Chapter 11: The Development of Body, Thought, and Language Flashcards
accommodation
change that occurs in an existing mental scheme or set of schemes as a result of the incorporation of the experience of a new event/object (Piaget’s theory)
assimilation
process by which experiences are incorporated into the mind or, more specifically, into mental schemes (Piaget’s theory)
autism (autism spectrum disorder)
early developing disorder, typically marked by severe deficits in social interaction, language acquisition, tendency to perform repetitive actions, and restricted focus of attention and interest
centration
tendency of preoperational children to attend to one aspect of a situation to the exclusion of others (Piaget’s theory)
concrete-operational scheme
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 (Piaget’s theory)
creole language
new language, with grammatical rules, that develops from a pidgin language in colonies established by people who had different native languages
decentration
ability of concrete operational children to consider multiple aspects of a stimulus or situation (Piaget’s theory)
developmental psychology
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
egocentricy
tendency to interpret objects and events from one’s own perspective (Piaget’s theory)
embryonic phase
developmental period that extends from the 3. to about the 8. week after conception in humans, during which all major organ systems develop
fetal phase
developmental period that extends from about nine weeks until birth, which usually takes place about 38 weeks after conception in humans
formal-operational scheme
type of mental structure that allows a person to reason about abstract concepts and hypothetical ideas (Piaget’s theory)
grammar
entire set of rules that specify the permissible ways that smaller units can be arranged to from morphemes, words, phrases, and sentences in language
language-acquisition device (LAD)
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 (Chomsky’s theory)
language-acquisition support system (LASS)
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 LAD)
morphemes
smallest meaningful units of a verbal language; words, prefixes or suffixes that have discreate meanings
object permanence
understanding that an object still exists even when it is out of view (Piaget’s theory)
operations
reversible action that can be performed either in reality or mentally upon some object or a set of objects (Piaget’s theory)
phonemes
various vowel and constant sounds that provide the basis for a spoken language
pidgin language
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
preoperational schemes
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 (Piaget’s theory)
puberty
period in life in which children attain adult size and physical characteristics, including sexual maturity
representational insight
knowledge that an entity can stand for something other than itself
scaffolding
expert, when instructing a novice, responding contingently to the novice’s responses in the learning situation, so that the novice gradually increases his or her understanding of the problem
schemes
mental entities that provide the basis for thought and that change in a stage-like way through development; they obtain information about the actions that one can perform on objects, either in reality or symbolically in the mind (Piaget’s theory)
sensorimotor scemes
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 present
shared attention
two individuals both attending to the same thing/event and sharing that experience
social referencing
process by which infants use the nonverbal expressions of a caregiver as cues to guide their behaviour
syntax
set of grammatical rules for a given language that specifies how words can be arranged to produce phrases and sentences
teratogens
external agents, such as drugs and radiation, that can have harmful effects on a developing embryo/fetus
theory of mind
person’s concept of mental activity; used to refer to how people conceptualize mental activity and how they attribute intention to and predict the behaviour of others
tools of intellectual adaptation
tools a culture provides for thinking and problem solving (Vygotsky’s theory)
universal grammar
innate grammar that characterizes all human languages
zone of proximal development
range/set of activities that a child can do in collaboration with more competent others but cannot yet do alone
zygotic/germinal phase
developmental phase lasting appromixately two weeks in humans, which starts when an egg is fertilized and ends when the zygote implants in the uterine wall
