PSYC 230 Chapter 4

schemes

according to Piaget, mental structures that organize information and regulate behavior

assimilation

according to Piaget, taking in information that is compatible with what one already knows.

accommodation

according to Piaget, changing existing knowledge based on new knowledge.

equilibriation

according to Piaget, the process by which children reorganize their schemes to return to a state of equilibrium when disequilibrium occurs.

sensorimotor period

first of Piaget’s four stages of cognitive development, which lasts from birth to approximately 2 years, where infants learn through sensory experiences and motor actions.

object permanence

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

egocentrism

Difficulty in seeing the world from anoth- er’s point of view; typical of children in the preoperational period

animism

Phenomenon of crediting inanimate objects with life and lifelike properties such as feelings (phone)

centration

according to Piaget, when children often concentrate on one aspect of a problem, ignoring other relevant aspects

core knowledge hypothesis

Infants are born with rudimentary knowledge of the world, which is elaborated based on experiences.

teleological explanations

The belief that living are designed for purpose rather than resulting from processes.

essentialism

Children’s belief that all living things have an essence that can’t be seen but gives a living thing its identity

mental hardware

mental and neural structures that are built in and allow the mind to operate

mental software

mental “programs” that are the basis for performing particular tasks

attention

Processes that determine which infor- mation will be processed further by an individual.

orienting response

an individual views a strong or unfamiliar stimulus, and changes in heart rate and brain-wave activity occur.

habituation

act of becoming unresponsive to a stimulus that is presented repeatedly

classical conditioning

a form of learning that involves pairing a neutral stimulus and a response originally produced by another stimulus.

operant conditioning

A learning process that involves modifying behavior through rewards and punishments.

autobiographical memory

memories of the significant events and experiences of one’s own life

one-to-one principle

Counting principle that states that there must be one and only one number name for each object counted.

stable-order principle

counting principle that states the number names must always be counted in the same order

cardinality principle

The concept that the last number counted represents the total number of objects in a set.

intersubjectivity

mutual, shared understanding among participants in an activity

guided participation

Children’s involvement in structured activities with others who are more skilled, typically producing cognitive growth

zone of proximal development

The difference between what a learner can do independently and what they can do with assistance. It represents the range of tasks that a learner can perform with the help of a more knowledgeable other.

scaffolding

a style in which teachers gauge the amount of assistance they offer to match the learner’s needs.

private speech

a child’s comments that are not intended for others but are designed to help regulate the child’s own behavior.

infant-directed speech

speech that adults use with infants that
is slow and has exaggerated changes in pitch and volume; it helps children master language.

cooing

Early vowellike sounds that babies produce (OOOOH) (AHHHH)

babbling

speechlike sounds that consist of vowel-consonant combinations; common at ab 6 months

fast-mapping

a child’s connections between words and referents that are made so quickly that he or she cannot consider all possible meanings of the word.

underextension

when children define words more narrowly than adults do. (using “car” to refer to the family car")

overextension

when children define words more broadly than adults do. (using “car” to refer to buses and trucks)

phonological memory

ability to remember speech sounds briefly; an important skill in acquiring vocabulary

referential style

language-learning style of children whose vocabularies are dominated by names of objects, persons, or actions

expressive style

language-learning style of children whose vocabularies include many social phrases that are used like one word (ex. “let’s go”)

telegraphic speech

speech used by young children that con- tains only the words necessary to convey a message. (“I hungry”)

grammatical morphemes

words or endings of words that make a sentence grammatical

overregularization

grammatical usage that results from applying rules to words that are not exceptions to the rule. (“clams, rams, mans (?)”)