Child Final Exam

How does the rate of growth in middle childhood compare to the rate of growth in early childhood?

Physical growth in middle childhood is gradual and slower before puberty compared to early childhood

How is the body growing (which parts)?

Lower portion of the body is mostly growing (gain weight, grow inches, gain muscles)

What is the “secular trend in physical growth”?

Children are taller and heavier

By the end of middle childhood, are boys or girls taller? Why?

Girls are taller because they hit their growth spurt faster than boys do

What is precocious puberty?

Early onset puberty

How does the proportion of gray and white matter change in middle childhood?

Gray matter peaks in middle childhood then starts declining (overall, for entire brain). White matter increases steadily.

What is the result of synaptic pruning in middle childhood?

Synaptic pruning during 7 years peak in gray matter, then declines

How does the amount of pruning during middle childhood compare to earlier periods of development?

40% of synapses are pruned in middle childhood and adolescence

What are hubs, and how does this relate to reading ability?

* Locations were massive numbers of axons intersect; coordination + integrate the flow of information/ signals
* Reading requires multiple interconnected hubs

What is BMI?

Body Max Index

What percentiles of BMI qualifies as overweight?

BMI > 85th percentile = child is overweight

What percentiles of BMI qualifies as obese?

BMI > 95th percentile = child is obese

How do genes affect weight/obesity?

Dozen of genes affect weight by influencing activity level, hunger, preference, body type, + metabolism

What is the most common chronic illness in middle childhood?

Asthma

What people (groups) in the US are more likely to have this chronic condition?

Higher rates of asthma are found in black and Puerto Rican children

What abilities does a child achieve during the concrete operational stage?

The ability to reason logically about direct (concrete) experiences + perceptions

What abilities do they (middle childhood) still not have?

Struggles with abstract ideas + hypotheticals + does not yet think in systematic scientific way

How does working memory change during middle childhood?

Becomes more efficient and capacity grows steadily and scientifically

How does long-term memory change during middle childhood?

Storage expands to adult levels; recall gets better with use of memory strategies

How does attention ability change during middle childhood?

Better selective attention; focus on important info while filtering out irrelevant information. Children improve in their ability to shift their attention.

What 3 things improve knowledge/learning?

1. Knowledge base- past experience, current opportunities, motivation
2. Control processes (executive processes)- regulates the analysis + flow of information
3. Metacognition- thinking about thinking (awareness of ones own thought process)

How does vocabulary growth in middle childhood compare to early childhood?

* Vocabulary grows at fastest rate during middle childhood
* Speed of growth facilitated by:
* Linking new words with ones previously knew (knowledge base)
* More sophisticated understanding of word meanings
* 6 years (1st grade) - 10,000 words
* 10-11 years (5th grade) - 40,000 words
* 20 years - 42,000 words
* 60 years - 48,000 words

What is the difference between an aptitude and achievement test?

Aptitude - potential to master a specific skill or subject

Achievement - what has actually been learned

How do schools use these tests (aptitude + achievement) to find a deficits in learning?

Measures general intelligence and thought to be learning potential, impairment of academic learning affects academic performance

What are the most common learning disabilities?

Dyslexia and Dyscalculia

What underlying ability are these learning disabilities (dyslexia + dyscalculia) linked with?

Linked with deficiencies of the working memory

Who is Gardner?

American developmental psychologist who believes that there are multiple forms of intelligence.

* He disparages IQ tests as having limited relevance to real life

Who is Sternberg?

American psychologist who believes that there are 3 forms of intelligence, analytic, creative, practical

* He thinks that practical intelligence is a better predictor of successful academic + occupational outcome in life than standard IQ tests + other cognitive tests that are primarily measures of g

How do US students do on international assessment tests?

* US performance is substantially worse than performance in the top-scoring countries in both math + reading
* US students not @ top of international ratings

What is ADHD?

ADHD- Attention Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder; Neurodevelopmental Disorder

What are major symptoms of ADHD?

Inattention, Hyperactivity, Impulsivity

WHat area of memory is a greatly affected by ADHD?

Working memory is greatly affected

What is ASD?

Austin’s Spectrum Disorder

What are the major symptoms of ASD?

Issues with social interactions and/or communication + repetitive or restrictive behaviors

What is required for disagnosis according to the DSM?

Symptoms must be apparent by 3 years

What stage does Erickson use to describe development in middle childhood?

4th stage- Industry vs. Inferiority

What happens during Erikson’s 4th stage?

Gain a sense of competence in abilities + self pride is mostly based on how others view their accomplishments

How does self-concept change form early childhood to middle childhood?

* More complex + logical
* What others say/ think matters more
* The physical matters more
* Influenced by peers

How does self-esteem change from early childhood to middle childhood?

Decreases; more realistic judgments + social comparisons

Who studied moral development?

Kohlberg

What is Kohlberg’s theory based on?

Based on 6 stages of moral development

How does moral development change from early to middle childhood?

Level 1: Pre-conventional - egocentric

Level 2: Conventional - parent/ community centered

Level 3: Post-conventional - few adolescents, most adults

What are the different categories of peers

* Popular Kids
* Pro social
* Antisocial
* Controversial Kids
* Neglected Kids
* Average Kids
* Aggressive Rejected
* Withdrawn Rejected

What type of peers are typically bullies, victims, bully-victims?

Popular - antisocial kids: they gain popularity by putting down others

How can schools best prevent bullying? What types of punishment should be given to bullies?

* Need an environment where children feel safe standing up to bullying or reporting bullying
* Training on how to prevent + identify bullying
* Model respectful behaviors
* Every student needs one adult in the school they are connected with

Erickson (Psychosocial)

Believes at each stage in the theory (birth-death) there is a crisis that must be solved in each age group (Discontinuous)

Watson, Skinner (Behaviorist)

Development happens through learned behaviors from their environment or can be conditioned as good or bad (Continuous)

Piaget + Vygotsky (Cognitive)

Believed children create their understanding of the world through being actively involved + interacting; focuses on cognitive over time (Discontinuous - Piaget + Continuous - Vygotsky)

Darwin (Evolutionary Theory)

Examines how behavior is determined by a species’ need to survive + reproduce (Continuous)

Urie Bronfenbrenner (Ecological Systems)

Shows the systems of environment + how they interrelate in development (Continuous)

What is the difference between continuous + discontinuous theory?

Continuous is when a theory continues over time and sees development as a cumulative process while discontinuous sees our development as taking place in steps or stages that has an ending or stops after these stages

What type of statements/conclusions can you make about a correlational study + an experimental study?

* Correlational looks at the relationship between variables
* Experimental can infer cause + effect relationships with highly controlled variables

How are gametes formed? What do they contain?

Gametes are formed through the process of meiosis + only contains 23 chromosomes

How does basic recessive dominant gene inheritance work ?

* An allele of a gene is said to be dominant when it effectively overrules the other (recessive) allele. It affects Things like eye color, hair color, vision + blood type

Homozygous Vs Heterozygous

Homo means we have the same version of a gene while hetero means we have different versions

Genotype Vs Pheotype

Gene is the gene a person inherits + pheno is a gene physically expressed

What is epileptics?

The study of changes in organisms caused by modification of gene expression caused by age, environmental + lifestyle

What is a gene-environment interaction?

When the environment has effects on behavior + will vary because of genetics

What are the 3 types of gene-environment correlations?

Passive, evocative, active

What are the three periods of prenatal development?

* Germinal period - the formation of a zygote
* Embryonic period - major structures of the body starts forming with the embryo being the most vulnerable
* Fetal period - reflex development + organ systems are developed enough + sex organs are being distinguished

What is a teratogen?

Any agent or condition that can impair prenatal development, resulting in birth defects or complications

In what prenatal stage are teratogens most dangerous?

During the embryonic perid

What occurs during 1st stage of childbirth?

Uterine contractions begin, spaced out starting between 15-20 mins until they reach out 3-4 mins apart in frequency; cervix dilates in 10 cms with some discharge occurring

What occurs during the 2nd stage of childbirth?

Baby starts passings through the birth canal, taking 10-40 mins; mother if instructed to push + relax the head of the baby birthing

What occurs during the 3rd stage of childbirth?

Placenta is delivered + happens within 20 mins after delivering

What senses does a baby have when it is born?

Taste, smell, and hear

What senses are the most developed and the least developed? Why?

* Taste, smell, hearing are the most developed + helps an infant locate odors + identify their mothers smell + can taste their mother’s amniotic fluid which influences an infant’s preferences. They can hear their mother’s voice which comforts them
* They are legally blind when born because of poor eye muscle control

Explain how habituation studies are conducted, what occurs during habituation?

* Infants are presented with a stimulus or set of stimuli until the average looking on some block of trials decreases to some pre-specified criterion
* Indicates that infants can remember earlier stimulus

What is perceptual narrowing?

A decline in the ability to discriminate or recognize stimuli that are not present or not relevant in the infant’s environment

How does perceptual narrowing relate to speech sound perception?

As the child gets older + is only exposed to one language/ certain speech sounds their perceptual narrowing decreases making it harder for them to discriminate between different speech sounds + languages

What abilities does an infant not yet have at the start of the sensorimotor periods?

The child does not yet demonstrate reliable object permanence at the start of the sensorimotor period

What abilities do they have at the end of the sensorimotor period?

At the end they are capable of mental representations, invisible displacement, differed imitation, + make-believe play

What is the difference between a primary, secondary, and tertiary circular reaction?

Primary - Simple motor habits centered around the infant’s own body, limited anticipation of events

Secondary - Repeated movements like hitting a mobile by accident and seeing it rattle and decide to do it over and over again

Tertiary - Exploration of properties of objects by acting on them in novel ways (variation)

How do infant attention abilities change?

Over time they learn to select where they focus their visual attention + learn to shift their attention away from events or situations that they find threatening or over-stimulating

How does comprehension compare to production regarding language development?

Being able to understand + interpret language while production is being able to produce words

What are Erikson’s stages for infancy?

Trust vs Mistrust (0-1.5 years)

Autonomy vs Shame vs Doubt (1.5-3 years)

When do basic emotions appear?

Basic emotions appear the 1st 6 weeks

Are basic emotions innate?

Basic emotions are innate

Why do self-conscious emotions appear later than other emotions?

They appear late because self-conscious emotions are considered complex emotions rather than basic emotions they are the more cognitively complex because we are consciously thinking about the self + comparing our behaviors to external internal standards

Who first created the theory of attachment?

John Bowlby (evolutionary theory)

Who developed the strange situation experiment and describe the experiment?

* Ainsworth created the strange situation test
* Looked at how infants respond to new room, new people + the absence of their caregiver (stressors) (more practical)

What are the four categories of attachment that emerged from this and later research?

1. Proximity
2. Constant Maintaining
3. Avoidance of proximity contact
4. Resistance to contact + comforting

What is temperament?

Refers to a behavioral style, the ‘how’ of behavior

What is goodness-of-fit?

How well the child’s temperament matches the parent’s temperament, or even that of the child’s teacher

At what age do most children become capable of mirror self-recognition?

18 months (infanncy)

How is the mirror self-recognition test related to language development?

Helps develop their visual senses; critical step to developing self-awareness

What is gross motor development?

The development of large muscles that allows infants to hold their head up, to start crawling, walking, running etc.

How does gross motor development improve from infancy?

1. Fetal posture (newborn)
2. Holds chin up (1 month)
3. Holds chest up (2 months)
4. Sits when supported (4 months)
5. Sits alone (7 months)
6. Stands holding furniture (9 months)
7. Crawls (10 months)
8. Walks if led (11 months)
9. Stands alone (11 months)
10. Walks alone (12 months)

What areas of the brain experiences synaptogenesis + pruning first?

* Visual cortex + frontal cerebral cortex.
* Cerebral cortex takes longer

How does increased connectivity with the prefrontal cortex affect cognitive abilities + emotional development?

Improves executive function + emotional control, allows children to think about consequences, solve problems + control impulses

What is executive function, what types of activities are hard for a child with poor executive function?

* Working memory, air traffic controller for your brain
* Impulse control can be hard for a child with poor executive function + moving form one activity to another

Explain how the left + right hemisphere change during early childhood (which is developing at a faster rate?)

* Left becomes very active from 3-6 years then activity levels off + the Right activity increases steadily through infancy and childhood
* Left is developing at a faster rate

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What is Piaget’s 2nd stage?

Preoperational stage

What abilities do children have in the preoperational stage and what abilities do they still not have (I.e. limitations of preoperational thinking)?

* Capable of symbolic thinking (representational thinking)
* Not capable of logical thinking; struggle to integrate multiple types of information. Struggles with conflicting perspective

Who is Vygotsky?

A soviet psychologist known for studying cognitive development + his theory called socio-cultural theory

What is the zone of proximal development?

The difference between what a learner can do without help and what he or she can achieve with guidance

What is the zone of scaffolding?

Temporary support to aid learning, adjusted as child learns

What is the zone of private speech?

Used for self- guidance especially when tasks are in zone of proximal development; used more + over a longer period by children w/ learning difficulties

Theory of mind – what is it, how is it tested?

Ability to reason about what is going on inside other people’s minds