Concrete operational stage
Third stage of Piaget’s; 7 to 11 y/o; thought becomes logical, flexible and organized in its application to concrete information, but capacity for abstract thinking is not yet present
Decentration
Piaget; capacity of concrete operational children to focus on several aspects of a problem and relate them
Reversibility
The capacity to think through a series of steps in a problem and then mentally reverse direction, returning to the starting point.
Seriation
The ability to order items along a quantitative dimension such as length or weight
Occurs in concrete operational stage
Transitive inference
the ability to seriate, or order items along a quantitative dimension, mentally
Occurs in concrete operational stage
Cognitive maps
Mental representations of spaces, such as classroom, school, or neighborhood
Occurs in concrete operational stage
Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder
A disorder involving inattention, impulsivity, and excessive motor activity, resulting in academic and social problems
How do children become better at planning?
When adults turn over responsibility to them and guide and support them as needed
rehearsal
A memory strategy that involves repeating information to oneself to improve recall
organization
In Piaget’s theory; the internal rearrangement and linking together of schemes so that they form a strongly interconnected cognitive system. In information processing, a memory strategy that involves grouping related items together to improve recall
elaboration
Memory strategy that involves creating a relationship or shared meaning, between two or more items of information that are not members of the same category
recursive thought
A form of perspective taking that requires the ability to view a situation from at least two perspectives – to reason simultaneously about what two or more people are thinking
Cognitive Self-regulation
The process of continuously monitoring progress toward a goal, checking outcomes, and redirecting unsuccessful efforts
Triarchic Theory of successful intelligence
Sternberg’s theory, which identifies three broad, interacting intelligences, analytical, creative, and practical – that must be balanced to achieve success according to one’s personal goals and the requirements of one’s cultural community
Theory of multiple intelligences
Gardner’s theory which proposes at least eight independent intelligences, defined in terms of distinct sets of processing operations that permit individuals to engage in a wide range of culturally valued activities
Flynn Effect
Steady increase in IQ from one generation to the next
Stereotype threat
The fear of being judged on the basis of a negative stereotype, which can trigger anxiety that interferes with performance
Dynamic assessment
Innovative approach to testing consistent with Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development, in which an adult introduces purposeful teaching into the testing situation to find out what the child can attain with social support
Metalinguistic awareness
The ability to think about language as a system
Contributes to language progress in middle childhood
Traditional classrooms
A classroom in which the teacher is the sole authority for knowledge, rules, and decision making and students are relatively passive learners who are evaluated in relation to a uniform set of standards for their grade
Older students in these classrooms have a slight edge over students in constructivist classrooms
Constructivist classrooms
A classroom grounded in Piaget’s view of children as active learners who reflect on and coordinate their own thoughts. Features include richly equipped learning centers, small groups and individuals solving self-chosen problems, a teacher who guides and supports in response to children’s needs and evaluation based on individual students’ progress in relation to their own prior development
social-constructivist classrooms
A classroom grounded in Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory in which children participate in a wide range of challenging activities with teachers and peers, with whom they jointly construct understandings
Reciprocal Teaching
A teaching method in which a teacher and two to four students form a cooperative group and take turns leading dialogues, creating a zone of proximal development in which children scaffold one another’s progress
Communities of learners
An educational approach inspired by Vygotsky’s theory in which teachers guide the overall process of learning, but otherwise no distinction is made between adult and child contributors: All participate in joint endeavors, and students have the authority to define and resolve problems as they work toward project goals, which often address complex real-world issues
