Chapter 11 - The Development of Body, Thought, and Language

Question 1

accomodation

Answer 1

In Piaget’s theory of cognitive development, the change occurs in an existing mental scheme or set of schemes as a result of the incorporation of the experience of a new event or object.

Question 2

assimilation

Answer 2

In Piaget’s theory of cognitive development, the process by which experiences are incorporated into the mind or, more specifically, into mental schemes.

Question 3

autism (autism spectrum disorder)

Answer 3

An early developing disorder, typically marked by severe deficits in social interaction, severe deficits in language acquisition, a tendency to perform repetitive actions, and a restricted focus of attention and interest.

Question 4

centration

Answer 4

In Piaget’s theory, the tendency of preoperational children to focus on one aspect of a situation and neglect others.

Question 5

concrete-operational schemes

Answer 5

In Piaget’s theory, the type of mental structure that allows a child to think logically about reversible actions (operations) but only when applied to objects with which the child has had direct (concrete) experience.

Question 6

creole language

Answer 6

A new language, with grammatical rules, that develops from a pidgin language in colonies established by people who had different native languages.

Question 7

decentration

Answer 7

In piaget’s theory, the ability of concrete operational children to consider multiple aspects of a stimulus or situation.

Question 8

development psychology

Answer 8

The branch of psychology that charts changes in people’s abilities and styles of behaving as they get older and tries to understand the factors that produce or influence those changes.

Question 9

egocentricity

Answer 9

In Piaget’s theory, the tendency to interpret objects and events frome one’s own perspective.

Question 10

embryonic phase

Answer 10

Developmental period that extends from the third to about the eight week after conception in humans, during which all major organ systems develop.

Question 11

fetal phase

Answer 11

Developmental period that extends from about nine weeks until birth, which usually takes place about 38 weeks after conception in humans.

Question 12

formal-operational schemes

Answer 12

In Piaget’s theory, the type of mental structure that allows a person to reason about abstract concepts and hypothetical ideas.

Question 13

grammar

Answer 13

The entire set of rules that specify the permissible ways that smaller units can be arranged to form morphemes, words, phrases, and sentences in a language.

Question 14

language-acquisition device (LAD)

Answer 14

Chomsky’s term for the special, innate characteristics of the human mind that allow children to learn their native language; it includes innate knowledge of basic aspects of grammar that are common to all languages and an innate predisposition to attend to and remember the critical, unique aspects of the language.

Question 15

language-acquisition support system (LASS)

Answer 15

The term used by social-learning theorists to refer to the simplification of language and the use of gestures that occur when parents or other language users speak to young children, which helps children learn language; developed as a complement to Chomsky’s concept of the LAD (language-acquisition device).

Question 16

morphemes

Answer 16

The smallest meaningful units of a verbal language; words, prefixes, or suffixes that have discrete meanings.

Question 17

object permanence

Answer 17

Piaget’s term for understanding that an object exists when it is out of view.

Question 18

operations

Answer 18

Piaget’s term for a reversible action the can be performed either in reality or mentally upon some object or set of objects.

Question 19

phonemes

Answer 19

The various vowel and consonant sounds that provide the basis for a spoken language.

Question 20

pidgin language

Answer 20

A primitive system of communication that emerges when people with different native languages colonize the same region; it uses words from the various native languages and has either no or minimal grammatical structure.

Question 21

preoperational schemes

Answer 21

In Piaget’s theory, mental structures that permit the child to symbolize objects and events that are absent, but do not permit the child to think about the operations that can be performed on objects.

Question 22

puberty

Answer 22

Period in life in which children attain adult size and physical characteristics, including sexual maturity.

Question 23

representational insight

Answer 23

The knowledge that an entity can stand for something other than itself.

Question 24

scaffolding

Answer 24

An expert, when instructing a novice, responding contigently to the novice’s responses in a learning situation, so that the novice gradually increases his or her understanding of a problem.

Question 25

schemes

Answer 25

Piaget’s term for the mental entities that provide the basis for thought and that change in a stage-like way through development. They contain information about the actions that one can perform on objects, either in reality or symbolically in the mind.

Question 26

sensorimotor schemes

Answer 26

In Piaget’s theory, the type of mental structure that enables an infant to act on objects that are immediately present but does not permit thought about objects that are absent.

Question 27

shared attention

Answer 27

Two individuals both attending to the same thing or event and sharing that experience.

Question 28

social referencing

Answer 28

The process by which infants use the nonverbal emotional expressions of a caregiver as cues to guide their behavior.

Question 29

syntax

Answer 29

The set of grammatical rules for a given language that specifies how words can be arranged to produce phrases and sentences.

Question 30

teratogens

Answer 30

External agents, such as drugs and radiation, that can have harmful effects on a developing embryo or fetus.

Question 31

theory of mind

Answer 31

A person’s concepts of mental activity; used to refer to how people conceptualize mental activity and how they attribute intention to and predict the behavior of others.

Question 32

tools of intellectual adaptation

Answer 32

Vygotsky’s term for tools a culture provides for thinking and problem solving.

Question 33

universal grammar

Answer 33

In nativist theories of language acquisition, the innate grammar that characterizes all human languages.

Question 34

zone of proximal development

Answer 34

In Vygotsky’s theory, the range or set of activities that a child can do in collaboration with more competent others but cannot do alone.

Question 35

zygotic phase

Answer 35

Developmental phase lasting appproximately two weeks in humans, which starts when an egg is fertilized and ends when the zygote implants in the uterine wall.