Chapter 7 Flashcards
When is a Child’s Growth most Rapid?
growth is more rapid from birth to age 3
Describe a Child’s Sleep Pattern
**most children sleep 11 hours a night by age 5
Enuresis
repeated urination in clothing or in bed – most children stay dry at night by 3-5 years old (this is hereditary and should NOT be punished)
Night Terrors
child awakes abruptly screaming and thrashing but is not awake (this may be related to anxiety, there are genetic influences)
Nightmares
Common, peak ages are 6-10 (may be related to stress or anxiety)
Gross Motor Skills
physical skills that involve the large muscles (running, jumping)
Fine Motor Skills
physical skills that involve the small muscles and eye–hand coordination (drawing, cutting with scissors)
Handedness
preference for using a particular hand – 90% of children are right handed
Describe Obesity for Preschoolers
1) Serious problem for preschoolers
2) It is hereditary but the main factor is environmental (calories eaten, lack of physical activity, too much TV. Preschoolers should get no more than 2 hours of TV a day!
3) **Overweight children tend to become overweight adults!
Describe a Child’s Physical Brain Development
by age 6, the brain has attained 90% of its peak volume
Describe Undernutrition for Children
1) Children who are malnourished can be stunted (small) or wasted (thin)
2) May be due to food insecurity or low-quality diets
Describe Food Allergies for Children
affects 8% of U.S. children
Describe Oral Health for Children
1) By age 3 all baby teeth are in – permanent teeth start appearing at about age 6
2) Tooth decay – due to juices, sweetened milk
Describe Deaths and Accidental Injuries for Children
1) Home injuries are common
2) Bicycle helmets, care seats/booster seats, and child proof medicine bottles have all helped
Describe Environmental Influences on Children
1) **The lower the Socioeconomic Status (SEC), the higher the risk of illness, injury, and death
2) 15.5% of children under the age 6 years old in U.S. live in poverty
3) **Having and using health insurance is a big predictor of a child’s health
Describe Homelessness for Children
**families with children are the fastest growing population of the homeless (high housing costs!)
Describe Environmental Pollutants for Children
1) Second hand smoke, air pollution, chronic pesticide damage, lead poisoning from food, water, paint, or soil
2) **Lead paint ingested causes irreversible brain damage!
3) **Children most at risk are children living in poverty!
Preoperational Stage
in Piaget’s theory, this is the second major stage of cognitive development, in which symbolic thought expands but children cannot yet use logic effectively which means they can not recall something from memory like an adult can do
Animism
tendency to attribute life to objects that are not alive (such as a stuffed animal or a doll)
Centration
preschoolers have a tendency of to focus on one aspect of a situation and ignore others & this leads to illogical conclusions
Decenter
preschoolers cannot think about several aspects of a situation at one time
Egocentrism
the inability to consider another person’s point of view; a characteristic of young children’s thought
Irreversibility
a child’s failure to understand that an operation can go in two or more directions
Theory of Mind
awareness and understanding of mental processes, this means preschoolers may not know that others people have their own thoughts & beliefs – this ability grows rapidly in preschoolers
Describe a Child Distinguishing Between Appearance and Reality
1) The ability to do this emerges at ages 4-6, when they can fully know “what seems to be” from “what is real”
2) They can pretend and can tell when someone is pretending
3) **Distinguishing between Fantasy and Reality
Describe Magical Thinking for Children
1) A child’s thinking that is sometimes used to explain events that do not seem to have obvious realistic explanations or for simply indulging in the pleasures of pretending
2) **Imaginative activities offer many developmental benefits (Imaginary friends)
Describe Individual Differences in Theory of Mind Development for Children
**social competence, brain development, language ability, parent’s interaction with the child, exposure to preschool education - all matters!
Encoding
process by which information is prepared for long-term storage and later retrieval – how you put information into your memory matters!
Storage
retention of information in memory for future use
Retrieval
process by which information is accessed or recalled from memory storage
Working Memory
short-term storage of information being actively processed – **after about 30 seconds your brain decides what to do with the information!
Long-term Memory
storage of virtually unlimited capacity that holds information for long periods
Recall
ability to reproduce material from memory
Executive Function
conscious control of thoughts, emotions, and actions to accomplish goals and solve problems
Generic Memory
memory that produces scripts of familiar routines to guide behavior – begins at about age 2 and is encouraged with familiar and repeated events (**repetition is key!!!)
Script
general remembered outline of a familiar, repeated event, used to guide behavior
Autobiographical Memory
memory of specific events in one’s own life – these are distinctive memories that make up your life!
Episodic Memory
long-term memory of specific experiences or events, linked to a specific time and place
Social Interaction Model
model, based on Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory, that proposes children construct autobiographical memories through conversation with adults about shared events
Name Two Psychometric Measures of Intelligence for Preschoolers
1) Stanford–Binet Intelligence Scales: individual intelligence tests for ages 2 and up used to measure fluid reasoning, knowledge, quantitative reasoning, visual-spatial processing, and working memory
2) Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence, Revised (W P P S I-IV): individual intelligence test for children aged 2½ to 7 that yields verbal and performance scores as well as a combined score
Name Some Influences On Measured Intelligence
1) *IQ is a measure of how well a child can do on a task at a certain time in comparison to how well other children of the same age do on that task
2) *Family life is THE strongest influence in early childhood
3) *SES matters! Children of middle-higher SES are read to more, talked to more, and interacted with more!
4) *Intelligence is negatively associated with too much
exposure to TV * it is the most negative influence on
cognitive development on children 3 years and under!
Zone Of Proximal Development (ZPD)
Vygotsky’s term for the difference between what a
child can do alone and what the child can do with help
Scaffolding
temporary support to help a child master a task
Fast Mapping
process by which a child absorbs
the meaning of a new word after hearing it once or twice in conversation
Child Grammar and Syntax
By age 5 speech becomes more adultlike
Pragmatics
the practical knowledge needed to use language for communicative purposes
Social Speech
speech intended to be understood by a listener
Emergent Literacy
preschoolers’ development of
skills, knowledge, and attitudes that underlie reading and writing – **Reading to young children is the most important path to literacy!
Describe High Quality Preschool Programs
Preschool programs that are high quality produce social & academic gains and the benefits far outweigh the costs!
Kindergarten
**Kindergarten is very positively associated with positive
academic and social outcomes!
