Child Psychology Test 2 Flashcards
cerebral cortex
the outer, folded mantle of the brain, responsible for thinking, reasoning, perceiving, and all conscious responces
axon
a long nerve fiber that usually conducts impulses away from the cell body of a neuron
dendrite
a branching fiber that receives information and conducts impulses toward the cell body of a neuron
synapse
the gap between the dendrites of one neuron and the axon of another, over which impulses flow
synaptogenesis
forming of connections between neurons at the synapses. this process, responsible for all perceptions, actions, and thoughts, is most intense during infancy and childhood but continues throughout life
myelination
formation of a fatty layer encasing the axons of neurons. this process, which speeds the transmission of neural impulses, continues from birth into early adulthood
plastic
malleable, or capable of being changed (refers to neural or cognitive development)
sucking reflex
the automatic, spontaneous sucking movements newborns produce, especially when anything touches their lips
rooting reflex
newborns automatic response to a touch on the cheek, involving turning toward that location and beginning to suck
reflex
a response or action that is automatic and programmed by noncortical brain centers
undernutrition
a chronic lack of adequate food
stunting
excessively short stature in a child, caused by chronic lack of adequate nutrition
micronutrient deficiency
chronically inadequate level of a specific nutrient important to development and disease prevention, such as vitamin a, zinc, and or iron
food insecurity
worrying about not having enough food at the end of the month, or having to go Hungary due to lack of money
colic
a baby’s frantic continual crying during the first three months of life; caused by an immature nervous system
skin to skin contact
an effective calming strategy that involves holding a young infant next to a caregiver’s body
kangaroo care
carrying a young baby in a sling close to a caregiver’s body. used to sooth an infant
REM sleep
the phase of sleep involving rapid eye movements, when the leg looks almost like it does during waking. rem sleep decreases as infants mature
self- soothing
children’s ability, usually beginning at about 6 months of age, to put themselves back to sleep when they wake at night
co- sleeping
the standard custom, in collectivist cultures, of having a child and parent share a bed
sudden infant death syndrome (sids)
the unexplained death of an apparently healthy infant, often while sleeping, during the first year of life
preferential- looking paradigm
a research technique to explore early infant sensory capacities and cognition, drawing on the principle that we are attracted to novelty and prefer to look at new things
habituation
the predictable loss of interest that develops once a stimulus becomes familiar; used to explore infant sensory capacities and thinking
face-perception studies
research using preferential looking and habituation to explore what very young babies know about faces
fear bias
the human tendency to be hypersensitive to fearful facial cues that, by alerting us to danger, may prevent us from getting injured or killed
depth perception
the ability to see (and fear) heights
visual cliff
a table that appears to “end” in a drop-off at its midpoint; used to test infant depth perception
baby- proofing
making the home safe for a newly mobil infant
sensorimotor stage
Piaget’s first stage of development lasting from birth to age 2, when babies’ agenda is to pin down the basics of physical development
circular reactions
in Piagets framework, repetitive action oriented schemes (or habits) characteristics of babies during the sejnsorimeter stage
primary circular reactions
in Piagets framework, the first infant habits during the sensorimotor stage, centered on the body
secondary circular reactions
in Piagets framework, habits of the sensorimotor stage lasting from about 4 months of age to the babies first birthday, centered on exploring the external world
tertiary circular reactions
in Piagets framework “little scientist” activities of the sensor miter stage beginning around age 1 involving flexibility exploring the properties of objects
little- scientist phase
the time around age 1 when babies use tertiary circular reactions to actively explore the properties of objects, experimenting with them like scientists
means- end behavior
in Piagets framework, performing a different action to get to a goal - an ability that emerges in the sensorimotor stage as babies approach age 1
object permanence
in Piagets framework, the understanding that objects continue to exist even when we can no longer see them, which gradually emerges during the sensorimotor stage
a- not- b error
in Piagets framework, a classic mistake made by infants in the sensorimotor stage, whereby babies approaching age 1 go back to the original hiding place to look for an object even though they have seen it get hidden in a second place
information - processing approach
a perspective on understanding cognition that divides thinking into specific steps and component process, much like a computer
social cognition
any skill related to understanding feelings and negotiating interpersonal interactions
grammer
the rules and word arranging systems that every human language employs to communicate meaning
language acquisition device
Chomsky’s term for hypothetical brain structure that enables our species to learn and produce language
social - interactionist perspective
an approach to language development that emphasizes its social function, specifically that babies and adults have a mutual passion to communicate
babbling
the alternating vowel and consonant sounds that babies repeat with variations of intonation and pitch and that precede the first words
holophrase
first clear evidence of language, when babies use a single word to communicate a sentence or complete thought
telegraphic speech
first stage of combining words in which a toddler pares down a sentence to its essential words
infant - directed speech
the simplified, exaggerated, high pitched tones that adults and children use to speak to infants that function to help teach language
attachment
theory formulated by John Bobby centering on the crucial importance to our species survival of being closely connected with a caregiver during early childhood
toddlerhood
the important transitional stage after babyhood, from roughly age 1 year to 2 1/2
primary attachment figure
the closest person in a Childs or adults life
proximity - seeking behavior
acting to maintain physical contact or to be close to an attachment figure
preattachment phase
the first phase of John bowlby’s developmental attachment sequence, during the first three months of life, when infants show no visible signs of attachment
social smile
the first real smile, occurring at about 2 months of age
attachment in the making
second phase of bowlbys attachment sequence, when, from 4 to 7 months of age, babies slightly prefer the primary caregiver
clear - cut (focused) attachment
critical attachment phase, from 7 months through toddlerhood, defined by the need to have a primary caregiver nearby
separation anxiety
when a baby gets upset as a primary caregiver
stranger anxiety
beginning at about age 7 months, when baby grows wary of people other than a caregiver
social referencing
a baby’s monitoring a caregiver for cues as to how to behave
working model
in bowlbys theory, the mental representation of a caregiver that enables children over age 3 to be physically apart from their caregiver
strange situation
procedure to measure attachment at age 1, involving separations and reunions with a caregiver
secure attachment
ideal attachment response when a child responds with joy at being reunited with a primary caregiver
insecure attachment
deviation from the normally joyful response of being reunited with a primary caregiver, signaling problems in the caregiver - child relationship
avoidant attachment
an insecure attachment style characterized by a Childs indifference to a primary caregiver at being reunited after separation
anxious - ambivalent attachment
an insecure attachment style characterized by a child’s intense distress when reunited with a primary caregiver after separation
disorganized attachment
an insecure attachment style characterized by responses such as freezing or fear when a child is reunited with a primary caregiver in the strange situation
synchrony
the reciprocal aspect of the attachment relationship, with a caregiver and infant responding emotionally to each other in a sensitive, exquisitely attuned way
temperament
a persons characteristic, inborn style of dealing with the world
oxytocin
the hormone whose production is centrally involved in bonding, nurturing, and careginving behaviors in our species and other mammals
dose - response effect
the fact that the amount (dose) of a substance, in this case the depth and length of deprivation, determines its probable effect or impact on the person.
autonomy
eriksons second psychosocial task, when toddlers confront the challenge of understanding that they are separate individuals
self - conscious emotions
feelings of pride, shame, or guilt, which first emerge around age 2 and show the capacity to reflect on the self
socialization
how children are taught to behave in socially appropriate ways
power assertion
an ineffective socialization strategy that involves yelling, screaming, or hitting a child
goodness of fit
an ideal parenting strategy that involves arranging children’s environments to suit their temperaments, by minimizing their vulnerabilities and accentuating their strengths
early childhood
the first phase of childhood, lasting from age 3 through kindergarten, or about age 6
middle childhood
the second phase of childhood, comprising the ages from roughly 7 to 12 years
initiative
erik Eriksons term for the early childhood psychosocial task that involves exuberantly testing skills
industry
Erik eriksons term for the middle childhood psychosocial task involving bending to adult reality and needing to work for what we want
gross motor skills
physical abilities that involve large muscle movements, such as running and jumping
fine motor skills
physical abilities that involve small, coordinated movements, such as drawing and writing ones name
preoperational thinking
in Piagets theory the type of cognition characteristic of children aged 2 to 7 marked by an inability to step back from ones immediate perceptions and think conceptually
concrete operational thinking
in Piagets framework, the type of cognition characteristic of children aged 8 to 11, marked by the ability to reason about the world in logical, adult ways
conservation tasks
piagetian tasks that involve changing the shape of substances to see whether children can go beyond the way that substance visually appears to understand that the amount remains the same
reversibility
in Piagets conservation tasks, the concrete operational child’s knowledge that a specific change in he way a given substance looks can be reversed
centering
in Piagets conservation tasks, the preoperational child’s tendency to fix on the most visually striking feature of a substance and not take into account other dimensions
decentering
in Piagets conservation tasks, the concrete operational Childs ability to look at several dimensions of an object or substance
class inclusion
the understanding that a general category can encompass several subordinate elements
identity constancy
in Piagets theory, the preoperational child’s inability to grasp that a person’s core “self” stays the same despite changes in external appearance
animism
in Piagets theory the preoperational child’s belief that inanimate objects are alive
artificialism
in Piagets theory, the preoperational child’s belied that human beings make everything in nature
egocentrism
in Piagets theory the preoperational child’s inability to understand that other people have different points of view from ones own
zone of proximal development
in vygotsky’s theory the gap between a child’s ability to solve a problem totally on his own and his potential knowledge if taught by a more accomplished person
scaffolding
the process of teaching new skills by entering a child’s zone of proximal development and tailoring one’s efforts to that person’s competence level
inner speech
in vygotskys theory the way in which human beings learn to regulate their behavior and master cognitive challenges, through silently repeating information or talking to themselves
phoneme
the sound units that convey meaning in a given language - for example, in English, the c sound of cat and the b sound of bat
morpheme
the smallest unit of meaning in a particular language - for example, boys contain two morphemes; boy and the plural suffix -s
mean length of utterance
the average number of morphemes per sentence
syntax
the system of grammatical rules in a particular language
semantics
the meaning system of a language - that is, what the words stand for
overregulation
an error in early language development, in which young children apply rules for plurals and past tenses even to exceptions, so irregular forms sound like regular form
overextension
an error in early language development in which young children apply verbal labels too broadly
autobiographical memories
recollections of events and experiences that make up ones life history
theory of mind
children’s first cognitive understanding, which appears at about age 4, that other people have different beliefs and perspectives from their own
exercise play
running and chasing play that exercises children’s physical skills
rough - and - tumble play
play that involves shoving, wrestling, and hitting, but in which no actual harm is intended; especially characteristic of boys
fantasy play
pretend play in which a child makes up a scene, often with a toy or prop
collaborative pretend play
fantasy play in which children work together to develop and act out scenes
gender - segregated play
play in which boys and girls associate only with members of their own sex
gender schema theory
explanation for gender - stereotyped behavior that emphasizes the role of cognitions; specifically, the idea that once children know their own gender label, they selectively watch and model their own sex
autism spectrum disorders
conditions characterized by persistent, severe, widespread social and conversational deficits; lack of interest in people and their feelings; and repetitive, restricted behavior patterns, such as rocking, ritualized behavior, hypersensitivity to sensory input, and a fixation on inmate objects. a core characteristic of these disorders is impairments in theory of mind
