Chapter 7.

Question 1

Physical changes between age 2-6

Answer 1

Slower and less dramatic changes than in infancy. Changes in height and weight are much slower.

Average growth is 2.5 inches and 5 to 10 pounds per year during early childhood.

Growth patterns vary individually.
Etnicity and nutrition effects height a lot.

Question 2

Tooth Development in early childhood

Answer 2

Appearance of first tooth=proper dental care.

Healthy primary teeth helps to support the development of healthy permanent teeth.

Question 3

Motor development - gross motor skills. What are they required for?

Answer 3

Are required to stay
upright and move around.

Question 4

Preschool children and motor development

Answer 4

Preschool children make steady progress in motor development. Mostly gain large muscle skils.

Most preschool children are more
active than at any later period in the life span.

Children’s motor activity levels increase linearly with age and tend to peak between 7 and 9 years of age—
later than previously thought.

Question 5

Motor development at different ages

Answer 5

Age 3: Simple movements such as running, hopping, jumping.

Age 4: Athletic movements at home and school.

Age 5: Adventurous, stunts in gyms and on playground equipment.

Question 6

Brain development and motor skills

Answer 6

Brain maturation, motivation, and guided practice make gross motor skills possible.

Influence of culture, urbanization, and locale is important.

Question 7

Why is motor activity important?

Answer 7

Children who exhibit higher motor activity levels demonstrate
* better ability to control or inhibit their behavior.
* allowing for successful task achievement.

Extraneous motor activity is an important form of exploratory behavior.

Question 8

Fine motor skills

Answer 8

Small hand and finger movements.

More difficult to master than gross
motor skills.

Small muscle groups and fine motor skills - improve in early childhood.

Often involve both sides of the brain.

Are influenced by practice and. maturation.

(On average, mature 6 months earlier in females.)

Adult encouragement and practice are important and cultural context influence expression.

All forms of artistic expression blossom during early childhood - In every artistic domain skill comes gradually with practice and maturation.

Question 9

Fine motor skills development through the years

Answer 9

Fine motor skills are:

Age 3: Still clumsy
Age 4: Improved fine motor coordination.

Question 10

Drawing as a fine motor skill

Answer 10

The origins of writing start with the stages of drawing:

Age 2: Basic Scribble

Age 3: Shape Stage

Age 4: Design Stage

Age 4-5: Pictorial Stage

Question 11

What is lateralization?

Answer 11

Brain functions are divided between the two hemispheres of the cerebral cortex.

Genes provide the mechanism for lateralization but experience shapes the pace.

– Preschoolers with the most advanced language skills show the highest levels of left-sided lateralization. (But is it cause or effect?)

– Language is primarily centred in the left brain (95% of humans)

Question 12

What is the corpus callosum?

Answer 12

The brain structure through which the left and right sides of the cerebral cortex communicate.

Grows and matures more in early childhood than in any other period of life.

Question 13

When does a preference for a certain hand develop?

Answer 13

Handedness: is a strong preference for using one hand or the other.

Develops between 2 and 6 years of age.

Right handedness is a dominant gene. (If both parents are right-handed - 92% chance of being right-
handed, too)

Today, about 12% of the population identify as left-handed.

Question 14

Are there developmental consequences to being left-handed?

Answer 14

There are some correlations with language processing differences

There are some correlations with health issues, including migraines and allergies.

But there may also be advantages - math and artistic abilities, as well as athletic and musical abilities

(Being a ‘lefty’ was once seen as a posing problems.)

Question 15

Brain development during early childhood

Answer 15

Brain growth, synapse formation, and myelination continue in early childhood, although at a pace slower than in infancy.

Age 6: brain reaches 95 percent of adult volume.

Children’s brains undergo rapid, distinct spurts of growth, especially in the frontal lobes.

Contextual factors, such as poverty and parenting quality, affect brain development.

New and extensive myelination - lead to faster thinking

Maturation of the hippocampus
probably accounts for improvements in memory function across the preschool years.

Maturation of prefrontal cortex

Question 16

Myelination

Answer 16

Nerve cells are covered and insulated
with a layer of fat cells that speeds signals between neurons.

Increases the speed and efficiency at which information travels through the nervous system.

Primary reason for faster thinking observed in young children is new and extensive myelination.

Question 17

Maturation of the hippocampus

Answer 17

Leads to improvements in memory.

The hippocampus plays a role in the transfer of information to long- term storage.

Question 18

Infantile Amnesia

Answer 18

Most don’t remember anything before 3 years of age.

Inability of adults and older children to remember more than a few events that took place before they were 3
years of age.

Question 19

Maturation of prefrontal cortex:

Answer 19

Prefrontal cortex: planning, thinking, social awareness and language occur.

There are notable neurological changes between ages 2 and 6. (Especially noticeable in areas of the cortex.)

Maturation of prefrontal cortex facilitates:
* Focused attention
* Reduced Impulsiveness
* (Neurological immaturity is another reason adults need to prevent childhood injury.)

Question 20

What should young children be eating?

Answer 20

Preschoolers need to eat less per kilogram than infants and toddlers.

A well- balanced diet, including limiting sugar and fat intake. (Tallriksmodellen)

Conflicts between young children and their parents often focus on eating behaviours.

Question 21

What factors contribute to childhood obesity?

Answer 21

Family income.

Poor nutrition.

Genetics may also play a role.

social influences and context can contribute to obesity in individuals or populations.

Poor eating habits formed when young may lead to later obesity - 12% of children aged 2 to 5 are now overweight or obese.

Childhood obesity is one of the most serious public health challenges of the twenty-first century.

Question 22

How much sleep should children get in early childhood?

Answer 22

Recommended sleep: 10 to 13 hours each night without interruption.

Amount of sleep decreases as children grow. –Most children give up naps around 4 years of age.

Question 23

What sleep issues are common in early childhood?

Answer 23

struggles can occur –consistent bedtime routine required.

Some children have sleep disturbances such as:
–nightmares
–night terrors
–sleep walking
–bedwetting
–narcolepsy
–insomnia (20-40%)

More daily screen time is
associated with a decrease in sleep time.

Question 24

Picky eaters

Answer 24

Generally take in adequate food for growth.

Encourage children to be open-minded about food by offering choices; offer new foods one at a time in small amounts.

Question 25

Sensory issues with food

Answer 25

An estimated 3 to 8 percent of children are allergic to a specific
food.

Food aversions (strong dislike) often develop at this age.

Question 26

Obesity prevention guidelines for you children

Answer 26

Five or more servings of fruits and vegetables.

Zero sugar-sweetened beverages.

2 hours or less of screen time.

Minimum of 1 hour of physical activity.

Exercise should occur daily.

Question 27

What negative outcomes are sleep problems linked with in early childhood?

Answer 27

Sleep problems are linked with negative outcomes:

• Attention problems.
• Worse at reading.
• Obesity.
• A D H D.

Question 28

How common are minor illnesses in early childhood?

Answer 28

Minor illnesses are common in early childhood.

The average toddler has between 7-8 colds a year!

Question 29

Are unintentional injuries a significant concern in early childhood?

Answer 29

In every nation, unintentional injuries and accidents are a significant risk to development.

About 4/1000 Canadian children (0.4%) aged 1 to 4 years have an accident that requires hospitalization.

Unintentional injuries account for slightly more than 1/4 of all deaths for children in this age range.

90% of injuries are preventable and most happen at home.

Question 30

What characteristics, including individual, family, school and community, promote health and safety in childhood?

Answer 30

• Individual characteristics
• Family/home characteristics
• School/peer characteristics
• Community characteristics

Physicians recommend that caregivers develop ongoing home safety and childproofing measures.

Urban planners also need to be involved in the design and construction of safe environments.

Question 31

Health promotion for children in early childhood include

Answer 31

Continued periodic medical check ups and immunizations (vaccinations)

Doctors monitor preschoolers’ growth and motor development.

Doctors and nurses often serve as parents’ first source of help with children who have sensory or developmental disabilities that were not diagnosed in infancy

Question 32

Individual characteristics that enhance safety:

Answer 32

Social skills and emotion regulation.

Impulse control.

Use of personal protection.

Question 33

Family/home characteristics that enhance safety:

Answer 33

Child management and parenting skills.

Parent protective behaviors.

Home safety equipment.

– Parents encourage girls to be safe.
– Parents give boys more freedom to roam, expect more independent play, and don’t prioritize safety as highly as for girls.

Question 34

School/peer characteristics that enhance saftey:

Answer 34

Home/school partnerships.

Absence of playground hazards.

Injury prevention and safety promotion programs and policies.

Question 35

Community characteristics that enhance safety:

Answer 35

Positive activities for families.

Active surveillance of hazards.

Effective prevention policies.

Question 36

Cognitive changes in early childhood

Answer 36

In the beginning of early childhood children begin to learn how to accomplish goals…

By the end, they are manipulating symbols and can make accurate judgements about others’ thoughts, feelings, and behaviours. (Theory of mind)

Question 37

Piaget preoporetional stages

Answer 37

• Sensorimotor stage (birth- 2 years).
• Pre-operational stage (2-7years).
• Concrete operational stage (7-11 years).
• Formal operational stage (11 years- through adulthood.)

Question 38

Piagets preoperational stage (2-7 years).

Answer 38

Children become proficient in the use of symbols in thinking and communicating.

Children form stable concepts and begin to reason, although there are several limits to logical thought.

In the preoperational stage, children do not yet perform operations: reversible mental actions that allow them to do mentally what they formerly did physically.

Symbolic thought is the major accomplishment of the pre-operational stage.

Question 39

Symbolic thought

Answer 39

The use of symbols-words and also mental representation of objects or events to represent the world.

Symbolic thought allows children to understanding that words can refer to things not seen, and that an item can symbolize something else.

Symbolism is an important part of pretend play.

Piaget believed that preschooler’s drawings are symbols of objects, people, and events in their lives.

Question 40

Symbolic function substage

Answer 40

The child gains the ability to mentally represent an object that is not present.

Between about 2 and 4 years of age.

– Children begin to mentally represent objects that are not present.

– Children draw and use words to represent people and things in the world, and to engage in pretend play.

Question 41

What is egocentrism?

Answer 41

Child believes that all people see the world as he or she does.

The inability to distinguish between one’s own perspective and someone else’s. The young child’s belief that everyone sees and experiences the world the way she does.

Is due to the fact that children are one- dimensional thinkers; they do not yet understand that others may have different perspectives.

EX: A child gestures during a telephone conversation, not realizing that the listener cannot see the gestures.

Children’s thought is still limited by egocentrism and animism in pre-operational stage.

(The mountains moved around)

Question 42

Intuitive thought substage (4-7)

Answer 42

Children use primitive reasoning and want to know the answers to many questions.

Children begin to exhibit primitive reasoning.

Children in this stage ask many questions:
– “Why do leaves fall?”
– “What makes you grow up?”

Question 43

What is conservation? How is it related to centration?

Answer 43

Conservation: the awareness that altering an object or substance’s appearance does not change its basic properties; Principle that the amount of a substance remains the same when its appearance changes.

(Den tjocka låga behållaren vs. den höga smala som innehåller samma mängd vätska.)

Centration: is when a child focuses on only one thing at a time.

• Young children fail to understand conservation of liquids because they focus (center) on what they see (appearance), noticing only the immediate (static) condition.
• It does not occur to them that they could reverse the process and re create the liquid’s level of a moment earlier (irreversibility).

All characteristics of preoperational
thought are evident in Piaget’s classic conservation task errors.

Question 44

What does current research suggest about Piaget’s view of the pre-operational stage of development?

Answer 44

Research generally confirmed Piaget’s observations.

Although preschoolers are a great deal more cognitively sophisticated than Piaget thought.

Moving away from egocentrism seems to be about a more developed
understanding of appearance and reality.

Question 45

Animism

Answer 45

The belief that inanimate objects
have lifelike qualities and are capable of action.

Question 46

Centration

Answer 46

Child focuses on one aspect of a problem or situation but ignores other relevant aspects.

Includes characteristic of preoperational thought whereby a young child focuses (centers) on one idea, excluding all others; may include egocentrism.

EX: In conservation of quantity, the child pays attention to the height of the liquid in the container but ignores the diameter of the container.

Question 47

Static reasoning

Answer 47

Characteristic of pre-operational thought whereby a young child thinks that nothing changes.

Whatever is now has always been and always will be.

Question 48

Irreversibility

Answer 48

Characteristic of pre-operational thought.

A young child thinks that nothing can be undone. A thing cannot be restored to the way it was before a change occurred.

Question 49

Appearance as reality.

Answer 49

Child assumes that an object really is what it appears to be.

Child mistakes a person wearing a Halloween mask for a “real” monster.

Question 50

How is Vygotsky’s theory of cognitive development different from Piaget’s theory of cognitive development?

Answer 50

Some differences between Piaget and Vygotsky were that Vygotsky believed learning was acquired through language and social and cultural interactions.

Piaget believed, although learning could be acquired through peer interactions, that learning was acquired independently, and each child came to their own understanding.

Question 51

What is the zone of proximal development?

Answer 51

The difference between what children can do alone and what they can do with assistance.

A child makes little progress cleaning his room alone but accomplishes the task readily when a parent provides structure (e.g., “Start by getting stuff off the floor”.)

Signifies tasks that are too hard for the child to do alone, but that he can manage with guidance.

Upper limit: level of additional responsibility child can accept with assistance of an able instructor.

Lower limit: Level of problem solving reached on these tasks by child working alone.

Question 52

What is scaffolding? (Vygotsky)

Answer 52

Providing instruction that matches the learner’s needs exactly—neither too much instruction nor too little.

A teacher provides much help when a child is first learning to distinguish “b” from “d” but provides less help as the child learns the difference.

The process by which children’s learning of new cognitive skills is guided by an adult or a more skilled child who structures the child’s learning experience.

To create an appropriate scaffold,
the model must:
1. Gain and keep the child’s attention
2. Model the best strategy, and
3. Adapt the whole process to
the child’s developmental level

Question 53

What is private speech? (Vygotsky)

Answer 53

Speech that is not directed at others but instead guides the child’s own behavior.

A child working on a puzzle says to herself, “Start by looking for pieces with straight edges”.

Refers to this use of language for self- regulation.

When young children gain the skill to act without verbalizing, they have internalized their egocentric speech in the form of inner speech.

Private speech plays a positive role in development.

Question 54

How does Vygotsky help in today’s classrooms?

Answer 54

STEM teaching is an interdisciplinary approach to learning where students learn can apply concepts in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

By their very nature, early childhood settings are primed to support STEM learning.

Teaching strategies:
* Assess the child’s Z P D.
* Use the child’s Z P D in teaching.
* Use more-skilled peers as teachers.
* Place instruction in a meaningful context.
* Transform the classroom
with Vygotskian ideas.

Question 55

Vygotsky’s socio-cultural theory

Answer 55

Asserts that complex forms of thinking have their origins in social interactions.

Vygotsky believed that children’s minds grow through interaction with the social environment: Parents, teachers, and older children who can provide valuable guidance.

Every aspect of children’s cognitive development is embedded in the social context.

Question 56

Overimitation

Answer 56

▪ Tendency of children to copy an action that is not a relevant part of the behavior to be learned.

▪ Common among 2- to 6-year-olds when they imitate adult actions that are irrelevant and inefficient.

▪ Universal trait of young,
socially motivated children.

Question 57

The importance of language according to Vygotsky:

Answer 57

It is by collaborative dialogue that
children learn.

Language is crucial to cognitive development: By age 7, children are able to think and solve problems with words.

Words are the mediator between brain potential and comprehension.

Children use speech to communicate socially and to help them solve tasks.

Young children also use language to plan, guide, and monitor their behavior.

Question 58

Challanges with Vygotskys theory of development

Answer 58

Not specific enough about age related changes.

Does not adequately describe how changes in socioemotional capabilities contribute to cognitive
development.

Overemphasized the role of language in thinking.

Question 59

What is executive functioning? How does it develop in early childhood?

Answer 59

The cognitive ability to organize and prioritize the many thoughts that arise from the various parts of the brain.

Allowing the person to anticipate, strategize, and plan behavior.

Compared to older children, 2- to 6 year-olds are more open to learning, have much to learn, and are open to suggestion.

Many cognitive psychologists now focus on executive function, particularly on efforts to improve it during early childhood.

Combines 3 essential abilities:
– memory
– inhibition
– flexibility

Executive function skills are foundational.

Executive function skills are not inborn.

Question 60

What does eating marshmallows have to do with executive functioning?

Answer 60

Mischel and colleagues’ studies using the “marshmallow experiment” linked delay of gratification in preschool with later academic success, coping, and competence.

Question 61

What is theory of mind?

Answer 61

A set of ideas constructed by an individual to explain other people’s ideas, beliefs, desires and behaviors.

In other words, ToM is the understanding that people are mental beings who have their own mental states, including thoughts, wishes, and feelings that differ from our own.

The child’s ability to understand others perspectives and see that they might differ from their own.

Develops and emerges gradually over time.

Can be seen when young children try to escape punishment by lying.

Question 62

Theory of mind through the years

Answer 62

10 months: people, but not objects, have goals and intentions - rudimentary beginnings

Age 3: understand some aspects of the link between people’s thinking, feelings, and behaviour - I want - I try to get.

From 18 months to 3 years:
children begin to understand three mental states:
– Perceptions;
– Emotions; and
– Desires.

Age 4 - basic principle that each person’s actions are based on her or his representation of reality.

• 4 – 5 year olds - Cannot yet understand that other people can think about them. Do not understand that most knowledge can be derived from inference. This understanding develops by age 6.

From 3 to 5 years, children come to understand false beliefs.

5 – 7 year olds - Understand the reciprocal nature of thought. Very important for peer relationships.

• At 5 to 7 years, children develop a deepening appreciation of the mind itself rather than just mental states.
  – They can see the mind as an active constructor of knowledge.
  – They realize the same event can be open to multiple interpretations.

Question 63

False belief principle (ToM)

Answer 63

An understanding that enables a child to look at a situation from another person’s point of view and determine what kind of information will cause that person to have a false belief.

Question 64

Individual differences and factors that influence theory of mind

Answer 64

Executive function and prefrontal cortex functioning.

Language development - Some level of language facility may be a necessary condition for the development of a theory of mind.

Socioeconomic status.

Neurodiversity: Children with autism have difficulty developing a theory of mind.

Development of a theory of mind is enhanced by pretend play, shared pretense with other children, and discussion of emotion-provoking events with parents.

Increased ToM is correlated with increased social ability.

Question 65

How do different aspects of attention develop during early childhood?

Answer 65

Executive attention: a good predictor of self-regulation, involves:
▪ Action planning;
▪ Allocating attention to goals;
▪ Error detection and compensation;
▪ Monitoring progress on tasks; and
▪ Dealing with novel or difficult circumstances.

Sustained Attention(vigilance): is focused and extended engagement with an object, task, event, or other aspect of the environment.

Question 66

What changes in memory (including meta-memory) occur during early childhood?

Answer 66

Working memory capacity increases with age for a few reasons:

• Children become better able to use strategies (such as rehearsal) to maintain memory items.
• Processing speed increases (as the result of myelination).

The retention of information over time (memory) is central to cognitive development.

At 5 years old, children seem to have developed a bit of meta-memory as they use rehearsal. (knowledge about how memory works and the ability to control and reflect on one’s own memory function).

Question 67

What does myelination have to do with the development of memory processes?

Answer 67

Acquiring memories is accompanied by increased myelin formation in the prefrontal cortex, a brain region important for the formation of long-term memories.

Question 68

What does the flexible item task show about information-processing skills during early childhood?

Answer 68

The Flexible Item Selection Task:
– Asks children to sort items based on 2 of 4 dimensions.
– Measures abstraction and cognitive flexibility.

2 year-olds could not understand the instructions.

3 year-olds could understand but couldn’t match the cards on even one dimension.

4 year-olds could match on one but not more dimensions. (telefoner i samma färg men inte fisk och telefon).

5 year-olds could match on one or more dimensions.

Working memory plays an important role in children’s ability to problem solve and use logical reasoning.

It comes down to how many ideas/dimensions they can hold in their mind at one time.

Question 69

Attention

Answer 69

The ability to focus mental resources on select information - improves significantly in the preschool years.

Question 70

Long-term memory

Answer 70

Apparently unlimited and possibly indefinite storage of information.

Question 71

Autobiographical memory

Answer 71

Involves memory of significant events and experiences in one’s life.

In some areas (remembering a story, a song, or interesting event or experience), young children have been shown to have reasonably good
memories.

Auto-biographical memories become more complex over time.

Question 72

Metamemory

Answer 72

Metamemeory is knowledge about how memory works and the ability to control and reflect on one’s own memory function.

By 5 years old children do show some evidence of meta-memory as they use rehearsal (repetition -think of how we used to remember phone numbers or access codes) to try to boost their own remembering.

Question 73

What is fast mapping?

Answer 73

Learning a word after one exposure to it (or very few).

A process in which young children learn the connection between a word and its referent quickly, only after limited exposure.

Question 74

How do children acquire grammar?

Answer 74

Grammar is: Structures, techniques, and rules that communicate meaning.Word order and word repetition, prefixes and suffixes, intonation and emphasis.

Children actively infer and use language rules.

Preschool children show a growing mastery of complex rules for how words should be ordered.

After kids learn more than 2 word sentences they learn grammatical rules.

As children move beyond two-word utterances, they demonstrate a knowledge of morphology rules:
▪ Plural and possessive forms of nouns;
▪ Appropriate verb endings; and
▪ Prepositions, articles, and forms of to be.

Question 75

Sensitive period for language

Answer 75

Language is pivotal to every kind of cognition in early childhood.

Early childhood is a sensitive period (or best time) to master vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation.

Children enter the early childhood period producing only a limited number of words and simple sentences but leave it as accomplished, fluent speakers of at least one language.

Language is pivotal to every kind of cognition in early childhood.

Question 76

What is overregularization?

Answer 76

Overregularization - Application -

Using rules when they don’t apply…

goed “ for “went”, or “tooths” for “teeth”

A child who is applying the rules might say, “Mommy sitted down”; “sheeps” (not sheep) and “childs” (not children.)

All languages have irregularities. Early in language development children learn these rules, and then apply them rather strictly - so, they know the rules, but not the exceptions.

Question 77

What is phonological awareness? How is it related to reading?

Answer 77

Phonological awareness is: Children’s understanding of the sound patterns of the language they are acquiring.

Includes children’s knowledge of the language’s system for representing sounds with letters.

Can be learned in school through instruction:
* Primarily develops through word play:
– Nursery rhymes.
– Games involving repetitive words.

The greater a child’s phonological awareness, the faster he/she/they learns to read.

Question 78

Inflections

Answer 78

Additions that change meaning

In English is the addition of –ing: “Where going?”

Question 79

Invented spelling

Answer 79

A strategy young children with good
phonological awareness skills use when they write.

Question 80

What is the difference between daycare and preschool?

Answer 80

Preschools and daycare programs no longer have clear differences.

Question 81

What is one of the most important factors when thinking about early childhood education?

Answer 81

Homes and schools: Quality matters

▪ If the home educational environment is poor, a good preschool program aids health, cognition, and social skills.

▪ If a family provides extensive learning opportunities and encouragement, the quality of the preschool is less crucial.

Teacher–child interaction correlates with learning.

Question 82

What differentiates teacher-centred and child-centred programs?

Answer 82

Child centered programs:

Goal it to educate the whole child
▪ Stress children’s natural inclination to learn through play rather than by following adult directions.
▪ Encourage self-paced exploration and artistic expression
▪ Often show the influence of Piaget or Vygotsky, who thought that children learn through play with other children and through cultural practices that structure life.

Teacher-directed programs:

Stress academic subjects taught by a teacher to an entire class.
▪ Help children learn letters, numbers, shapes, and colors, as well as how to listen to the teacher and sit quietly.
▪ Make a clear distinction between work and play.
▪ Are much less expensive, since the child/adult ratio can be higher.

Question 83

Montessori

Answer 83

Schools emphasize individual pride and accomplishment, presenting literacy-related tasks (such as outlining letters and looking at books)

Question 84

Reggio Emilia

Answer 84

Approach involves a famous program of early-childhood education that originated in the town of Reggio Emilia, Italy; it encourages each
child’s creativity in a carefully designed setting.

Question 85

Waldorf

Answer 85

Schools emphasize creativity, social
understanding, and emotional growth.