7.2 how we think throughout our lives

Question 1

baby talk (parentese)

Answer 1

The different format of speech that adults use when talking with babies that involves the use of shorter sentences with a higher, more melodious pitch.

Question 2

babbling

Answer 2

The rhythmic repetition of various syllables, including both consonants and vowels.

Question 2

overextension

Answer 2

The application of a newly learned word to objects that are not included in the meaning of the word.

Question 3

holophrase

Answer 3

A word used by an infant to express a complete idea.

Question 4

underextension

Answer 4

the failure to apply a new word more generally to objects that are included within the meaning of the word.

Question 5

telegraphic speech

Answer 5

Using two-word sentences with mainly nouns and verbs.

Question 6

assimilation

Answer 6

Piaget’s term for the interpretation of new experiences in terms of present schemas.

Question 7

accommodation

Answer 7

piaget’s term for the modification of present schemas to fit with new experiences.

Question 7

sensorimotor stage

Answer 7

The first stage in Piaget’s theory of cognitive development, from birth to about age 2, during which infants learn about the world through their sensory and motor interactions with it and develop object permanence.

Question 8

object permanence

Answer 8

The knowledge that an object exists independent of perceptual contact with it.

Question 9

preoperational stage

Answer 9

The second stage in Piaget’s theory of cognitive development, from age 2 to 6, during which the child’s thinking becomes more symbolic and language-based, but remains egocentric and lacks the mental operations that allow logical thinking.

Question 10

egocentrism

Answer 10

the inability to distinguish one’s own perceptions, thoughts, and feelings from those of others.

Question 11

conservation

Answer 11

The knowledge that the quantitative properties of objects (such as mass and number) remain the same despite changes in appearance.

Question 12

reversibility

Answer 12

The knowledge that reversing a transformation brings about the conditions that existed before the transformation.

Question 13

centration

Answer 13

The tendency to focus on only one aspect of a problem at a time.

Question 14

concrete operational stage

Answer 14

the third stage in Piaget’s theory of cognitive development, from age 6 to 12, during which children gain a fuller understanding of conservation and other mental operations that allow them to think logically, but only about concrete events.

Question 15

formal operational stage

Answer 15

The last stage in Piaget’s theory of cognitive development, starting at age 12 or so, during which a child gains the capacity for hypothetical-deductive thought.

Question 16

information-processing approach to cognitive development

Answer 16

An approach to studying cognitive development that assumes cognitive development is continuous and improves as children become more adept at processing information (taking in, storing, and using information).

Question 17

zone of proximal development

Answer 17

According to Vygotsky, the difference between what a child can actually do and what the child could do with the help of others.

Question 18

scaffolding

Answer 18

According to Vygotsky, a style of teaching in which the teacher adjusts the level of help in relation to the child’s level of performance while orienting the child’s learning toward the upper level of his or her zone of proximal development.

Question 19

cross-sectional study

Answer 19

A study in which the performances of groups of participants of different ages are compared with one another.

Question 20

longitudinal study

Answer 20

A study in which performance of the same group of participants is examined at different ages.

Question 21

cohort effects

Answer 21

people of a given age (cohorts) are affected by factors unique to their generation, leading to differences in performance between generations.