chapter 2

Question 1

accomodation

Answer 1

alter existing schemes or create new ones in response to new information

Question 2

adaptation

Answer 2

in addition to the tendency to organize psychological structures, people also inherit the tendency to adapt to their environment

Question 3

adolescent egocentrism

Answer 3

focused on own ideas

- sense of imaginary audience, of everyone watching, judging

Question 4

cognitive development

Answer 4

gradual orderly changes in mental processes over time

Question 5

concrete operations

Answer 5

around age 6 or 7 to 11 years

- organizes into categories, series; can reverse operations

Question 6

conservation

Answer 6

the principle that the amount or number of something remains the same even if the arrangement or appearance is changed, as long as nothing is added and nothing is taken away

Question 7

cultural tools

Answer 7

vygotsky believed that cultural tools, including technical tools (e.g., printing presses, plows, rulers, abacuses, graph paper—today, we would add mobile devices, computers, the Internet, real-time translators for mobile devices and chats, search engines, digital organizers and calendars, assistive technologies for students with learning challenges, etc.) and psychological tools (signs and symbol systems, e.g., numbers and mathematical systems, Braille and sign language, maps, works of art, codes, and language) play very important roles in cognitive development
example:nas long as the culture provides only Roman numerals for representing quantity, certain ways of thinking mathematically—from long division to calculus—are difficult or impossible. But if a number system has a zero, fractions, positive and negative values, and an infinite quantity of numbers, then much more is possible.

Question 8

physical development

Answer 8

changes in the body structure over time

Question 9

personal development

Answer 9

changes in individual’s personality

Question 10

social development

Answer 10

changes over time in ways of relating to others

Question 11

cognitive development

Answer 11

gradual orderly changes in mental processes over time

Question 12

egocentric

Answer 12

assume others experience the world the way you do (your viewpoint is also their viewpoint); it simply means children often assume that everyone else shares their feelings, reactions, and perspectives.
example: if a little boy at this stage is afraid of dogs, he may assume that all children share this fear. The 2-year-old at the beginning of this chapter who brought his own mother to comfort a distressed friend—even though the friend’s mother was available—was simply seeing the situation through his own eyes.

Question 13

formal operational

Answer 13

adolescence to adulthood

• think hypothetically, deductively, abstractly
• consider multiple perspectives

Question 14

identity

Answer 14

person or object remains same over time

Question 15

laterization

Answer 15

specialization of the two hemispheres of the brain

• left: language and logic
• right: spatial-visual, nonverbal information, emotions

Question 16

maturation

Answer 16

genetically programmed biological changes, naturally occurring changes over time

Question 17

neurons

Answer 17

store and transmit information

Question 18

neurogenesis

Answer 18

production of new neurons

- continues into adulthood, especially in hippocampus

Question 19

axons and dendrites

Answer 19

receives and transmits message

Question 20

synapses

Answer 20

spaces between neurons

- neurons release chemicals, sending electrical signals across synapses

Question 21

plasticity

Answer 21

brain’s dynamic tendency to remain adaptable/flexible

Question 22

object permanence (sensorimotor stage)

Answer 22

objects have a separate, permanent existence

- beginning to construct mental representations

Question 23

preoperational

Answer 23

around age 2 to 7 years

- develop language, think logically in one direction

Question 24

private speech

Answer 24

talking quietly to self

• vygotsky saw it as guiding children’s thinking
• moving children in stages toward self-regulation
• verbalized or whispered until about age 9
• then becomes inner speech to gain self-control (directing attention, solving problems, planning)

Question 25

reversible thinking

Answer 25

think through a series of steps, then mentally reverse the steps

Question 26

schemes

Answer 26

the basic building blocks of thinking; they are organized systems of actions or thought that allow us to mentally represent or “think about” the objects and events in our world
example: sucking-through-a-straw-scheme

Question 27

sensorimotor

Answer 27

age 0 to 2 years

• act on the environment, learn object permanence
• learn through reflexes, senses, movement

Question 28

sociocultural theory

Answer 28

emphasis on interactions between children and more knowledgeable members of society
- knowledge is co-constructed during social interactions

Question 29

zone of proximal development

Answer 29

phase at which a child can master a task if given appropriate help and support

• area between child’s current performance and what child could achieve with adult guidance
• area in which instruction can succeed– not too hard or too easy