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A Child's World: Infancy through Adolescence, 9/e
Diane E. Papalia, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Sally Wendkos Olds
Ruth Duskin Feldman

Cognitive Development during the First Three Years

Glossary


A, not-B, error  tendency, noted by Piaget, for 8- to 12-month-old infants to search for a hidden object in a place where they previously found it, rather than in the place where they most recently saw it being hidden.
Bayley Scales of Infant Development  standardized test of infants' mental and motor development.
behaviorist approach  approach to the study of cognitive development that is concerned with basics mechanics of learning.
child-directed speech (CDS)  form of speech often used in talking to babies or toddlers; includes slow, simplified speech, a high-pitched tone, exaggerated vowel sounds, short words and sentences, and much repetition. Also called parentese.
circular reactions  Piaget's terms for processes by which an infant learns to reproduce desired occurrences originally discovered by chance.
classical conditioning  learning based on associating a stimulus that does not ordinarily elicit a particular response with another stimulus that ordinarily does elicit a response.
code mixing  use of elements of two languages, sometimes in the same utterance, by young children in households where both languages are spoken.
code switching  process of changing one's speech to match the situation, as in people who are bilingual.
cognitive neuroscience approach  approach to the study of cognitive development that links brain processes with cognitive ones.
cross-modal transfer  ability to use information gained by one sense to guide another.
deferred imitation  Piaget's term for reproduction of an observed behavior after the passage of time by calling up a stored symbol of it.
development priming mechanisms  aspects of the home environment that seem necessary for normal cognitive and psychosocial development.
Dishabituation  increase in responsiveness after presentation of a new stimulus. Compare habituation.
early intervention  systematic process of providing therapeutic and educational services to families to help meet young children's developmental needs.
explicit memory  memory that is intentional and conscious.
guided participation  participation of an adult in an child's activity in a manner that helps to structure the activity and to bring the child's understanding of it closer to that of the adult.
habituation  simply type of learning in which familiarity with a stimulus reduces, slows, or stops a response. Compare dishabituation.
Holophrase  single word that conveys a complete thought.
Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment (HOME)  Instrument to measure the influence of the home environment on children's cognitive growth.
implicit memory  unconscious recall, generally of habits and skills, sometimes called procedural memory.
information-processing approach  approach to the study of cognitive development by observing and analyzing the mental processes involved in perceiving and handling information.
intelligent behavior  behavior that is goal-oriented and adaptive to circumstances and conditions of life.
invisible imitation  imitation with parts of one's body that one cannot see.
IQ (intelligence quotient) tests  psychometric tests that seek to measure intelligence by comparing a test-taker's performance with standardized norms.
language  communication system based on words and grammar.
language acquisition device (LAD)  In Chomsky's terminology, an inborn mechanism that enables children to infer linguistic rules from the language they hear.
linguistic speech  verbal expression designed to convey meaning.
literacy  ability to read and write
nativisim  theory that human beings have an inborn capacity for language acquistion.
object permanence  Piaget's term for the understanding that a person or object still exists when out of sight.
operant conditioning  learning based on reinforcement or punishment.
Piagetian approach  approach to the study of cognitive development that describes qualititative stages in cognitive functioning.
prelinguistic speech  forerunner of linguistic speech; utterance of sounds that are not words. Includes crying, cooing, babbling, and accidental and deliberate imitation of sounds without understanding their meaning.
psychometric approach  approach to the study of cognitive development that describes qualitative stages in cognitive functioning.
representational ability  Piaget's terms for capacity to mentally represent objects and experiences, largely through the use of symbols.
schemes  Piaget's term for organized patterns of behavior used in different situations
sensorimotor stage  In Piaget's theory, the first stage in cognitive development, during which infants learn through sensory and motor activity.
social-contextual approach  approach to the study of cognitive development focusing on environmental influences, particularly of parents and other caregivers.
syntax  rules for forming syntax in a particular language.
telegraphic speech  early form of sentence consisting of only a few essential words.
violation-of-expectations  research method in which dishabituation to a stimulus that conflicts with previous experience is taken as evidence that an infant recognizes then new stimulus as surprising.
visible imitation  imitation with parts of one's body that one can see.
visual preference  tendency of infants to spend more time looking at one sight than another.
visual recognition memory  ability to distinguish a familiar visual stimulus from an unfamiliar one when shown both at the same time.
working memory  short-term storage of information being actively processed.