Infant and Child Development Exam 3

Children ages 3-6 grow...

...rabidly between these ages but less quickly than before

Increased capacities in respiratory/circulatory systems...

...build physical stamina and help develop the immune system to keep children healthier

The most brain growth from ages 3-6 occurs in the...

...frontal areas of the brain (planning and goal setting)

Density of synapses in the prefrontal cortex...

...peaks at 4 years of age and helps with increased cognitive flexibility

By age 6, the brain has ... of its peak volume

...90%...

Between ages 6-11 rapid brain growth occurs in the...

...thinking, language, and spatial relations

Corpus Callosum

Thick band of nerve fibers connecting the brain hemispheres allowing them to communicate more rapidly

In adolescence, the corpus callosum...

...continues to be myelinated to improve coordination of senses, attention/arousal, and speech/hearing (earlier with girls)

By age 5, U.S. children average ... of sleep at night and give up daytime naps

...11 hours...

How many toddlers experience problems with getting or staying asleep?

1/3 of toddlers

Enuresis

Repeated urination in clothing or in bed

Enuresis is largely...

...genetic/hereditary and not serious

What are the common treatments for enuresis?

Behavioral modifications, antidiuretic hormones, and nighttime alarms

Nightmare

Bad dream, often brought on by staying up too late, eating heavy meals before bed, or overexcitement

Sleep Disturbance Causes

Incomplete arousal from deep sleep, disordered breathing, or restless leg movements

The majority of sleep problems are...

...behavioral

Night Terrors

More serious than nightmares, where a child appears to awaken abruptly from a deep sleep early in the night in a state of agitation

Factors Related to Night Terrors

Anxiety and genetic influences

Sleepwalking, sleeptalking, and night terror characteristics include...

...occurrence during slow wave sleep, common with sleep-deprived children, children on fever meds or fevering, common when conditions are noisy, and children tending to be generally unresponsive/confused

Sleep Aids

Transition objects (like stuffed animal/blanket), nightlights, routines, comforting words

Gray matter (brain cell bodies) and white matter (which connects brain regions)...

...increase in early childhood to help the brain become faster/more efficient with communication

3-Year-Old Gross Motor Skills

Cannot turn or stop suddenly or quickly, can jump a distance of 15 to 24 inches, can ascend a stairway alternating feed/unaided, and can hop using an irregular series of jumps

4-Year-Old Gross Motor Skills

More effective control of stopping/starting/turning, can jump 24 to 33 inches, can descend a long stairway alternating feet while supported, can hop 4 to 6 steps on one foot

5-Year-Old Gross Motor Skills

Can start/turn/stop, can make a running jump 28 to 36 inches, can descend a long stairway alternating feed unaided, and can easily hop a distance of 16 feet

Handedness

A preference for one hand over the other, usually established in early childhood (evident by age 3)

During early childhood, children's bodies become...

...leaner and more proportionate compared to toddlerhood with reduced baby fat, longer limbs, and improved posture

Poor motor coordination has been associated with what?

Increased risk of obesity and later peer victimization

Young children develop best with what?

Appropriate maturational level unstructured free-play (AKA give them access to the things they need and let them play how they want)

Boys are more likely to...

...be left-handed and wet the bed

What are systems of actions?

A combination of motor skills that work together to achieve a goal (like running and kicking a ball)

What is childhood obesity?

Excess body weight for a child's height and age, often linked to poor diet, low physical activity, and genetics

What are healthy eating habits in early childhood?

Balanced meals, regular meal times, appropriate portion sizes, and limited sugary or processed foods

Why is fluoride important?

It strengthens tooth enamel and helps prevent cavities

Decreasing Factors of Obesity

Eating family meals, adequate sleep, less than 2 hours of television

Food allergies are oddly...

...increasing in rate

How many children were estimated to be obese in 2020?

39 million children

90% of food allergies are attributed to what?

Milk, eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, soy, wheat, and shellfish

Food Allergy Onset

More likely to begin in first two years of life but can develop at any age

Dental Caries

Tooth decay also known as cavities

Thumb sucking can...

...be generally ignored in kids under age 4 as this is before permanent teeth start to come in

Permanent teeth appear at around...

...age 6

High levels of fluoride have been associated with...

...lower IQ in some studies (results unclear)

Preoperational Stage

The second stage of cognitive development where children become more sophisticated in their use of symbolic thought (but can't use logic yet)

Symbolic thought advances come with...

...a growing understanding of objects in space, causality, identities, categorization, and number

Symbolic Function

Piagetian term for the ability to use mental representations (words, number, or images) to which a child has attached meaning

Examples of Symbolic Function in Preschoolers

Deferred imitation (imitating something they saw previously), pretend play, and language (which is a system of symbols)

Transduction

The tendency to link particular experiences whether or not there is logically a causal relationship (putting on a bathing suit makes it summer)

Categorization

a cognitive process used to organize information by placing it into larger groupings of information

Animism

tendency to attribute life to objects that are not alive

Centration

The tendency to focus on just one feature of a problem, neglecting other important aspects.

Decentering

the ability to take multiple aspects of a situation into account

Conservation

awareness that two objects are equal and remain equal when perceptually changed (like playdough)

Egocentrism

the preoperational child's difficulty taking another's point of view (three mountains task)

Theory of Mind

The awareness and understanding of mental processes of others (that others have their own thoughts/beliefs/desires)

Irreversibility

Failure to understand that an operation can go in two or more direction

Number Sense

Understanding of numbers and their relationships

Ordinality

Knowing the order of numbers (first, second, third)

Cardinality

Idea that the number of items in a set are the same even when arranged differently (starting at 2.5 yrs)

Counting Principle Knowledge

Understanding the rules of counting, such as one-to-one correspondence

When does theory of mind typically develop?

Around 3-5 years old

How is theroy of mind related to empathy?

It helps children understand others' emotions and respond appropriately (like knowing that thinking about past/future might cause sadness/happiness, expressions not matching internal state, etc)

Theory of mind includes knowledge about...

...mental states, false beliefs, and distinguishing between fantasy and reality

Deception

An effort to plant a false belief in someone else's mind (children become capable of simple lies/deception at about age 3)

Influences on Theory of Mind Development

Infant social attention, social competence, talk in home, being bilingual, pretend play, culture, and brain development

Encoding

Process by which information is prepared for long-term storage and later retrieval

Storage

Retention of information in memory for future use

Retrieval

Process by which information is accesed or recalled from memory storage

Sensory Memory

Temporary storehouse for incoming sensory information that decays rapidly

Working Memory

Short-term storehouse for information a person is actively working on, trying to understand, remember, or think about

Long-Term Memory

Storehouse of virtually unlimited capacity that holds information for long periods of time

Generic Memory

Produces a script, a general outline of familiar, repeated event (helps child know what to expecta nd how to help)

Episodic Memory

Refers to awareness of having experienced a particular event that occurred at a specific time and place

Autobiographical Memory

Refers to memories of distinctive experiences that form a person's life history

Central Executive

Model that states a central executive controls processing operations in working memory, ordering information to be encoded for long term, and retrieving info from long term to further processing

Two Subsystems of Central Executive

The phonological loop handles verbal information and the visuospatial sketchpad that handles visual information

Western vs. Non-Western Questions

Western cultures tend to ask more open-ended questions that elicit more elaboration and non-western are more likely to ask leading questions

Metacognition

Thinking, or awareness of one's own mental processes

Metamemory

A component of metacognition that is knowledge of and reflection about memory processes

Social Interaction Model

Based on Vygotsky's sociocultural theory, which proposes that children construct autobiographical memories through conversation with adults about shared events

Executive Function

Refers to the conscious control of thoughts, emotions, and actions to accomplish goals or to solve problems

Recall

Retreving information without cues

Psychometric Measures of Intelligence

Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale (2+ ages reasoning + processing + working memory) and Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence, Revised (2.5-7 ages verbal + performance)

Dynamic Testing

Cognitive tests that line up with the zone-of-proximal development

IQ Score

Measure of how well a child can do certain tasks in comparison with others of the same age

Screen Time Recommendation

Children from 2-5 years of age should spend on more than an hour a day on any screen media

Zone-of-Proximal Development

The imaginary psychological space between what they are already able to do by themselves and what they could do with

Private Speech

Talking to oneself to guide thinking and behavior

Scaffolding

Temporary support provided by an adult or skilled peer to help with learning

Number of words known on average at age 3 and age 6

900 to 1000 words - 2,600 words with 20,000+ understood

Fast Mapping

Child picks of approximate meaning of a new word after hearing it only once or twice in conversation (nouns easier than verbs)

Emergent Literacy

Refers to a preschooler's development of skills, knowledge, and attitudes that underlie reading and writing (promoted by social interaction and reading)

Syntax

Related to grammar that involves the rules for putting together sentences in a particular language

Grammar

The underlying structure of language that enables us to both produce and understand utterances

Development of speech

Age 3 - short, simple, declarative sentences, ages 4-5 - declarative, negative, interrogative, imperative, and ages 5-7 - children's speech become quite adultlike

Self-Concept

Our total picture of our abilities and traits that determines how we feel about ourselves (who we think we are)

Self-Definition

Way kids describe themselves (typically changes around ages 5-7)

Self-Esteem

Evaluative part of self-concept, overall judgement children make about overall self-worth