Child Development Exam 2

Cognition

Mental action or process of acquiring knowledge.

Jean Piaget

Developed the four stages of development. One of the first to recognize that children think differently than adults.

Sensorimotor

0-2 years, experience world with senses. Develop motor schemas (physical actions organizing understanding) and object permanence (understanding of an objects presence even when it isn't visible).

Preoperational

2-7 years, creation of mental symbols without logic. Develops operations (systematic rules) and transductive reasoning (following logic based upon what is perceived).Characterized by egocentrism (inability to see another's perspective), animism (applying human characteristics to inanimate objects), and centration (inability to focus on multiple aspects of a situation).

Concrete Operational

7-12 years, thinking logically about concrete subjects. Develops reversibility (ability to reverse mental operations), classifications (ability to fit objects into categories), and seriation (ability to put objects into an order).

Formal Operational

12 years - adulthood, reasoning abstractly and thinking in hypotheticals. Develops hypothetical-deductive reasoning (ability to logically reason hypothetical possibilities), imaginary audience (belief that you are the center of attention), and personal fable (belief that your experience is different than everyone else's).

Post-formal Operations

Not developed or studies by Piaget. Characterized by the ability to conceptualize contradictions, complex situations, uncertainty, imperfections, and compromise.

Intelligence

Active, constructive, and dynamic.

Schemas

How we "make sense" of and organize our experiences.

Assimilation and Accommodation

Key mechanisms of learning process.

Disequalibrium

State of confusion when an experience doesn't fit a schema.

Theory of Core Knowledge

Babies are born with some basic knowledge of the world.

Violation of Expectations

Explains why babies look longer at events that surprise or confuse them.

Lev Vygotsky

Developed sociocultural theory that recognizes the effects of culture and interaction on child development.

Zone of Proximal Development

Level just above what you can accomplish individually.

More Knowledgeable Other

Mentor that influences student.

Scaffolding

How one moves between stages of learning.

Private Speech

Repeating what adults say to oneself. Essential to learning and individually carrying out tasks.

Selective Attention

Tuning in to certain things and tuning out others.

Sustained Attention

Maintaining focus over an extended period of time, develops with age. Predicts positive academic performance.

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

Interferes with executive functioning/development. Patterns of hyperactivity/impulses, inattentiveness, or a combination of the two.

Scripts

Used by children in familiar situations.

Sensory Memory

Retained briefly in raw form, not deliberate in childhood. Memory increases throughout childhood.

Working/Short-Term Memory

Encodes memories in order to move them to long-term memory.

Long-Term Memory

Capable of permanent storage.

Infantile Amnesia

Events occurring before the age of three are forgotten.

Elaboration

Creation of extra connections that tie information together.

Fuzzy Trace Theory

Gist memory (generalizations) and verbatim memory (details).

Reminiscent Bump

Period between 10-30 years old where one recalls and reminisces on memories.

Period of Recency

Present information remembered, but declines as you approach the reminiscent memories.

Executive Function

Brain organization within the prefrontal cortex. Coordinates attention, memory, and behavioral responses.

Cognitive Flexibility

Ability to switch focus.

Metacognition

Thinking about thinking.

Theory of Mind

Awareness of one's own mental processes and those of others. Perception, emotion, and desire.

Factors of Emotional Intelligence

Self -awareness
Regulation
Expression
Empathy
Expressiveness

Fluid Intelligence

Adapting to and solving novel problems.

Crystallized Intelligence

Accumulated knowledge that increases with age.

Intelligence Quotient (IQ)

Number representing general level of intelligence (not the most accurate).

Developmental Quotient (DQ)

Assesses physical and motor skills for infants.

Aptitude Test

Predicts future performance and capacity to learn.

Achievement Test

Assesses what has been learned previously.

Multiple Intelligence Theory

Gardner's theory that there are multiple forms of intelligence. Natural, spatial, musical, logical, interpersonal, kinesthetic, linguistic, intrapersonal.

Triarchic Theory

Sternberg's theory that intelligence is made up of analytical, practical, and creative abilities.

Intellectual Disability

IQ score ranging between 70-75, more common in males.

Specific Learning Disorder (SLD)

Persistent and unexplainable difficulty in a specific academic domain.

Profoundly Gifted

High functioning in intellectual ability, creativity, and task commitment. Require specialized education.

Big-C Creativity

Transforms culture and the way people think/live.

Small-c Creativity

Interaction with everyday challenges.

Self-Regulation

Important for a positive academic outcome, predicts grades more effectively than IQ.

Intrinsic Motivation

Performing a task for the joy and genuine interest of it.

Extrinsic Motivation

Performing a task for a reward.

Motivational Rescilience

Motivated by facing setbacks.

Motivational Vulnerability

Discouraged by facing setbacks.

Growth Mindset

Intelligence can be improved with determination and hard work.

Headstart

Program intended to break the cycle of poverty, yet failed to prevent inequalities due to its systematic structure.

Educational Investments

Yields the highest return in human capital.

Social Promotion

Children promoted to the next grade even when grade-level material hasn't been mastered.

Phonology

Study of sounds in a language.

Morphology

Ways that words form sound and relate.

Syntax

Grammar

Semantics

Meaning of words (content).

Pragmatics

How language is used in social contexts (use).

Broca's Area

Active in producing speech, associated with the motor center that controls the mouth.

Wernicke's Area

Active in understanding speech, associated with the hearing center.

Interactionism

Language development based upon the relationship between a child's biological/natural abilities and their social experiences.

Nativism

Noam Chomsky, theory that brains are innately wired to learn language.

Language Acquisition Device (LAD)

Part of brain triggered when hearing/processing language.

Universal Grammar

Grammar that is consistent among many cultures and believed to be hard-wired into the brain.

Statistical Learning

How children will take statistical value on which sounds are necessary to recognize and use.

Critical Language Development Period

Infancy to 5 years, but up until only 2 years more specifically.

Pre-natal Foundations

Language learning pre-birth or in the womb.

Preverbal Perception

Babies originally have the ability to distinguish sounds from all language but this gradually declines.

Protoconversation/Conversational Turns

Conversation held between infant and caregiver.

Joint Attention

Attention on item and other's responses to it, fosters sustained attention.

Infant-Directed Speech

Universal way of speaking to babies in higher-pitched voice.

Prosody

the patterns of stress and intonation in a language.

Telegraphic Speech

Simple statements that are not grammatically correct, but get a point across.

Site Words

Most common words

Egocentric Speech

Inability for children to consider another's perspective in a conversation.

Discourse Skills

Ability to understand if a story is logical.

Metaliguistics

Thinking about language and how to use it.

Emergent Literacy

Linguistic skills developed before formal schooling.

Dialogue Reading

Active discussion throughout parent and child reading book together.

Whole Language Approach

Uses reading content that interests the child to focus on word recognition.

Autism Spectrum Disorder

Verbal and nonverbal communication lacks connection.

Dyslexia

Language-based learning disorder. Processing issue that doesn't impact intelligence, but the ability to visualize text.

Emotion

Physiological reaction, interpretation, communication, and actions.

Seven Basic Emotions

Happiness
Sadness
Fear
Anger
Surprise
Disgust

Colic

Excessive crying due to poor digestion.

Social Smile

Response evokes by viewing other facial reactions.

Self-conscious Emotions

Pride, shame, jealousy, embarrassment, and guilt.

Self Awareness

Realization of being a distinct individual whose body, mind, and actions are separate from others. 15-18 months.

Hypothalamus

Regulates bodily functions and hormones. May develop slower in infants exposed to excessive stress.

Temperament

Epigenetic or inborn differences between one another in extraversion, negative emotion, and self-regulation. 50% easy, 10% difficult, 15% slow to warm up.

Emotion Schema

Way of thinking about and forming emotional constructs.

Social Contagion Theory

Tendency for for child's emotions to mimic those of the caregiver.

Social Referencing

Seeking another's expressions for social referencing.

Synchrony

Coordinated, rapid exchanges of responses between caregiver and infants.

Empathy

Experiencing the feelings of others, lack of empathy associated with serious problems in future.

Sympathy

Sharing another's distress.