Human Development Ch. 9

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preoperational intelligence

Back 1

Piaget's term for cognitive development between the ages of 2-6; it includes language and imagination (which involve symbolic thought), but logical, operational thinking is not yet possible.

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centration

Back 2

A characteristic of preoperational thought in which a young child focuses (centers) on one idea, excluding all others.

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egocentrism

Back 3

Piaget's term for children's tendency to think about the world entirely from their own personal perspective.

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focus on appearance

Back 4

A characteristic of preoperational thought in which a young child ignores all attributes that are not apparent.

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static reasoning

Back 5

A characteristic of preoperational thought in which a young child thinks that nothing changes. Whatever is now has always been and always will be.

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irreversibility

Back 6

A characteristic of preoperational thought in which a young child thinks that nothing can be undone. A thing cannot be restored to the way it was before a change occurred.

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conservation

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The principle that the amount of a substance remains the same (ie, is conserved) when its appearance changes.

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animism

Back 8

The belief that natural objects and phenomena are alive.

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apprentice in thinking

Back 9

Vygotsky's term for a person whose cognition is stimulated and directed by older and more skilled members of society.

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guided participation

Back 10

The process by which people learn from others who guide their experience and explorations.

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zone of proximal development (ZPD)

Back 11

Vygotsky's term for the skills-cognition as well as physical-that a person can exercise only with assistance, not yet independently.

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scaffolding

Back 12

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.

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private speech

Back 13

The internal dialogue that occurs when people talk to themselves (either silently or out loud).

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social mediation

Back 14

Human interaction that expands and advances understanding, often through words that one person uses to explain something to another.

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theory-theory

Back 15

The idea that children attempt to explain everything they see and hear by construction theories.

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theory of mind

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A person's theory of what other people might be thinking in order to have a theory of mind, children must realize that other people are not necessarily thinking the same thoughts that they themselves are. That realization is seldom possible before age 4.

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fast-mapping

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The speedy and sometimes imprecise way in which children learn new words by tentatively placing them in mental catagories according to their perceived meaning.

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overregulation

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The application of rules of grammar even when exceptions occur, making the language seem more "regular" than it actually is.

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balanced-bilingual

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A person who is fluent in two languages, not favoring one over the other.

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Montessori schools

Back 20

Schools that offer early- childhood education based on the philosophy of Maria Montessori, which emphasizes careful work and tasks that each young child can do.

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Reggio Emilia approach

Back 21

A famous program of early-childhood education that originated in the town of Reggio Emilia, Italy, and that encourages each child's creativity in a carefully designed setting.