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PSYC 225
Chapter 5
Question | Answer |
---|---|
just right | the tendency of children to insist on having things done in a particular way. This can include clothes, food, bedtime routines, and so on |
injury control/ harm reduction | practices that are aimed at anticipating controlling, and preventing dangerous activities; these practices reflect the beliefs that accidents are not random and that injuries can be made less harmful if proper controls are in place |
primary prevention | actions that change overall background conditions to prevent some unwanted event or circumstance, such as injury, disease or abuse |
secondary prevention | actions that avert harm in a high-risk situation, such as stopping a car before it hits a pedestrian or installing traffic lights at dangerous intersections |
tertiary prevention | actions, such as immediate and effective medical treatment, that are taken after an adverse event (such as illness, injury, or abuse) occurs and that are aimed at reducing the harm or preventing disability |
prefrontal | the area of the cortex at the front of the brain that specializes in anticipation, planning, and impulse control |
myelination | the process by which axons become coated with myelin, a fatty substance that speeds the transmission of nerve impulses from neuron to neuron |
perseveration | the tendency to persevere in, or stick to, one thought or action for a long time |
corpus callosum | a long, thick band of nerve fibers that connects the left and right hemispheres of the brain and allows communication between them |
lateralization | literally, "sidedness," referring to the specialization in certain functions by each side of the rain, with one side dominant for each activity. The left side of the brain controls the right side of the body, and vice versa |
limbic system | major brain region crucial to the development of emotional expression & regulation; its three main areas are the amygdala, the hippocampus, & the hypothalamus, although recent research has found that many other areas of the brain are involved w/ emotions |
amygdala | a tiny brain structure that registers emotions, particularly fear and anxiety |
hippocampus | a brain structure that is a central processor of memory, especially memory for locations |
hypothalamus | a brain area that responds to the amygdala and the hippocampus to produce hormones that activate other parts of the brain and body |
preoperational intelligence | 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 |
symbolic thought | the concept that an object or word can stand for something else, including something pretend or something not seen. Once this is possible, language becomes more useful |
animism | the belief that natural objects and phenomena are alive |
centration | a characteristic of preoperational thought whereby a young child focuses (centers) on one idea, excluding all others |
egocentrism | Piaget's term for young children's tendency to think about the world entirely from their own personal perspective |
focus on appearance | a characteristic of peroperational thought whereby a young child ignores all attributes that are not apparent |
static reasoning | a characteristic of peroperational thought whereby a young child thinks nothing changes. Whatever is now has always been and will always be. |
irreversibility | a characteristic of peroperational thought whereby a young child thinks that nothing can be undone. A thing cannot be restored to the way it was before a change occurred |
conservation | the principle that the amount of a substance remains the same (i.e. is conserved) even when its appearance changes |
zone of proximal development (ZPD) | Vygotsky's term for the skills - cognitive as well as physical - that a person can exercise only with assistance, not yet independently |
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 |
overimitation | the tendency of children to copy an action that is not a relevant part of the behavior to be learned; common among 2- to 6-year-olds when they imitate adult actions that are irrelevant and inefficient |
theory-theory | the idea that children attempt to explain everything they see and hear |
theory of mind | 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 is seldom achieved before age 4 |
overregularization | the application of rules of grammar even when exceptions occur, making the language seem more "regular" than it actually is |
balanced bilingual | a person who is fluent in two languages, not favoring one over the other |
Montessori schools | schools that offer early-childhood education based on the philosophy of Maria Montessori (an Italian educator more than a century ago); it emphasizes careful work and tasks that each young child can do. |
Reggio Emilia | A famous program of early-childhood education that originated in the town of Reggio Emilia; it encourages each child's creativity in a carefully designed setting |
Head Start | the most widespread early-childhood education program in the United States, begun in 1965 and funded by the federal government |