Chapter 9

Question 1

learning disability

Answer 1

difficulty in understanding or using spoken or written language or in doing mathematics

to be classified as a learning disability, the learning problem is not primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor disabilities; intellectual disability; emotional disorders; or due to environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage

Question 2

dyslexia

Answer 2

a category of learning disabilities involving a severe impairment in the ability to read and spell

Question 3

dysgraphia

Answer 3

a learning disability that involves difficulty in handwriting

Question 4

dyscalculia

Answer 4

also known as a developmental arithmetic disorder; a learning disability that involves difficulty in math computation

Question 5

attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

Answer 5

a disability in which children consistently show one or more of the following characteristics: 1) inattention, 2) hyperactivity, 3) impulsivity

Question 6

emotional and behavioral disorders

Answer 6

serious, persistent problems that involve relationships, aggression, depression, fears associated with personal or school matters, as well as other inappropriate socioemotional charcacteristics

Question 7

autism spectrum disorders (ASD)

Answer 7

also called pervasive developmental disorders, they range from the severe disorder labeled autistic disorder to the milder disorder called Asperger syndrome; children with these disorders are characterized by problems in social interaction, verbal and nonverbal communication, and repetitive behaviors

Question 8

autistic disorder

Answer 8

a severe autism spectrum disorder that has its onset in the first three years of life and includes deficiencies in social relationships, abnormalities in communication, and restricted, repetitive, and stereotyped patterns of behavior

Question 9

Asperger syndrome

Answer 9

a relatively mild autism spectrum disorder in which the child has relatively good verbal language skills, milder nonverbal language problems, and a restricted range of interests and relationships

Question 10

individualized education plan (IEP)

Answer 10

a written statement that spells out a program specifically tailored to a child with a disability

Question 11

least restrictive environment (LRE)

Answer 11

a setting that is as similar as possible to the one in which children do not have a disability are educated

Question 12

inclusion

Answer 12

educating a child with special education needs full-time in the regular classroom

Question 13

seriation

Answer 13

the concrete operation that involves ordering stimuli along a quantitive dimension (such as length)

Question 14

transivity

Answer 14

the ability to logically combine relations to understand certain conclusions

Question 15

neo-Piagetians

Answer 15

developmentalists who argue that Piaget got some things right but that his theory needs considerable revision; they have elaborated on Piaget’s theory, giving more emphasis to information processing, strategies, and precise cognitive steps

Question 16

long-term memory

Answer 16

a relatively permanent type of memory that holds huge amounts of information for a long period of time

Question 17

working memory

Answer 17

a mental “workbench” where individuals manipulate and assemble information when making decisions, solving problems, and comprehending written and spoken language

Question 18

strategies

Answer 18

deliberate mental activities that improve the processing of information

Question 19

elaboration

Answer 19

an important strategy for remembering that involves engaging in more extensive processing of information

Question 20

fuzzy trace theory

Answer 20

states that memory is best understood by considering two types of memory representations: 1) verbatim memory trace, and 2) gist; in this theory, older children’s better memory is attributed to the fuzzy traces created by extracting the gist of information

Question 21

critical thinking

Answer 21

thinking reflectively and productively, as well as evaluating evidence

Question 22

mindfulness

Answer 22

being alert, mentally present, and cognitively flexible while going through life’s everyday activities and tasks

Question 23

creative thinking

Answer 23

the ability to think in novel and unusual ways and to come up with unique solutions to problems

Question 24

convergent thinking

Answer 24

thinking that produces one correct answer and is characteristic of the kind of thinking tested by standardized intelligence tests

Question 25

divergent thinking

Answer 25

thinking that produces many answers to the same question and is characteristic of creativity

Question 26

metacognition

Answer 26

cognition about cognition, or knowing about knowing

Question 27

brainstorming

Answer 27

a technique in which individuals are encouraged to come up with creative ideas in a group, play off each other’s ideas, and say almost anything that comes to mind

Question 28

intelligence

Answer 28

problem-solving skills and the ability to learn from and adapt to the experiences of every day life

Question 29

individual differences

Answer 29

the stable, consistent ways in which people differ from each other

Question 30

mental age (MA)

Answer 30

Binet’s measure of an individual’s level of mental development, compared with that of others

Question 31

intelligence quotient (IQ)

Answer 31

a person’s mental age divided by chronological age, multiplied by 100

Question 32

normal distribution

Answer 32

a symmetrical distribution with most scores falling in the middle of the possible range of scores and a few scores appearing toward the extremes of the range

Question 33

triarchic theory of intelligence

Answer 33

Sternberg’s theory that intelligence consists of analytical intelligence, creative intelligence, and practical intelligence

Question 34

culture-fair tests

Answer 34

tests of intelligence that are designed to be free of cultural bias

Question 35

intellectual disability

Answer 35

a condition of limited mental ability in which the individual 1) has a low IQ, usually below 70 on a traditional intelligence test, 2) has difficulty adapting to the demands of everyday life, and 3) first exhibits these characteristics by age 18

Question 36

organic intellectual disability

Answer 36

a genetic disorder or condition involving brain damage that is linked to a low level of intellectual functioning

Question 37

cultural-familial intellectual disability

Answer 37

condition in which there is no evidence of organic brain damage but the individual’s IQ generally is between 50 and 70

Question 38

gifted

Answer 38

having above-average intelligence (an IQ of 130 or higher) and/or superior talent for something

Question 39

metalinguistic awareness

Answer 39

refers to knowledge about language, such as understanding what a preposition is or being able to discuss the sounds of a language

Question 40

whole-language approach

Answer 40

an approach to reading instruction based on the idea that instruction should parallel children’s natural language learning; reading materials should be whole and meaningful

Question 41

phonics approach

Answer 41

the idea that reading instruction should teach the basic rules for translating written symbols into sounds