SU5: Physical, Cognitive & Psychosocial Development in Early Childhood (2-6 years) Flashcards
Types of General Physical development
- height and weight by 4 children has doubled in birth weight average increase in height and weight per year 5-8cm and 2kg
physical proportions loss of body fat and bone and muscle growth resemble a young child
muscle and bone growth Physical activities like running promote bone and muscle growth. ossification (hardening of cartilage) strengthens bones
teeth= children begin to lose baby teeth\primary teeth by the end of preschool years and grow permanent teeth
brain development 3 years brain has reached 75% of adult weight by 5 years 90% frontal lobe which is for planning and organizing develops rapidly
development in the hemisphere supports growing language skills different connections are also formed between different brain structures to promote alertness, awareness and motor control
Brain-developing plasticity is very high
perpetual development- is great ability to be able to distinguish detail in surroundings. Between 4-6 the observation of the figure background improves. children younger than 5 confuse letters with the same perpetual context(bd) by 6 can distinguish diff letters by 4 can distinguish diff colors children tend to be farsighted because the eyeball only develops fully in puberty
*auditory acuity- by 2/3 most children can hear soft sounds. by 5 ability to discriminate against sounds grows
motor development -
*fine motor skills of small muscles I the hand or finger drawing or writing develop slower at 3 kids struggle with things like tying shoes at 4 they can throw and catch a ball. at 5 the skills improved a lot can tie knots
*gross motor skills= large muscles like running enjoys physical activities and repeat them a lot 4 year old can throw or catch a ball 5 can ride bikes developments indicate better coordination and improved balance and strong muscles
neuroplasticity
brain’s ability TO reorganize and Change structure through growth and experience)
figure background
ability to distinguish between object on which attention is focused and the rest of perpetual field
bilateral coordination
coordination between left and right side of body preference to use one hand over the other by 5v left or right hand preference is established
influences on physical development
heredity and hormones=children’s size and growth rate related to parents, hormones play a role in growth they are chemical substances that circulate in the bloodstream and control actions of certain cells and organs
* Pituitary gland located in the base of brain releases 2 hormones for growth hormone (gh) necessary for the development of body tissue deficiency of this causes kids to grow slower
thyroid stimulating hormone(tsh)responsible for stimulating the thyroid gland to release thyroxin responsible for the development of nerve cells of the brain. a deficiency of this causes intellectual disability.
nutrition=nutrition is important for physical and mental growth .defficent growth is common in malnutrition. Malnutrition causes delay in intellectual and motor development, morbidity( disease)and mortality(death)
.
emotional well-being environmental problems such as divorce and poverty affect physical growth stress affects children negatively, stress affects digestive system/immune system and the immune system when stress is remove normal growth happens
psychosocial or deprivation dwarfisim
delayed physical growth because of stress and emotional deprivation below average height because of lack of emotional support
preoperational thinking
illogical thinking implying children are not ready forligical mental operations
advances of preoperational thought
preoperational stages Piaget
last from 2-7 divided into symbolic or pre-conceptual period = [increasingly complex use of symbols or mental representation e.g. images] (2-4 years) and intuitive period [primitive reason and want answers to a bunch of questions (4-7 years)
advances of preoperational thought
delayed imitation- the ability to imitate something even if it is no longer present
symbolic play\pretend play-children replace imaginary situations with real situations
Spoken language thinking takes place through the representation of actions. The ability to use words and understand symbolic meaning gives new meaning to a child’s world
immature aspects of preoperational thought\characterstics of preoperational thinking
1.. perceptual centering-paying attention to 1 characteristic of what one observes and ignoring the rest (what’s most noticeable) **conservation-understanding matter can change in appearance without changing in quantity
- irreversibility- inability to reverse action do not understand subtraction
- egocentrism children’s view of the world from their own perspective- do not realize that there are other POV they think the world centres around them and cannot imagine see or experience things. think natural events meet their own needs.
- Animistic thinking believe non-living things like rocks sun and the moon have feelings
- Transductive reasoning-children reason one situation with another and connect 2 situations even if does not make sense
Language development
Language becomes complex
Mean Length of Utterance (MLU) to calculate the complexity of children’s language
usage between 3- 3 years they go from Simple sentences to complex utterances
receptive and expressive language is 10000-20000 words
children learn new words every day due to fast mapping picking up new words after hearing them once or twice extended mapping is a slower process and through extended exposure, the understanding increases
sub-extension-use of a word is restricted
juice=orange juice
overextension- use of a word for a variety of objects dog=horse 4 legs closely represented
language morphology and phonology
phonology- speech sounds of language
morphology-study of words smallest language unit that has meaning in order to structure a word
overgeneralization-best evidence of the development of children’s morphological rules
Factors influencing language
1.School system\curriculum- Teaching is focused on those who already have basic knowledge- Success mainly depends on the prior knowledge a child has before starting gradechildren with a limited knowledge of letters after grade 1 will struggle with prescribed letters by the 2nd term- The acquisition of letter knowledge is primarily the responsibility of the grade 1 teacher- Due to economic problems or cultural activities, children do not attend pre-primary schools
2.Parental involvement- Poverty has a great influence on the quality of teaching- Only 10 to 14% of parents in SA provide cognitively stimulating materials to their children- Parents’ encouragement and reward are important for a child to be motivated and want to perform
3.Quality teaching- Children attending grade 1 do not necessarily have the necessary literacy- Teachers in disadvantaged areas do not have many resources at their disposal to teach children new skills- Sometimes teachers are poorly trained and children are not allowed to measure and experiment with letters and sounds- Many children are taught in their second or third language and teachers are not always able to explain things to them in their first language- South African schools are overpopulated with disengaged
Pragmatic language and Pre-reading skills =
Pragmatic language = the rules for the effective and appropriate use of language in a social Context-
Pre-reading skills = The development of skills required to read written language understanding
Cognitive development and the media
criticism of effects of tv on children 4 0ver lapping categories:
displaced time view= argues that television viewing harms cognitive development
because it takes away time from other more beneficial activities, such as reading
- The passivity view holds that, because it takes little effort to watch television, habitual inactivity may result.
- The shallow information processing view posits that the rapid and short segments
typical of many television programmes over time result in shorter attention spans and
difficulty in sustaining focus - The visual/iconic view argues that television viewing selectively enhances visual
information processing at the possible expense of verbal processing, which can lead
to a lowered ability to imagine or infer information that is not explicitly present.
healthy media use:
For children between two and Six years, screen time should be limited to about one hour per day of high-quality programming.
Compile and regularly review or revise
family media plan, including individualized
time and content limits.
Teach children about technology from a young age benefits and risks
help children identify reality from fantasy with media
ideal parents watch TV with kids to comment on and explain content
.
media should not be use to pacify emotions
theories of personality development
-Theories of personality development- Freud describes the early development in childhood as the phallic stage of development- According to Freud, the foundations of the years are laid, when the boy successfully resolves the Oedipus and the girl the Elektra complex and identifies with the parent of the same sex-
The psycho-social theory of Erikson says that the development of basic trust and the emerging autonomy during the 2nd and 3rd are important facets in personality development-
During the ages 3 and 6, initiative takes place- If parents find children’s initiatives wrong and punish them all the time, this will trigger unnecessary feelings of guilt in children-
According to the social learning perspective, the child’s behavior is shaped by external reward and punishment
- According to the social cognitive development theory, children take on complex concepts such as race, gender and friendship
personality development; emotions
Self-development contributes to the development of self-conscious emotions such as guilt, shame and pride- Children become more skilled in controlling their own emotions-
The understanding that children have for their emotions enables them to control their own emotions and to be sensitive to the feelings of others-
Vocabulary related to emotions develops rapidly between 2 and 4 years-
From 4 and 5 they can identify the causes of their emotions- They emphasize more external than internal reasons for their emotions
- A preschool child can predict the behavior for an emotion, - They can also effectively reduce others’ negative feelings - Children have the ability to predict, interpret and change others’ feelings and emotions-
Children do not understand that one can experience two emotions at the same time, Emotional understanding is influenced by family relationships
Understand emotions: helps to guide their behaviour in social
situations
* Control the way they express emotions
* Thinking and feeling are interconnected
emotional expression involving basic emotions
1.happiness-Children react very spontaneously- They will jump up and down, laugh out loud, clap their hands, run around and hug loved ones to express their joy- With the course of the socialization process, children are taught to control their emotions- Children learn to be spontaneous at certain times and places, such as at home, but they also learn that they must be more controlled and reserved in certain places, such as in church
.2. Fear and anxiety- Some fear helps children become aware of danger and provides protection from harm- When a child is confronted with a sudden strange and intense stimulus, a fearful reaction will be caused.- Fear is brought about by the presence of something or someone that poses a threat and the absence of something or someone that poses safety.- Unknown people, weapons and situations can cause fear-anxiety is a constant feeling of worry of perceived or possible threat that lasts longer than fear and is future orientated symptoms crying a lot shyness and hypersensitivity
- anger strong emotional reaction caused mainly by social situation Anger often arises as a result of threatening or frustrating situations- Children learn to control anger reactions
emotional expression regarding self
At 2 years, children start to show emotions that indicate that they understand themselves and social relationships
- As children’s self-concept develops, emotions such as pride, shame, disappointment and guilt emerge-
The emotions require that the child understands the other person’s perspective and must realize that a person can be disappointed in him
- 18 months – signs of shyness- 2 years = jealousy- 3 years = guilt and pride= Try to fix things they did wrong
- Self-evaluation = They evaluate their behavior, plans, thoughts and needs according to what socially acceptable and not.- Children avoid behaviors that elicit negative emotions and repeat behaviors that elicit positive emotions
self-concept and self esteem
Self-concept = the person’s view of himself- Babies can recognize themselves in a mirror - Preschool children expand a lot about their view of themselves so that they can give a physical description
- Categorical self =children can describe themselves in terms of their name, gender, age, skills, possessions, where they live and who their friends are. -
In early childhood, children can describe themselves physically but not internally
- At 3 and a half, children can e.g. Say I’m happy because I’m playing with the dog- They have some awareness about their psychological characteristics-
Children do not directly refer to psychological characteristics when they describe themselves - they will not say I am a friendly person- Young children’s self-concept is related to their possessions
- Self-definition = Children learning to define the boundaries between themselves and others - they distinguish themselves from others
- Self-esteem = the personal evaluation of one’s qualities
- Positive self-concept = Their characteristics are judged as good and acceptable= Academically successful= good self-confidence= socially well adjusted-
Negative self-concept = They are dissatisfied with their characteristics High anxiety levels= Poor school performance and social adjustment- The extent to which children accept themselves plays an important role in their personality- Self-esteem is based on. The extent to which the child feels that he receives acceptance, love, support and encouragement from others. The specific qualities and skills he has. The extent to which the child accepts different aspects of the self, especially when he compares himself to others
emotional expression towards others
emotional expression towards others- Empathy emerges in childhood- Empathy is related to the child’s developing self-awareness, language and cognitive skills.- Children can verbalize concern for others (talk about it)- Parenting style plays an important role in the development of empathy- Children often behave towards people as their parents behave towards them
gender roles
Gender role identity- Refers to the pattern of behaviour and attitude that a particular society sees as appropriate for the male or female sex
- Gender identity = Children’s knowledge of themselves as male or female
2 and a half to 3 years, children can identify themselves as male or female Identify= Children do not understand the concept of gender constancy (The person’s biological sex cannot be affected by changes such as the clothes he wears)
boy= 5 – 7-year-old children realize that one’s gender remains constant.
- Gender stereotypes = When children distinguish themselves as girls or boys Children can distinguish that clothing, occupations, household chores and colors belong to a gender. = It gets stronger as children get older
= 6-year-olds Link absolute rules, like boys can’t do ballet- Gender-typed behavior = Children show a preference for playmates of the same sex= It is formed as a result of observation and imitation of their parents
- Gender stereotypes: inaccurate beliefs that certain characteristics and
activities pertain only to a specific gender
emotional regulation
Children learn avoidance strategies = avoiding negative situations that trigger negative emotions-
They block emotions by limiting sensory input - they close their eyes when they see something unpleasant-
Older children use language strategies - a child comforts himself by saying, “Well, my mother will be home now.”
- Cognitive strategy = susan tries not to think about his lost dog to avoid negative emotions (pretending)
.- Mask = to pretend it doesn’t hurt if he falls because it would be embarrassing to cry in front of his friends.-
Display rules = cultural guidelines for when and how emotions should be expressed or displayed.
- Children who are aware of which action or situation will elicit which emotion are more popular
- Emotion – coaching approach teach children how to deal with emotions
- Emotion – dismissing approach ignore negative emotions
- Gender-role development includes 3 processes:
Acquisition of gender identity
* Development of gender stereotypes
* Development of gender-typed behaviour pattern
