(Unit 2) Early childhood & Middle Childhood

At what age is BMI the lowest than any other time in life?

5-6 years old

What age is considered “early childhood”?

2-6 years old

Each year of early childhood children can be expected to grow…?

•3 inches

•4 ½ pounds per year

By age 6 children should be…?

•3 ½ feet tall

•40-50 pounds

•Lean not chubby

When is the best time to prevent childhood obesity?

Early childhood

As family income decreases, what can be expected to increase?

Malnutrition and obesity

At age 2, the brain weighs what percentage of an adult brain?

75%

At age 6, the brain weighs what percentage of an adult brain?

90%

Define myelination

The process by which axons become coded with myelin, a fatty substance that speeds the transmission of nerve impulses from neuron to neuron.

As prefrontal cortex develops, _____ also develops

Social understanding

As the prefrontal cortex matures…

•Sleep becomes more regular

•Emotions become more nuanced and responsive

•Temper tantrums subside

•Uncontrollable laughter and tears are less common

Which half of the brain is responsible for logical reasoning, detailed analysis, and basics of language?

The left half

Which half of the brain is responsible for emotional and creative impulses, art, music, and poetry?

The right half

Define corpus callosum

A long, thick band of nerve fibers that connects the left and right hemispheres of the brain and allows communication between them.

Define impulse control

The ability to postpone or deny the immediate response to an idea or behavior.

Define perseveration

To stay stuck, or persevere, in one thought or action for a long time. The ability to be flexible, switching from one task to another is beyond most young children.

What 2 impulses do neurons have?

On/Off or Activate/Inhibit

What does lack of impulse control signify in adulthood?

Personality disorder

Some stress on the brain aids in _____?

Cognition

How does the brain protect itself from too much stress?

By shutting down

What does excessive stress on a maltreated child cause?

Permanently damaged brain pathways

What is harder to master, gross motor or fine motor skills?

Fine motor skills

What is a direct cause of asthma?

Pollution

Define Injury control/ Harm reduction

Practices that are aimed at anticipating, controlling, and preventing dangerous activities; these practices reflect the beliefs that accidents are not random and that injuries can be made less harmful if proper controls are in place.

Define primary prevention

Actions that change overall background conditions to prevent some unwanted event or circumstance, such as injury, disease, or abuse.

Define secondary prevention

Actions that avert harm in a high risk situation, such as stopping a car before it hits a pedestrian

Define tertiary prevention

Actions, such as immediate and effective medical treatment, that are taken after an adverse event (such as illness or injury) and that are aimed at reducing harm or preventing disability.

Define child maltreatment

Intentional harm to or avoidable endangerment of anyone under 18 years of age.

Define child abuse

Deliberate action that is harmful to a child’s physical, emotional, or sexual well-being.

Define child neglect

Failure to meet a child’s basic physical, educational, or emotional needs.

What is the most common and most frequently fatal form of child maltreatment?

Neglect

Define executive function

The cognitive ability to organize and prioritize the many thoughts that arise from the various parts of the brain, allowing the person to anticipate, strategize, and plan behavior

What are the 3 foundations of executive function?

•Memory

•Inhibition

•Flexibility

Define preoperational intelligence

Piaget’s term for cognitive development between the ages of about 2 and 6; it includes language and imagination, but logical, operational thinking is not yet possible at this stage.

Define symbolic thought

A major accomplishment of preoperational intelligence; it allows a child to understand words can refer to things not seen and that an item, such as a flag, can represent something else (a country)

Define animism

The belief that natural objects and phenomena are alive, moving around, and having sensations and abilities that are humanlike.

Define centration

The tendency to focus on one aspect of a situation, excluding all others

What is “focus on appearance“?

A characteristic of preoperational thought in which a young child ignores all attributes that are not visible.

What is “static reasoning”?

A characteristic of preoperational thought in which a young child thinks that nothing changes. Whatever is now has always been and always will be.

Define irreversibility

A characteristic of preoperational thought in which a young child thinks that nothing can be undone. A thing cannot be restored to the way it was before a change occurred.

What is “conservation logic”?

The principle that the amount of a substance remains the same, even when its appearance changes.

Define egocentrism

Piaget’s term for children’s tendency to think about the world entirely from their own personal perspective.

What gradually disappears and becomes more logical?

Preoperational thought (magical & symbolic, not logical & realistic)

Define scaffolding

Temporary support that is tailored to a learners needs and abilities and aimed at helping the learner master the next task in a given learning process.

What is overimitation?

When a person imitates an action that is not a relevant part of the behavior to be learned.

When is overimitation common?

2-6 years old

What is private speech?

The internal dialogue that occurs when people talk to themselves (either silently or out loud).

What is social mediation?

Human interaction that expands and advances understanding, often through words that one person uses to explain something to another.

What is ZPD?

A term for skills that a person can exercise only with assistance, not yet independently.

Zone of Proximal Development

Define theory-theory

The idea that children attempt to explain everything they see and hear by constructing theories.

Match the parenting style with its tendencies: Neglectful

•Uninvolved or absent

•Provides little nurturance or guidance

•Indifferent to a child’s social, emotional, and behavioral needs

Match the parenting style with its tendencies: Authoritarian

•Parent-driven

•Sets strict rules and punishments

•One way communication, with little consideration of child’s social, emotional, and behavioral needs

Match the parenting style with its tendencies: Authoritative

•Solves problems together with their child

•Sets clear rules and expectations

•Open communication and natural consequences

Match the parenting style with its tendencies: Permissive

•Child-driven

•Rarely gives or enforces rules

•Overindulgences child to avoid conflict

Bullying aggression is a sign of _____?

Poor emotional regulation

Define scaffolding

Temporary support that is tailored to a learners needs and abilities and aimed at helping the learner master the next task in a given learning process.

What are the 4 general principles of developmental psychopathology?

•Abnormality is normal

•Disability changes year by year

•Life may get better or worse (plasticity and compensation are widespread)

•Diagnosis and treatment reflect the social context

Define comorbid

Refers to the presence of two or more unrelated disease conditions at the same time in the same person.

The 9 types of intelligence

•Naturalist

•Intra-personal

•Musical

•Spatial

•Linguistic

•Bodily kinesthetic

•Interpersonal

•Existential

•Logical-mathematical

Important takeaways of intelligence

1. Brain development depends on experiences

2. Dendrites form and myelination changes throughout life

3. Children with disorders often have unusual brain patterns, and training may change those patterns

Concrete operational thought

The ability to reason logically about direct experiences and perceptions