In general, the concept that some quantitative aspect of an entity remains unchanged despite a transformation in its appearance. Piaget devised a series of tasks to test children’s understanding of conservation in a variety of entity domains (e.g., mass, number, volume, weight). For example, in conservation of mass tasks, children are tested on whether or …
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Conscience
Internalization of the rules and restrictions of society; it determines which behaviors are permissible and punishes wrongdoing with feelings of guilt. Having a conscience can lead to conscientious acts, such as conscientious objection, which may be instigated for secular or religious reasons. See Guilt, Moral development, Moral judgments, Morality
Consciousness
A phenomenon that the philosopher William James (1842-1910) likened to a ‘stream’ or process by which a sense of self is attained through a succession of experiences. The pragmatist John Dewey (1859-1952) added that consciousness is an emergent property of sentient creatures, which develops and enables discrimination and choice based on the satisfaction of needs and …
Connectionist models
A class of computational models that consist of a number of interconnected simple processing units. Often the units are arranged in several layers. Connectionist models learn from experience, and have been used to explain several aspects of infant cognitive and behavioral development, as well as developmental disorders. In addition, connectionist models and neural networks have …
CONLERN
A term coined by John Morton and Mark Johnson in their two-process modularity theory of infant face recognition to reflect the infant’s acquisition of face knowledge by virtue of experience in viewing faces. Presumed to be mediated cortically and appearing at about 2 months of age. See Configural processing, CONSPEC, Face processing, Face recognition, Modularity
Connectionism
A theoretical framework in which networks of interconnected nodes (analogous to neural networks) process information through an activation dynamics while their connectivity evolves according to learning dynamics. Connectionist networks receive inputs that ultimately arise from sensor systems. Particular output layers are assumed to ultimately determine behavior. By generating activation at the output nodes in response …
Congenital malformations
7% See Aortic hypoplasia, Anencephaly, Congenital abnormalities, Congenital anomalies, Down’s syndrome, Dysmorphology, Hydrocephalus (or hydrocephaly), Spina bifida, Teratogen
Congenital abnormalities
Major disorder present at birth (including congenital malformations), and acquired during uterine development, which can be the result of disease, drugs, or an abnormal chromosomes or genes. See Chiari II malformation, Congenital anomalies, Congenital malformations, Developmental disorders, De Morsier-Kallmann syndrome, Fetal programming, Syndrome
Congenital anomalies
Relative to congenital malformations, they are minor disorders such as polydactly (presence of more than ten finger or toes), and a large earlobe that are one of the less devastating outcomes associated with inbreeding. They occur in a further 2.5% of live-born infants in addition to those with congenital abnormalities. See Congenital abnormalities, Congenital malformations, …
Confounding variable
An unforeseen and unaccounted-for factor that generates an apparent association between two variables because it has a prior association with both. For example, height and school achievement may both be associated with socioeconomic status. Thus, an apparent link between size and success could be said to be subject to confounding by social class. Such a …