Chapter 4

Question 1

What is the physical growth of children between ages 2-6?

Answer 1

-grow about 3 inches in height and gain about 4-5 pounds in weight each year (growth spurts)
-growth rate is slower than that of infancy and is accompanied by a reduced appetite between 2-6.

Question 2

What is the neurological development of children ages 2-6?

Answer 2

-declining growth rate; brain maturation slows
-pruning refining neural networks
-greater development in the prefrontal cortex makes it increasingly possible to inhibit emotional outbursts and understand how to play games

Question 3

What are the key areas of the brain reflected in behaviour?

Answer 3

-corpus callosum: connects right and left hemispheres (growth spurt from 3-6 = improved coordination of right & left hemispheres tasks)
-cerebellum: controls balance and motor movements
-reticular formation: controls/direct attention
-hippocampus: organizes information into long-term memory
-prefrontal cortex: executive functions (+ ability to regulate cognitions, emotions & behaviours)
-neuroplasticity: brain’s ability to change its structure and function in response to experience or damage

Question 4

What is the motor development of children ages 2-6?

Answer 4

-increased coordination
-sensory motor coupling: motor movement growth occurs as a result of new perceptual experiences

Question 5

When does toilet training occur and what are 2 issues?

Answer 5

-toilet training usually in first 2 years of early childhood (24-36m)
-Enuresis: repeated voiding of urine into bed or clothes (involuntary or intentional)
-Encopresis: repeated passage of feces into inappropriate places (involuntary or intentional)

Question 6

What is the sexual development of children ages 2-6?

Answer 6

-sexuality begins in childhood as a response to physical sensations
-infants begin to explore their bodies and genitals as soon as they have sufficient motor skills (stimulation for comfort not orgasm)
-as kids grow, they are more likely to show their genitals to siblings or peers, and to take off their clothes and touch each other

Question 7

What are some nutritional concerns?

Answer 7

-children may be reluctant to try new foods/preference for certain foods
-many young children desire consistency and may be upset if there are even slight changes to their daily routines
-kids who grow accustomed to high fat, very sweet and salty flavours may have trouble eating foods that have subtler flavours (i.e., fruits & vegetables)

Question 8

What is Piaget’s Preoperational Stage?

Answer 8

-children between ages of 2-7 use symbols to represent words, images and ideas (pretend play)
-children also begin to use language in this stage, but they cannot understand adult logic or mentally manipulate information
-he believed pretend play helps kids solidify new schemata they were developing cognitively

Question 9

What are the 2 substages of Piaget’s Preoperational Stage?

Answer 9

-symbolic function (ages 2-4): representational thought; language and play
-intuitive thought (ages 4-7): characterized by curiosity

Question 10

What is Egocentrism, according to Piaget?

Answer 10

-tendency of young children not to be able to take the perspective of others, and instead the child thinks that everyone sees, thinks, and feels just as they do.

Question 11

What is symbolic representational ability?

Answer 11

-preschoolers begin to represent objects with symbols
-language –> thinking in words
-pretend play: exercising symbolic shemes

Question 12

What is conservation and centration?

Answer 12

-conservation: ability to recognize that moving or rearranging matter does not change the quantity
-centration: focused on only one characteristic of an object to the exclusion of others

Question 13

What is the conservation of liquid task?

Answer 13

-liquid from a regular cup gets poured into a thinner & longer cup
-children assume taller cup contains more liquid
-unable to conserve liquid equivalence across different shapes of containers (conservation error)

Question 14

What is Piaget’s theory on conservation?

Answer 14

1. centration: focus on the height of the containers rather than the volume of liquid
2. reversibility: to understand conservation of volume, they would have to think backwards and reverse the steps in the task
3. classification: transductive - making faulty inferences from one specific example to another

Question 15

Was Piaget’s theory correct?

Answer 15

-underestimated children’s abilities in the Preoperational stage
-overestimated children’s abilities in the concrete operations stage
-development exists on a continuum rather than in isolated stages

Question 16

What are the Cognitive Theories?

Answer 16

-Piagetian stages: descriptive; outlining what happens
-Information processing: explanatory; outlining why things happen
-Sociocultural view: explanatory; outlining how things happen
*these theories are complementary

Question 17

What are the different components of the Information Processing Model?

Answer 17

-sensory memory (stores raw sensory input for a bit)
-divided attention (switch focus)
-selective attention (focus on 1 task)
-sustained attention (stay on task for long time)
-short-term/working memory (current conscious mental activity)
-long-term memory (permanent memory)
–declarative/explicit memory (consciously recollect)
*semantic memory (not tied to timeline)
*episodic memory (tied to timeline)
–non-declarative/implicit memory (automated skills, don’t require conscious recollection)

Question 18

What is the Sociocultural Theory?

Answer 18

-Lev Vygotsky
-emphasized role of environment & social interaction
-cognitive development occurs mainly from absorption of knowledge from context
-cognition is a human activity shared through culture
-zone of proximal development
-scaffolding
-private speech

Question 19

What is the Zone of proximal development?

Answer 19

-range of potential between child’s observable level of performance and their actual underlying ability
-with help, children can achieve multiple tasks

Question 20

What is Scaffolding?

Answer 20

-adjust facilitation to child’s level of performance
-guided or active participation
-co-construction of solutions
-transfer of strategies and information

Question 21

What is Private Speech?

Answer 21

-Vygotsky believed that children talk to themselves in order to solve problems or clarify thoughts.

Question 22

What are the components of Theory of Mind?

Answer 22

-diverse desires: understanding that two people may have different desires regarding the same object.
-diverse beliefs: understanding that two people may hold different beliefs about an object.
-knowledge access: understanding that people may or may not have access to information.
-hidden emotion: understanding that people may not always express their true emotions.
-false-belief: understanding that someone might hold a belief based on false information.

Question 23

What is the False-Belief Task?

Answer 23

-child sees Sally put ball in basket; then Sally leaves the room
-another person takes the ball out of the basket, puts it in a box, and closes the box so that the ball is not visible
-when Sally returns, the child is asked: Where is Sally going to look for her ball?
-aim: separate what the child knows is true from what Sally thinks to be true
-child must assume Sally’s perspective to correctly answer the question
-Piaget –> egocentrism/self-centrism
-not usually achieved until age 4-5

Question 24

What are the aspects of Language development?

Answer 24

-fast-mapping: words easily learned by making connections between new words & previous concepts.
-children can repeat words/phrases after hearing them once, but do not always understand meaning.
-overregularization: children learn rules of grammar as they learn language but may apply these rules inappropriately at first.

Question 25

What does a child need to have to be diagnosed with ASD?

Answer 25

-significant disturbances in 3 main areas: (a) deficits in social interaction, (b) deficits in communication, and (c) repetitive patterns of behaviour or interests.
-a) no eye contact, prefer playing alone
-b) lack of speech, one-word responses, echoed speech, inability to reciprocate other’s comments, problems in using and understanding nonverbal cues
-c) repetitive movements or great distress to small changes in routine/environment

Question 26

How was Asperger’s described and what factors affect autism?

Answer 26

-Asperger’s described as: average or high intelligence, strong vocabulary, impairments in social interaction and communication
-autism is strongly influenced by genetics
-environmental factors also increase risk for ASD; exposure to pollutants (plant emissions & mercury), urban vs rural residence, and vitamin D deficiency contribute to mutations

Question 27

What does Erikson’s Invitiative vs Guilt stage consist of?

Answer 27

-goal/conflict: establish trust in envrinment (infancy & toddlerhood); initiative vs guilt (early childhood)
-positive resolution in one stage increases the possibility of positive resolution in following stage
-e.g., establishing a sense of trust in infancy & toddlerhood makes it easier to take initiative

Question 28

How does Erikson view the self?

Answer 28

-more active and interactive
-Erikson: initiative
-self-concept: self description according to various categories
-self-esteem: an evaluative judgment about who we are
-categorical self: focus on external qualities

Question 29

What are 3 aspects of self-control?

Answer 29

-response initiation: ability to not initiate a behaviour before you have evaluated all the information
-response inhibition: ability to stop a behaviour that has already begun
-delayed gratification: ability to hold out for a larger reward by forgoing a smaller immediate reward

Question 30

What is gender & gender identity?

Answer 30

-gender: cultural, social, and psychological meanings associated with masculinity & feminity
-gender identity: person’s sense of self as a member of a particular gender

Question 31

What are gender roles & gender socialization?

Answer 31

-gender roles: expectations associated with being male or female
-gender socialization: what young children learn about gender from society (parents, peers, media, religion)

Question 32

What is the Gender Schema Theory?

Answer 32

-theory that childrend evelop their own conceptions of the attributes associated with maleness or femaleness

Question 33

What are the expectations from parents, according to Baumrind’s Classic Model of Parenting Styles?

Answer 33

-demandingness and structure parents provide;
-cultivate feelings of safety;
-permission to take initiative in environment;
-psychological control can create insecurity in child and limit initiative

Question 34

What is the responsiveness from parents, according to Baumrind’s Classic Model of Parenting Styles?

Answer 34

-recall goodness of fit and attachment dance
-key dimension of the attachment bond
-characterized by warmth, nurturance, support, sensitivity and acceptance

Question 35

What are the 4 parenting styles in Baumrind’s Classic Model?

Answer 35

-uninvolved: parents are disengaged from their children; do not make demands & non-responsive
-permissive: parents are warm and communicative but provide little structure for their children
-authoritarian: parents make the rules & children are expected to obey; psychological control
-authoritative: parents are supportive, show interest in kids activities, & not overbearing, allow them to make mistakes

Question 36

Which parenting style is preferred, and how does context affect parenting?

Answer 36

-early research favoured authoritative parenting style
-WEIRD: White; Educated; Industrialized; Rich; Democratic
-outcome informed by context: parenting style matches demands of the environment; goodness-of-fit between parenting style and success

Question 37

When is the authoritarian style favoured?

Answer 37

-authoritarian style is favoured in ethnocultural groups where the style corresponds to cultural expectations: Asian, Latino, African-American
-authoritarian style does not preclude responsiveness and warmth; cultural values inform parenting style

Question 38

Is spanking a useful form of discipline?

Answer 38

-it can be effective in the short term, but it…
–does not change behavioural patterns long-term
–can suggest that violent behaviours are justified in certain circumstances
–fails to teach children to control aggressive emotions and enact prosocial behaviours
-spanking can lead to increased aggression, antisocial behaviour, physical injury, and mental health problems for children

Question 39

What does social skills learning from siblings and peers teach kids?

Answer 39

-empathy; perspective-taking; sharing; cooperation; negotiation; conflict resolution
-friendly relationships with siblings often lead to more positive interactions

Question 40

What are the types of play & Freud, Vygotsky & Piaget’s view on play (social skills learning)?

Answer 40

-types of play: social; cognitive; physical; free; structured
-Freud saw play as a means for children to release pent-up emotions and to deal with emotionally distressing situations in a more secure environment
-Vygotsky and Piaget saw play as a way of children developing their intellectual abilities

Question 41

What are Parten’s 6 types of play in Preschool Children?

Answer 41

-unoccupied (kids behaviour is random/no goal; least common)
-solitary (kids play alone)
-onlooker (kids observe others playing, but don’t join)
-parallel (kids play alongside each other, but do not directly interact)
-associative (kids interact & share toys with each other but do not work towards a common goal)
-cooperative (kids interact to achieve common goal)

Question 42

How does child care affect the kids?

Answer 42

-greater cognitive, language, and social competence were demonstrated when parents were more educated, had higher incomes, and provided emotionally supportive and cognitively enriched home environments
-lower quality care predicted more behavioural problems and poorer cognitive, language, and school readiness