Child Development & Learning Theories Flashcards
7 cards from real NES practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Child Development & Learning Theories flashcards as text
Bowlby's attachment theory proposes that children's early bonds with primary caregivers:
Answer: Form the foundation for social-emotional development and all future relationships
Bowlby proposed that early secure attachments create an 'internal working model' that shapes children's expectations and behavior in all future social relationships.
B.F. Skinner's concept of 'shaping' in operant conditioning involves:
Answer: Reinforcing successive approximations of a desired target behavior
Shaping reinforces behaviors that progressively approximate the target behavior, gradually guiding the learner toward the final desired skill or response.
In Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory, which system encompasses the immediate settings where a child directly participates, such as home and school?
Answer: Microsystem
The microsystem is the innermost layer of Bronfenbrenner's model, consisting of the direct environments (home, school, peer group) in which the child actively participates.
Which stage of language development is characterized by two-word utterances such as 'more milk' or 'daddy go'?
Answer: Telegraphic speech stage
Telegraphic speech (approximately 18–24 months) involves two-word utterances that use only essential content words to convey meaning, much like an old-fashioned telegram.
The concept of a 'sensitive period' (or critical period) in child development suggests that:
Answer: There are optimal windows of time during which certain skills are most easily and naturally acquired
Sensitive/critical periods are times when the brain is especially receptive to specific types of input, making skill acquisition—such as language learning—more efficient.
Executive function skills that develop significantly during early childhood and strongly predict academic success include all of the following EXCEPT:
Answer: Sensorimotor reflexes
Executive functions include working memory, cognitive flexibility, and inhibitory control; sensorimotor reflexes are involuntary automatic responses, not executive functions.
Bandura's concept of self-efficacy is best defined as:
Answer: A person's belief in their own ability to succeed in specific situations or tasks
Self-efficacy is an individual's confidence in their capacity to perform specific behaviors needed to achieve desired outcomes; it strongly influences motivation, effort, and persistence.