Child Development: A Cultural Approach - Chapter 7 Notes

Growth from Age 3 to 6

• Bodily Growth
  • Children grow approximately 2 to 3 inches per year.
  • Average weight gain is between 5 to 7 pounds annually.
  • In developing countries, average weights and heights are lower due to:
  • Poor nutrition
  • Childhood diseases
  • Socioeconomic status
  • Health-related issues often lead to stunting in growth.

Brain Development and "Infantile Amnesia"

• Brain Development

  • Gradual increase in brain size.
  • Frontal lobe maturation enhances emotional regulation, foresight, and planned behavior.
  • Corpus callosum experiences peak myelination, improving communication between brain hemispheres.
  • Myelination in the cerebellum enhances balance.

• Hippocampus and Reticular Formation

  • Peak myelination for memory and attention occurs.
  • Myelination is typically completed by age 5.
  • Infantile Amnesia: Inability to recall memories from before age 2.

Motor Development

• Gross and Fine Motor Skills
  • Gross motor skills build on early abilities, facilitating larger movements.
  • Fine motor skills develop alongside new skill sets, such as handwriting.
  • Handedness becomes more defined, influenced by prenatal factors.
  • Left-handedness historically perceived negatively, yet many excel in certain fields.

Safety and Health in Early Childhood

• Injuries and Accidents

  • High activity levels in early childhood heighten injury risks, primarily from falls.
  • Greater injury rates found in developing countries, with accidental injuries being the leading cause of death among young children.

• Illness and Nutrition

  • Pneumonia, malaria, and diarrhea are leading causes of mortality in developing regions.
  • Malnutrition accounts for approximately half of early childhood deaths. In developed countries, better access to vaccinations and food reduce mortality rates.

• Nutritional Deficiencies

  • Developing countries often face protein and iron deficiencies (anemia).
  • In contrast, children in developed countries may suffer from obesity due to unhealthy diets.

Theories of Cognitive Development

• Piaget’s Preoperational Stage

  • Characterized by representational thinking and internalization of images.
  • Key limitations include:
  • Conservation: Lack of understanding that substance remains constant despite changes in form.
  • Egocentrism: Difficulty in recognizing others’ perspectives; includes animistic thinking.
  • Classification: Trouble grouping objects based on multiple characteristics.
  • Critiques state that Piaget may underestimate children’s cognitive abilities and overlooks continuous development.

• Theory of Mind

  • Capacity to conceptualize mental processes in oneself and others.
  • Developments evidenced in joint attention and pretend play; assessed via false-belief tasks.

• Cultural Learning

  • Children learn culturally relevant skills through guided participation in various activities, varying significantly between traditional and developed cultures.

Early Childhood Education

• Preschool Quality

  • Attendance in high-quality preschool correlates with benefits in verbal skills and social confidence.
  • Important features of quality education:
  • Teacher qualifications
  • Class size and child-teacher ratios
  • Developmentally appropriate materials and interactions.
  • Notable methods include the Montessori approach promoting self-directed learning.

• Early Intervention Programs

  • Designed for at-risk children to enhance cognitive development; Project Head Start and Early Head Start are examples.
  • Effectiveness can vary; benefits tend to diminish after a few years.

Language Development

• Vocabulary and Grammar

  • Rapid progress in language acquisition; children show an impressive ability to learn new words via fast mapping.
  • Development of grammar becomes more sophisticated as they learn rules.

• Pragmatics

  • Children learn the social rules of language through interactions, gestures, and cultural context—varying significantly across cultures.