Chapter 5 Key Terms

Question 0

Literally, sidedness, referring to the specialization in certain functions by each side of the brain, with one side dominant for each activity. The left side of the brain controls the right side of the body and vice versa

Answer 0

lateralization

Question 1

The process by which axons become coated with myelin, a fatty substance that speeds the transmission of nerve impulses from neuron to neuron

Answer 1

myelination

Question 2

The tendency to persevere in, or stick to, one thought of action for a long time

Answer 2

persevveration

Question 3

Piaget’s term for cognitive development between the ages of about 2 and 6; it includes language and imagination (which involve symbolic thought), but logical, operational thinking is not yet possible

Answer 3

Preoperational Intelligence

Question 4

A characteristic of preoperational thought whereby a young child focuses on one idea, excluding all others

Answer 4

centration

Question 5

Piaget’s term for young children’s tendency to think about the world entirely from their own personal perspective

Answer 5

egocentrism

Question 6

A characteristic of preoperational thought whereby a young child thinks that nothing can be undone. A thing cannot be restored to the way it was before a change occurred

Answer 6

irreversibility

Question 7

The principle that the amount of a substance remains the same when its appearance changes

Answer 7

conservation

Question 8

Vygotsky’s term for a person whose cognition is stimulated and directed by older and more skilled members of society

Answer 8

apprentice in thinking

Question 9

Vygotsky’s term for the skills - cognitive as well as physical - that a person can exercise only with assistance, not yet independently

Answer 9

zone of proximal development

Question 10

Temporary support that is tailored to a learner’s needs and abilities and aimed at helping the learner master the next task in a given learning process

Answer 10

scaffolding

Question 11

The idea that children attempt to explain everything they see and hear

Answer 11

theory-theory

Question 12

A person’s theory of what other people might be thinking. In order to achieve this, children must realize that other people are not necessarily thinking the same thoughts that they themselves are. That realization is seldom achieved before age 4

Answer 12

theory of mind

Question 13

The speedy and sometimes imprecise way in which children learn new words by tentatively playing them in mental categories according to their perceived meaning

Answer 13

fast-mapping

Question 14

The application of rules of grammar even when exceptions occur, making the language seem more “regular” than it actually is

Answer 14

overregularization

Question 15

The most widespread early-childhood-education program in the United States, begun in 1965 and funded by the federal government

Answer 15

Project Head Start

Question 16

Harm or endangerment that has been reported, investigated, and verified

Answer 16

substantiated maltreatment

Question 17

An effort by child-welfare authorities to find a long-term living situation that will provide stability and support for a maltreated child. A goal is to avoid repeated changes of caregiver or school, which can be particularly harmful to the child

Answer 17

permanency planning

Question 18

A legal, publicly supported system in which a maltreated child is removed from the parents’ custody and entrusted to another adult or family, which is reimbursed for expenses incurred in meeting the child’s needs

Answer 18

foster care

Question 19

A form of foster care in which a relative of a maltreated child, usually a grandparent, become the approved caregiver

Answer 19

kinship care