Cognitive and Language Development Flashcards
What is cognitive development?
Changes in our thinking that occur as a result of maturation and experience.
Define: Development
changes that occur in all of us as we go through our lives.
Why do we study development?
helps us better understand ourselves and the people around us and because it can make us better teachers (helps give us insight)
What types of development occur?
physical, social and emotional
Describe Physical development.
the changes in size, shape and functioning of our bodies and explains why we could (run faster as a high schooler than a fifth grader)
What is social and emotional development?
Changes in our personalities and the ways we interact with others and the ability to manage our feelings.
What are the Principles of Development?
Development depends on both heredity and the environment, it proceeds in orderly and predictable patterns and everyone develops at different rates.
What is matruation?
genetically driven, age-related changes in individuals, plays an important role in development.
How does the environment impact our development?
through the experiences we have, may have a larger impact than heredity. ex: supportive families, schools with rich experiences
What does Bronfenbrenner’s Bioecological Systems Theory of Development help explain?
How the environment interacts with our genes to produce the unique individuals we each become.
Who is Urie Bronfenbrenner?
Russion born american developmental psychologist.
Bioecological Systems Theory of Development
In Bronfenbrenner’s Bioecological Systems Theory of Development, how many systems influence development, and what are they?
four systems influence development: microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, and macrosystem.
(meso-small, meso-middle, exo-outside, marco-large)
Tell me about the microsystem.
layer that most directly impacts the child
family, peers, school, neighborhood
(involvement, support)
What’s important about the mesosystem?
interactions between elements in the microsystem
if elements work together, (ex: teachers and parents)
What accumulates the exosystem?
societal influences (parents, jobs, school systems, workplace conditions) that influence mico and mesosystem
What does the macrosystem envelope?
the cultures where a child develops which influences all other systems.
What are some weaknesses of Bronfenbrenner’s Bioecological Systems Theory of Development?
downplaying the individuals’s cognitive thought plays in their development (think about themselves, their abilities, relationships with others)
What are some strengths of Bronfenbrenner’s Bioecological Systems Theory of Development?
Helps up better understand differences in the students we observe and why home-school partnerships are so important and the value of involving the larger community in our children’s education.
Neuroscience is the scientific study of…
the nervous system (including the brain, spinal cord, sensory organs and the nerves that connect them to the rest of the body.)
What is the most complex organ in our body?
brain
The brain has ________ which is the foundation of the nervous system and is the basic wiring of the brain.
electrical circuitry
the brain makes it possible to ________ through language.
communicate
____allows the exchange of information and advancement of knowledge.
language
the brain tries to make sense of our experiences by instictively searching for ______
patterns
The brain’s ability to change in structure in repsonse to events it encounters is called….
neruoplasticity.
What does cortisol do to the brain?
hormone released in response to stress, which impairs brain circuits and changes the architecture of the brain
_____ are the basic learning units of the brain that are central to cognitive development.
neurons
What are the parts of a neuron?
axon, dendrites, synapses
_____ are branches that extend from the cell body which send messages to other nerve cells.
axons
____ are shorter branches that also extend from the cell body and receieve messages from other neurosn
dendrites
_____ are tiny spaces between neurons that allow messages to be transmitted from one neuron to another.
synapses