Session 4 Toddlerhood Flashcards
Growth and Change in Age 1-2
Bodily growth
Children lose baby fat and become leaner
About 6 months of age solid food could become part of diet
Nutritional deficiencies can impact cognitive and physical development
Growth (height, weight, head circumference) are tracked to detect any areas of concern
Percentiles are used for individuals
Preterm babies and individuals with particular conditions (like Down syndrome) use alternative growth charts
Early brain development is marked by two key developments:
- Synaptic density – density of synaptic connections among neurons
Frontal cortex heavily impacted
2. Synaptic pruning – connections between neurons become fewer but more efficient
Increases efficiency by allowing unused synapses to wither away
Changes in Synaptic Density from Birth to Age 2
Synaptic connections increase throughout the first 2 years, with the greatest density occurring at the end of toddlerhood.
What is Gross Motor Development
- Gross motor development includes whole body movements like crawling;
- Children tend to develop gross motor skills in sequence;
- Sequence has genetic beginnings with environmental influences.
What is Fine Motor Development
- Fine motor skills are the more precise motor abilities;
- Major accomplishments of fine motor skills include reaching and grasping;
- Will also exhibit pincer grasp that allows feeding of themselves.
How can culture effect motor development
- Infants are with their mothers for the early months of life
- After 6 months, most daily care done by older girls rather than the mother
- Infants are among many other people in the course of the day
- Infants are held or carried almost constantly
- Fathers are usually remote or absent during first year
What is VU Logo
Piaget’s Sensorimotor Stages #5 & #6
5 Tertiary circular reactions:
12-18 months
Loop that involves active experimentation and exploration
Expansive, creative; little scientist
#6 Mental representations, beginnings of thought:
18-24 months
Symbolic thought, think first, less experimenting
Mental actions tried out before actual performance
What are the Elements of Cognitive Development
- Object permanence
- Deferred imitation: Toddlers copy a behaviour they previous saw, perhaps days later
- Categorisation: Mental representation makes it possible to put things into categories
What is Object permanence
A not B error,
* Under 4 months – no understanding;
* 4 to 8 months – some uncertain about existence;
* 8 to 12 months – developing awareness;
* Will still make A not B error (see next slide).
What is Vygotsky’s Cultural Theory of Cognitive Development
Lev Vygotsky viewed cognitive development as both a social and cultural process;
Social because children learn through interaction with others;
Cultural because what children need to know is determined by the culture they live in;
Contrast to Piaget – development is matter of maturation and physical ability.
What is Biological Bases of Language
Many evolutionary biologists believe language developed for its social functionality;
Important distinguishing feature of human language is infinite generativity – combine symbols in infinite ways;
Biologically, humans are built for uniqueness in language
Evolutionary advantage to our predecessors.
How Language is Learned
Language Acquisition Device: inborn neurological structure that prewires humans for language, including basic aspects of intonation, grammar, and vocabulary.
Humans are hard-wired to learn language.
Language too complicated and learned too easily to be a result of reinforcement.
What are the Milestones of Toddler Language
Begins slowly then starts to rise sharply during toddlerhood
12 to 18 months: slow expansion
Holophrases: one word represents an entire sentence
If a toddler says “MILK” what are some different sentences this represents?
Overextensions: using word too freely
Example, calling all animals “dog”
Underextensions: using word too narrowly
Example, only referring to family pet as “dog”
First 50 words or so part of toddler routine
Continued language development
18-24 months: Naming explosion
Pace of learning new words doubles
Fast mapping:
Learning and remembering a word for an object after just one time of being told what object is
Telegraphic speech:
Two word phrases that strip away connected words
Example: “More milk”
Diminished frequency of overextension and underextension
Show understanding of rules of language
May show overregularisation: over applying of grammatical rules
Example: “She throwed it” & “foots”
