Chapter 8

Question 1

Body Growth

Answer 1

Growth tapers to an avg of 2-3 inches in height and 5lbs in weight annually

“Baby fat” declines

Posture & balance improves —> better motor control

Question 2

Skeletal Growth

Answer 2

45 new epiphyses (growth centers in which cartilage hardens into bone)

Start to lose “baby” teeth
• U.S. children typically get 1st permanent tooth at 6.5yrs

Tooth health
•  Brushing
•  Avoiding sugar
•  Getting flouride treatments
•  Sealants
•  Reduce exposure to second-hand smoke which Reduces immune response against tooth bacteria

Question 3

Brain Development

Answer 3

Brain increases from 70% to 90% of adult weight

Undergoes reshaping & refining:
• Age 4 -5 many parts of the cerebral cortex have overproduced synapses
• Brain plasticity
• Synaptic pruning
• Cognitive functions become increasingly localized

Growth in executive functioning

Question 4

Handedness

Answer 4

not genetic, but by experience

Reflects greater capacity of dominant cerebral hemisphere to carry out skilled motor action

Begins as early as 10th prenatal week

Right handers: 90%; language is housed in left hemisphere with
hand control

Left handers: 10%; language is occasionally in right hemisphere but often it is shared

Question 5

What factors influence physical growth and health?

Answer 5

• Heredity & Hormones
• Emotional Well-Being
• Sleep Habits & Problems
• Nutrition
• Infectious Disease
• Childhood Injuries

Question 6

Heredity & Hormones

Answer 6

The production of hormones are controlled by genes

Question 7

Growth Hormone

Answer 7

Necessary for development of all body tissues

Stimulates liver and the epiphyses of skeleton to release insulin-like growth factor 1

Question 8

Thyroid-Stimulating Hormones

Answer 8

TSH —> Thyroxine
• Brain development
• GH to impact body size

Negative consequences for infants w/o thyroxine

Question 9

Emotional Well-Being

Answer 9

The consequences of a high stress home environment:
•  Respiratory & intestinal illness
•  Unintentional injuries
•  Suppression of GH,
      Pyschosocial dwarfism

Question 10

Sleep Habits

Answer 10

GH is released during sleeping hours

1/3 of children struggle to fall asleep – WHY?

Question 11

Consequences of Poor Sleep

Answer 11

1. Decreased attention
2. Thinking speed
3. Working memory
4. Intelligence
5. Achievement Test
6. Internalizing & Externalizing

Question 12

Nutrition

Answer 12

Preschoolers become more selective in food choices

Need high quality food; repeated exposure

Milk

Family emotional climate

Question 13

Infectious Disease

Answer 13

Disease & Malnutrition
• Illnesses appear much earlier in non-industrialized nations
• Disease —> malnutrition

Immunization in U.S.:
! Industrialized nations = immunization programs
! Prevented 322 million illnesses and 700,000 deaths in past two decades
! Only 80% of children immunized

Question 14

Childhood Injuries

Answer 14

Unintentional injuries = leading cause of childhood mortality in industrialized nations

Factors related to childhood injuries:
• Boys 2x likely
• Individual characteristics: activity level, impulsivity, risk-taking
• Temperament (inattentive, overactive, aggressive)
• Poverty

Preventing childhood injuries:
• Laws
• Teach safety rules
• Interventions aimed at parents

Question 15

Motor Skill Development in Early Childhood

Answer 15

Gross-motor skills:
• Walking, running, jumping, hopping
• Catching, throwing, swinging, riding

Fine-motor skills:
• Self-help: dressing, eating
• Drawing: line and circle, tadpole image


Question 16

Progression of Drawing Skills

Answer 16

Scribbles: during 2nd year

First representational forms:
• Around age 3: Labels already-made drawings.
• Age 3–4: Draws boundaries and tadpole-shaped people.

More realistic drawings:
preschool to school age

Early printing: ages 4–6

Question 17

Development of Printing

Answer 17

Up to age 3:
• Scribbles
• Varied pencil grips

Ages 4–6:
• Gradual realization that writing stands for language
• Identification of individual letters
• Adult pencil grip by age 5

Question 18

Individual Differences in Motor Skills

Answer 18

Body build:
Taller, more muscular bodies move more quickly, acquire skills earlier.

Sex:
• Boys are ahead in skills requiring power and force.
• Girls are advantaged in fine-motor skills and in skills requiring good balance and foot movement.
• Social pressures channel children into activities.

Question 19

Enhancing Early Childhood Motor Development

Answer 19

Motor skills are best mastered through everyday play:
• Formal lessons have little added impact.
• Preschoolers should have at least 60 minutes a day of adult-structured play, plus several hours of child-directed play.
• Children need appropriate play spaces and equipment.

Daily routines support fine-motor development.