Ch 7: Middle Childhood- Body&Mind
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stacey8588 Plus on July 18, 2012
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32 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 middle childhood | The period between early childhood & early adolescence, approximately from ages 7-11. |
| asthma | A chronic disease of the respiratory system in which inflammation narrows the airways from the nose & mouth to the lungs, causing difficulty in breathing. Signs & symptoms include wheezing, shortness of breath, chest tightness, & coughing. |
| body mass index (BMI) | The ratio of weight to height, calculated by dividing a person's body weight in kilograms by the square of his/her height in meters. |
| overweight | In an adult, having a BMI of 25-29. In a child, having a BMI above the 85th percentile, according to the US Centers for Disease Control's 1980 standards for children of a given age. |
| obesity | In an adult, having a BMI of 30 or more. In a child, having a BMI above the 95th percentile, according to the US Centers for Disease Control's 1980 standards for children of a given age. |
| concrete operational thought | Piaget's term for the ability to reason logically about direct experiences & perceptions. |
| classification | The logical principle that things can be organized into groups (or categories or classes) according to some characteristic they have in common. |
| knowledge base | A body of knowledge in a particular area that makes it easier to master new information in that area. |
| information-processing theory | A perspective that compares human thinking processes, by analogy, to computer analysis of data, including sensory input, connections, stored memories, & output. |
| selective attention | The ability to concentrate on some stimuli while ignoring others. |
| automatization | A process in which repetition of a sequence of thought & actions makes the sequence routine, so that it no longer requires conscious thought. |
| reaction time | The time it takes to respond to a stimulus, either physically (w/ a reflexive movement such as an eye blink) or cognitively (w/ a thought). |
| sensory memory | The component of the information-processing system in which incoming stimulus information is stored for a split second to allow it to be processed. aka: sensory register |
| working memory | The component of the information-processing system in which current, conscious mental activity occurs. aka: short-term memory |
| long-term memory | The component of the information-processing system in which virtually limitless amounts of information can be stored indefinitely. |
| metacognition | "Thinking about thinking"; the ability to evaluate a cognitive task in order to determine how best to accomplish it, & then to monitor & adjust one's performance on that task. |
| metamemory | The ability to understand how memory works in order to use it well. Metamemory is an essential element of metacognition. |
| aptitude | The potential to master a specific skill or to learn a certain body of knowledge. |
| IQ test | A test designed to measure intellectual aptitude, or ability to learn in school. Originally, intelligence was defined as mental age divided by chronological age, times 100--hence the term intelligence quotient, or IQ |
| achievement test | A measure of mastery or proficiency in reading, mathematics, writing, science, or some other subject. |
| Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children | An IQ test designed for school-age children. The test assesses potential in many areas, including vocabulary, general knowledge, memory, & spatial comprehension. |
| Flynn effect | The rise in average IQ scores that has occurred over the decades in many nations. |
| mental retardation | Literally, slow, or late, thinking. In practice, people are considered mentally retarded if they score below 70 on an IQ test & if they are markedly behind their peers in the ability to meet the basic requirements of daily life. |
| children with special needs | Children who, because of a physical or mental disability, require extra help in order to learn. |
| developmental psychopathology | The field that uses insights into typical development to understand & remediate developmental disorders, & vice versa. |
| Diagnostic & Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR) | The American Psychiatric Assoociation's offical guide to the diagnosis (not treatment) of mental disorders. (IV-TR means "fourth edition, text revision." The fifth edition is scheduled to be published in 2011.) |
| attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) | A condition in which a person is inattentive, impulsive, & overactive & thus has great difficulty concentrating for more than a few moments. |
| learning disability | A marked delay in as particular area of learning that is not caused by an apparent physical disability, by mental retardation, or by an unusually stressful home environment. |
| dyslexia | Unusual difficulty w/ reading; thought to be the result of some neurological underdevelopment. |
| autistic spectrum disorder | Any of several disorders characterized by impaired communication, inadequate social skills, & unusual patterns of play. |
| autism | A developmental disorder marked by an inability to relate to other people normally, extreme self-absorption, & an inability to acquire normal speech. |
| Asperger syndrome | An autistic spectrum disorder characterized by extreme attention to details & deficient social understanding. |
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