Chapter 7 Flashcards
growth hormone deficiency
absence or deficiency of growth hormone produced by the pituitary gland to stimulate the body to grow
myelination
the process by which the nerve cells are covered and insulated with a layer of fat cells, which increases the speed at which information travels through the nervous system
preoperational stage
Piaget’s second stage, lasting from about 2 to 7 years of age, during which children begin to represent the world with words, images, and drawings, and symbolic thought goes beyond simple connections of sensory information and physical action; stable concepts are formed, mental reasoning emerges, egocentrism is present, and magical beliefs are constructed
operations
in Piaget’s theory, these are reversible mental actions that allow mentally what they formerly did physically
symbolic function substage
Piaget’s first substage of preoperational thought, in which the child gains the ability to mentally represent an object that is not present (between about 2 and 4 years of age)
egocentrism
the inability to distinguish between one’s own perspective and someone else’s (salient feature of the first substage of preoperational thought)
animism
the belief that inanimate objects have lifelike qualities and are capable of action
intuitive thought substage
Piaget’s second substage of preoperational thought, in which children begin to use primitive reasoning and want to know the answers to all sorts of questions (between 4 and 7 years of age)
centration
Focusing attention on one characteristic to the exclusion of all others (perception-bound thought)
zone of proximal development (ZPD)
Vygotsky’s term for tasks that are too difficult for children to master alone but can be mastered with the assistance of adults or more-skilled children
social constructivist approach
an approach that emphasizes the social contexts of learning and asserts that knowledge is mutually built and constructed; Vygotsky’s theory reflects this approach
executive attention
involves action planning, allocating attention to goals, error detection and compensation, monitoring progress on tasks, and dealing with novel or difficult circumstances
sustained attention
focused and extended engagement with an object, task, event, or other aspect of the environment
short-term memory
the memory component in which individuals retain information for up to 30 seconds, assuming there is no rehearsal of the information
executive function
an umbrella-like concept that consists of a number of higher-level cognitive processes linked to the development of the brain’s prefrontal cortex; involves managing one’s thoughts to engage in goal-directed behavior and self-control
theory of mind
awareness of one’s own mental processes and the mental processes of others
fast mapping
a process that helps to explain how young children learn the connection between a word and its referent so quickly
child-centered kindergarten
education that involves the whole child by considering both the child’s physical, cognitive, and socioemotional development and the child’s needs, interests, and learning style
Montessori approach
an educational philosophy in which children are given considerable freedom and spontaneity in choosing activities and are allowed to move from one activity to another as they desire
developmentally appropriate practice
education that focuses on the typical developmental patterns of children (age-appropriateness) and the uniqueness of each child (individual-appropriateness)
Project Head Start
a government-funded program that is designed to provide children from low-income families with the opportunity to acquire the skills and experiences important for school success
conservation
in Piaget’s theory, awareness that altering an object’s or a substance’s appearance does not change its basic properties
artificialism
assuming natural events are fashioned by people
irreversibility
unable to think through a series of steps in a problem and then go backward, mentally returning to the starting point
irreversibility
unable to think through a series of steps in a problem and then go backward, mentally returning to the starting point
planfulness
the extent to which small details within a picture are attended to (more systematic when older)
syntax
involves the way words are combined to form acceptable phrases and sentences
semantics
meaning of words and sentences
pragmatics
appropriate use of language in different contexts
