Lecture Notes Flashcards: Piaget, Attachment, Parenting Styles, Play, and Early Childhood Development

A comprehensive set of vocabulary flashcards covering Piaget's theory of cognitive development, attachment styles, parenting styles, Parten's play types, and key early childhood concepts.

Adaptation

Piaget's process by which children adjust to new information through assimilation and accommodation.

Assimilation

Fitting new information into existing schemas.

Accommodation

Changing schemas to fit new information.

Organization

Grouping knowledge into schemas to understand the world.

Schema

Mental framework that organizes knowledge and guides understanding and action.

Sensorimotor Stage

Piaget's stage (0–2 years) where learning occurs through movement and senses; object permanence develops.

Object Permanence

Understanding that objects continue to exist even when they are not visible.

Preoperational Stage

Piaget's stage (2–7 years) featuring symbolic thought, pretend play, and precausal thinking.

Symbolic Thought

Ability to use symbols (words, images) to represent objects and events.

Animism

Belief that inanimate objects have lifelike qualities.

Artificialism

Belief that humans cause natural events (e.g., rain because someone made the clouds cry).

Transductive Reasoning

Incorrect linkages between cause and effect (e.g., dog barks → balloon pops).

Syncretism

Assuming simultaneous events cause each other (one thing leads to another).

Make-believe and Imaginary Play

Play that supports symbolic thought, imagination, language, and conceptual thinking; tied to sensorimotor and preoperational stages.

Concrete Operational Stage

Piaget's stage (7–11 years) with logical thinking about concrete events, conservation, and classification.

Conservation

Understanding that quantity remains the same despite changes in form or appearance.

Classification

Ability to group objects into categories based on shared attributes.

Formal Operational Stage

Piaget's stage (12+ years) with abstract thinking, hypothetical reasoning, and systematic problem solving.

Abstract Thinking

Ability to think about concepts that are not tied to concrete objects or events.

Hypothetical Reasoning

Ability to consider possibilities and imagine outcomes beyond concrete reality.

Systematic Problem Solving

Methodical, planned approach to solving problems.

First Intelligence Test

Earliest intelligence test; no specific name given in notes; sparked modern cognitive development measures.

Strange Situation

Mary Ainsworth's procedure to assess infant attachment by observing behavior when the caregiver leaves and returns.

Secure Attachment

Child uses the caregiver as a secure base, explores, is distressed when the caregiver leaves, is comforted upon return; caregiver is sensitive.

Insecure-Avoidant

Child ignores the caregiver, does not use the caregiver as a secure base; caregiver is insensitive or unresponsive.

Insecure-Resistant

Child is clingy, resists interacting, is distressed when the caregiver leaves, hard to comfort; caregiver inconsistently responsive.

Authoritative Parenting

Reasonable demands with explanations; fosters high self-esteem and strong social skills.

Authoritarian Parenting

Strict, little warmth; emphasizes obedience; associated with lower self-esteem and poorer social skills.

Permissive Parenting

Few demands, very nurturing; results in lower self-discipline and potential behavioral/risk issues.

Uninvolved Parenting

Neglectful and unresponsive; emotionally withdrawn; associated with poor school performance.

Unoccupied Play

Child observes and watches; learning through observation.

Solitary Play

Plays alone with focused attention; independence and concentration.

Onlooker Play

Watches others play and may converse, showing social observation.

Parallel Play

Plays near other children, often mimicking or copying; early social interaction.

Associative Play

Interacts with others without shared goals; emphasizes cooperation and communication.

Cooperative Play

Structured play with roles and rules; involves teamwork, rule-following, imagination.

Delayed Gratification

Ability to postpone immediate rewards; linked to better emotion regulation and later self-control.

Marshmallow Test

Classic experiment illustrating delayed gratification in children.

Fine-motor Milestones in Art

Progression from simple scribbles/dots to more complex drawings; reflects coordination, planning, and symbolic thought.

Self-concept Development

Understanding of who we are, abilities, and feelings; shaped by social feedback.

Looking-Glass Self

Cooley's idea that self-view is formed by imagining how others perceive us.

I and Me

Mead's concept of the social self: the 'I' as the acting self and the 'Me' as the socialized self.

Gross-motor Development

Growth of large muscle activities (running, jumping, throwing); improved coordination and brain integration, including corpus callosum growth.