Physical and congitive development

Question 1

physical development

Answer 1

body proportions gradually become more adult like (But arent yet)

results in improvements in posture and balance

growth is slower than first 2 years, more gradual

Question 2

growth of the brain

Answer 2

the brain continues to be the fastest growing
organ
* by age 5, the brain is 90% of its adult
weight
(the child’s body is barely 1/3 of
its adult weight)

due to brain maturation, early childhood is a time of significant imporments in:
inhibition of impulses, attention, memory, planning, spartial understanding, language, categorizaton skills

Question 3

sleep changes in early childhood

Answer 3

sleep less (because of brain
and body maturation,
slower growth)
* may be disrupted
because of fears
* inconsistent
bedtime routines are
the bigger problem

Question 4

appetite changes in early childhood

Answer 4

declines (because of
slower growth)
* nutrition still matters
(lots of myelination
still happening)

Question 5

Motor
development

Answer 5

trends in motor development:
* cephalocaudal
* proximodistal
* differentiation
* integration – the
coordination of several
differentiated movement
patterns into an overall
pattern

Question 6

Motor development: Gross motor skills

Answer 6

• develop ahead of fine motor skills (proximodistal trend)
• significant improvement in coordination, due to brain
  maturation and practice
• can integrate different movements into one smooth,
  efficient movement
• can coordinate two tasks (e.g., singing and running)

Gross motor
skills (cont.)
 the opportunity to play with other children
seems more important than adult instruction
at this age (although that can help, too)

Question 7

Sex differences in motor skills

Answer 7

genetic predispositions enable some children to developing better
coordination or more strength than others, but motivation and practice
are also important
 sex differences
 boys somewhat better at skills requiring force and power
 girls somewhat better at fine motor skills and gross motor skills
requiring balance

Question 8

fine motor skills

Answer 8

preschoolers will start to master
* self-help skills (e.g., zip, button,
brush teeth)
* drawing – like other fine motor
skills, depends on brain maturation
and practice
* but also depends on cognitive
development (mental representation)

time is the last skill they learn

Question 9

Childhood injuries

Answer 9

The leading cause of death for children in the U.S. is
accidents.
* child’s temperament is related to risk
* very active and impulsive children are more likely
to get hurt
* preschoolers are not very good at remembering or
complying with safety rules
* caregivers need to point out dangerous situations
* environmental modifications may be required

Question 10

Congitive Development

Answer 10

By age 18-24 months,
children develop
mental representation.
– They can talk, draw,
solve problems
mentally, pretend,
and imitate long after
observing a behavior

Question 11

Piagets Preoperation Stage

Answer 11

Children now have
thought, but their
thought is egocentric,
rigid, and illogical.
egocentrism is the
inability to take another
person’s perspective

Question 12

animistic thinking

Answer 12

Animistic thinking is when
young children attribute
human qualities (such as
thoughts and feelings) to
inanimate objects

Question 13

rigid thinking

Answer 13

Rigid thinking is “stuck in the
moment,” inflexible, centered
on just one aspect of a
situation.

Question 14

Piagets belief of what children were lacking

Answer 14

Piaget believed young children failed his tasks because they lack
the necessary schemes
* specifically, they lack operations – reversible mental actions

Question 15

Evaluation of Piaget’s theory

Answer 15

Piaget’s description of young children’s abilities is supported by many
observations, but:
1) preschoolers are not always egocentric and rigid; Piaget underestimated their
abilities
2) children pass modified versions of the tasks (e.g., fewer items; explicit contrast
between “how it looks” and “how it really is”) and benefit from training
3) success on tasks is uneven; operations seem to develop gradually

Question 16

Vgostkys theory

Answer 16

emphasized social context - i.e.,
that cognitive development is
promoted by direct instruction and
guidance from adults and expert
peers

Question 17

scaffolding

Answer 17

scaffolding – providing temporary
support, decreasing it gradually as
the child’s competence increases

Question 18

Piagets theory about language in cognitive development

Answer 18

ygotsky believed language is a powerful
support in cognitive development.
He believed it helps children organize, guide,
and monitor problem-solving.
Preschoolers tend to talk out loud to
themselves.
Vygotsky called this private speech.
Piaget called it egocentric speech.

Question 19

Evidence supporting
Vygotsky’s view

Answer 19

private speech
provides support;
it guides children’s
problem solving

Question 20

The information
processing
approach

Answer 20

looks at the brain as an
information processing
machine, like a computer
considers what is required
to solve a particular problem
* How much capacity?
(e.g., attention; memory)
* How much speed?

there are limits to capacity and
speed – especially in young children
if a problem requires more capacity
and/or speed than a person has, the
person will fail to solve the problem

Question 21

The information
processing
approach (cont.

Answer 21

cognitive development is seen as
continuous, a matter of
quantitative change
* young children do have some
ability to think flexibly, but it is
fragile and therefore won’t be
apparent if the task is too
demanding

Question 22

as they get older, children develop the ability to solve more difficult
problems because (thanks to biological maturation and learning)

Answer 22

1) executive function improves (See Ch. 9 guide)
 control of attention improves - can inhibit impulses and resist
distraction; can flexibly shift
 working memory capacity increases
 ability to plan effectively improves

Question 23

The information processing approach
(cont.)
2) processing speed:

Answer 23

increases
with practice, automaticity develops for
some skills and responses (i.e., they can
be performed quickly, with little effort or
conscious thought)

Question 24

The information processing approach
(cont.) steps 3 4 and 5

Answer 24

3) more efficient strategies are acquired
e.g., count all  count on  min
4) more (domain-specific) knowledge is acquired
5) long-term memory improve

Question 25

Info processing approach cont (after 3 4 5 )

Answer 25

6) metacognition develops (“thinking about thinking”) - a theory of mind a fully developed theory of mind will include: a) awareness of the contents of one’s own mind e.g., the distinction between knowing and guessing