331 Exam 2

Question 1

5 components of classical conditioning; examples?

Answer 1

oUnconditioned stimulus
• Meat powder

oUnconditioned response
• Salivation

oConditioned response
• By pairing bell with meat power, bell becomes conditioned stimulus, so salivation is a conditioned response

oNeutral stimulus
• The bell has no natural effect on dogs’ salivation, so it is neutral
• After adding neutral stimulus, unconditioned stimulus becomes conditioned

Question 2

Receptive vs. expressive language

Answer 2

Receptive language precedes expressed language
• Receptive language is words understood, or words ‘received’ by the user
• Joint attention—learning speech begins with sharing a common focus
• Statistical learning—children are very sensitive to regularities in language

Expressed language is words produced, or words ‘expressed’ by the user
• This ability emerges after receptive language abilities
• Children can use productive language before they can talk

Question 3

Define constructivism

Answer 3

The perspective that knowledge must be constructed by the learner
• Fundamentally, you cannot directly place knowledge into someone’s head
• Student/child-centered model because child is constructing own model/learning/perspectives

Question 4

Differences between Vygotsky and Piaget’s theories

Answer 4

Piaget: emphasized biology, solitary, exploration, and discovery
• A → biological readiness (maturation or age) → B

Vygotsky: emphasized social interactions drive cognitive development
• A → cultural tool → B

Question 5

Main points of sociocultural theory

Answer 5

o Vygotsky emphasized SOCIAL and CULTURAL influences on cognitive development
• Cognition is INHERENTLY SOCIAL and,
• Cognition is INHERENTLY LANGUAGE BASED
o Children’s cognitive development as SOCIALLY INFORMED
• Social interactions are ENGINES OF DEVELOPMENT

Question 6

Define cultural tools; examples?

Answer 6

Cultural tools MEDIATE LEARNING
• Examples: Language, Numbers/counting, Symbolism, Schemes, Pencils, Diagrams/maps, Blueprints, Computers, Conventional signs

**Within social interactions, children use those cultural tools to get to those higher cognitive processes

Question 7

3 components of information processing Store Model

Answer 7

o Sensory register: where stimuli initially held for short period
o Working memory: where we hold ‘attended-to’ information so we can encode it
o Long-term memory: permanent knowledge base
• Very vast/unlimited, but comes at a cost—retrieval can be difficult if have too much information stored

Question 8

Define holophrase

Answer 8

single words that convey more complex thought
• By 15-18 months
• ‘Truck” = “that thing over there is a truck”

Question 9

3 components of executive functioning

Answer 9

o Working memory: capacity to hold and manipulate information over short periods of time
o Inhibitory control: filter our thoughts and impulses to think before we act
o Cognitive flexibility: capacity to nimbly switch gears and adjust to change in demands

Question 10

Define scaffolding

Answer 10

o Scaffolding: adjusting support to fit children’s level

• Giving hints/helping but eventually hand over task so child can do independently

Question 11

Define intelligence

Answer 11

Individual differences in cognitive abilities
• Ability to reason, plan, problem solve, think abstractly, learn quickly
• Measures more scholastic abilities of cognition

reasoning, planning, problem solving, and/or thinking abstractly

Question 12

3 components of Sternberg’s Triarchic Theory of Intelligence

Answer 12

• Analytic—ability to recognize and define a problem, generate solution, and evaluate progress toward solution
• Practical—application of intelligence in every day life situations
• Creative—solving novel problems; quickly shift tasks

Question 13

How does bilingual language affect children’s cognitive development?

Answer 13

o Bilingualism has actually been shown to aid development of executive functioning skills
• Selective attention
• Problem solving
• Mental flexibility
• Language processing
• Theory of mind
o To learn a second language requires interaction in that language

Question 14

Primary causes of racial achievement gap before school

Answer 14

• The Word Gap (30 million word gap)
• Parent stress
• Child care—preschool programs or high-quality, enriching settings

Question 15

Primary causes of racial achievement gap during school

Answer 15

• Once you’re behind, very difficult to catch up
• Teacher bias
• Learned helplessness
• Segregation—urban vs. suburb districts
• Cultural match—between student and teacher
• Poverty related issues—hierarchy of needs, parent support, peer pressure, summer declines

Question 16

What are the various components that make up school readiness?

Answer 16

o	Pre-literacy skills
o	Early math and science skills
o	Self regulation
o	Emotional development
o	Attitudes toward learning and school

Question 17

Define African American Vernacular English

Answer 17

o Dialect—particular form of a language that is distinctive of a specific region or social group
o AAVE is not simply ‘black slang’
• There is established grammar, quite similar to Standard English
• Recognized by linguists, ethnologists, and even some school districts as established, legitimate dialects

Question 18

Which socioeconomic class is most exposed to lead?

Answer 18

Low income children

Question 19

What are the effects of lead in children?

Answer 19

o Consequences: dietary factors—lacking zinc and iron; stressful, disorganized home
o High levels associated with:
• Brain swelling, disrupted functioning of neurons and cell death

Question 20

Define habituation in relation to media exposure

Answer 20

o A reduction in attention to a continuously available or repeated stimulus
• i.e. when infants’ attention declines to 50% of the amount of time they first looked at a stimulus, they have habituated to the familiar stimulus

Question 21

Which age group watch the most television?

Answer 21

Preschoolers

Question 22

Who is associated with the nativist view of language?

Answer 22

Noam Chomsky

- Language is born with us

Question 23

Who is associated with the environmentalist view of language?

Answer 23

Skinner

- Think all language is learned

Question 24

3 factors that explain why socioeconomic status as an effect on executive functioning

Answer 24

o Home enrichment
o Maternal sensitivity
o Child’s temperamental reactivity

Question 25

Define positive reinforcement

Answer 25

Something added that increases probability of a behavior

• i.e. treats; receiving stickers for doing well on spelling test

Question 26

Define negative reinforcement

Answer 26

Something removed that increases probability of a behavior

• i.e. time out; seatbelt reminder buzzer; playing sick to skip PE class

Question 27

Define punishment

Answer 27

Spanking; squirting Leonard in face with water bottle; sending to principle’s office

Adding an adverse consequence that reduces probability of a given behavior

Question 28

Factors that help explain the socioeconomic variation in children’s IQ scores

Answer 28

o Home environment (lack of enrichment at home)

o Culturally biased tests