Chapter 7: Exam 2 Flashcards
Growth Patterns Height
*Growth rate slows down during preschool years
*Girls and Boys tend to gain 2 to 3 inches
*Boys as a group become slightly taller than girls
Growth Patterns Weight
- Gains remain fairly even at about 4 to 6 pounds per year
- Become increasingly slender as they gain in height
- Boys as a group become slightly heavier than girls
*Variation is shown from child to child
Development of the Brain
Develops more quickly than any other organ in early childhood
*At Age 2, the brain has attained 75% of its adult weight
*At Age 5, the brain has reached 90% of its adult weight
Due in part to the continuing myelination of nerve fibers
Brain Development and Visual Skills
- Part of the brain that enables children to sustain attention & screen out distractors become increasingly myelinated between 4 - 7 years old
- Speed of visual processing information improves throughout childhood, reaching adult levels at the onset of adolescence.
Right-handed Individuals
Left Hemisphere is more involved in intellectual understandings requiring logical analysis, problem-solving, language, and computation.
Left-Handed Individuals
Right, Hemisphere is superior in visual-spatial functions (puzzles), aesthetic and emotional responses, and understanding metaphors.
Pros: Higher math stability, success in athletics, success in musical fields, architecture fields, and the arts
Cons: Dyslexia, stuttering, high blood pressure, epilepsy, schizophrenia, and depression
Right Brain, Left Brain?
Not all left/right-handed people fall within these categories, as functions of each side can begin to overlap each other.
Corpus Callosum
A thick bundle of nerve bundles that connects the left and right hemisphere of the brain.
Myelination process of Corpus Callosum
Largely complete by age of 8, enabling the integration of logical and emotional functioning.
Truth or Fiction
Some children are left-brained, and others are right-brained
Fiction
The statement is too all-inclusive to be true. The functions of the two brain hemispheres overlap.
Plasticity
The tendency of new parts of the brain to take up the functions of injured parts
Plasticity of the Brain
Greatest at about 1 to 2 years old and then gradually declines
Neurological Factor: Include growth of new dendrites (“sprouting”) and the redundancy of neural connections
Motor Development
Preschool years witness an explosion of motor skills as children’s nervous systems mature and their movements become more precise and coordinated
- Myelination completion of neural pathways that link cerebellum to cerebral cortex helps develop fine motor skills, balance, and coordination
Gross Motor Skills
Skills employing the large muscles used in locomotion
*Motor experience in infancy may affect the development of motor skills in early childhood
Gross Motor Skills Timeline
- At age 3, children can balance on one foot
- At age 3 or 4, they can walk up stairs as adults do, placing one foot on each step.
- At age 4 or 5, they can skip and pedal a tricycle
Girls are somewhat better at balance & precision.
Boys show an advantage in throwing & kicking.
Some children are genetically predisposed at developing better coordination or more strength
Physical Activity
Preschoolers spend an average of more than 25 hours a week in large muscle activity
*Decreases as the child ages
Motor Activity Level
- Begins to decline after 2 to 3 years of age (becoming less restless and able to sit still longer)
- Between 2 & 4, children show increase in sustained, focus attention
Rough and Tumble Play
It consists of running, chasing, fleeing, wrestling, hitting (with an open hand), laughing, and making faces.
- more common among boys
- not the same as aggressive behavior
- helps develop physical and social skills
(Twin studies suggest a genetic tendency for activity level)
Individual Differences in Activity Level
- Children of active mothers are twice as likely to be active as children of inactive mothers (4 to 7-year-olds)
- Children of active fathers are 3.5 times as likely to be active
Reasons:
1. Active parents serve as role models for activity
2. Sharing of activities by family members encouraging child’s participation
Fine Motor Skills
Skills employing the small muscles used in manipulation and coordination, such as those in fingers
- Develops gradually, a bit slower than gross motor skills
Childrens Artistic Development
*Linked to the development of cognitive and motor skills
- Children first scribble during the 2nd year of life
*Basic scribbles are the building blocks: vertical, horizontal, diagonal, circular, curving, waving, zig zagging, and dots.
4 Stages of making scribbles
- placement - 2 year old scribbles in various locations on the page
- shape - 3 year old starts to draw basic shapes; circles, squares, triangles, crosses, Xs, and odd shapes.
- design - as soon as they can draw shapes, they begin to combine them in a design phase.
- pictorial - between 4 & 5 years old designs begin to resemble recognizable objects
Handedness
- No hand preferences during infancy, but at age 2 to 3 months, in most cases, a rattle placed in the infant’s hand is held longer with the right hand.
- By 4 months - most infants show a clear-cut right-hand preference for exploring objects.
(Genetic Prediposition) 7 -10% Left handed of General Population
The genetic component of handedness
a. if both parents are right-handed, your chances of being right-handed are 92%
b. if both parents are left-handed your chances are 50%
Health and Illness
Good health requires proper nutrition
Nutrition
During 2nd year, child’s appetite becomes erratic, due to child’s growth more slowly than infancy, they need fewer calories.
- Between 1 and 3, children need 1,000 - 1,400 calories of food each day
- Between 4 and 8, they require 1,200 and 2,000 depending on growth and activity level
MAYO Clinic advises eating a balanced diet of protein sources (seafood, lean meats, nuts,) fruits, vegetables, grains, & dairy products.
Minor Illnesses
Refer to respiratory infections (colds), and gastrointestinal upsets (nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea)
- Ages 1 to 3, on average, develop 8 to 9 minor illnesses a year
- Between 4 to 10 years old, the average drops to 4 to 6
Truth or Fiction
Some diseases are normal during childhood
True
Minor Illnesses, referred to by some as “the stuff going around,” are statistically normal, meaning that many or even most children contract them.
Major Illnesses
One-third of children in the U.S. younger than 18 suffer from a chronic illness.
Around the world, 8 to 9 million children die each year of six diseases: pneumonia, (leading cause) diarrhea, measles, tetanus, whopping cough, and tuberculosis.
Lead causes neurological damage and may result in lowered cognitive functioning and other delays.
Accidents
Single most common cause of death is motor vehicle accidents
*Boys are more likely than girls to incur accidental injuries at all ages and in all socioeconomic groups
Poor children:
a. five times more likely to die from fires
b. more than twice as likely to die in motor vehicle accidents
Sleep
Preschoolers do not need as much sleep as infants.
- National Sleep Foundation recommends 11 to 13 hours of sleep in a 24-hour period for preschoolers
Sleep Disorders
Sleep terrors
Somnambulism (Sleep walking)
Sleep Terrors
Frightening dreamlike experiences occur during the deepest stage of non-REM sleep, shortly after the child has gone to sleep.
Usually, begin in childhood or early adolescence and are outgrown by late adolescence.
Sometimes associated with stress; moving, beginning school, parental divorce, or being in a war zone.
NOT NIGHTMARES
Somnambulism (Sleepwalking)
More common among children than adults (onset between ages of 3 and 8)
Occurs during deep sleep
Have no memory of doing so
It is assumed to reflect the immaturity of the nervous system
