chapter 5: preschoolers Flashcards
nutritional needs and issues
calories/ kilogram need decreases as growth slows
-many kids become picky eaters, but they still eat enough for growth and health
sleep for preschoolers
most trade their afternoon nap for nightime sleep at about 4yr
-about 20-35% have sleep issues (some have sleep disturbances, but some cant settle down if they dont have a normal routine
sleep problems for preschoolers: nightmares
vivid, frightening dreams occuring toward morning, that usually wake the dreamer (occasional nightmares are normal)
sleep problems for preschoolers: night terrors
a byproduct of wakening too rapidly from deep sleep, iin which the child appears to wake in a panicked state, then goes back to sleep right away and doesnt remember anything in the morning
sleep problems for preschoolers: sleepwalking
when kids are in a deep sleep and get up and walk around. still asleep.
-it is best to wake them up and put them back into bed
sleep problems for preschoolers: bedwetting
happens with about 10-15% of 5yr olds
- it is important to eliminate feelings of guilt and shame
- a conditioning alarm system is often helpful treatment
gross motor skills: beyond walking
in early childhood kids:
- start walking with more ease
- running, with the ability to easily change direction
- skipping
- hopping
fine motor skills development
at 2 or 3: can put on simple clothing and use zippers
at 3 or 4: can use buttons
at 5: can dress and undress, except for shoes
at 6: they can tie shoes
handedness
the cause of handedness is unclear
- environment plays a role
- many suspect a genetic contribution
- hand preference becomes stronger in preschool years
handedness: lateralization
certain cognitive functions are located on one side of the brain more than the other
-because motor skills are controlled by the opposite hemisphere, some researchers believe in a link between handedness and lateralization
preoperational thinking
this is the first stage of piagets theory, in which symbolic thought becomes possible
-the preoperational child can form mental representations
preoperational thinking: egocentrism
this is difficulty in seeing the world from another’s point of view; typical of children in the preoperational period (piaget used the “three mountains test” as a way to test egocentrism)
preoperational thinking: animism
crediting an inanimate object with life and lifelike properties such as feelings (seen as an offshoot of egocentrism; if the child has feelings and thoughts, everything must)
preoperational: centration
according to piaget, narrowly focused type of thought charictaristic of preoperational children (usually can only focus on one part of a situation at a time)
-it is seen as the reason that preoperational kids cant understand that if the appearance of something changes it does not mean that the quantity changes (they often confuse appearance with reality)
what does piaget’s theory tell us (3)
- cognitive growth occurs as children construct their own understanding of the world
- children profit from experience only when they can interpret this experience within their current cognitive structures
- cognitive growth can be partially rapid when children discover inconsistencies and errors in their own thinking
criticisms of piaget’s thoery (3)
- does not account for variability in children’s performance
- cognitive development is probably not nearly as stagelike as he suggested
- undervalues the influence of the sociocultural environment
naive biology: teleological explanations
children believe that living things and parts of living things exist for a purpose (probs because they think that the inanimate objects are built with someone in mind)
naive biology: essentialism
kids believe that all living things have an essence that cant be seem, but it is what makes something that thing
naive biology: things that kids believe that arent true
-plants arent living things
-body parts have intentions
(these are both believed until about 7-8)
information processing: mental hardware
mental and neural structures that are built in and that allow the mind to operate
information processing: mental software
like mental “programs” that are the basis for performing particular tasks
attention span
in preschoolers the attention span is better than infants, but still not as good as adults or older kids
(this can be helped by limiting distractions, and reminding them to pay attention)
growth of the body
is faster in infancy
-as we grow we become less top heavy