Chapter 2 - Cognitive, Language, and Literacy Development Flashcards
Continuous Theories of Development
Theories based on the belief that human development progresses smoothly and gradually from infancy to adulthood.
Development
Orderly and lasting growth, adaptation, and change over the course of a lifetime.
Discontinuous Theories of Development
Theories describing human development as occurring through a fixed sequence of distinct, predictable stages governed by inborn factors.
Cognitive Development
Gradual, orderly changes by which mental processes become more complex and sophisticated.
Schemes
Mental patterns that guide behavior.
Adaptation
The process of adjusting schemes in response to the environment by means of assimilation and accomodation.
Assimilation
Understanding new experiences in terms of existing schemes.
Accomodation
Modifying existing schemes to fit new situations.
Equilibration
The process of restoring balance between present understanding and new experiences.
Constructivism
View of cognitive development that emphasizes the active role of learners in building their own understanding of reality.
Sensorimotor Stage
Stage during which infants learn about their surroundings byusing their senses and motor skills.
Reflexes
Inborn automatic responses to stimuli (e.g., eye blinking in response to bright light).
Object Permanence
Understanding that an object exists even if it is out of sight.
Pre-operational Stage
Stage at which children learn to represent things in the mind.
Conservation
The concept that certain properties of an object (such as weight) remain the same regardless of changes in other properties (such as length).
Centration
Paying attention to only one aspect of an object or situation.
Reversibility
The ability to perform a mental operation and then reverse one’s thinking to return to the starting point.
Egocentric
Believing that everyone views the world as you do.
Concrete Operational Stage
Stage at which children develop the capacity for logical reasoning and understanding of conservation but can use these skills only in dealing with familiar situations.
Inferred Reality
The meaning of stimuli in the context of relevant information.
Seriation
Arranging objects in sequential order according to one aspect, such as size, weight, or volume.
Transitivity
A skill learned during the concrete operational stage of cognitive development in which individuals can mentally arrange and compare objects.
Formal Operational Stage
Stage at which one can deal abstractly with hypothetical situations and reason logically.
Developmentally Appropriate Education
Instruction felt to be adapted to the current developmental status of children (rather than to their age alone).
Sign Systems
Symbols that cultures create to help people think, communicate, and solve problems.
Self-regulation
The ability to think and solve problems without the help of others.
Private Speech
Children’s self-talk, which guides their thinking and action; eventually internalized as silent inner speech.
Zone of Proximal Development
Level of development immediately above a person’s present level.
Scaffolding
Support for learning and problem solving; might include clues, reminders, encouragement, breaking the problem down into steps, providing an example, or anything else that allows the student to grow in independence as a learner.