Psych 240 - Chapter 9

Front 1

animism

Back 1

The belief that natural objects and phenomena are alive.

Front 2

centration

Back 2

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

Front 3

conservation

Back 3

The principle that the amount of a substance remains the same even when its appearance changes.

Front 4

egocentrism

Back 4

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

Front 5

focus on appearance

Back 5

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

Front 6

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.

Front 7

overimitation

Back 7

When a person imitates an action that is not a relevant part of the behavior to be learned. this is common among 2- to 6-year-olds when they imitate adult actions that are irrelevant and inefficient.

Front 8

preoperational intelligence

Back 8

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

Front 9

scaffolding

Back 9

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.

Front 10

static reasoning

Back 10

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

Front 11

symbolic thought

Back 11

A major accomplishment of preoperational intelligence that allows a child to think symbolically, including understanding that words can refer to things not seen and that an item, such as a flag, can symbolize something else (in this case, for instance, a country).

Front 12

theory of mind

Back 12

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

Front 13

theory-theory

Back 13

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

Front 14

zone of proximal development (ZPD)

Back 14

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

Front 15

balanced bilingual

Back 15

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

Front 16

fast-mapping

Back 16

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

Front 17

overregularization

Back 17

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

Front 18

pragmatics

Back 18

The practical use of language that includes the ability to adjust language communication according to audience and context.

Front 19

Dual Language Learners (DLLs)

Back 19

Children who develop skills in two languages. Ideally education fosters proficiency in two languages rather than creating a language shift.

Front 20

Head Start

Back 20

A federally funded early-childhood intervention program for low-income children of preschool age.

Front 21

Montessori schools

Back 21

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.

Front 22

Reggio Emilia

Back 22

A 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.