Lifespan Test 2 Chapter 5 Flashcards
Chapter 5: Physical and Cognitive Development
What sets us apart from other animals?
Human Socialization
Learn norms of our culture
Ability to take another person’s perspective
Mind-reading skill (begins with joint attention)
Language
Slow-growing Frontal Lobes
Compared to other parts of the brain, frontal lobe development is on a delayed timetable.
As frontal lobes mature throughout childhood and adolescence, our ability to think through, inhibit, and plan our actions gradually improves.
Cephalocaudal sequence—
Mass-to-specific sequence—
bodies elongate and lengthen
physical abilities become more coordinated and precise
Two types of physical skills
Gross Motor skills: large muscle movement
Fine Motor skills: small coordinated movement
Motor skill milestones age 2
Picks up small objects with thumbs and forefingers
feeds self with spoon
walks unassisted usually by 12 months
Rolls a ball or swings it akwardly
motor skill milestone age 4
cuts paper approximates circle
walks down stairs alternating feet
cathces and cotrols a large bouncing ball across body
motor skill milestone age 5
Prints name
walks without holding onto railing
tosses ball overhand with bent elbows
motor skills milestone age 6
copies two short words
hopes on each foot for one meter but still holds railing
cathces and cotrols a 10 inch ball with both hands with arms in front of body
top-ranking twenty-first-century global public health threat to physical development!
Stunting
Compromises bone, muscle, and brain development
Causes lethargy
Impairs gross and fine motor skills
Inadequate Nutrition:
Monitored in the United States by National Health and Nutrition Study (NHANES), a National Poll
Assessed by BMI = ratio of weight to height
Overweight
At or over the 85% for the norms
Obesity
BMI at or above the 95th percentile compared to U.S. norms
Global Epidemic
Demographics differ in developed and developing worlds.
Obesity in the developed world
Children from low-income families
In the United States, highest among Latino and African American children
Obesity in the developing world: most prevalent in cities and among affluent boys and girls
Primary culprit: lack of physical activity
Internet, TV
Research shows that time spent watching TV predicts obesity.
Oversized portions of food
Restaurant foods, large servings, and caloric content
Teasing; stereotyping
Studies show gym teachers display negative attitudes (obese children judged slow and clumsy).
Negative attitudes toward the obese
Characteristics
Child has an inability to step back from his immediate perceptions and think conceptually.
Thinking is qualitatively unlike that of an adult.
Child cannot reason logically, and cannot look beyond appearance of objects.
Young children understand only what they can see.
Spans ages 2–7
Preoperational thinking
our knowledge that the amount of a given substance remains the same despite changes in its shape or form
Piaget’s Conservation Tasks
Conservation:
Preoperational children do not understand:
The laws of conservation!
The concept of reversibility!
Children center only on what they can see!
Preoperational Thinking
Children also have trouble grasping these concepts:
Class inclusion:
the understanding that a general category can encompass several subordinate elements
Preoperational Thinking
Children also have trouble grasping these concepts:
Seriation:
the ability to put things in order according to some principle, such as size
the ability to put things in order according to some principle, such as size
―identity constancy‖
A person’s core ―self‖ stays the same despite changes in
external appearance.
The belief that inanimate objects are alive
Animism
The belief that humans make everything in nature
Artificialism
An inability to understand another’s perspective
Egocentrism
Transition from preoperations to concrete operations develops gradually (5–7), but by age 8 children are firmly in this stage.
Understand conservation tasks
Understand identity constancy
Look beyond immediate appearances
Begin to understand principles of basic math
Should the pre-operational and concrete operational stages be classified as different stages?
Skills appear gradually!
Piaget overstated
egocentric thinking.
Culture has an influence on the timing of
learning certain tasks.
Piaget did not believe in active teaching; he believed children would automatically grow out of their
preoperational worldview.
Human interaction promotes learning and cognitive growth.
Zone of Proximal Development
Scaffolding
Learning is bidirectional.
Lev Vygotsky: A Different View of Cognitive Growth
Tips for Effective Scaffolding
First and foremost, foster a secure attachment.
Break larger cognitive tasks into smaller, more manageable steps.
When child makes a mistake, give nonthreatening feedback.
Continue helping until child has mastered concept, then move on.
Set an overall framework for the learning task and build in motivation.
Looks at specific skills such as the development of memory, concentration, and the ability to inhibit and control our actions
Mental growth occurs gradually, not in stages.
Attempts to decode the ―processing steps‖ involved in thinking
Explores the development of memory and executive functions
Cognitive Development: Information-Processing Perspective
Holds about 7 bits of information
Keeps information in awareness; we either process information or discard it
Working Memory
allows us to focus on important material to prepare for permanent storage
Executive processor:
Allows for new understanding at around 7–8 (concrete operations)
Memory bin capacity expands between ages 2–7.
any frontal-lobe ability that allows us to inhibit our responses and to plan and direct our thinking
Rehearsal
Selective Attention
Inhibition
Executive Functions:
Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
Characteristics: Excessive restlessness Easily distracted Difficulties focusing Usually diagnosed in elementary school Most often diagnosed in boys More often diagnosed in the United States
psycho-stimulant medications
Best when used with reinforcement for appropriate behavior
Standard treatment:adhd
Provide nondistracting environment that demands selective attention (e.g., homework)
Foster best person−environment fit
Interventions for ADHD
Reduce distractions.
Allow special time for exercise.
Give the child special time and help with activities that demand several steps.
Minimize the need to multitask.
Consider psycho-stimulant medication.
Avoid power assertion. Do not define your child as a ―bad kid.‖
Language
Vygotsky
Emphasized language as being front and center of everything we learn
inner speech:
repeating information silently or ―out loud‖ in order to regulate behavior or to master cognitive challenges
Young children speak ―out loud‖ to monitor
their behavior.
Developing Speech
By age 2, children begin to put together
words
individual word sounds of language (e.g., in English, ―c‖ sound for cat)
Phonemes
the basic meaning units of language
Coded by ―mean length of utterance‖ (MLU)
―Me want juice‖ = 3 MLU’s
Morphemes
System of grammatical rules in a particular language
Syntax
understanding word meanings
About 10,000 words at age 6
Vocabulary continues to grow throughout life.
Semantics
Puts irregular ―pasts‖ and ―plurals‖ into regular form
―If I walked, I also must have runned and swimmed.‖
Overregularization
Applies verbal labels too broadly/narrowly
Over/underextensions
Recollections of events and experiences that make up one’s life history
Scaffolded through past-talk conversations
Becomes more elaborate as children move from preschool to elementary school
Use experiences to connect with others
Autobiographical Memory
The understanding that other people have different beliefs and perspectives from one’s own
Emerges about age 4–5
Typical in Western cultures
Researchers use ―False-Belief‖ studies
Theory of Mind
Early development of Theory of Mind
Having older siblings
Advanced intellectual development
Bilingual preschoolers
Later development of Theory of Mind
Frontal lobe damage
Autism ―mindblindness‖
