Chapter 2: Cognitive and Linguistic Development Flashcards
cognitive development
Development of increasingly sophisticated thinking, reasoning, and language with age.
developmental milestones
Appearance of a new, more advanced behavior that indicates significant progress in a child’s development.
maturation
Gradual, genetically driven acquisition of more advanced physical and neurological capabilities over the course of childhood and adolescence.
sensitive periods
Age range during which environmental conditions have an especially strong influence on an aspect of a child’s development (you may sometimes see the term critical period).
biological systems theory
Theory proposing that a child’s everyday environments and the child’s broader social and cultural contexts interact in their influences on the child’s development.
culture
Behaviors and belief systems that members of a long-standing social group share and pass along to successive generations.
neurons
Cell in the brain or another part of the nervous system that transmits information to other cells.
glial cells
Cell in the brain that supports neurons or general brain functioning.
synapses
Junction between two neurons that allows transmission of messages from one to the other.
neurotransmitters
Chemical substance through which one neuron sends a message to another neuron.
cortex
Upper part of the brain; primary site of complex, conscious thinking processes.
synaptogenesis
Universal process in brain development in which many new synapses form spontaneously.
synaptic pruning
Universal process in brain development in which many previously formed but rarely used synapses gradually wither away.
myelination
Growth of a fatty sheath (myelin) around the axons of neurons, enabling faster transmission of electrical impulses.
plasticity
Ability to reorganize in order to adapt to changing circumstances; term often used in describing the human brain.
cognitive tools
Concept, symbol, strategy, procedure, or other culturally constructed mechanism that helps people think about and respond to situations more effectively.
appropriation
Process of internalizing but also adapting the cognitive tools of one’s culture for one’s own use.
cognitive apprenticeship
Mentorship in which an expert and novice work together on challenging tasks, with the expert providing guidance regarding how to think about the tasks.
schemes
Organized group of similar actions or thoughts that are used repeatedly in response to the environment.
equilibrium
State of being able to address new events with existing schemes.
equlibration
Movement from equilibrium to disequilibrium and back to equilibrium, a process that promotes development of more complex thought and understandings.
formal operations stage
Piaget’s fourth and final stage of cognitive development, in which logical reasoning processes can be applied to abstract ideas as well as to concrete objects.
formal operational egocentrism
Inability of adolescents in Piaget’s formal operations stage to separate their own abstract logic from the perspectives of others and from practical considerations.
guided participation
Process in which a child gains new skills by working on a complex, meaningful task in close collaboration with an adult or more experienced peer.
preoperational stage
Piaget’s second stage of cognitive development, in which children can think about objects and events beyond their immediate view but do not yet reason in logical, adultlike ways.
preoperational egocentrism
Inability of children in Piaget’s preoperational stage to look at a situation from another person’s perspective; reflects a cognitive limitation, not a personality flaw.
self-talk
Process of talking to oneself as a way of guiding oneself through a task.
inner speech
Process of talking to and guiding oneself mentally rather than aloud.
internalization
Process through which a learner gradually incorporates socially based activities into his or her internal cognitive processes.
level of potential development
Upper limit of tasks that a learner can successfully perform with the assistance of a more competent individual.
neo-piagetian theories
Theoretical perspective that combines elements of Piaget’s theory with more contemporary research and theories and suggests that development in specific content domains is often stagelike in nature.
sociocognitive conflict
Situation in which one encounters and has to wrestle with ideas and viewpoints inconsistent with one’s own.
sociocultural theory
Theoretical perspective emphasizing the importance of society and culture in promoting learning and development.
phonological awareness
Ability to hear the distinct sounds of which spoken words are comprised.
immersion
Second-language instruction in which students hear and speak that language almost exclusively in the classroom.
zone of proximal development (ZPD)
Range of tasks that a learner can perform with the help and guidance of others but cannot yet perform independently.
specific language impairment
Disability characterized by abnormalities in the production or comprehension of spoken language, to the point that special educational services are required.
subtractive bilingualism
Phenomenon in which complete immersion in a new-language environment leads to deficits in a child’s native language.
scaffolding
support mechanism that helps a learner successfully perform a challenging task (i.e. a task within the learner’s zone of proximal development)
guided participation
process in which a child gains new skills by working on complex, meaningful task in close collaboration with an adult or more experienced peer
apprenticeship
mentorship in which a novice works with an expert for a lengthy time period to learn how to accomplish increasingly complex tasks within a particular domain
metalinguistic awareness
ability to think consciously about the nature and functions of language
disequilibrium
State of being unable to address new events with existing schemes; typically accompanied by some mental discomfort.
class inclusion
the ability to classify objects as belonging to two categories simultaneously (acquired during concrete operational stage)
object pemanence
Realization that objects continue to exist even when removed from view (acquired during sensorimotor stage)
symbolic representation
representation of physical objects & events as mental entities (acquired during sensorimotor stage)
egocentrism
in ability to take on the perspective of another person (characteristic of preoperational thought)
centration
tendency to focus on one part of the situation (esp. inability to grasp conservation) (characteristic of preoperational thought)
conservation
realization that the amount stays the same if nothing is added or taken away, regardless of alterations in shape or arrangement (acquired during concrete operational stage)
seriation
the child’s ability to order objects with respect to a common property (characteristic of concrete operational thought)
hypothetico-deductive reasoning
deducing a hypotheses from a general theory
transitive inference
ability to compare two objects via an intermediate object
reciprocal teaching
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cooperative learning
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assisted discovery
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immersion
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dual immersion
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bilingual education
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subtractive bilingualism
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