Chapter 7: Conceptual Development Flashcards
MIDTERM 2
basic level
the middle level, and often the first level learned, within a category hierarchy, such as “dog” in the animal/dog/poodle example
category hierarchy
categories that are related by set-subset relations, such as animal/dog/poodle
concepts
general ideas or understandings that can be used to group together objects, events, qualities, or abstractions that are similar in some way
egocentric spatial representations
coding of spatial locations relative to one’s own body, without regard to the surroundings
essentialism
the view that living things have an essence inside them that makes them what they are
false-belief problems
tasks that test a child’s understanding that other people will act in accord with their own beliefs even when the child knows that those beliefs are incorrect
naive psychology
a commonsense level of understanding of other people and oneself
numerical equality
the realization that all sets of N objects have something in common
object substitution
a form of pretense in which an object is used as something other than itself, for example, using a broom to represent a horse
perceptual categorization
the grouping together of objects that have similar appearances
pretend play
make-believe activities in which children create new symbolic relations, acting as if they were in a situation different from their actual one
sociodramatic play
activities in which children enact miniature dramas with other children or adults, such as “mother comforting baby”
subitizing
a perceptual process by which adults and children can look at a few objects and almost immediately know how many objects are present
subordinate level
the most specific level within a category hierarchy, such as “poodle” in the animal/dog/poodle example
superordinate level
the most general level within a category hierarchy, such as “animal” in the animal/dog/poodle example
