P331-Exam#2

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cognition

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the mental activity through which human beings acquire and process knowledge

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constructivist view

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the idea that children actively create their understanding of the world as they encounter new information and have new experiences

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schema

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an organized unit of knowledge that they child uses to try to understand a situation; a schema forms the basis for organizing actios to respond to the environment

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organization

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combining simple mental structures into more complex systems

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operations

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schemata based on internal mental activities

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adaptation

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adjusting one's thinking to fit with environmental demands

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assimilation

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applying an existing schema to a new experience

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accommodation

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modifying an existing schema to fit a new experience

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stages of development

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comprehensive, qualitative changes over time in the way a child thinks

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sensorimotor stage

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Piaget's first stage of cognitive development, during which children change from basic reflexive behavior to the beginnings of symbolic thought and goal-directed behaviors

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object permanence

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the notion taht entities external to the child, continue to exist independent of the child's seeing or interacting with them

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basic reflex activity

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an infant's exercise of, and growing proficiency in, the use of innnate reflexes

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primary circular reactions

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behaviors focused on the infant's own body that the infant repeats and modifies because they are pleasurable and satisfying

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secondary circular reactions

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behaviors focused on objects outside the infant's own body that the infant repeatedly engages in because they are pleasurable and satisfying

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coordination of secondary circular reactions

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an infant's combination of different schemata to achieve a specific goal

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tertiary circular reactions

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behaviors in which infants experiment with the properties of external objects and try to learn how objects respond to various actions

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inventing new means by mental combination

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children begin to combine schemata mentally and rely less on physical trial and error

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symbolic thought

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the use of mental images and concepts to represent people, objects, and events

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deferred imitation

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mimicry of an action some time after having observed it; requires that the child have some sort of mental representation of that action

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core knowledge systems

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ways of reasoning about ecologically important objects and events, such as the solidity and continuity of objects

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preoperational stage

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in this stage, the ability to use symbols facilitates the learning of language; this stage is also marked by semilogical reasoning,egocentricity-in which the child sees the world from her own point of view-and intuitive behavior, in which the child can solve problems using mental operations but cannot explain how she did so

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symbolic function

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the ability to use symbols, such as images, words, and gestures, to represent objects and event in this world

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preconceptual substage

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the first substage of Piaget's preoperational period, during which the child's thought is characterized by the emergence of symbolic function, the rapid development of language, animistic thinking, and egocentricity

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animistic thinking

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the attribution of life to inanimate objects

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egocentrism

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the tendency to view the world from one's own perspective and to have difficulty seeing things from another's viewpoint

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intuitive substage

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the second substage of the preoperational stage during which the child begins to solve problems by using mental operations but cannot explain how she arrives at the solutions

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conservation

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the understanding that altering an object's or a substance's appearance does not change its basic attributes or properties

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reversibility

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the understanding that the steps of a procedure or operation can be reversed and that they original state of the object or event can be obtained

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ends over means focus

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consideration of only the end state of a problem in evaluating an event; failure to consider the means by which that end state was obtained

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centration

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focusing one's attention on only one dimension or characteristic of an object or situation

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horizontal decalage

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the term Piaget used to describe unevenness in children's thinking within a particular stage; for example, in developing and understanding of conservation children conserve different objects or substances as different ages

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concrete operations stage

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stage at which the child is able to reason logically about materials that are physically present

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formal operations stage

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state in which the child becomes capable of abstract thinking, complet reasoning, and hypothesis testing

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theory of mind

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understanding of the mind and how it works

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mediators

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psychological tools and signs-such as language, counting, mnemonic devices, algebraic symbols, art, and writing-that facilitate and direct thinking processes

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elementary mental functions

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psychological functions with which the child is endowed by nature, including attention, perception, and involuntary memory, that emerge spontaneously during children's interaction with the world

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higher mental functions

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psychological functions, such as voluntary attention, complex memory processes, and problem solving, that entail the coordination of several cognitive processes and the use of mediators

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zone of proximal development (ZPD)

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the region of sensitivity for learning characterized by the difference between the developmental level of which a child is capable when working alone and the level she is capable of reaching with the aid of a more skilled partner

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scaffolding

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an instructional process in which the more knowledgeable partner adjusts the amount and type of support he offers to the child to fit with the child's learning needs over the course of the interaction

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reciprocal instruction

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a tutoring approach based o the ideas of the zone of proximal development and scaffolding

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community leaders

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an approach to classroom learning in which adults and children work together in shared activities, peers learn from each other, and the teacher serves as a guide

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guided participation

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learning that occurs as children participate in activities of their community and are guided by their participation by the actions of more experienced partners in the setting

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egocentric speech

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according to Vygotsky, a form of self-directed dialogue by which the child instructs herself in solving problems and formulating plans; as the child matures, this becomes internalized as inner speech

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inner speech

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internalized egocentric speech that guides intellectual functioning

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microgenic change

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changes associated with learning that occur over the time of a specific learning experience or episode