Child Development & Learning Theories Flashcards

A first grader can read a word correctly only after a teacher models the first sound and points to the vowel. According to Vygotsky, this task falls within the child's:

Answer: Zone of proximal development

The zone of proximal development is the range of tasks a child can complete with guidance but not yet alone.

Which instructional practice most directly reflects the gradual release of responsibility model?

Answer: I do, we do, you do sequence with decreasing teacher support

Gradual release moves from teacher modeling to guided practice to independent application.

According to Ehri's phases of word reading, a child who reads 'yellow' by recognizing the two tall letters in the middle, without using letter-sound knowledge, is in which phase?

Answer: Pre-alphabetic

Pre-alphabetic readers rely on visual cues, not letter-sound connections, to identify words.

A kindergartner believes a tall, thin glass holds more juice than a short, wide glass with the same amount. Piaget would say this child has not yet mastered:

Answer: Conservation

Conservation is the understanding that quantity stays the same despite changes in shape, typically mastered in the concrete operational stage.

The Simple View of Reading states that reading comprehension is the product of:

Answer: Decoding and language comprehension

Gough and Tunmer proposed that reading comprehension equals decoding multiplied by language comprehension.

A teacher praises a student's effort and strategy use rather than calling the student 'smart.' This practice is most closely aligned with:

Answer: Dweck's growth mindset theory

Growth mindset research shows that praising effort and strategies encourages persistence on challenging tasks.

The 'Matthew effect' in reading refers to the pattern in which:

Answer: Strong early readers read more and grow faster, widening the gap with weak readers

Stanovich described how early reading success leads to more reading and vocabulary growth, while early difficulty leads to less reading and falling further behind.