Developmental Psychology: Childhood

symbolic play

A child's ability to imagine that an object or a person has properties or abilities other than those that actually have

symbolic function

A child's ability to use a mental representations, a word, or an object to stand for, or represent, something that is not physically present.

Irreversibility

A child's inability to comprehend that certain operations and actions can be reversed

Centration

A child's tendency to exclusively focus on one particular aspect of a situation.

Transduction

A child's tendency to mentally link various experiences or events even if there is no logical reason to their association

Project Head Start

A government-funded program that is designed to provide children from low-income families the opportunity to acquire the skills and experiences important for school success.

cooperative play

A kind of play that includes mutual activities like taking turns and sharing materials and activities. Is noticeable around the time of kindergarten

Associative play

A kind of play where children interact with each other but are not dependent on each other's cooperation. Occurs beginning at about age 3 years.

parallel play

A kind of play where children play next to each other but for the most part do not engage each other.

Dysgraphia

A learning disability that involves difficulty in handwriting.

Individualized Education Plan (IEP)

A legal document defining the educational program and related services for a specific student who has a disability.

identity

A person's understanding of who he or she is

whole object assumption

A process of speech in which a child assumes that words refer to whole objects and not to their component parts or their characteristics, such as size, color, or texture.

zone of proximal development

A range of tasks too difficult for the child to do alone but possible with the help of an adult or a more skilled peer.

acute illness

A sudden illness from which a person is expected to recover

executive attention

Action that involves planning a goal, providing attention to that goal, working through any errors that may occur, and finally monitoring the progress that one has made.

whole language approach

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.

Relevant stimuli

Any stimulus that is important to the task at hand.

Sailent stimuli

Any stimulus that stands out from others.

constructive play

Play that involves a purposeful outcome like a construction

pretend play

Play that involves make-believe activities

Stuttering

substantial disruption in the rhythm and fluency of speech; the most common speech impairment

child-centered programs

teachers provide a variety of activities from which children select, and much learning takes place through play

academic programs

teachers structure children's learning, teaching letters, numbers, colors, shapes, and other academic skills through formal lessons, often using repetition and drill

phonics approach

teaching reading by first teaching the sounds of each letter and of various letter combinations

Scaffolding

temporary support that is tailored to a learner's needs and abilities and aimed at helping the learner master the next task in a given learning process

transitive inference

the ability to figure out the unspoken link between one fact and another

Seriation

the ability to order and organize items along a quantitative dimension, such as length or weight

metalinguistic awareness

the ability to reflect on the use of language

Pragmatics

the appropriate use of language in different contexts

immanent justice

the concept that if a rule is broken, punishment will be meted out immediately

learned helplessness

the hopelessness and passive resignation an animal or human learns when unable to avoid repeated aversive events

Egocentrism

the inability to see the world through anyone else's eyes

Categorization

the natural tendency of humans to sort objects into groups

Social Interaction

the process by which children and more knowledgeable members of society, act and react in relation to others

Dyscalculia

unusual difficulty with math, probably originating from a distinct part of the brain

Contrast assumption

The process by which children assume that objects have only one label and that new terms must refer to unfamiliar objects because familiar objects already have labels

Heritability

The proportion of variation among individuals that we can attribute to genes. The heritability of a trait may vary, depending on the range of populations and environments studied.

Flynn effect

The worldwide increase in intelligence test scores that has occurred over a relatively short period of time.

concrete operations

To use mental operations and logic to solve specific, concrete, or actual problems

authoritative

(adj.) official, coming from a source that calls for obedience or belief; dictatorial

Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment (HOME)

A checklist for gathering information about the quality of children's home lives through observation and parental interview.

spatial thinking

A child's ability to analyze, interpret, and problem solve using pattern recognition and the spatial relationships between objects.

Animism

Belief that objects, such as plants and stones, or natural events, like thunderstorms and earthquakes, have a discrete spirit and conscious life.

Culture

Beliefs, customs, and traditions of a specific group of people.

private speech

Children's self-directed speech, which they use to guide their own thinking and behavior and do not intend for anyone else to hear.

bullying

Deliberate verbal or physical behavior used as a means to disturb or intimidate someone

Personality

Enduring emotional and behavioral characteristics that make individuals different from others.

Organization

Grouping items together to make them easier to remember

autonomous morality

In Piaget's theory of moral development, the stage at which a person understands that people make rules and that punishments are not automatic.

functional play

Simple, repetitive play, with or without objects

fuzzy trace theory

States that memory is best understood by considering two types of memory representation; verbatim memory trace and gist.

Elaboration

The ability to create a relationship or shared meaning between two or more pieces of information. For example, the letter ROY G BIV are used to remember the colors of the rainbow.

inductive reasoning

The ability to draw a logical and and general conclusion from particulars, specifics, and unique experiences

sustained attention

The ability to maintain attention to selected stimuli for a prolonged period of time. Also called vigilance.

Operations

The ability to perform reversible actions mentally without the assistance of physical maneuvering or manipulation.

cause-and-effect thinking

The ability to understand ordered events that follow a logical squence

conservation

The ability to understand that so long as nothing has been added or taken away, the altering of an object's appearance does not alter its basic properties.

overregularization

The application of regular grammar rules (incorrectly) to form irregular verbs and nouns

Self

The characteristics that define individual

self-understanding

The child's cognitive representation of self, the substance and content of the child's self-conceptions.

heteronomous morality

The first stage of moral development in Piaget's theory, occurring from approximately 4 to 7 years of age. Justice and rules are conceived of as unchangeable properties of the world, removed from the control of people.

prefrontal cortex

The front portion of the brain, comprising the two frontal lobes.

Postconventional Reasoning

The highest level in Kohlberg's theory of moral development. At this level, the individual recognizes alternative moral courses, explores the options, and then decides on a personal moral code.

fast mapping

The process by which a child quickly attaches a new word to its appropriate concept.

sociocultural theory

Vygotsky's theory of how contextual factors affect children's development

rejecting-neglecting

a child-rearing style in which parents are neither restrictive and controlling nor supportive and responsive

Induction

a discipline technique that combines parental control with explaining why a behavior is prohibited

sociometric status

a measurement that reflects the degree to which children are liked or disliked by their peers as a group

working memory

a newer understanding of short-term memory that focuses on conscious, active processing of incoming auditory and visual-spatial information, and of information retrieved from long-term memory

mandated reporter

a person who is required by law to report maltreatment to children

bilingual education

a strategy in which school subjects are taught in both the learner's original language and the second (majority) language

depth of analysis

a thorough and detailed analysis; carefully considering all parts

preconventional reasoning

according to Kohlberg, the first and second stages of moral reasoning, which are focused on getting rewards and avoiding punishments

self-fulfilling prophecy

an expectation that causes you to act in ways that make that expectation come true.

chronic illness

an illness or health condition that begins gradually and is ongoing

Alphabetic Principle

an understanding that letters and letter patterns represent the sounds of spoken words.

Montessori education

child-centered approach with equal emphasis on academic and social development

moral development

growth in the ability to tell right from wrong, control impulses, and act ethically

dyslexia

impairment of the ability to read and spell

myopia

nearsightedness; lack of foresight

Authoritarian

parents impose rules and expect obedience

Peers

people of the same age who share similar interests

permissive indulgent

permissive parenting in which parents are so involved that children are allowed to behave without set limits

deductive reasoning

reasoning in which a conclusion is reached by stating a general principle and then applying that principle to a specific case (The sun rises every morning; therefore, the sun will rise on Tuesday morning.)