Chapter 7: Cognitive Development- An Information Processing Perspective

Question 1

attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

Answer 1

A childhood disorder involving inattention, impulsivity, and excessive motor activity, often leading to academic and social problems.

Question 2

autobiographical memory

Answer 2

Representations of one-time events that are long- lasting because they are imbued with personal meaning.

Question 3

automatic processes

Answer 3

In information processing, processes that are so well- learned that they require no space in working memory and, therefore, permit the individual to focus on other information while simultaneously performing them.

Question 4

cardinality

Answer 4

The mathematical principle stating that the last word in a count- ing sequence indicates the quantity of items in the set.

Question 5

central conceptual structures

Answer 5

In Case’s neo-Piagetian theory, networks of concepts and relations that permit children to think about a wide range of situations in more advanced ways. Generated once the schemes of a Piagetian stage become sufficiently automatic and brain development further increments processing speed, freeing enough space in working memory to consolidate schemes into an improved representational form.

Question 6

central executive

Answer 6

In information processing, the conscious, reflective part of the mental system, which directs the flow of information by deciding what to attend to; coordinating incoming information with information already in the system; and selecting, applying, and monitoring strategies that facilitate memory storage, comprehension, reasoning, and problem solving.

Question 7

cognitive self-regulation

Answer 7

The process of continuously monitoring and controlling progress toward a goal—planning, checking outcomes, and redirecting unsuccessful efforts.

Question 8

control deficiency

Answer 8

Inability to control, or execute, a mental strategy effectively. Distinguished from production deficiency, utilization deficiency, and effective strategy use.

Question 9

effective strategy use

Answer 9

Consistent use of a mental strategy, with correspond- ing improvement in performance. Distinguished from production defi- ciency, control deficiency, and utilization deficiency

Question 10

elaboration

Answer 10

A memory strategy that involves creating a relationship, or shared meaning, between two or more pieces of information that do not belong to the same category.

Question 11

emergent literacy

Answer 11

Children’s active efforts to construct literacy knowledge through informal experiences.

Question 12

episodic memory

Answer 12

Recollections of specific personally experienced events.

Question 13

executive function

Answer 13

In information processing, the set of cognitive operations and strategies necessary for self-initiated, purposeful behavior in relatively novel, challenging situations.

Question 14

fuzzy-trace theory

Answer 14

A theory proposing that when we first encode information, we automatically reconstruct it into a vague, fuzzy version, or gist, which preserves essential meaning without details and is especially useful for reasoning.

Question 15

gist

Answer 15

In fuzzy-trace theory, a vague, fuzzy representation of information that preserves essential meaning without details and is especially useful for reasoning

Question 16

infantile amnesia

Answer 16

The inability of most people to retrieve events that happened to them before age 3.

Question 17

inhibition

Answer 17

The ability to control internal and external distracting stimuli, which helps children remember, reason, solve problems, and manage their behavior in social situations.

Question 18

long-term memory

Answer 18

In information processing,the largest storage area of the mental system, containing our permanent knowledge base.

Question 19

metacognition

Answer 19

Awareness and understanding of various aspects of thought.

Question 20

model of strategy choice

Answer 20

An attempt to apply an evolutionary metaphor, “natural selection,” to children’s mental strategies by analyzing how, when given challenging problems, children first generate and test a variety of strategies and then select the most accurate, efficient strategies, which “survive,” while others become less frequent and “die off.”

Question 21

neo-Piagetian theory

Answer 21

A reinterpretation of Piaget’s stages within an information-processing framework. For example, Case’s theory attributes change within each stage, and movement from one stage to the next, to increases in the efficiency with which children use their limited working memory capacity.

Question 22

ordinality

Answer 22

Order relationships (more than and less than) between quantities.

Question 23

organization

Answer 23

In Piaget’s theory, the internal rearrangement and linking together of schemes so that they form a strongly interconnected cognitive system. In information processing, a memory strategy that involves group-
ing related information to improve recall.

Question 24

phonics approach

Answer 24

An approach to beginning reading instruction that emphasizes coaching children on phonics—the basic rules for translating written symbols into sounds—before exposing them to complex reading material.
Distinguished from whole-language approach.

Question 25

phonological awareness

Answer 25

The ability to reflect on and manipulate the sound structure of spoken language, as indicated by sensitivity to changes in sounds within words, to rhyming, and to incorrect pronunciation—a strong predictor of emergent literacy knowledge.

Question 26

planning

Answer 26

Thinking out a sequence of acts ahead of time and allocating attention accordingly to reach a goal.

Question 27

production deficiency

Answer 27

Failure to produce a mental strategy when one could be helpful. Distinguished from control deficiency, utilization deficiency, and effective strategy use.

Question 28

recall

Answer 28

The form of memory retrieval that involves generating a mental representation of an absent stimulus. Distinguished from recognition.

Question 29

recognition

Answer 29

The simplest form of memory retrieval, which involves noticing that a stimulus is identical or similar to one previously experienced. Distinguished from recall.

Question 30

reconstruction

Answer 30

The type of memory that involves recoding information while it is in the mental system or being retrieved.

Question 31

rehearsal

Answer 31

A memory strategy that involves repeating information to oneself.

Question 32

scripts

Answer 32

General descriptions of what occurs and when it occurs in a particular situation, used to organize, interpret, and predict repeated events.

Question 33

semantic memory

Answer 33

The vast, taxonomically organized and hierarchically structured general knowledge system, consisting of concepts, language meanings, facts, and rules

Question 34

sensory register

Answer 34

The part of the information-processing system in which sights and sounds are represented directly but stored only momentarily before they either decay or are transferred to the short-term memory store.

Question 35

short-term memory store

Answer 35

The part of the information-processing system in which attended-to information is briefly retained so we can actively “work” on it to reach our goals.

Question 36

theory of mind

Answer 36

A coherent understanding of people as mental beings, which children revise as they encounter new evidence.

Question 37

utilization deficiency

Answer 37

Failure to improve performance despite executing a mental strategy consistently. Distinguished from production deficiency, control deficiency, and effective strategy use.

Question 38

whole-language approach

Answer 38

An approach to beginning reading instruction in which, from the start, children are exposed to text in its complete form, using reading materials that are whole and meaningful to promote appreciation of the communicative function of written language. Distinguished
from phonics approach.

Question 39

working memory

Answer 39

The number of items that can be briefly held in mind
while also engaging in some effort to monitor or manipulate those items. A contemporary view of the short-term memory store.