Lifespan Exam 3

Chap 7 early childhood start at chap 8 and go back to before w my notes

Early Childhood

Ages 2-6 

Relative to the first 2 years, growth slows

Between ages 2-6 years children tend to grow…

2-3 inches per year and again about 5 lbs per year

Genetics play a role in

Height

Hormones influence…

Growth

Hormones

Chemicals produced by various glands that are secreted directly in the bloodstream

From ages 2-6, appetite tends to decline relative to toddlerhood

relative to toddlerhood

Early Childhood Motor Development

Gross motor skills improve as bones and muscles strengthen and lung capacity increases

From 2-6 years coordination and balance improves

Fine motor skill development includes ability to draw, do puzzles, etc

Second Stage of Piaget

Preoperational Stage

Preoperational Stage

In Piagetian theory, the second stage of development, from 2-7 years of age, thought becomes symbolic

Preoperational Stage mistakes

1. Egocentrism

2. Animism

3. Centration

4. Irreversibility

5. Conservation

Egocentrism

Inability to separate his or her perspective from the perspective of others

ex: how preschoolers hide during hide and go seek

Animism

Belief that all things have lives

ex: believing plushies are people

Centration

Tendency to focus on one part of a stimulus or situation and exclude all others

ex: boy thinking that if he wears a dress he will be a girl

Irreversibility

Young children don’t understand that reversing a process can often undo it and restore the original state

Conservation

Tasks that require children to understand that the amount of a substance is not transformed by changes in its appearance, that a change in appearance can be reversed

Zone of Proximal Development

Gap between the childs competence level, what he can do alone, and what he can do with assistance

Scaffolding

Temporary aid provided by one person to encourage, support, and assist a lesser-skilled person in carrying out a task or completing a problem

Recognition Memory

Ability to identify whether a stimulus has previously been encountered.

4-5 year olds capable

Recall Memory

Ability to reproduce stimuli that one has previously encountered

Episodic memory

Memory for events and information acquired during those events

Autobiographical Memory

Long lasting representations of one-time events

Personal meaning

Infantile Amnesia

Most people do not remember their memories from before 2-4 years old

The end of infantile amnesia coincides with…

the emergence of autobiographical memories

The development of language helps to…

Organize memories

Theory of Mind

Refers to childrens awareness of their own and other peoples mental processes

False Belief

Tasks require children to understand that someone does not share their knowledge

False Belief Example ft. Wimmer and Perner

Anthony is reading a book

When he is done, he puts the book on the table

Sonya comes, and move the book from the table into the drawer

When Anthony looks for the book, where will he look?

Kids below 4 says in the drawer

Kids above 4 say at the table

Early Childhood Language Development

2 years olds average ~500 words; 3 year olds average ~1000 words

Word learning occurs by hearing conversation, videos, etc. Reading important for vocabulary

Some classes of words are difficult for young children to grasp

Tall, short, high, low

Overregularization

Speech errors in which children treat irregular forms of words as if they were regular

ex: Foots, tooths, sleeps, sheeps, mouses

Although technically wrong, Overregularization is a sign of…

Sophistication. Because it shows children are applying rules of grammar

Childrens self-directed speech is called

Private speech

Early Childhood Moral Development

Social Learning theory

Cognitive-Developmental theory

Kohlberg

Heteronomous Morality (younger children)

1. Based on relations of constraints

2. Rules are seen as inflexible requirements (moral realism)

3. Badness is judged in terms of the consequences of actions

4. Punishment is seen as the automatic consequence of the violation of rules

Moral Reasoning: Kohlbergs Theory

1. Preconventional Level

2. Conventional Level

3. Postconventional

Preconventional Level

Punishment and Obedience

Conventional Level

Society-maintaining

Postconventional Level

Internalization

Universal ethical principles

Early Childhood Socioemotional Development

Erik Erikson’s Initiative vs. Guilt

Self Esteem

Judgements we make about our own worth

Tends to be high in early childhood

Affects preschoolers task persistence

Social Comparison

Children comparing their performance to other children

Empathy

Capacity to understand other peoples emotions; Requires perspective taking ability

Prosocial Behavior

Behavior that is oriented toward others for the pure sake of helping them

Empathy is seen in

Infants. Babes have a very rudimentary understanding

As children grow, their capacity for it changes

Aggression

It is not uncommon for young children to behave aggressively. They are learning to regulate emotions and manage impulses

Children who are highly aggressive often have key factors such as coercive parenting that are contributing to their behavior.

There are different kinds of parenting techniques

Baumrind believed that parents should be neither strict or lazy, but should instead develop rules for their children and be affectionate with them

There are 3 main styles of parenting

1. Authoritarian Parent

2. Permissive Parent (Uninvolved & Indulgent)

3. Authoritative Parent

Authoritarian Parent

Parent who emphasizes behavior control and obedience over warmth. Children are expected to conform to parental standards without question

Results of authoritarian parent

Children are often anxious about social comparison, fail to initiate activity, and have poor communication skills, harsh discipline is associated with childhood aggression

Authoritarian parenting has the potential to…

backfire because children don’t always internalize parental values

Permissive Parent

Parent who sets few demands on children. Often allow child to monitor their own behavior.

2 types of permissive parents

1. Uninvolved / neglectful parent

2. Indulgent Parent

Uninvolved / Neglectful parent

Associated with children’s social incompetence, especially lack of self-control

Indulgent Parent

Parents are highly involved with their children but pace few demands or controls on them

Results of indulgent parenting

Associated with childrens social incompetence, especially lack of self-control

Rarely learn respect for others and have difficulty controlling their behavior. They always expect to get their way

Authoritative Parent

Parent who are warm and sensitive to a childs needs but also are firm in their expectations that children conform to appropriate standards of behavior

Results of authoritative parenting

Children are socially competent, self reliant, and responsible

Punishment

The administration of an averse stimulus or withdrawal of rewards to decrease the frequency of undesirable behaviors

Punishment facts

Some methods of punishment are more effective than others

Punishment should fit ‘ the crime ‘

Parental attributions for their childs behavior affects the choice of discipline strategy

Time out remove this one

Removing the child from the situation for a short period of time

Inductive Reasoning

Methods which use reasoning and are effective alternatives to spanking and physical punishment

Gender 

refers to the sociocultural dimensions of being male or female

2 Aspects of gender

1. Gender identity

2. Gender role

Gender identity

Awareness of whether one is a boy or a girl ; occurs at about age 2

Gender role

Activities, attitudes, skills, and characteristics that are considered appropriate for males or females

Gender Typing

Process by which children acquire gender roles

Happens early in life, but children do vary in the degree of gender typing they show

Influence of Gender Typing

1. Parents

2. Peer influences

Parents influence

Shaping of sex roles can begin even before birth

Parents treat boys and girls differently

Encouraging different play activities and different restrictions

Peer influence

Children who play in gender-appropriate activities tend to be rewarded for doing so by their peers

Media Influence

Men were seen as superior and women were seen as competent and not as capable.

Ex: Daphne was pretty and not smart; Velma being smart and not pretty ( not true)

Play and peer relationships

Major changes occur in childrens social relationships between the ages of 2-5 years

Between ages ______ children begin to form relationships

3 - 4 years old

Play

Pleasurable activity engaged in for its own sakes, with means emphasized rather than ends

As a kid gets older, play becomes more

social

Play is essential to a young childs health and development

It increases affiliation with peers

Releases tension

Advances cognitive development

Increases exploration

Parten categorized children’s play based on

observations of children in free play at nursery schools

6 categories of play

USOPAC- Unicorns Sing On Parades And Carnivals

Unoccupied play

Solitary

Onlooker

Parallel Play

Associative Play

Cooperative

Unoccupied play

Child not engaging in play as commonly understood; might stand in one spot

Solitary

Child playsalone, independently of others

Onlooker

Child watches other children play

Parallel

Child plays separately from others, but in manner that mimics their play

Associative

Play that involves social interaction with little or no organization

Cooperative

Play that involves social interaction in groups with sense of organized activity

Children begin to pretend to play around the age of

2 years old

In order to have pretend play, a child must have

Object permanence

Sociodramatic play

Children take on roles and engage in activities to act out stories and themes, pretending to be mothers, astronauts, characters, and more

Physical growth is much slower in

middle childhood compared to earlier in development

Middle Childhood Physical Growth

Major advances in motor skills; influenced by increase in body size and strength

Genetics, nutrition, culture, and ethnicity play a role

Common Health Issues in middle childhood

1. Asthma

2. Obesity

3. Body image

Asthma

A chronic inflammatory disorder of the airways that causes wheezing and coughing. The most common chronic medical condition among children

Obesity

Measured by BMI

Factors contributing to obesity

Genetics

Food choice

Decline in physical activity

Parenting

Body image

Perception of ones own body and outward appearance

Body image facts

1. Starting in late childhood, body image often has an impact on self-esteem

2. Body image dissatisfaction can even be seen in preschoolers

3. Parents, peers, and media have influences

4. Parents avoid the ‘f’ words

Cognitive Development in middle childhood

Dramatic changes in cognitive ability

Gains in knowledge perspective taking, executive function and efficiency change

Concrete Operational Stage

Characterized by the appropriate use of logic

Children in this stage can pass the conversation tasks, but will not be able to think as abstractly as a child ready for algebra

Once a child has ___________ they can be placed in the concrete operational stage

conservation

Information Processing

Increases in memory ability allows for increases in executive functioning

Metacognition

Ability to control and manipulate our own cognitive processes

Metamemory

An aspect the awareness and control people have over their memory operations. Metamemory is closely linked with a set of meta-abilities including the ability to gather information through real-time monitoring about the current state of the memory system