chapter 9

Discipline: Psychology

Type of Paper: Question-Answer

Academic Level: Undergrad. (yrs 3-4)

Paper Format: APA

Pages: 1 Words: 275

Question

Piaget – Preoperational Intelligence stage
Cognitive development between the ages of 2-6 Includes language and imagination Suggests logical, operational thinking is not yet possible at this stage Definition

Grammar of a language
Structures, techniques, and rules that communicate meaning Word order and word repetition, prefixes and suffixes, intonation and emphasis

Overregularization
Application of rules of grammar even when exceptions occur Makes language seem more “regular" than it actually is (house, houses  mouse, mouses)

What are the advantages of teaching a child two languages?
they gain in cognitive as well as linguistic development, they don't get confused, national unity if your country speaks multiple languages

Language shift 
becoming more fluent in the school language than in their home language becoming more fluent in the school language than in their home language

Balanced bilingual
Being fluent in two languages, not favoring one over the other Occurs if adults talk frequently, listen carefully, and value both languages Definition

Symbolic Thought
Major accomplishment of preoperational intelligence Allows a child to think symbolically, including understanding that words can refer to things not seen and that an item, can symbolize something else

Animism
Involves belief that natural objects and phenomena are alive Is related to egocentric reasoning (I am alive, so it is alive.) Definition

What are the four limitations of preoperational thought? 
Centration Includes characteristic of preoperational thought whereby a young child focuses (centers) on one idea, excluding all others; may include egocentrism Focus on appearance Characteristic of preoperational thought whereby a young child ignores all attributes that are not apparent Static reasoning Characteristic of preoperational thought whereby a young child thinks that nothing changes. Whatever is now has always been and always will be. Irreversibility Characteristic of preoperational 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.

“logic of conservation” 
Conservation is the principle that the amount of a substance remains the same (i.e., is conserved) when its appearance changes. ]

How does the “logic of conservation” show the four limitations of preoperational thought?
All four characteristics of preoperational thought are evident in classic conservation task errors. Young children fail to understand conservation of liquids because they focus (center) on what they see (appearance) noticing only the immediate (static) condition. It does not occur to them that they could reverse the process and re-create the liquid’s level of a moment earlier (irreversibility).

What is the difference between egocentricism in a child and selfishness in an adult?
kids contemplate the world exclusively from their personal perspective, where as selfishness is different in that adults only think about themselves not others. Kids will give ppl presents but not think about what they want, but instead what themselves would like.

Vygotsky’s social learning emphasizes what? 
Every aspect of children's cognitive development is embedded in social context. Child = “apprentice in thinking” Someone whose intellectual growth is stimulated and directed by older and more skilled members of society Primary caregivers = mentors Present challenges Offer assistance (without taking over) Add crucial information Encourage motivation

Guided participation
Process by which people learn from others who guide their experiences and explorations.

Zone of proximal development (ZPD)
Skills that a person can exercise only with assistance, not yet independently Definition

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

Why did Vygotsky think that talking to yourself is not a sign of illness but an aid to cognition?
private speech aids cognition and self-reflection because they talk aloud to review, decide, and explain events to themselves

What is the evidence that early childhood is a sensitive time for learning language?
“language sponges” because they soak up every drop of language they encounter. The average child knows about 500 words at age two and more than 10,000 at age six. Brain maturation, myelination, scaffolding, and social interaction make early childhood an ideal time for learning language.

2-6 yr vocab 
2- 100-2000 3- 1000-5000 4- 3000-10000 6+- 5000-30000

fast-mapping
Speedy and sometimes imprecise way in which children learn new words by tentatively placing them in mental categories according to their perceived meaning
Logical extension
Closely related to fast-mapping Occurs when children use words to describe other objects in same category

How does fast-mapping aid the language explosion?
grid or mental map, which makes speedy vocabulary acquisition, or fast-mapping, possible. Rather than figuring out the exact definition after hearing a word, children hear a word once and quickly stick it into a category in their mental language grid.