early childhood

more apparent

In early childhood, individual size differences become

centers in which cartilage hardens to bone

epiphyses

2;6

between ages - to - , the brain reaches 90% of its adult weight

• coordination

• perception

• attention

• memory

• imagination

in early childhood, the brain undergoes refining in

prefrontal cortical areas

in early childhood —— areas see rapid growth

cerebellum

a structure that aids balance and control of bodily movements

reticular formation

structure in the brain stem that maintains alertness and consciousness

hippocampus

inner brain structure that plays a vital role in memory and spatial understanding

amygdala

structure that processes novelty and emotional information

corpus callosum

a large bundle of fibres connecting the two cerebral hemispheres, aiding communication and complex tasks

2 - 7

ages of Piaget’s pre operational stage

more representational, but limited

in piagets pre operational stage , thinking becomes

• language expansion

• understanding of past, present, future

• symbolic thoughts develop

• make believe strengthens cognition

advantages in the pre operational stage include

• egocentrism

• animistic thinking

• lack of conservation

limitations in pre operational stage

difficulty seeing others perspectives

egocentrism

attributing life to objects

animistic thinking

• centration

• irreversibility

lack of conservation is due to

focusing on one aspect of a situation while neglecting other important features

centration

inability to mentally go through a series of steps in a problem and then reverse direction, returning to the starting point

irreversibility

cognitive ; social

make believe play reflects and contributes to children’s — and — skills

• intrinsic motivation

• child led play

make believe play is hard to study as it involves

real life conditions, schemes

development of make believe play allows for detachment of —- and a complex combination of —-

sociodramatic play

make-believe play with others is also known as

2

sociodramatic play is well underway by —- years

diverse symbols

experience with ————- strengthens preschoolers understandings that one object can stand for another

dual representation

viewing a symbolic object as both an object in its own right and a symbol

pointing out similarities between models and real world spaces

duel representation is aided by

2 ½

by age —- children give psychological explanations for people and other animals, but attribute biological perspectives to object

flexible, appropriate

preschoolers notions of magic are — and — with beliefs declining with age

categorization

preschoolers ability to organize knowledge into categories using non-obvious and perceptual info

3

by age —-, kids can easily move between basic level categories and general categories, with the ability to develop subcategories

• discovery learning

• sensitivity to readiness

• acceptance of difference

Piaget developed three educational principles that influence teachers and classrooms

involves opportunities for spontaneous interaction with the environment

discovery learning

builds on children’s current thinking, challenging their incorrect ways of viewing the world

sensitivity to children’s readiness

planning for activities for individual children and small groups

acceptance of individual difference

Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory

belief that child and social environments collaborate to mold cognition in culturally adaptive ways

Private speech

what vygotsky viewed as the foundation for all higher cognitive processes

private speech

used more when tasks are appropriately challenging and internalized as silent inner speech

zone for proximal development

in the sociocultural theory, children learning takes place within the

• intersubjectivity

• Scaffolding

to support cognitive development within the sociocultural theory, social interaction must include two vital features

intersubjectivity

two participants who begin a task with different understandings arrive at a shared understanding

scaffolding

adjusting the support offered during a lesson to fit the child’s current level of performance

• basic motor

• perception

• attention

• memory

• problem solving skills

Vygotsky says little about —- contribute to socially transmitted higher cognitive processing

fast mapping

vocabularies expand rapidly with

fast mapping

connecting new words with underlying concepts after only a brief encounter

noun

English is a —— friendly language, allowing children to acquire them sooner

verb

Japanese is a —- friendly language, allowing children to learn them sooner

mutual exclusivity bias

the assumption that words refer to entirely separate categories

syntactic bootstrapping

discovering word meanings by observing how words are used syntactically

2 ; 3

between ages — and —, English speaking children use simple sentences that follow a subject - verb - object order

overregularization

overextension of grammatical rules to words that are exceptions

semantic bootstrapping

children rely on semantics to figure out grammatical rules

pragmatics

the practical, social side of language

pragmatics

involves turn taking, staying on topic, stating messages clearly, and conforming to rules of social interaction

4

by age — children adjust their speech to fit the age, gender, and social status of listeners

4 ; 8

from ages — to —, conversing over the phone improves greatly

• recasts

• expansions

adults often provide indirect feedback using two strategies, often in combination

recasts

restoring inaccurate speech into correct forms

expansions

elaborating on childrens speech, increasing its complexity

self concept

preschoolers begin to develop a —-, including attributes, attitudes, and values

• learning

• making friends

• getting along with adults

• treating others kindly

preschoolers have many self judgement including

initiative

children with higher self esteem have more

emotional development

—- is supported by gains in representation, language, and self-concept

emotional competence

emotional understanding, emotional self-regulation, and self conscious emotions are factors of

3 ; 5

— to — year olds can interpret, predict, and change others feelings

3 ; 5

— to — year olds realize that feelings and thinking are interconnected

• restricting sensory input

• talking to themselves

• changing their goals

• repairing relationships

strategies for emotional self-regulation at ages 3-4

temperament and parent-child interaction

—- and —- affect development of effective emotion regulation

• monsters

• the dark

• daycare

• ghosts

preschoolers fear

praise/blame

preschoolers become increasingly sensitive to

3

around age —, self conscious emotions are clearly linked to evaluation

empathy ; sympathy

— and — become more common in early childhood, and are motivators for prosocial behaviour

prosocial behaviour

actions aimed at benefiting others

nonsocial play

unoccupied, onlooker behaviour, and soliatary play.

• aimless wondering

• immature/repetitive functional play

• hovering near peers

nonsocial play is concerning when

parallel play

play near other children with similar toys, without trying to influence others behaviour/outcome

associative play

engaging in separate activities, but exchanging toys and comments

cooperative play

oriented towards a common goal, as in make-believe play.

tribal/village cultures

interpretive play, reflection of everyday roles is particularly seen in

urban/industrialized cultures

inventive play, generating make believe scenarios unconstrained by real experience is particularly seen in

• likes you

• you play with often

for preschoolers, a friend is someone who

• classroom participation

• task persistance

• academic skills

the ease in which a preschooler makes friends predicts

exceed

socially competent children —- in early academics

social problem solving

involves generating/applying strategies that prevent or resolve conflict.

• acceptable to others

• beneficial to the self

social problem solving results in outcomes that are

peer relations

social problem solving profoundly affects what?

direct

arranging peer interactions, showing children how to initiate conversation, and providing guidance on how to treat others is an example of which type of parental influence on peer relation

indirect

secure attachment, open, emotionally expressive conversation, and engaged play are examples of which type of parental influence on peer relations

conscience

— begins to take shape in early childhood, at first externally controlled by adults, but eventually internalized

psychoanalytic perspective

which perspective views conscience formation as promoted by induction, with an adult needing to play a role in helping a child become aware of feelings and their affect on others

induction

more empathetic children respond to

anxious

mild discipline works better with what type of child

warm relationship with combination of induction and discipline

impulsive children need

modeling

social learning theorists believe that children learn through

• warmth and responsiveness

• competence and power

• consistency

characteristics of a good behaviour model include

cognitive development

the —- perspective regards children as active thinkers about social rules

moral imperatives

rules that protect peoples rights and welfare, where violations are more wrong and deserving of punishment than other transgressions

social conventions

social customs determined solely by experience, such as table manners

matters of personal choice

do not violate rights, and choices are up to the individual

second

by the — year, aggressive acts with two distinct purposes emerge