Chapter 7: Physical and Cognitive Development in Early Childhood Flashcards
Body Growth and Change
- Height and Weight
- The brain
Height and Weight
- Average growth is 2.5 inches and 5 to 7 pounds per year during early childhood
- Growth patterns vary individually
- Two most important contributors to height differences are ethnic origin and nutrition
Growth hormone deficiency
Produced by the pituitary gland to stimulate the body to grow
The brain
- Brain growth slows during early childhood
- Brain reaches 95% of adult volume by 6 years
Changes in child’s brain structure
Rapid distinct spurts of growth especially in the frontal lobe
Myelination
Nerve cells are covered and insulated with a layer of fat cells
Motor Development
- Gross motor skills
- Fine motor skills
Gross motor skills
- Simple movements at age 3
- More adventurous at age 4
- Hair-raising risks at age 5
Fine motor skills
- Still clumsy at 3 years
- Improved fine motor coordination at 4 years
- Body coordination by 5 years
Sleep
Should sleep 11-13 hours each night without interruption
-Can experience narcolepsy, insomnia, and nightmares
Children’s sleep problems and negative developmental outcome
- Alcohol use problems in adolescence
- Attention problems
- Impaired brain development
- Overweight
Nutrition and Exercise
- Overweight young children
- Exercise should be a daily occurrence
- Malnutrition in young children from low-income families
Overweight young children
- Serious health problems in early childhood
- Strongly influenced by caregivers’ behavior
- Categories for obesity, overweight, and at risk for being overweight determined by body mass index (BMI)
- US has second highest rate of childhood obesity
Malnutrition in you children from low-income families
- 11 million preschool children are experiencing malnutrition
- Biggest problem is iron deficiency anemia
Illness and Death
- The United States
- State of illness and health of the world’s children
The United States
- Leading causes of death in U.S. children are:
1. Motor vehicle accidents
2. Cancer
3. Cardiovascular disease - Children’s safety
- Environmental tobacco smoke
State of illness and health of the world’s children
- Devastating effects of health occur in countries with high poverty levels
- Dramatic increase in deaths due to HIV/AIDS, especially in poor countries
Piaget’s Preoperational Stage
- Paiget’s Second Stage
- Ages 2 to 7 years
- Children represent the world with words, images, and drawings
1. Form stable concepts and begin to reason
2. Cognitions are domnated by egocentrism and magical beliefs
Operations
Reversible mental actions that allow children to do mentally what they formerly did physically
Symbolic function substage
Child gains the ability to mentally represent an object that is not present
Egocentrism
Inability to distinguish one’s own perspective from someone else’s
Animism
Belief that inanimate objects have lifelike qualities and are capable of action
Intuitive thought substage
Children use primitive reasoning and want to know the answers to questions
Centration and the limits of preoperational thought
- Centration
- Conservation
Centration
Centering attention on one characteristic to the exclusion of all others
Centration
Centering attention on one characteristic to the exclusion of all others
Conservation
Altering a substance’s appearance does not change its basic properties
Vygotsky’s Theory
Children think and understand primarily through social interaction
Zone of proximal development (ZPD)
Range of tasks that are too difficult for the child alone but that can be learned with guidance
Scaffolding
Changing the level of support
Language and Thought
-Children use speech to communicate socially and to help them solve
Private speech
Use of language for self-regulation
Language and Thought continued
- Inner speech becomes their thoughts
- More private speech –> more social competence
Teaching strategies
Vygotsky’s theory can be applied to education
- Assess child’s ZPD
- Use the child’s ZPD in teaching
- Use more-skilled peers as teachers
- Place instruction in a meaningful context
Teaching strategies
Vygotsky’s theory can be applied to education
- Assess child’s ZPD
- Use the child’s ZPD in teaching
- Use more-skilled peers as teachers
- Place instruction in a meaningful context
Evaluating Vygotsky’s theory
Social constructivist approach
Social Constructivist approach
Emphasizes social contexts of learning and asserts that knowledge is mutually built and constructed through social interaction
Information Processing Approach
Attention
Attention
Focusing of mental resources on select information
Executive attention
- Action planning
- Allocating attention to goals
- Error detection and compensation
- Monitoring progress on tasks
- Dealing with difficult circumstances
Information processing
Sustained attention-Focused and extended engagement with:
Object, task, event, or other aspect of the environment
Deficiencies in attention
- Salient versus relevant dimensions
- Planfulness
Memory
Retention of information over time
Short-term memory
Individuals can retain information up to 30 seconds with no rehearsal
Assessing short-term memory
Memory-span task
How accurate are young children’s long-term memories?
- There are age differences in children’s susceptibility to suggestion
- There are individual differences in susceptibility
- Interviewing techniques can produce substantial distortions in children’s reports about highly salient events
Executive Functioning
Umbrella-like concept that consists of higher level cognitive processes linked to the development of the brain’s prefrontal cortex
-Managing one’s thoughts to engage in goal-directed behavior and self-control
Theory of mind
Awareness of one’s own mental process and the mental processes of others
Developmental changes
Age 18 months- 3 years
- Children begin to understand three mental states
1. Perceptions
2. Desires
3. Emotions
Developmental Changes continued
Age 3 to 5 years -Children understand false beliefs Age 5 to 9 years -Appreciation of the mind Age 7+ years -Understand the beliefs and thoughts of others
Language Development
- Understanding phonology and morphology
- Changes in syntax and semantics
- Advances in pragmatics
- Young children’s literacy
Changes in Syntax and Semantics
- Learn and apply rules of syntax
- Children learn the words they hear most often, for things and events that interest them, and better in responsive and interactive than in passive contexts
Changes in Syntax and Semantics continued
- Best in contexts that are meaningful
- Best when they access clear information about word meaning
- Best when grammar and vocabulary are considered
Advances in Pragmatics
Adapt their speech in different settings
Young children’s literacy
- Positive orientation toward reading and writing must be developed
- Importance of early language skills
1. Phonological awareness
2. Readiness for school
3. Reading achievement in high school
Early childhood education
- Variations in early childhood education
- Education for young children who are disadvantaged
- Controversies in early childhood education
Variations in Early Childhood Education
- Child-centered kindergarten
- Montessori approach
- Developmentally appropriate and inappropriate education
Child-centered kindergarten
Education of the whole child and concern for his or her physical, cognitive, and socioemotional development
Montessori approach
Child is given freedom and spontaneity in choosing activities
Developmentally appropriate practice (DAP)
Typical developmental patterns of children and the uniqueness of each child
Early Childhood Education
Education for young children who are disadvantaged
Project head start
Conpensatory program designed to provide children from low-income families
-Opportunity to acquire the skills ad experiences important for success in school
Controversies in early childhood education
- Curriculum controversy
- Universal education
