Chapter Four: The Emergence of Though and Language Flashcards
scheme
according to Piaget, a mental structure that organizes information and regulates behavior
assimilation
according to Piaget, taking in information that is compatible with what one already knows
accommodation
according to Piaget, changing existing knowledge based on new knowledge
equilibration
according to Piaget, a process by which children reorganize their schemes to return to a state of equilibrium when disequilibrium occurs
sensorimotor period
first of Piaget’s four stages of cognitive development that lasts from birth-2 years
- adapting to/exploring environment (ex. sucking thumb)
- understanding objects (ex. object permanence)
- using symbols (ex. waving)
Preoperational period
second of Piaget’s four stages of cognitive development that lasts from 2-7 years
- egocentrism
- centration
- appearance as reality
egocentrism
difficulty in seeing the world from another’s point of view; typical of children in the preoperational period
core knowledge hypothesis
infants are born with rudimentary knowledge of the world, which is elaborated based on experiences
teleological explanations
children’s belief that living things and parts of living things exist for a purpose
essentialism
children’s belief that all living things have an essence that can’t be seen but gives living things their identity
The term, ________, refers to modification of schemes based on experience.
accommodation
According to Piaget, ______ are psychological structures that organize experience.
schemes
Piaget believed that infants’ understanding of objects could be summarized as _________.
“out of sight out of mind”
By 18 months, most infants talk and gesture, which shows they have the capacity ______________.
to use symbols
Preschoolers are often __________, meaning that they are unable to take another person’s viewpoint.
egocentric
One criticism of PIaget’s theory is that it underestimates cognitive competence in _________________.
infants and young children
Most 4-year-olds know that living things move, __________, have internal parts, resemble their parents, and heal when injured.
grow
mental hardware
mental and neural structures that are built in and that allow the mind to operate
mental software
mental “programs” that are the basis for performing particular tasks
orienting response
an individual views a strong or unfamiliar stimulus, and changes in heart rate and brain-wave activity occur
habituation
becoming unresponsive to a stimulus that is presented repeatedly
classical conditioning
a form of learning that involves pairing a neutral stimulus and a response originally produced by another stimulus
operant conditioning
view of learning, proposed by BF Skinner, that emphasizes reward and punishment
stable-order principle
counting principle that states that number names must always be counted in the same order
cardinality principle
counting principle that the last number name denotes the number of objects being counted
One way to improve preschool children’s attention is to make irrelevant stimuli ____________.
less noticeable
Four-month-old Tanya has forgotten that kicking moves a mobile. To remind her of the link between kicking and the mobile’s movement, we could ____________.
let her view a moving mobile
Preschoolers may be particularly suggestible because they are less skilled at ___________.
monitoring the sources of their memories
When a child who is counting a set of objects repeats the last number, usually with emphasis, this indicates the child’s understanding of the _________ principle of counting.
cardinality
intersubjectivity
mutual, shared understanding among participants in an activity
zone of proximal development
difference between what children can do with assistance and what they can do alone
scaffolding
a style in which teachers gauge the amount of assistance they offer to match the learner’s needs
The _____ is the difference between the level of performance that youngsters can achieve with assistance and they level they can achieve alone.
zone of proximal development
The term, _______, refers to a style in which teachers adjust their assistance to match a child’s needs.
scaffolding
phonemes
unique sounds used to create words; the basic building blocks of language
fast mapping
a child’s connections between words and referents that are made so quickly that he or she cannot consider all possible meanings of the word
underextension
when children define words more narrowly than adults do
overextension
when children define words more broadly than adults do
phonological memory
ability to remember speech sounds briefly; an important skill in acquiring vocabulary
referential style
language-learning style of children whose vocabularies are dominated by names of objects, persons, or actions
expressive style
language-learning style of children whose vocabularies include many social phrases that are used like one word (ex. “go away”)
overregularization
grammatical usage that results from applying rules to words that are exceptions to the rule (ex. “two mans” not “two men”)
_______ are fundamental sounds used to create words.
phonemes
Infants’ mastery of language sounds may be fostered by ______, in which adults speak slowly and exaggeratate changes in pitch and loudness.
infant-directed speech
Older infants’ babbling often includes __________, a patter of rising and falling pitch that distinguishes statements from questions.
intonation
Youngsters with a _________ style have early vocabularies dominated by words that are names and use language primarily as an intellectual tool.
referential
In ________, a young child’s meaning of a word is broader than an adult’s meaning.
overextension
Answers to the question, “How do children acquire grammar?” include linguistic, cognitive, and ________ influences.
social-interaction
When talking to listeners who lack critical information, preschoolers ____________.
provide more elaborate messages
Object Permanence
Understanding, acquired in infancy, that objects exist independently of oneself
Animism
Crediting inanimate objects with life and lifelike properties such as feelings
Centration
According to Piaget, narrowly focused type of thought characteristic of preoperational children
Attention
Processes that determine which information will be processed further by an individual
Autobiographical Memory
Memories of the significant events and experiences of one’s own life
One-to-One Principle
Counting principle that states that there must be one and only one number name for each object counted
Guided Participation
Children’s involvement in structured activities with others who are more skilled, typically producing cognitive growth
Telegraphic Speech
Speech used by young children that contains only the words necessary to convey a message
Grammatical Morphemes
Words or endings of words that make a sentence grammatical
