Chapter 4: Brain Development in Preschoolers

Question 1

Which hemisphere is more important for processing information sequentially? (like language)

Answer 1

Left hemisphere.

- We process information in the left hemisphere through gestalts (whole words instead)

Question 2

About ___% of individuals are left handed. ___% of them showed left hemisphere activation for language and ___% showed bilateral hemisphere activation for language. and ___% showed right hemisphere activation for language.

Answer 2

• about 10% of individuals are left handed.
• 83% of them showed left hemisphere activation for language
• 11% showed bilateral activation for language
• 3% showed right hemisphere for language

Question 3

You can detect handedness as early as how many weeks in the womb?

Answer 3

8 weeks

Question 4

What happens to the corpus callosum during preschool years?

Answer 4

it becomes thicker and facilitates coordination between hemispheres

Question 5

What happens in terms of brain lateralization in preschool years? What are some tasks of the left hemisphere vs the right?

Answer 5

each hemisphere develops specialized functions.

• left hemisphere is often involved with verbal tasks
• right hemisphere is often involved with non-verbal tasks (i.e. facial detection and scene detection)

Question 6

What are the 2 important ways that the brain develops?

Answer 6

1. The number of interconnections increases therefore facilitating the acquisition of cognitive skill (more links between neutrons)
2. The amount of myelin increases, therefore facilitating the speed of neural processing (neural genesis)

Question 7

By 2 years of age the brain is ___% of its adult volume.

By 5 years of age the brain is ___% of its adult volume and the body is __% of its adult weight.

Answer 7

• by 2 years the brain is 80% of its adult volume

- by 5 years of age the brain is 90% of its adult volume and only 30% of its adult weight.

Question 8

What are the type of effects children show in high quality environments for early childhood education vs. low quality environments?

Answer 8

Children who are put into high quality pre-schools experience higher cognition and better social skills than children who are put in low quality care or no preschool.

Question 9

Ideally, how many children should be under the supervision of one provider?

Answer 9

3-5 kids per provider

Question 10

how many percent of children between 1-5 years of age are in the form of care outside of home?

Answer 10

more than 50%

Question 11

What are 3 common options for early education?

Answer 11

1. Child-care centres
2. Family-run child-care centres
3. Preschools

Question 12

What are 4 characteristics of high quality care?

Answer 12

1. well trained care-providers
2. appropriate ratio of providers for children
3. carefully planned curriculum
4. Rich language environment