Chapter 2

Question 1

Development

Answer 1

Orderly, adaptive changes that humans (or animals) go through from conception to death

Question 2

Physical development

Answer 2

changes in body structure that take place as one grows

Question 3

Personal development

Answer 3

Changes in personality that take place as one grows

Question 4

Social development

Answer 4

Changes over time in the ways in which one relates to others

Question 5

Cognitive development

Answer 5

gradual, overly changes by which mental processes become more complex and sophisticated

Question 6

Maturation

Answer 6

Genetically programmed, naturally occurring changes over time

Question 7

Coactions

Answer 7

Joints action of individual biology and environment– each shapes and influences the other

Question 8

Sensitive periods

Answer 8

Times when a person is especially ready for or responsive to certain experiences

Question 9

neurons

Answer 9

nerve cells that store and transfer information

Question 10

neurogenesis

Answer 10

the production of new neurons

Question 11

synapses

Answer 11

the tiny space between neurons; chemical messages are sent across these gaps

Question 12

myelination

Answer 12

the process by which neural fibres are coated with a fatty sheath called myelin that makes message transfer more efficient

Question 13

Lateralization

Answer 13

The specialization of the two hemispheres of the brain cortex

Question 14

Plasticity

Answer 14

The brain’s tendency to remain somewhat adaptable or flexible

Question 15

Organization

Answer 15

Ongoing process of arranging information and experience into mental systems or categories

Question 16

Adaptation

Answer 16

adjustment to the environment

Question 17

Schemes

Answer 17

Mental systems or categories of perception and experience

Question 18

Assimilation

Answer 18

Fitting new information into existing schemes

Question 19

Accomodation

Answer 19

Altering existing schemes or creating new ones in response to new information

Question 20

Equilibration

Answer 20

Search for mental balance between cognitive schemes and information from the environment

Question 21

Disequilibrium

Answer 21

In Piaget’s theory, the out-of-balance state that occurs when a person realizes that his or her current ways of thinking are not working to solve a problem or understand a situation

Question 22

Sensorimotor

Answer 22

Involving the senses and motor activity

Question 23

object permanence

Answer 23

the understanding that objects have a separate, permanent existence

Question 24

Goal-directed actions

Answer 24

Deliberate actions toward a goal

Question 25

Operations

Answer 25

Actions that a person carries out by thinking them through instead of literally performing them

Question 26

Preoperational

Answer 26

The stage of development before a child masters logical mental operations

Question 27

Semiotic function

Answer 27

The ability to use symbols--language, pictures, signs, or gestures--to represent actions or objects mentally

Question 28

Reversible thinking

Answer 28

Thinking backward, from the end to the beginning

Question 29

Conservation

Answer 29

Principle that some characteristics of an object remain the same despite changes in appearance

Question 30

Decentring

Answer 30

Focusing on more than one aspect at a time

Question 31

Egocentric

Answer 31

Assuming that others experience the world the way you do

Question 32

Concrete operations

Answer 32

Mental tasks tied to concrete objects and situations

Question 33

Identity

Answer 33

The principle that a person or object remains the same over time

Question 34

Compensation

Answer 34

The principle that changes in one dimension can be offset by changes in another dimension

Question 35

Reversibility

Answer 35

A characteristic of Piagetian logical operations--the ability to think through a series of steps, then mentally reverse the steps and return to the starting point; also called reversible thinking

Question 36

classification

Answer 36

grouping objects into categories

Question 37

Seriation

Answer 37

arrangement of objects in sequential order according to one aspect, such as size, weight, or volume

Question 38

Formal operations

Answer 38

Mental tasks involving abstract thinking and coordination of a number of variables

Question 39

Hypothetico-deductive reasoning

Answer 39

A formal-operations problem-solving strategy in which an individual begins by identifying all the factors that might affect a problem and then deduces and systematically evaluates specific solutions

Question 40

Adolescent egocentrism

Answer 40

Assumption that everyone else is interested in one's thoughts, feelings, and concerns

Question 41

Neo-Piagetian theories

Answer 41

More recent theories that integrate findings about attention, memory, and strategy use with Piaget's insights about children's thinking and the construction of knowledge

Question 42

Sociocultural theory

Answer 42

theory that emphasizes the role in development of cooperative dialogues between children and more knowledgable members of society; children learn the culture of their community through these interactions

Question 43

Co-constructed

Answer 43

constructed through a social process in which people interact and negotiate to create an understanding or to solve a problem; the final product is shaped by all participants

Question 44

Cultural tools

Answer 44

the real tools and symbol systems that allow people in a society to communicate, think, solve problems, and create knowledge

Question 45

collective monologue

Answer 45

when kids all talk but don't actually communicate

Question 46

Private speech

Answer 46

children's self talk, guides thinking and action. Eventually this becomes intenalized

Question 47

Zone of proximal development (ZPD)

Answer 47

Phrase at which a child can master a task if given appropriate help and support

Question 48

Scaffolding

Answer 48

Support for learning and problem solving; the support could be clues, reminders, encouragement, breaking the problem down into steps

Question 49

Assisted learning

Answer 49

Learning by having strategic help provided in the initial stages; the help gradually diminishes as students gain independence