Chapter 4: Early Childhood Flashcards
Corpus callosum
Dense band of fibers
connects two hemispheres of the brain
Hemispheres communicate through it
Enuresis
Repeated voiding of urine into bed or clothes (involuntary or intentional)
Encopresis
Repeated passage of feces into inappropriate places (involuntary or intentional)
Piaget’s Pre-operational Stage
2-7
Children use symbols to represent words, images, and ideas (pretend play)
Operational
Logical manipulation of information 
Symbolic function substage
2-4
Characterized by child being able to mentally represent an object that is not present and dependence on perception in problem-solving
Intuitive thought substage
4-7
Marked by greater dependence on intuitive thinking rather than just perception
Ask a lot of questions 
Egocentrism
Tendency of young children not to be able to take the perspective of others, and instead the child thinks that everyone sees, thinks, and feels just as they do
Conservation
Ability to recognize that moving or rearranging matter does not change the quantity
Centration 🍕🧩
Focused on only one characteristic of an object to the exclusion of others
5 pieces vs 1 piece but same amount
Transductive
Making faulty inferences from one specific example to another
No nap = no afternoon 
Animism
Attributing life like qualities to objects
Zone of proximal development (ZPD)
Vygotsky
Occurs when they can almost perform a task, but not quite on their own without assistance
This is where children should be taught
Scaffolding
Temporary support that parents or teachers give a child to do a task
Egocentric speech
Speech that is focused on the child and does not include another’s point of view
Children talking to themselves
Private speech
Inner speech
Divided attention or multitasking
Ability to switch our focus between tasks or external stimuli
Selective attention
Ability to focus on a single task or stimulus, while ignoring distracting information
Sustained attention
Ability to stay on task for long periods of time
Sensory memory (register)
First stage of the memory system
stores sensory input in its raw form for a very brief duration;
long enough for brain to register and start processing the information
Working memory
Second stage of the memory system
Short term
Component of memory in which current conscious mental activity occurs
Executive function (EF)
Self regulatory processes
ability to inhibit behavior or cognitive flexibility, that enable adaptive responses to new situations or to reach a specific goal
Clustering rehearsal
Person rehearses previous material while adding in additional information
Long-term memory
Third component of memory
permanent memory
Basic division of LTM = declarative and non-declarative
Declarative memories
Explicit memories
Memories for facts or events that we can consciously recollect
Semantic or episodic
Non-declarative memories
Implicit memories
Typically automated skills that do not require conscious recollection
Semantic memory
Memories for facts and knowledge that are not tied to a timeline
Episodic memories
Tied to specific events in time
Component of episodic memory is autobiographical memory
Autobiographical memory
Our personal narrative
Neo-Piagetians
Those theorists who provide new interpretations of Piaget‘s theory
Constructivism
Children actively try to understand the world around them
Cognitive constructivist
Focuses on independent learning
Piaget
Social constructivist
Relying on social interactions for learning
Vygotsky
Theory-theory
Tendency of children to generate theories to explain everything they encounter
Implies that humans are naturally inclined to find reasons and generate explanations for why things occur
Theory of mind
Ability to think about other peoples thoughts
Fast mapping
Words are easily learned by making connections between new words and concepts already known
Mutual exclusivity bias
Assumption that an object has only a single name
Self-concept
Our self description according to various categories, such as our external and internal qualities
Self-esteem
An evaluative judgment about who we are
Categorical self
Focus on external qualities
Response initiation 🛑🤔
Ability to not initiate a behavior before you have evaluated all the information
Response inhibition
Ability to stop a behavior that has already begun
Delayed gratification
Ability to hold out for a larger reward by foregoing a smaller immediate reward
 gender
Cultural, social and psychological meanings associated with masculinity and femininity
Gender identity
A person’s sense of self as a member of a particular gender
Gender roles
The expectations associated with being male or female
Gender socialization
Focuses on what young children learn about gender from society, including parent, peers, media, religious institutions, schools, and public policies
Social learning theory
Argues that behavior is learned through observation, modeling, reinforcement, and punishment
Cognitive social learning theory
Emphasizes reinforcement, punishment, and imitation, but adds cognitive processes
Gender schema theory
Theory that children develop their own conceptions of the attributes associated with male parts or female parts
Developmental intergroup theory
Many of our gender stereotypes are so strong because we emphasize gender so much in culture
Transgender
Identifying with the gender opposite their natal sex
Gender dysphoria
Distress accompanying a mismatch between one’s gender identity and biological sex
Cisgender
Those whose gender and sex assignment at birth matched
Intersex
Born with either an absence or some combination of male and female reproductive organs, sex hormones, or sex chromosomes
Authoritative
Supportive and show interest in their kids’ activities but are not overbearing and allow them to make constructive mistakes
Authoritarian
Traditional model of parenting in which parents make the rules and children are expected to be obedient
Permissive
Parenting involves holding expectations of children that are below what could be reasonably expected from them
Uninvolved
Parents are disengaged from their children. They do not make demands on their children and are non-responsive
Child abuse and neglect
Any recent act or failure to act on the part of a parent or caretaker which results in death, serious physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse or exploitation; or an act or failure to act, which presents an imminent risk of serious harm
Sexual abuse
Defined as any sexual contact between a child and an adult or a much older child
Incest
Sexual contact between a child and family member
Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs)
All types of abuse, neglect, and other potentially traumatic experiences that occur before the age of 18
