Life Span Dev Exam 2 Study Guide

Why is toddlerhood an important stage for social development?

Toddlerhood is when development becomes visibly social. Children develop thinking skills, problem-solving, symbols, and language through interactions with other people.

How does interaction with other people influence a toddler’s development?

nteractions with other people help build the toddler’s mind, especially language and problem-solving skills. The child’s sense of self is also shaped by their culture.

What builds language development in toddlers?

Back-and-forth conversations with other people build language more effectively than simply hearing a large number of words.

What does the mirror test measure, and why is it considered cultural?

The mirror test measures self-recognition, or whether a child recognizes themselves in a mirror. However, a child’s response can be influenced by their culture, meaning self-recognition is not measured the same way across all cultures.

How does physical growth change after a child’s first birthday?

Growth remains rapid but slows down after the first birthday. Toddlers also lose their baby fat, which helped them maintain body temperature as infants.

What is marasmus?

Marasmus is severe wasting caused by not getting enough calories overall.

What is kwashiorkor?

Kwashiorkor is a form of malnutrition caused primarily by protein deficiency. Symptoms include a swollen belly from fluid retention, thinning hair, lethargy, weakened immunity, and possible permanent cognitive damage.

What is the difference between marasmus and kwashiorkor?

Marasmus results from too few calories overall, while kwashiorkor is specifically associated with protein deficiency.

Which micronutrient deficiencies can harm children’s growth and cognitive development?

Deficiencies in iodine, iron, zinc, and vitamin A can impair physical growth and cognitive development.

Why is goiter rare in the United States?

Iodized salt provides iodine, which helps prevent iodine deficiency and goiter, an enlargement of the thyroid gland.

What is stunting, and what causes it? what are the stats for children worldwide

Stunting is when a child’s height is far below the norm for their age because of chronic undernutrition. It affects roughly 1 in 4 children under age 5 worldwide.

When does synaptic density peak in the brain?

during toddlerhood, reaching about 100 trillion connections by age two. This is the densest the human brain will ever be.

What is synaptic pruning?

the process of eliminating less-used connections in the brain. Roughly one-third of connections may be eliminated over time, following the principle of “use it or lose it.”

Why is toddlerhood considered a sensitive period for brain development?

The brain has an extremely high number of connections that are being strengthened or eliminated based on experience. This makes toddlerhood especially important for learning language and other skills.

Why do researchers usually use EEG instead of fMRI to study toddlers?

EEG uses electrodes placed on the scalp and allows researchers to study brain activity while a child moves around. fMRI requires the child to lie very still, which is difficult for toddlers.

What is the hippocampus, and what happens to it during toddlerhood?

a brain structure important for learning and memory. It matures substantially during toddlerhood, helping memory abilities develop.

What is deferred imitation, and why does it improve during toddlerhood?

the ability to observe an action and reproduce it later. It improves during toddlerhood as memory develops and the hippocampus matures.

How do cultures influence sleeping, eating, and eliminating?

These are biological needs, but every culture has its own rules, expectations, and timelines for how children learn to manage them.

How much do toddlers sleep by age 2?

about 12–13 hours per day

Why does night waking increase between 18 and 24 months?

Night waking increases because of teething, especially molars, and toddlers’ growing awareness of separation from their caregivers.

How did toilet training practices in the United States change between 1957 and 2001?

In 1957, nearly all American toddlers were toilet trained by 18 months. By 2001, only about one-quarter were trained by that age because pediatricians began recommending a readiness approach, waiting until children showed signs they were ready.

Was there a medical reason to hurry toilet training?

No. There was no medical reason to rush toilet training; waiting until a child is ready became the preferred approach.

How does weaning happen in traditional cultures where breastfeeding lasts longer?

Breastfeeding often continues for two to three years. Because toddlers are older when weaning begins, they can object, express preferences, and negotiate with caregivers.

At about what age do toddlers begin walking without support?

Around 11 months, although the normal range is approximately 9–17 months.

What are Arnett’s milestone ranges?

They are age ranges within which 90% of toddlers achieve a particular developmental skill.

What is universal about motor development, and what varies?

The sequence of motor development is universal, but the timing varies widely among children

What did Karen Adolph’s research team discover about learning to walk?

: Researchers used step counters and video recordings during toddlers’ free play. They found that learning to walk involves thousands of steps and dozens of falls per hour. Toddlers who walked more also tended to fall less.

What does Adolph’s research tell us about how toddlers learn to walk?

Walking develops through extensive practice and experience, not simply through biological maturation. The more toddlers practice walking, the better they become at maintaining their balance and avoiding falls.

What happens during Piaget’s final sensorimotor substage (18–24 months)?

Toddlers develop mental representation, meaning they can think about possible actions before actually doing them.

What abilities does mental representation support?

pretend play, forming categories, and language development

What is deferred imitation?

when a child repeats an action they observed earlier, showing that they can remember and mentally represent an experience.

When did Piaget believe deferred imitation began, and what did later research find?

Piaget placed its emergence around 18 months, but later research found that simpler forms appear much earlier.

What is the main criticism of Piaget’s theory regarding developmental timing?

Piaget generally identified the correct sequence of cognitive development, but he often underestimated how early certain abilities emerge.

What is Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory?

argues that cognitive development occurs through social interaction and cultural learning. Children learn from more knowledgeable people rather than developing entirely on their own.

: What is the zone of proximal development (ZPD)?

The ZPD is the gap between what a child can do independently and what the child can accomplish with help from a more skilled person.

What is scaffolding?

support provided by a more skilled person that is adjusted to the child’s needs and gradually removed as the child becomes more capable.

What is private speech?

when children talk themselves through a task out loud and eventually learn to guide their thinking silently. It shows that social guidance has become internalized.

How are the ZPD, scaffolding, and private speech related?

A child may complete a difficult task with help within their ZPD. The adult provides scaffolding, and eventually the child uses private speech and internal thinking to complete the task independently.

What is Barbara Rogoff’s concept of guided participation?

Guided participation is when children learn culturally important skills by participating in activities alongside adults or more experienced people.

How does Vygotsky’s view of learning differ from Piaget’s?

Piaget emphasizes children actively discovering and constructing knowledge, while Vygotsky emphasizes learning through social interaction, guidance, and culture.

Why is language considered partly biological?

Humans have an inborn biological capacity for language, supported by specialized brain areas and genes involved in speech and grammar.

What is infinite generativity?

the ability to combine a finite number of words into an unlimited number of new sentences.

What is Broca’s area, and what does it do?

located in the left frontal lobe and is involved in producing language

What is Wernicke’s area, and what does it do?

located in the left temporal lobe and is involved in comprehending language.

What is the FOXP2 gene, and how is it related to language?

a gene involved in speech and language development. Certain variants can disrupt speech production and grammar.

What is Chomsky’s language acquisition device (LAD)?

Chomsky’s idea that humans are born with an innate capacity to learn the grammar of whatever language they are exposed to. It is an inborn learning ability, not a specific language.

What have studies of chimpanzees taught sign language shown?

Chimpanzees can learn signs, but they demonstrate very limited grammatical abilities compared with humans.

What is a holophrase?

a single word that expresses an entire thought or sentence. For example, a toddler saying “milk” might mean “I want milk.”

What is overextension?

when a child uses a word too broadly, applying it to things that do not belong in that category. For example, calling every four-legged animal “dog.”

What is underextension?

when a child uses a word too narrowly, applying it to fewer things than it should describe. For example, using “dog” only for the family’s own dog.

What is the naming explosion, and when does it occur?

a rapid increase in vocabulary that typically occurs between 18 and 24 months, when toddlers begin learning many new words.

What is fast mapping?

learning the meaning of a new word after only one exposure or a very small number of exposures.

What is telegraphic speech?

when toddlers combine a few important words to communicate a thought, leaving out smaller grammatical words. For example, “More milk” instead of “I want more milk.”

What is overregularization?

occurs when children apply a grammatical rule to an irregular word, such as saying “goed” instead of “went” or “foots” instead of “feet.”

Why is overregularization evidence that children are learning grammatical rules?

Children are applying rules they have learned rather than simply copying adults. They say “goed” because they have learned to add -ed to form the past tense, even though adults do not normally say “goed.”

What is the difference between language comprehension and language production?

Comprehension is understanding language, while production is speaking or using language. Children generally understand more words than they can say.

Which is a better predictor of later verbal ability: comprehension or production?

Comprehension is a better predictor of later verbal ability because what children understand generally develops ahead of what they can say.

What was the original “30 million word gap” claim?

A study of 42 Kansas families claimed that by age 3, children from poor families had heard 30 million fewer words than children from professional families.

What did Sperry and colleagues find when they studied other low-income and working-class communities?

many children heard about as many words as children in the original professional families. When overheard speech was included, some heard even more.

What did Romeo and colleagues study?

They recorded 4- to 6-year-old children for two full days and scanned their brains to examine how language experiences related to brain activity and language abilit

What did Romeo and colleagues find about conversational turns?

The number of conversational turns, or back-and-forth exchanges between a child and another person, predicted activation in Broca’s area and children's language scores

Did the total number of words children heard predict language ability well?

No. The total number of words heard predicted little compared with the number of conversational turns.

: Did family income change Romeo and colleagues’ findings?

No. The relationship between conversational turns, brain activity, and language ability held across different family income levels.

What is the main difference between word exposure and conversational turns?

• Word exposure means hearing words, even without participating.

• Conversational turns involve actively exchanging communication with another person.

• Back-and-forth interaction appears more important for language development than simply hearing more words.

How does Kuhl’s Mandarin study support the importance of interaction?

• Infants learned Mandarin sounds from a live tutor but did not learn them from an identical video.

• This suggests that social interaction helps infants learn language in ways that passive exposure alone does not.

What is the main takeaway from language studies?

• Language develops through social interaction, not simply through exposure to words.

• Responsive conversations help children develop language skills regardless of family income.

How do toddlers begin to regulate their own emotions?

• through coping behaviors, language, adult expectations, and a growing desire for approval from others.

Are temper tantrums universal across cultures?

No. Temper tantrums are common among toddlers in Western cultures but rare in many traditional cultures. Frustration is universal, but how children express it depends partly on culture.

What are sociomoral emotions (secondary or self-conscious emotions)?

emotions that require children to recognize themselves and compare their behavior or characteristics against a standard. They include guilt, shame, embarrassment, envy, and pride.

Why do sociomoral emotions begin to develop during toddlerhood?

Toddlers develop a sense of self and begin understanding standards for behavior. These abilities allow them to evaluate themselves and mark the beginnings of a conscience.

What are empathy and prosocial behavior?

• Empathy is understanding or sharing another person's feelings.

• Prosocial behavior involves voluntarily helping or benefiting others.

What did Warneken and Tomasello’s clothespin study find? What did the clothespin study reveal about toddlers’ social understanding?

• An adult pretending to accidentally drop a clothespin while hanging laundry prompted 18-month-olds to help spontaneously, usually within seconds, without being asked or rewarded. However, the children generally did not help when the adult deliberately threw the clothespin down.

• Toddlers can recognize another person's goal and distinguish an accident from an intentional action. They help when they understand that someone needs assistance

What is Erikson’s psychosocial crisis of toddlerhood?

Autonomy versus shame and doubt. Toddlers want to become independent and do things for themselves.

What does the phrase “terrible twos” mean in Erikson’s theory?

toddlers exercising their growing autonomy by asserting independence, saying no, and wanting to make their own choices

How do caregivers influence the outcome of autonomy versus shame and doubt?

Supporting a toddler’s independence builds confidence and autonomy. Constant criticism, punishment, or discouragement can lead to shame and doubt about their abilities.

What is the rouge (mark) test?

a test of self-recognition in which a mark is placed on a child's face and the child is shown a mirror. If the child touches their own face to investigate the mark, rather than touching the mirror, it suggests they recognize the reflection as themselves.

At what age do children in Western samples typically pass the rouge test?

Around 18 months, approximately when children begin using personal pronouns such as “I” and “me.”

How is self-recognition related to sociomoral emotions?

Self-recognition allows children to reflect on themselves and compare their behavior with social standards. This helps make emotions such as guilt, shame, embarrassment, and pride possible.

What did Broesch and colleagues find when they gave the mark test to 82 rural Kenyan children aged 18–72 months? What did the six-country follow-up study find?

• Only two Kenyan children touched the mark on their faces. Most froze and looked at their reflections instead.

• Mark-test pass rates varied greatly across cultures, ranging from 88% in the United States to 0% in Fiji.

How did Broesch and colleagues interpret the low pass rates of the face mark test in some cultures?

They argued that failing to touch the mark does not necessarily mean a child lacks a sense of self. Children may respond differently because of cultural expectations about mirrors, self-focused behavior, and how they should behave during an unfamiliar test.

What do these findings reveal about the mirror test as a culture-free measure?

The mirror test is not entirely culture-free. Cultural experiences and expectations can influence how children respond, so researchers must be cautious about treating test performance as a universal measure of self-awareness.

What is the difference between sex and gender?

Sex refers to biological characteristics, while gender refers to the cultural categories, roles, and expectations associated with being a boy or a girl.

What is gender identity, and when does it emerge?

Gender identity is a person's understanding and labeling of themselves and others as a boy or a girl. It begins to emerge between 18 and 30 months.

What are the three lines of biological evidence for gender differences described by Arnett?

• Evolutionary evidence: Some gender-related behaviors may have evolved because they helped our ancestors survive or reproduce.

• Ethological evidence: Studies of animal behavior suggest that some behavioral differences may have biological roots.

• Hormonal evidence: Hormones can influence development and behavior.

What is the limitation of using biological evidence to explain gender roles?

Gender roles have changed enormously over the past century, while human biology has not changed nearly as much. This suggests that culture and society play a major role in shaping gender expectations.

What changes about attachment during toddlerhood?

The caregiver becomes a secure base from which toddlers explore their surroundings. Toddlers feel safer exploring when they know their caregiver is available.

What is Bowlby’s goal-corrected partnership?

It is a stage in which children increasingly understand their caregiver's goals and intentions. The relationship becomes more mutual and involves language, communication, and negotiation.

How well does toddler attachment predict later adjustment?

Attachment classification generally predicts later adjustment only weakly. However, disorganized attachment is associated with greater risk for later difficulties.

What is the child-effect critique of attachment theory?

A child's temperament and behavior also influence the caregiver-child relationship. Attachment is not shaped only by the caregiver; the child contributes to the relationship too.

What is the cultural critique of attachment theory?

• Attachment classifications may reflect cultural differences in caregiving practices and expectations.

• A behavior considered avoidant or resistant in one cultural context may not mean the same thing in another.

What did Strange Situation studies find about secure attachment across cultures?

Secure attachment is the most common classification across cultures, although the distribution of attachment styles varies between countries.

Which countries showed the highest rates of avoidant and resistant attachment in the studies described?

Germany showed the highest rates of avoidant attachment, while Japan showed the highest rates of resistant attachment.

Is attachment variation greater within countries or between countries?

Variation within countries is greater than variation between countries. Individual families differ considerably, even within the same culture

Who provides most toddler care across cultures?

Mothers; although fathers' involvement in caregiving has increased in developed countries.

How can the arrival of a new sibling affect a toddler?

A new sibling can change the toddler's attachment relationship with their caregiver and lead to regression, such as renewed clinginess or returning to earlier behaviors

What is the sequence of play development during early childhood?

What is the sequence of play development during early childhood?

What is solitary play?

Playing alone without interacting with other children.

What is parallel play?

Playing beside other children with similar toys or activities but without much interaction.

What is simple social play?

Playing with other children with some interaction, sharing, or exchanging toys, but without a coordinated common goal.

What is cooperative pretend play?

Children play together toward a shared goal, often taking on roles and creating imaginary situations, such as pretending to run a restaurant or play family.