Ch 5. Cognitive Development in Infancy

Question 1

Schemes

Answer 1

In Piaget’s theory, actions or mental representations that organize knowledge.

Question 2

Assimilation

Answer 2

Piagetian concept of using existing schemes to deal with new information or experiences.

Question 3

Accommodation

Answer 3

Piagetian concept of adjusting schemes to fit new information and experiences.

Question 4

Organization

Answer 4

Piaget’s concept of grouping isolated behaviors and thoughts into a higher-order, more smoothly functioning cognitive system.

Question 5

Equilibration

Answer 5

A mechanism that Piaget proposed to explain how children shift from one stage of thought to the next.

Question 6

Sensorimotor Stage

Answer 6

The first of Piaget’s stages, which lasts from birth to about 2 years of age; infants construct an understanding of the world by coordinating sensory experiences with motoric actions.

Question 7

Simple Reflexes

Answer 7

Piaget’s first sensorimotor substage, which corresponds to the first month after birth. In this substage, sensation and action are coordinated primarily through reflexive behaviors.

Question 8

First Habits and Primary Circular Reactions

Answer 8

Piaget’s second sensorimotor substage, which develops between 1 and 4 months of age. In this substage, the infant coordinates sensation and two types of schemes: habits and primary circular reactions.

Question 9

Primary Circular Reactions

Answer 9

A scheme based on the attempt to reproduce an event that initially occurred by chance.

Question 10

Secondary Circular Reactions

Answer 10

Piaget’s third sensorimotor substage, which develops between 4 and 8 months of age. In this substage, the infant becomes more object-oriented, moving beyond preoccupation with the self.

Question 11

Coordination of Secondary Circular Reactions

Answer 11

Piaget’s fourth sensorimotor substage, which develops between 8 and 12 months of age. Actions become more outwardly directed, and infants coordinate schemes and act with intentionality.

Question 12

Tertiary Circular Reactions, Novelty and Curiosity

Answer 12

Piaget’s fifth sensorimotor substage, which develops between 12 and 18 months of age. In this substage, infants become intrigued by the many properties of objects and by the many things that they can make happen to objects.

Question 13

Internalization of Schemes

Answer 13

Piaget’s sixth and final sensorimotor substage, which develops between 18 and 24 months of age. In this substage, the infant develops the ability to use primitive symbols.

Question 14

Object Permanence

Answer 14

The Piagetian term for understanding that objects and events continue to exist even when they cannot directly be seen, heard, or touched.

Question 15

A-not-B Error

Answer 15

Error that occurs when infants make the mistake of selecting the familiar hiding place (A) rather than the new hiding place (B) of an object as they progress into substage 4 in Piaget’s sensorimotor stage.

Question 16

Core Knowledge Approach

Answer 16

States that infants are born with domain-specific innate knowledge systems.

Question 17

Attention

Answer 17

The focusing of mental resources on select information.

Question 18

Joint Attention

Answer 18

Process that occurs when individuals focus on the same object and are able to track another’s behavior, one individual directs another’s attention, and reciprocal interaction takes place.

Question 19

Memory

Answer 19

A central feature of cognitive development, pertaining to all situations in which an individual retains information over time.

Question 20

Implicit Memory

Answer 20

Memory without conscious recollection; involves skills and routine procedures that are automatically performed.

Question 21

Explicit Memory

Answer 21

Memory of facts and experiences that individuals consciously know and can state.

Question 22

Deferred Imitation

Answer 22

Imitation that occurs after a delay of hours or days.

Question 23

Concepts

Answer 23

Cognitive groupings of similar objects, events, people, or ideas.

Question 24

Developmental Quotient (DQ)

Answer 24

An overall score that combines subscores in motor, language, adaptive, and personal-social domains in the Gesell assessment of infants.

Question 25

Bayley Scales of Infant Development

Answer 25

Scales developed by Nancy Bayley that are widely used to assess infant development. The current version has three components: a mental scale, a motor scale, and an infant behavior profile.

Question 26

Language

Answer 26

A form of communication, whether spoken, written, or signed, that is based on a system of symbols. Language consists of the words used by a community and the rules for varying and combining them.

Question 27

Infinite Generativity

Answer 27

The ability to produce an endless number of meaningful sentences using a finite set of words and rules.

Question 28

Phonology

Answer 28

The sound system of the language, including the sounds that are used and how they may be combined.

Question 29

Morphology

Answer 29

Units of meaning involved in word formation.

Question 30

Syntax

Answer 30

The ways words are combined to form acceptable phrases and sentences.

Question 31

Semantics

Answer 31

The meaning of words and sentences.

Question 32

Pragmatics

Answer 32

The appropriate use of language in different contexts.

Question 33

Telegraphic Speech

Answer 33

The use of short and precise words without grammatical markers such as articles, auxiliary verbs, and other connectives.

Question 34

Broca’s Area

Answer 34

An area in the brain’s left frontal lobe that is involved in speech production.

Question 35

Wernicke’s Area

Answer 35

An area in the brain’s left hemisphere that is involved in language comprehension.

Question 36

Aphasia

Answer 36

A loss or impairment of language ability caused by brain damage.

Question 37

Child-Directed Speech

Answer 37

Language spoken in a higher pitch than normal, with simple words and sentences.

Question 38

Language Acquisition Device (LAD)

Answer 38

Chomsky’s term that describes a biological endowment enabling the child to detect the features and rules of language, including phonology, syntax, and semantics.

Question 39

Gessell Test

Answer 39

Sorts babies who are normally functioning from those who are abnormally functioning utilizing four categories: motor, language, adaptive, and personal-social.