Social-contextual approach

• The social-contextual approach to cognitive development focuses on how environmental factors, especially interactions with parents and caregivers, influence a child's development. It emphasizes the importance of social interactions and relationships in shaping cognitive growth and skills.
• "Guided participation" refers to when adults actively engage in a child's activity, helping to structure it and align the child's understanding with their own. It's like when a parent helps a child build a puzzle, providing guidance and support to enhance the child's comprehension and skill development in the activity.
• Language

  A form of communication, whether spoken, written, or signed, that is based on a system of symbols. Consists of the words used by a community and the rules for varying and combining them.
• "Infinite generativity" is the capacity to create an unlimited number of meaningful sentences using a limited set of words and rules.
• "Nativism" is the theory that humans are born with an innate capacity for language acquisition. It suggests that we have built-in mechanisms or structures in our brains that predispose us to learn language effortlessly, without requiring extensive external instruction.
• The "language acquisition device (LAD)," as termed by Chomsky, refers to an inborn mechanism in the human brain that enables children to deduce linguistic rules from the language they are exposed to. It's like a built-in language learning tool that helps children naturally grasp the structure and grammar of their native language simply by hearing it spoken around them.
• "Prelinguistic speech" refers to the early vocalizations made by infants before they start using words. These vocalizations include sounds like crying, cooing, and babbling, as well as the imitation of sounds without understanding their meaning. It's like the groundwork for language development, where babies experiment with making various sounds as they prepare to transition into using actual words.
• "Linguistic speech" refers to verbal expressions made by babies with the intention of conveying meaning. This could include their early attempts at using words to communicate their needs, desires, or observations, even though their vocabulary and syntax are still developing.
• A "holophrase" is a single word used by a young child to convey a complete thought or idea. It's like when a toddler says "milk" to express the desire for a drink, or "up" to ask to be lifted. Despite being just one word, a holophrase can represent a whole concept or request.
• "Telegraphic speech" is an early stage of language development where a child uses only a few essential words to convey meaning, similar to a telegraph message which uses minimal words to express a message. It's like when a toddler says "want cookie" instead of "I want a cookie," or "big doggy" instead of "Look at the big dog." This stage typically occurs as children are beginning to string together words to form basic sentences.
• Code mixing


  Use of elements of two languages, sometimes in the same utterance, by young children in households where both languages are spoken.
• Code switching


  Changing one’s speech to match the situation, as in people who are bilingual.
• Child-directed speech also known as parentese or motherese, is a form of speech characterized by its simplified structure, high-pitched tone, exaggerated vowel sounds, repetition, and use of short words and sentences. It's commonly used when adults speak to babies or toddlers, as it is believed to facilitate language acquisition and engagement.
• Broca's area

  An area in the brain’s left frontal lobe that is involved in speech production.
• Wernicke's area

  An area in the brain’s left hemisphere that is involved in language comprehension.
• Broca's area Location (Adult Brain)

  Left inferior frontal gyrus
• Broca's Area adult function

  Speech production
• Broca's area infant function

  Listens to speech, learns sounds and patterns
• Wernicke's Area location (adult brain)

  Left superior temporal gyrus
• Wernicke's area adult function

  Speech comprehension
• Wernicke's area infant function

  Listens to speech, associates sounds with meaning
• Aphasia

  A loss or impairment of language ability caused by brain damage.