuring out where one word ends and another begins in continuous speech.

What are distributional properties in language learning?

Learning language patterns by noticing which sounds tend to occur together.

What is babbling?

Making speech-like sounds before saying actual words.

What is intersubjectivity?

Sharing attention, feelings, or understanding with another person.

What is joint attention?

Two people focusing on the same object or event.

What is productive vocabulary?

Words a child can actually say and use.

What is underextension?

Using a word too narrowly.

What is overextension?

Using a word too broadly.

What is the mutual exclusivity assumption?

Assuming an unfamiliar object has an unfamiliar name.

What is the whole-object assumption?

Assuming a new word refers to the whole object rather than just one part.

What are pragmatic cues?

Using social clues to figure out what someone means.

What is telegraphic speech?

Short sentences that leave out less important words.

What is over-regularization?

Applying a grammar rule to words that do not follow that rule.

What characterizes the holophrastic stage of language development?

A child uses one word to express a whole thought.

What occurs during the two-word utterances stage?

A child combines two words (e.g., 'More juice').

What is private speech?

Talking out loud to yourself to guide your own behavior.

What are collective monologues?

Conversations where children talk near each other but don't really respond to what the other child says.

What are narratives in child speech?

Telling a connected story about events.

What is Skinner's behaviorist view of language development?

Children learn language through imitation, reinforcement, and consequences (learning from the environment).

What is Chomsky's nativist view of language development?

Humans are born with an inborn ability that helps them learn language.

What is connectionism in language development?

Language develops as the brain forms connections and recognizes patterns through experience.

How is intelligence defined?

The ability to learn, reason, solve problems, and adapt.

What is g (general intelligence)?

The idea that one general mental ability influences performance across different tasks.

What is fluid intelligence?

Solving new problems without relying heavily on previous knowledge.

What is crystallized intelligence?

Knowledge and skills gained through learning and experience.

What does the view of intelligence as 'numerous distinct processes' propose?

The idea that intelligence includes multiple different abilities rather than just one general ability.

What is an IQ test?

A test designed to measure certain intellectual abilities.

What is a normal distribution in intelligence testing?

A bell-shaped pattern where most scores fall near the average ($100$) and fewer fall at the extremes.

What is test reliability?

How consistently a test measures something.

What is predictive ability in intelligence testing?

How well a test score can help predict future outcomes.

What is genotype-environment interaction?

How a person's genetic characteristics and environment work together to influence development.

What is a passive gene-environment effect?

Parents provide both genes and an environment that matches those genes.

What is an evocative gene-environment effect?

A child's characteristics cause other people to respond to them in certain ways.

What is an active gene-environment effect?

A person seeks out environments that match their interests and abilities.

What does the HOME acronym stand for and what does it assess?

Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment; a way of assessing the quality of a child's home environment (such as learning materials, stimulation, and caregiver interactions).

What is a shared intellectual environment?

Environmental experiences siblings have in common.

What is a non-shared intellectual environment?

Experiences that differ between siblings.

What is the Flynn effect?

The pattern of IQ scores increasing across generations in many populations.

What is stereotype threat?

Fear of confirming a negative stereotype about a group, which can hurt performance.

How does poverty affect children's opportunities and development?

Through limited financial resources, which lead to less access to educational materials or stable housing.

What is Sameroff's Environmental Risk Scale?

A way of looking at how multiple environmental risk factors can add up and affect development.

What is Project Head Start?

A program that provides early childhood education and other support to children from low-income families.

What are the eight types of intelligence in Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences?

Linguistic, Logical-mathematical, Spatial, Musical, Bodily-kinesthetic, Interpersonal, Intrapersonal, and Naturalistic.

What are the three types of abilities in Sternberg's Theory of Successful Intelligence?

Analytical (solving problems and evaluating information), Creative (coming up with new ideas), and Practical (applying knowledge to real-life situations).

What is the core premise of Freud's psychosexual theory?

Development happens through stages focused on different sources of pleasure, and early childhood experiences influence personality.

In Freud's theory, what is the id?

The part of personality that wants immediate satisfaction.

In Freud's theory, what is the ego?

The part that makes realistic decisions and balances the id and superego.

In Freud's theory, what is the superego?

The part of personality connected to morals and right versus wrong.

What is Erikson's psychosocial theory?

Development happens through stages involving social and emotional challenges throughout life.

What is a psychosocial crisis in Erikson's theory?

A challenge or conflict that a person works through at each stage of life.

What is the primary difference in focus between Freud and Erikson?

Freud focused on psychosexual development and pleasure, whereas Erikson focused on social relationships and emotional development throughout life.

What is intermittent reinforcement?

Reinforcing a behavior only sometimes instead of every time.

What does Bandura's Social Learning Theory propose?

Children learn behaviors by observing and imitating others.

What did the Bobo doll experiment demonstrate?

Children can imitate aggressive behavior they observe in adults.

What is self-socialization?

Children actively influence their own development through the choices they make.

What is reciprocal determinism?

A person's behavior, personal characteristics, and environment all influence one another.

What is role-taking?

Understanding another person's thoughts, feelings, or point of view.

What is Selman's Stage Theory of Role-Taking?

A theory explaining how children's ability to understand other people's perspectives develops with age.

What is the hostile-attribution bias?

Assuming someone meant to hurt you when their actions may have been accidental.

What does Dodge's Information-Processing Theory explain?

How children interpret social situations and decide how to respond.

What is an entity orientation according to Dweck?

Believing intelligence and abilities are fixed and cannot change much.

What is an incremental orientation according to Dweck?

Believing abilities can improve through effort and learning.

What is a helpless orientation?

Giving up when something becomes difficult because you believe you cannot improve.

What is a mastery orientation?

Continuing to work through challenges because you believe you can improve.

In Bronfenbrenner's Bioecological Model, what is the microsystem?

The environments a child directly interacts with (such as parents, siblings, teachers, and friends).

In Bronfenbrenner's Bioecological Model, what is the mesosystem?

Connections between parts of the child's microsystem (such as a parent's communication with a child's teacher).

In Bronfenbrenner's Bioecological Model, what is the exosystem?

Environments that indirectly affect the child (such as a parent's workplace affecting how much time they spend at home).