PSYC228_Chap5 Flashcards
early childhood
2-6yrs
betw 2-6 yrs children
gains about 2.7kg + 5-8cm/yr
slimmer, stretch out
during preschool yrs, growth rate + rate of brain maturation…
slows
synaptic pruning
elimination of synaptic connections in order to inc efficiency
slows during 2-6 yrs, continues to some degree thrughout life
during 2-6 yrs brain gains
20-25% of adult weight
300g
but brain volumes in children can vary by 50% bec grow at diff rates
preschool children gains in brain weight +t size due to
inc number of connections from myelination
myelination
coating of neurons with myelin,
synapses
connections among neurons
myelination is vital for
inc coordination + fine muscle movements in preschool children
balance + coordination
toxin
harmful substance that causes adverse effects
lead poisoning
environmental factor that interacts with genes to produce cognitive dificits in children
deviations in brain maturation are teh product of ongoing complex interaction between
genetic + environmental factors
myelination of corpus callosum…
allows 2 hemispheres of brain to communicate + work together better
helpful for lateralization
lateralization
process by which the right + left hemispheres of the brain take on specific functions
become inc diff from each other
begins in prenatal
right hemisphere of brain controls
left side of body
left hemisphere of brain controls
right side of body
most people preceive emotion mainly in
right hemisphere
most people control language with
left hemisphere
outcome of lateralization
emerging dominance of one side over other
handedness
handedness
preference for using one hand over the other for basic activities like eating, throwing, writing
% of left-handed people is
8% across cultures
most scientitst believe
handedness not genetically predetermined, but complex interaction of genetic + environmental/cultural influences
ossification
process thru which cartilage becomes bone
most obvious preschool changes in skeletal system
length, width, + hardness of bone
ossification occurs from
infancy thru adolescence
the more cartilage that remains…
the taller the child can still be expected to grow
ossification variations between children arise from
genetic + environmental (nutrition, physical stimulation, overeating + food choices) influences
for healthy bone growth WHO recommends
Ca, sunshine + supplementation - vit D, consumption of variety of fruits + vegetables
stunting ( chronic growth retardation) may be due to
deficiencies in key nut.s
stunting affects
bones, cognitive development, + poor educational attainment
physical problems later in life
stunting for girls
risk for obstructed labour
common cause of maternal + infant mortality in developing countries
stunint appears to be
dec globally, but still major concern
globally - stunting in early childhood
171 million children, >1/4 = clinical stunting
highest rates in south-central Asian countries - 45%
during early childhood children’s muscles develop
slowly + steadily
most obvious muscle change is
improvement in gross-motor + fine-motor skills
gross motor changes in early childhood
improved body stability, enhanced muscle complexity + growth, + myelination of CNS
what underlies much fine-motor development?
brain + muscle maturation
Fine-motor milestones
2 yrs - place simple shapes in corresponding holes, draw lines
3 yrs - hold crayon properly with fingers, build large towers with blocks
4 yrs - use pencil/pen, scissors, copy geometric shapes like circle or square, draw recognizable human forms, button shirts
5 yrs - print first name, tie shoes, write numbers
gross-motor milestones
2 yrs - jump using both feeth, go up + down steps, throw small ball, kick large ball, run
3 yrs - throw + catch more efficiently, stand on one foot, jump over object
4 yrs - skip, climb ladders, hop on one foot, change direction quickly while running
5 yrs - ride bicycle with training wheels, jump almost a m forward, climb in precarious places
3 cognitive development theoriesfor how children think
piaget’s cognitive theory, vygotsky’s socio-cultural theory, information-processing model of cognition
Piaget’s preoperational stage
second stage
preschool children
begins to think symbolically with words
uses language to make sense of world
still centered on immediate events
are we there yet?
some people disagree
piaget’s sensorimotor stage
first stage
infants use assimilation + accomodation to contruct mental representation of world
by the end have developed object permanence (ability to think about thigns even when not present)
infancy
preoperation stage
piaget’s 2nd stage of cognitive development in which chlid begins to think symbolically; that is, with words
2 substages of Piaget’s preoperational stage
symbolic function substage
intuitive thought substage
symbolic function
first substage of piaget’s preoperational stage from 2-4 yrs
ability to use language gives children new way of thinking about the world
intuitive thought
second substage of piaget’s preoperational stage
during which children want to know how + why
preschooler’s ability to htink in symbols emerges
early in preoperational stage
but cognitive processing remains limited
conitive abilities gradually
emerge, gain significance, + declien as child interacts with world + develops more complex thought
centration
quality of thinking in which a person focuses on one aspect or dimension of an object while disregarding any ohter dimension
conservation
understanding that key physical properties of an object remain constant even if the appearance of the object changes
egocentrism
cognitive quality in which one is centred in one’s own frame of reference
animism
egocentric belief that all inanimate objects have qualities associated with humans
irreversibility
belief of preoperational thinkers taht objects + events, once changed, can never return to their original form
linear world only moves forward
limitations of preoperational cognitive processing
centration (focusing on only one thing)
consesrvation (changing how something looks doesn’t change how much of it there is)
egocentrism (only see things from their point of view)
animism (belief that everything can feel and is human like)
irreversibility (can’t undo procedures, rolled out ball of clay can’t be a ball again)
intuitive though substage
desire to know how thigns work + where things come from
4-7 yrs
lots of why questions
can make up reasons though
artificialism
belief that all objects + events are affected by human influences
common reasoning in preoperational stage
criticism of Piaget’s sensorimotor + preoperational stages
underestimated children’s cognitive ablities
fewer egocentric responses
too narrow focus on US
variation in ages of conservation thinking
strong evidence that social environment shapes our understanding of world
Vygotsky’s cognitive theory embraces idea that
social environment shapes our understanding of wolrd
Vygotsky believed that
child’s social world facilitates development of thinking
socail interactions facilitate cognitive development by shaping
zone of proximal development ZPD
range of optimal leanring for children
learn takss they cannot yet do alone but are bale to do with guidance from adult
can do it with scaffolding
zone of proximal development ZPD
vygotsky’s term for range of tasks that a person cannot accomplish independently but can be done with assistance of a person with more experience or more advanced cognitive ability
scaffolding
process of assisting less experienced individual thru complex tasks by providing supports which may be verbal or physical
a form of guided participation
guided participation
process in which a more experienced teacher becomes an interactive guide, helping less experienced person do tasks they couldn’t do independently
private speech
language process where children talk to themselves as they attmpet to perform task + solve a problem
Piaget + vygotsky desagree about
meaning of private speech
piaget - is egocentric + immature - collective monologue
vygotsky - language helps support cognitive development - hearing chlidren with deaf talked less - speech reflects rich social process rather than just egocentricity
collective monologue
piaget’s term for egocentric private talk that sometimes occurs in group of chlidren when they’re all talking at once + not listening to each other
information-processing perspective
analogy of mind as a computer
theory of mind
ability to understand that others have mental stages + that their thoughts + knowledge differ from one’s own
realize other people have their own thoughts
3-yr olds will tattle on themselves bec already think parents know about it
supports view that chlidren are less egocentric than piaget believed
social cognition
abioity to understand realtionships betw themselves + others
need to be able to take perspective of another person + consider multiple intersecting perspectives
central feature of autism
inablitiy to understand a thoery of mind
during teh early childhood yrs, children tend to focus on
salient + noticeable things instead of the things that are teh most relevant.
start to get better at focusing on the things taht are relevant
vocabulary spurt or naming explosion
most rapid expansion of vocabulary that children experience in earying childhood
children go from
about 500-600 words as 2 yrs to over 12000 wrds when start school
receptive language skill always
precedes expressive lanaguage skill
overgeneralization
applying rules of grammar to cases in which they do not apply
often done during early childhood
we runned home, i sitted on the bus
most disappear by the time start school
noun bias
suggestion taht hcildren use nouns more frequently than other parts of speech
mostly for english kids, other languages not so much
mandarin is more verbs than nouns
pragmatics
social use of communication
how to use language socially
egocentric children tend to
have poor pragmatics
categorization
process of forming a cognitive compartment or grouping based on specific properties
helps learn so much language stuff in such short time frame
Gopnik + Meltzoff think
the abliity to form categories is one of the fundamental building blocks of language development
fast mapping
process by which a chlid can relate unknown words to known words, thus rapidly expanding vocabulary
explain rapidity of word leanring
chlidrne use categories + context as basis for understanding meaning of new word
both biological + cognitive components
Chomsky
believed humans ahve LAD innate mechanism for processing words
criticized for nativist perspective
doesn’t account for variations found among human lanuages
Tomasello
functional language = idea that lanuage acquisition is a “need-based” process in which children construct meaning out of a need to understand what others are syaing to be understood
need to understand + explain motivates language acquisition
leanr language bec have to
3 common health + safety concerns of early childhood
obesity
unintentional injury
lead poisoning
barriers to free play
dec free time due to economic requirements + shift toward early education - more structured activities, less unstructured tiem
too much time on screens
less green space in cities
more kids live in cities where there isn’t room to play or not allowed to
policies hinder + limit physical acitivity like skateboarding + road hockey
closing small schools - go further to big shcools, less free time bec spent on bus
fear of abduction + abuse threatens outdoor play
parten’s 4 types of play
non-social play
parallel play
associative play
co-operative play
based on socail functions
non-social play
non-interactive play in which a chlid focuses on either an obejcted or toy + appears unconnected to others, or acts as an onlooker, watching others play wihtout joining in
parallel play
form of play in which children appear to be together but are not interacting with one another
associative play
form of paly in which children interact + share materials btu do nto work tog toward same goal
co-operative play
form of play in which children interact to work toward a common goal
major cognitive classification of play
follows piagets theory of cog development
functional play
constructive play
symbolic play
rough-and-tumble play
based on cognitive functions of play
the difference betw the major cognitive classification of play and Parten’s is that
parten’s was based on the social functions of play and the other one was based on the cognitive functions of play
functional play
form of play that involves repetitive movements + simple exploratory activity, usually seen durign child’s first 2 yrs
sensorimotor stage
constructive play
form of play that involves creation of new objects, often by combining already existing objects
preoperational
symbolic play
form of play that begins arnd 3 yrs, in which children use objects as symbols to stand for something else
preoperational
rough-and-tumble play
form of physical play, sucha s wrestling, tumbling, + running
concrete operational
96% of schools had a least one recess time period in 1989, but 10 yrs later…
only 70% of schools still did
trend away from recess
linked physical activity to higher academic performance
head start
program that seeks to promote school-readiness among disadvantaged children thru provision of educational, nutritional, + social services
invlud control by first nations + teaching in aboriginal culture + language
many developmental scholars have found that head start
enhances children’s cognitive ability + socail competence
2000 agreement on early childhood development initiatives
fed + provincial/territorial (except Quebec) gov’s to acknowledge need for all levels of gov to work tog to support canadian families
incorporate commitment to inclusion of chlidren with special needs as much as possible
inclusion
approach to educating students with special educational needs based on the idea that all individ’s have a right to be educated in regular classroom settings
best practices early childhood education
keep classes small + low chlid:teacher ratio
comprehensive cirricula for interrelated development needs (emotional, social, cognitive, physical)
make parents active partners in children’s education
autism spectrum disorder (ASD)
neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impaired social communication + interaction + repetitive behaviours
inc support for inclusion
impaired social communication + interaction = responding inappropriately in conversations + misreading non-verbal vues
restricted + repetitive behaviour
prevalence of autism spectrum disorder has inc over past 2-3 decades
approx 1/94 canadian children = ASD
symptoms vary
early detection + intervention can improve cognitive outcomes + adaptive behaviour
+ early diagnosis helps with development of individualized education programs based on each child’s specific needs + strengths
autism spectrum disorder
neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by impaired social communication + interaction, + repetitive behaviours
individualized education program
written statement that defines the individualizwed educational goals of a child with a disability
children with ASD in inclusive preschool programs make
significant gains in language skills, social interaction skills, play skills, IQ
predicatable routines + structured learning environments + teaching peers how to interact = helpful
obesity
global
22% of canadian children 2-5yrs are overweight/obese
harder to make cut-off bec bmi level with health risk not very clear
overweight or obesity
classification based on association of various BMI cut-offs with health risks; varies in children by age + sex
body mass index BMI
measure used to determine healthy body weight that is calculated by dividing a person’s weight (in kg) by square of height
(kg)/(m^2)
factors contributing to childhood obesity
genetic predisposition
sedentary lifestyle
commercials about snacks + cereal don’t help
overweight hcildren are at higher risk of
psychological problems, depression, low self-esteem, being bullied, dysfuncitonal social skills
also inc risk of adult have chronic desiease like heart disease, osteoporosis, diabetes, impaired liver function, asthma
what can reduce risk of type 2 diabetes more than 50%
moderate weight loss
regular physical activity
steps in obesity prevention
diet
activity
family
socio-economic status
combination of person’s income, education, + occupation relative to others
unintentional injury
type of physical trauma that is determined to have been caused by circumstances other than abuse or maltreatment
leading cause of death in children + adolescents in canada + major cause of morbidity
unintentional injuries
also 4th leading cause of hospitalization of children 1-4yrs
almost 25% of all child deaths 1-4 were due to injury
18% of children under 18 were living in
poverty
poorest income areas were at highest risk of dying from injuries
single best way to reduce rate of unintentional injuries is through
prevention
lead poisoning
damages brain neurons
silent epidemic
death or
cognitive damage, learning disabilitles, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder
poor gross + fine motor coordination + social + emotional problems
irreversible effects
