Exam 2 Flashcards
How does physical growth (height and weight) change during early childhood?
Average growth slows down to 2.5 inches and 5 to 10 pounds per year during early childhood
What are brain changes that occur during early childhood?
At 3 years: brain is 75% of adult size
At 6 years: brain is 95% of adult size
- Myelination continues
- Spurts of growth, especially in frontal lobes
What are some gross motor and fine motor skills during this age range? (early childhood)
3 years:
- gross: Jumps off ground with both feet; Walk backwards
- fine: use fork, scissors
4 years:
- gross: Catches a large ball most of the time; Perform somersaults
- fine: unbutton buttons, hold pencil between fingers
5 years:
- gross: throw ball, bike
- fine: dress independently, copy simple drawings
Egocentrism
Perceiving the world solely from one’s own point of view
Animism
the belief that inanimate objects have lifelike qualities and are capable of action
Conservation concept
Changing the appearance of objects does not necessarily change the properties
Centration
a centering of attention on one characteristic to the exclusion of all others
Zone of proximal development
the range of tasks too difficult for the child alone but that can be learned with guidance
Scaffolding, what makes scaffolding successful?
More knowledgeable other changes the level of support and instruction provided to master a task
Gaining and maintaining the learner’s interest in the task.
Making the task simple.
Emphasizing certain aspects that will help with the solution.
Control the child’s level of frustration.
Demonstrate the task.
Private speech
Child discusses aloud (to his/herself) what to do
What are the components of executive functioning? How does this help us understand the cognitive gains that children get?
sensory input enters the sensory memory (unattended info is lost) attention reaches the short term memory where rehearsal is maintained (unrehearsed material is lost) we encode short-term to long term and retrieve long-term from short-term (some info may be lost in long term)
How does attention change in the early childhood years?
start to have executive attention (planning, goals, monitoring) and sustained attention (engagement with the environment)
How does short-term memory change in the early childhood years?
have great memory but are susceptible to suggestive questions
What is Erikson’s stage of initiative vs. guilt?
initiative: i can do it mentality
guilt: they mess up and think they are a bad child
Self
Physical characteristics
Personality traits
Personal preferences
Social and familial relationships
Details of ethnicity, culture, national origin
How does self-concept change over development?
Begins with concrete, physical descriptions
Becomes complex as children get older
Based on direct and indirect evaluations of others
Development of self-conscious emotions
Very positive / confident self appraisals
Pretend play
symbolic play: make-believe play
social play: interaction with others
constructive play: create something new
Sociodramatic play
children create a miniature drama either of other children or adults
Peers
People of approximately the same age and status
Friendship
An intimate, reciprocated positive relationship between two people
Who do we become friends with in early childhood?
similarity: interest/behavior, cognitive maturity, academic motivation, age, emotion
proximity
What do friends do for children?
support and validation
develop cognitive and social skills
possible costs (aggression)
gender differences
Age range (middle childhood)
6 to about 10-11 years old
Brain development (prefrontal cortex)
(middle childhood)
What does brain development mean for cognitive or social changes?
Prefrontal cortex growth = better attention
More localized and focused activation of the brain
Improved connectivity between lobes of the brain
Piaget- concrete operational stage
Children can reason logically in concrete terms.
- Classify things into different sets.
- Transitivity - logically combine relations of things
Seriation
How may seriation be important to academic learning?
ability to order based on one dimension
Information processing
long term memory
memory strategies
in middle childhood they can process bigger chunks of information and retain more in their long term memory due to memory strategies
Strategies - deliberate mental activities that improve information processing
Metacognition
which is knowing about knowing
Working memory
manipulate and assemble information for decision making, solving problems, and comprehending language.
Attention
Learning disabilities
How many children will receive special education?
Dyslexia - difficulties with reading
Dysgraphia - difficulty with handwriting
Dyscalculia - difficulty with math
13% of students receive special education
ADHD
Hyperactivity, impulsivity and attention problems
Consequences are difficulty with academic and social functioning in school
Growth mindset vs. fixed mindset
Growth: improve from mistakes, try new things
fixed: mistakes limit my abilities, I can either do it or I can’t
The self
How do middle/late children describe themselves?
What is social comparison and how do kids use this in the way they think about themself?
describe themselves through psychological traits
- social comparison: Comparing self to others in order to evaluate oneself
Self-esteem
Person’s overall sense of their value / worth
- scholastic, social, athletic competence, body appearance, behavior, global self-worth
emerge around 8 years of age
Self-efficacy
the belief that one can master a situation and produce favorable outcomes.
Peers and friends
How do children develop friends over development?
Intimacy
peer status
intimacy (private thoughts, sharing) start to emerge
prefer same sex friends
peer groups increase
importance on reciprocity
Age range (approximate)
(adolescence)
onset of puberty
10 - 15
Puberty
Physical changes
Testosterone and estradiol
How has puberty changed over the last 100 years?
Menarche
puberty:
- A brain-neuroendocrine process that provides stimulation for rapid physical development.
- Cascade of hormones
- Maturation of reproductive organs
testosterone: genital development, increased height, and deepening of the voice.
estradiol: breast, uterine, and skeletal development.
menarche: the first period
puberty is starting earlier as opposed to 100 years ago
Body image
How does pubertal timing influence body image/satisfaction?
Preoccupation with body image is strong throughout adolescence.
Girls are less happy with their bodies and have more negative body images.
Body images became more positive as they moved from the beginning to the end of adolescence
What brain changes are occurring?
Prefrontal cortex (aka frontal cortex)
Amygdala
Ventral striatum
amygdala becomes active (emotion)
prefrontal cortex matures later around 25 years
ventral striatum is super active that involves sensitivity to rewards
Sexual identity
How have sexual behaviors changed from the 1990’s to today?
What increases the risk for risky sexual behaviors during adolescence? What decreases the risk?
What are problems with adolescent pregnancy for the mother? For the infant?
Adolescent health
Leading causes of death
Piaget: Formal operational stage
What is the difference between concrete and formal operational stages?
Hypothetical-deductive reasoning
Adolescent egocentrism
Personal fable
Imaginary audience
Executive functioning
How does executive functioning change in adolescence?
Self-esteem
How does self-esteem change over adolescence?
Identity
Identity v role confusion
Psychosocial moratorium
Identity achievement
(crisis & commitment)
Identity foreclosure
(crisis & commitment)
Identity moratorium
(crisis & commitment)
Identity diffusion
(crisis & commitment)
How is identity development influenced by culture and ethnicity?
