development

Changes that occur and remain for a reasonably long period of time

Classifications/types of development

physical, personal, soical, moral, cognitive

Nature vs nurture

is development influenced more by nature, or environment?

Continuity vs discontunity

does development progress at a reasonably steady pace, or are there large leaps and stages in development

Critical vs sensitive periods

are there critical periods of development that must be experienced for normal development to occur, or are there just certain periods of time that have more of an effect on the brain but are not vital in order to develop normally

neurons

nerve cells, or the "grey matter" of the brain, these tiny cells are the building blocks of the central nervous system that recieve, store, and transfer information

axons

long threadlike extensions of a neuron that transmit information away from the neuron

myelin

a fatty material that coats the axon and serves to transfer messages faster and more efficiently

dendrites

tree-like extensions of a neuron that receive information from other neurons

synapses

tiny spaces between neurons, across which chemical messages are sent via electrical signals

glial cells

also called "white matter", these provide support to neruons

plasticity

the ability of the brain to modify itself and remain somewhat adaptable or fixable

pruning

the natural process in the brain that occurs when neural connections in the brain that aren't used slowly disappear

cerebral cortex

the largest and last area of the brain to develop that is made up of folds and wrinkles and contains the greatest number of neurons; allows for complex problem solving and language; different parts of this also develop at different rates

lateralization

the specialization of the two hemispheres of the brain; each area functions "differently but simultaneously

Jean Piaget

Believed that there were four factors that influence cognitive development

Jean Piaget's four factors of development

biological maturation, activity, social transmission, and equilibrium

Piaget's theory regarding informational organization

people organize ideas in schemas, when something is unfamiliar, disequilibrium occurs, motivating learners to adapt their schema and search for equilibrium

Organizing a schema comes by____

assimilation or accommodation

assimilation

fitting info into a pre-existing schema

accomidation

challenging/creating a new schema

Piaget's 4 stages of cognitive development

Sensorimotor, Preoperational, Concrete operational, and Formal operational

Sensorimotor

Infant-2 yrs of age developing through senses, object permeance, goal-oriented actions, and symbolic thought (starting to visualize things)

Preoperational

2-7 yrs old Rapid language development, symbolic representation and play (imagination), childhood egocentrism, centration/lack of conservation, irreversable thinking, and classification difficulites

Concrete operational

7-11 years old reversible thinking, decentration/ability to conserve, classification and seriation understanding, abstract thinking difficulties, trial/error in thinking

Formal operational

abstract and hypothetical thinking systematic and deductive reasoning adolescent egocentrism (they think everyone is watching them)

Vygotsky's sociocultural perspective for cognitive development

believed that learning from others causes development private speech is also beneficial technological/physiological tools help development

MKO

More-knowledgeable other; who in Vygotsky's theory can encourage and cause cognitive development

ZPD

Zone of proximal development- the area between what a child is capable of doing, and what they cannot do without help/support (scaffolding)

Piaget and Vygotsky both believed that learners build their knowledge through

active learning, which doesn't have to be hands on, as long as students are encouraged to think