Unit 5: Development in Early Childhood(2-6 years) Flashcards
in preschool years which areas develop drastically and how?
Physical and cognitive development
P- growth and muscle maturation more lean and muscular
C- cognitive maturation allows more complex grammar and infinitely long sentences
how much do infants gain each year?(steady rate) from 2y-puberty
5.8cm and 2.5-3kg each year
30cm and 8kg in weight total(2-6y)
lowest BMI at what age than at another time in life?
5-6 years
average height and weight of a child by 6 years of age
> 110cm and 13-23kg
Physical development growth rate
legs(and arms) grow faster than the trunk
>60% of the increase in height by puberty
how do these changing proportions change the center of gravity?
- shift from chest to abdomen
- lower center= greater stability & more complex movement
factors influencing growth and maturation
- genetic inheritance
- exercise and daily physical activity
- social class
- Physical deficiencies/illnesses
- trauma and physical and/or psychological abuse
- nutrition(eating disorders/obesity)
what are the roles of the cerebral hemispheres?
Left cerebral hemisphere mainly receives sensory info from right side and controls movement from the right side of body
left hemisphere processes visual information from right visual field
vice versa
what provides access to all information between the hemispheres
corpus callosum
what is the corpus callosum made of and its function?
- nerve fibers aka axons
- allow communication between hemispheres
- show lateralisation of functions
- crucial for everyday function(coordinated movements, responding to stimuli)
how does increasing efficiency of the corpus callosum develop
- communication and coordination between the sides
what is myelinisation?
high rate(3-6y), slows down in adolescence
- responsible for increasing the efficiency of the corpus callosum
what is lateralisation of functions
each hemisphere becomes specialised for certain functions
left- speech production
right- perceiving emotions in others
why may lateralisation of functions not be the same for all?
eg speech comprehension more divided for both
depends on handedness; left more variable than right handed
what is handedness?
preference for using one hand over the other
90% prefer right hand for motor functions= left hemisphere is dominant in preforming motor functions
when is lateralisation of function established?
- signs from birth but well established by 2- 3 years and continues to increase in strength
- laterlise the child purposely if not established by age 5
Double lateralization hypothesis
- innate laterality, part of genetic inheritance and manifests in spontaneous gestures
- learned laterality related to use of objects in everyday life
Improved coordination= improved gross and motor skills
provide examples for each age
By 3y: G- jump with feet, walk downstairs, kick/throw ball F- copy simple shapes
By 4y: G- hop on either foot, catch ball F- brush teeth, copy most letters, use scissors
By 5y: G- skip/gallop in rhythm, climb trees, jump over obstacles F- knife to cut, copy difficult shapes and letter
By 6y: F- draw and paint recognizable images, catch small ball, write simple words, tie shoelaces
What is piagets preoperational thought stage from cognitive development theory
- not able to use logical operations and reasoning processes
- represent and describe objects and experiences that are not present
- show capacity for learning new words and the logical connections between new words develop (categorization/class logic)
what separates the preoperational children from sensorimotor beings?
- think in symbols not only senses and motor skills
symbolic function
ability to make one thing represent another
how can different manifestations of mental representations appear?(symbolic function)
Delayed imitation
Symbolic Play
Language
Drawing
Mental images
how can symbolic thought be seen in animism
preoperational children may believe inanimate objects are alive or non-human animals have human characteristic
why are they considered egocentric in this stage?
understand world from their own perspective and difficult to view from others point
- Three Mountains Study (Piaget and Inhelder, 1956)
results; when asked what the other person would see started describing their own view
why do they behave and think intuitively?
- interpret based on appearance of environment
- lack of understanding of conservation(recognition that the properties of an object do not change when its appearance is altered)
why do they think intuitively according to DeVries study with Maynard
- interpret via appearance of environment
place another animal mask on cat and ask what is is and what it eats
3y olds ans wrong, 6y olds and correctly
why do they think intuitively according to Flavells study with flasks/containers
= conservation
two containers filled with same amount of liquid(child agrees)
pours into diff shaped container in view of child
- children younger than 6-7 usually think taller has more liquid
what abilities do children lack that doesnt allow them to understand conservation
- decentration; ability to conc. on 1+ aspect of a problem at same time
= height and width - reversibility; ability to mentally reverse an action
= cant imagine pouring water back into container
other properties; mass(playdough) and number(spread out)
what is an extended version of flavells study with water displacement task
- two container with same amount of water a rolled playdough ball inside
- clay ball removed and placed on top in diff shape
- asked if distorted ball placed back, how would the water level change
- children 9-12 understand since same mass
Symbolic thought
- due to capacity for representation we can use something(signifier) to refer to something(signified)
Signifier- form that a sign takes, what we perceive directly (phonetic representation)
Signified- meaning of a word/phrase, adds the semantic aspect
both make up linguistic sign
what can signifiers be
signals- directly linked to signified, both linked to each other(smoke-fire, hand-person)
symbols- motivated relationship/ greater distance eg drawing of house= house
signs- arbitrary signifiers, no direct relation eg mathematics signs
Delayed imitation
symbolic function appears-> ability to communicate with other through gestures
begins to imitate in deferred, imitating situations or models perceive but no longer present
- can happen a lot later, no longer direct copy but a signifier
mental imagery
type of internal representations that has no external correlate(dont need image in front of us)
- serve as guide for actions, anticipate outcome
- not only from perception
Images can be reproducible and anticipatory, meaning?
Reproducible- something that has been perceived before
Anticipatory- we can imagine something that didnt happen before with information available at the moment
- difficult to study
What is play
- productive and enjoyable
- promotes muscle strength and control
advances planning+self control(fair,long lasting,fun by setting rules)
Rough-and-tumble play
play that mimics aggression(hitting,wrestling,chasing) but no intention of harm
promotes physical development, emotional regulation and social skills
boys>girls
what is the common factor in rough and tumble play
play face- non-aggressive face during it
Peers
other children of the same or similar age, and not from the same family
what are vertical relationships and horizontal relationships
VR- child-parent interaction
HR- peer-to-peer interactions
how does play differ in vertical and horizontal relationships
in vertical the adult provides security, protection and rules but in horizontal similar social power but different desires so reciprocity and compromise are necessary
how does play change as the peers age changes
complexity increases
helps child practice social skills and understand others
how about infants and play?
6-month-old little interest to peers, more preoccupied with other objects
more interest starts at -2 years of age aka parallel play(play next to each other)
how did mildred parten categorise play behaviour?(2-5 years)
Unoccupied- child not involved in any activity
Onlooker- child watches other kids without joining
Solitary- plays alone away from others
Parallel- plays next to them, no interacting
Associative- children interact with each other in same activity
Cooperative- interact in a coordinated way,sharing, taking turns
what was the criticism to Partens play behaviour of 2-5 year old?
- originally a index of childs social and cognitive abilities
- considered too simplistic as younger and older engage in group and solitary play
how was partens play behaviour updated?
Functional play(0-2y)
Symbolic play(2-6y)
Make-believe(2-6y)
Constructive play(3-6y)
Games with rules(6y+)
Functional play(0-2)
simple, physical activities with/without objects eg running,rolling, bounce balls
aka sensorimotor play by piaget
Symbolic play(2-6)
child symbolically represents something that is absent in the immediate setting
eg pretend drink from cup
make believe(sociodramatic) play(2-6y)
by smilansky
acting out various roles and plots (after symbolic play)
helps explore social roles, how to explain and negotiate
starts with toys and dolls, then to involve other children
Constructive play(3-6) and games with rules(6+)
creating/building a tangible object or representation of one
eg lego, drawing, jigsaws building blocks
involves structured games with publicly accepted rules
Drawing
form of imitating reality-> mental representations shaped
use of internal images+ information
motor activity, pleasurable activity(express themselves), relationship with language
what are the motor, cognitive, and affective components involved with drawing?
Motor; fine psychomotricity
Cognitive; reflects their understanding of reality and spacial representation
Affective; represents interests, worries or desires
by 2 years old how has a childs language developed
basic grammar(plurals, pronouns, verbs,adjectives)
naming explosion-> naming insight
words into categories-> fast mapping
what is naming insight and fast mapping
naming insight- child realizes naming applies to everything, tendency to ask basic questions
fast mapping- quickly acquire a word and place into category (often wrong meaning)
usually due to jointly attending the activity/object
how do children often apply the wrong meaning to words
Overextension
Underextersion
Overlap errors
Overextension
when children use once word to refer to a wide variety of objects or events
Underextersion
The tendency to use a general term to refer to a smaller range of objects
Overlap errors
mixture of overextension and underextension
by 3 years old how has a childs language developed
vocab increases to 1000-5000 words, sentence up to 8 words
Grammar conjunctions , adverbs, articles
ask many WHY questions
by 4 years old how has a childs language developed
up to 10,000 words, sentence length 20 words
grammar(dependent clauses, tags at end of sentences)
peak of WHY, HOW, WHEN
by 6 years old how has a childs language developed
up to 30,000 words, length unlimited
grammar is complex(passive voice, subjunctive)
complex and formulated questions asked
what is the focus for infants younger than 2 years?
immediate world-> reflexive, sensory beings
at what age does memory start influencing behaviour?
late in infancy or early childhood(>2y)
How can memory be split into
Implicit and explicit
- retrieving memories without being consciously aware , for well-learned, automatic skills eg bike
- conscious recollection of information that has been previously learned or memorized
how can explicit memory be split?
Episodic memory
- memory for events or episodes
- split into retrospective and prospective
Semantic
- general knowledge and facts that are not unique to the subject
-
what does the basic level of memory consists of?
Encoding- sensory info into representation that can be stored into a memory
Storage- maintains encoded info and potentially turn into long-term
Retrieval- recover info stored in memory
how was development of memory in infants first studied and with what task
preferential looking method
visual paired comparison(VPC) task
what is the preferencial looking method by Fantz(1964)
high novelty preference= high looking time
suggest some degree of memory; familiar -> previously encountered
what is the VPC task
shows visual stimuli, after delay, presented two stimuli(familiar, unfamiliar)
amount of time looking compared= index of recognition memory
familiar- 3-6y
Morgan and Hayne(2006)
- VPC task and how encoding develops
1y + 4y -> exposed to familiar stimuli 5/10/30sec groups
Recognisability
4 year old: After(5 sec), 24h(5 sec), week(10 sec)
1 year old: After(10 sec), 24h(30 sec), week(none)
Morgan and Hayne(2006) what did their study suggest
Retrieve info= time spent encoding
Encode develops significantly from 1 to 4 years of age
what are the studies that suggest that memory processes are functional earlier than 12 months?
- 6m children can recognize previously viewed stimuli after 20 sec delay, 9m delay of 2-3min
- in real life may occur earlier bowlby suggested that at 2 months infants start to recognize their caregiver
what is infantile amnesia
- unable to remember memories from before 3.5 years of age
why does infantile amnesia occur
unclear whether immature encoding, storage or retrieval
Maybe; importance of language for recall
without meaningful verbal tags make memories inaccessible
how does emotional development occur in stages?
Birth- basic emotions(interest,distress, disgust and contentment)
End of 2m- social smiles to caregiver
2-7m- Other basic emotions,little variation between cultures(anger,fear, joy, sadness,surprise)
18-24m- Complex emotions
when can infants recognise others emotions?
7 to 10 months
start social referencing
social referencing
use other emotional expressions as a guide for how to behave
- regulate their own behaviour this way when in uncertain situations
why is displaying and understanding emotions for a child?
- important for social development
- how they SHOULD feel in given situation
- ability to emphasize with others reflects ability to recognize emotions
understanding how external expressions are related with internal feelings is important for developing what?
Theory of mind
Define theory of mind
ability to PREDICT what another person BELIEVES in a given situation, and based on that information, predict how that person might BEHAVE
- important for managing social interactions and emphasizing with others
what two core cognitive abilities doe ToM depend on?
a) desire/wants of the other person
b) what other person believes to be true(belief)
Baron-Cohen suggest the ability to read minds occurs with two initial stages:
8 months- gaze following(follow where another person is looking) infant aware person is looking at something of interest
12 months- proto-declarative pointing(allows child to confirm to other person they know where the other person is looking)
when and what is private and public self?
Private self: how we feel inside
Public self- how we show how we feel to other people
- at two years old
why is the ability to read feelings by physical expression important ?
for empathy
other than public/private self what else do 2 year old develop?
- internal emotions correspond with desire
- other peoples behavior is motivated to satisfy their desire
what is belief- desire reasoning?
- ability to emphasize and predict how another person might act
developed at 3y, might have both but if conflict may not act on desire
what ability do 3 years old not understand ye?
false belief
what is “seeing leads to knowing”
- develops at 3/4 y of age
what a person knows about a situation based on what that person sees
what is another concept that develops around “seeing leads to knowing”?
Meta-representation in pretend play
- separates what is true about a situation from what someone is pretending to do
what task is often used for false beliefs
- maxi and the chocolate task
- The Sally-Anne task
what is the sally anne scenario?
Sally has a basket and marble
Anne has a box.
Sally places her marble into her basket and leaves for a walk.
Anne moves marble from basket to box.
Sally comes back to play with marble.
what is the procedure
Diff questions= diff cognitive abilities
Belief Q(tests child about sallys belief)
Reality(tests understanding of reality )
Memory(test ability to recall events)
Baron-Cohen et la Results?
- Sally anne scenario
All subjects(3.5-5.9) correctly ans rality and memory question
but <4y could not ans belief question
Smarties task(Perner et al)
show tube of smarties, asks them whats inside
show them pencils inside, ask what another child will think
4-year-olds; Smarties(understanding false-belief)
3-year-olds: Pencils
what is second-order states?
develop around age 6
the child understands that people say and do things to evoke a response in others
- Kevin & Marieke scenario
