Toddlerhood

Question 1

bodily growth

Answer 1

• slows but is still rapid
• toddlers lose baby fat (can regulate temperature themselves)

Question 2

stunting

Answer 2

poor nutrition leads to poorer health and slow growth

Question 3

iodine

Answer 3

• 1/3 of world pop. lacks iodine
• lack of iodine in babies/toddlers affect cognitive development and IQ

Question 4

brain development

Answer 4

• increase in synaptic density
• peak production of synapses around 3yrs
• 3yrs+ synaptic pruning begins

Question 5

synaptic pruning

Answer 5

• takes place during childhood
• ‘use it or lose it’ principle
• makes processing info faster and more efficient
• remove around 1/3 all synapses by adolescence

Question 6

electroencephalogram

Answer 6

• measures electrical activity of cerebral cortex
• every time a synapse fires, a tiny burst of electricity is fired

Question 7

functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)

Answer 7

• records changes in blood flow and oxygen in parts of brain in response to stimuli
• not commonly used in toddlers (involves staying still for a long period of time)

Question 8

changes in sleep (neonate -> 1 year -> 2 years)

Answer 8

neonate: 16-18hrs/day, sleep-wake cycles of a few hours

1 year: 15 hrs/day, ~2 naps

2 years: 12-13 hrs/day, 1 nap

Question 9

toddle

Answer 9

legs spread wide, stiff-legged steps, shift weight from one leg to another

Question 10

gross motor milestones (10)

Answer 10

• stand alone
• walk without support
• stand on one leg
• climb onto chairs, beds, upstairs (but not down)
• walk backwards
• run
• kick a ball or throw an object
• jump in place
• stand and walk on tiptoes
• walk up and down stairs

Question 11

fine motor skills (8)

Answer 11

• hold an object (pen, crayon etc.)
• coordinate actions of both hands
• scribble vigorously
• feed self with spoon, preference for right/left hand
• draw straight line
• brush teeth
• build tower
• copy basic shapes

Question 12

toilet training

Answer 12

• recommended child centred approach
• most toddlers show readiness around 20-36 months
• can take weeks, months, years
• earlier training begins, the longer it takes

Question 13

weaning

Answer 13

slowly stopping breastfeeding and focus on solid food
- some toddlers lose interest when they start eating food

Question 14

piaget’s sensorimotor stage 5 and 6

Answer 14

stage 5: tertiary circular reactions
stage 6: mental representations

Question 15

tertiary circular reactions

Answer 15

12-18 months
- intentionally try out different behaviours and see what the effects are
- described as ‘little scientists’

Question 16

mental representations

Answer 16

18-24 months
- think about possibilities and select actions
- symbolic thought, working out how things work in their head

Question 17

A-not-B error

Answer 17

looking for an object where they first found it even after seeing it hidden somewhere else

Question 18

deferred imitation

Answer 18

• ability to repeat actions observed at an earlier time
• often seen in toddler’s pretend play

Question 19

imitation of 2-step sequences

Answer 19

• e.g. placing a toy on a ramp, THEN moving a rod to release the toy
• by 13-20 months nearly all can imitate 2-step process
• due to maturation in hippocampus

Question 20

categorisation

Answer 20

• piaget: once toddlers develop mental representation of a category, they can understand different objects within the category
• 3-4mths: some idea of category, look longer at objects that don’t fit category
• 18mths: can put objects into categories by colour or appearance
• by 2yrs: can categorise by function

Question 21

Zone of Proximal Development

Answer 21

Vygotsky
- zone between what toddler can do by themselves and what they can’t yet do by themselves

Question 22

scaffolding

Answer 22

adult slowly giving less help as toddler can do it by themselves
- e.g. getting dressed

Question 23

guided participation

Answer 23

learning by being guided
- in both cultural activities and specific principles
- e.g. cooking, learning haka etc.

Question 24

private speech

Answer 24

toddlers self-guide and self-direct by talking out loud to themselves

Question 25

infinite generativity

Answer 25

humans have the ability to take the word symbols of a language and combine them in infinite ways

Question 26

two parts of brain dedicated to language

Answer 26

1. broca’s area
2. wernicke’s area