Questions and Answers
What is the growth pattern in the preschool years?
In early childhood, on average, children add 2 - 3 inches in height and about 5 pounds in weight each year.
What is the dominant cerebral hemisphere?
The hemisphere of the cerebral cortex responsible for skilled motor action and other important abilities.
What is the corpus callosum?
A large bundle of fibers connecting the two cerebral hemispheres.
What is meant by lateralization?
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What is the pituitary gland?
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What is the hippocampus?
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What is the cerebellum?
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What is the reticular formation?
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Does children's appetite increase or decline in the preschool years?
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What type of diet is recommended for preschoolers?
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Why do children need a quality diet on Iron, Calcium, Vitamin A, and Vitamin C?
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Why do children suffer from tooth decay?
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How does tooth decay affect children?
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What is motor development?
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What is the progression of drawing skills?
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What is Piaget's preoperational intelligence?
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What are the limitations of preoperational thought?
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What is a conservation task?
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What is animism?
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What is hierarchical classification?
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What is dual representation?
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What is egocentrism?
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What is Vygotsky's social learning theory?
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What is the apprentice in thinking?
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What is guided participation?
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What are the factors that influence mental development?
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What are the signs of a Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP)?
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What does research indicate about educational media?
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What is fast-mapping?
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What is overregularization?
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What is pragmatics?
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What is emotional regulation?
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What is Erikson's 3rd psychosocial crisis?
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Compare and contrast self-concept and self-esteem.
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What is empathy?
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What factors influence empathy, sympathy, and prosocial behaviors?
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What is emotional competence?
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What are Baumrind's parenting styles?
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Compare and contrast sex differences and gender differences.
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What are the three types of hostile aggression?
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What are the two types of aggression?
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What are the types of cognitive play categories?
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What is self-concept?
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What is self-esteem?
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Compare and contrast self-awareness and self-esteem.
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What is social play?
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What are the types of play?
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What is cognitive play?
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What is onlooker play?
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What is parallel play?
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What is unoccupied play?
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What is associative play?
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What is cooperative play?
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Study Notes
Growth Patterns in Preschool Years
- Average growth of 2-3 inches in height and 5 pounds in weight annually.
- Children's body proportions begin resembling those of adults; they become longer-legged and flat-tummied.
- Skeletal growth includes the emergence of about 45 epiphyses from ages 2 to 6; X-ray assessments help diagnose growth disorders.
- Primary teeth begin to shed by preschool years; genetics and environmental factors influence timing and health.
- 28% of U.S. preschoolers experience tooth decay due to poor diet and inadequate healthcare.
Brain Development
- Brain weight increases from 70% to 90% of adult size between ages 2 and 6 years.
- Major growth in the prefrontal cortex enhances executive functions: physical coordination, impulse control, planning, memory, and language.
- Left hemisphere activity peaks at ages 3-6 for language skills, while right hemisphere activity escalates during early childhood for spatial abilities.
- Continuous lateralization of cognitive functions between the brain hemispheres occurs throughout childhood.
Handedness and Cerebral Dominance
- Handedness indicates the dominant cerebral hemisphere for skilled motor action: left hemisphere for right-handed individuals, shared or right hemisphere for left-handed ones.
- 90% of the population is right-handed, with language primarily located in the left hemisphere.
- Twin orientations in-utero can influence hand preference; culture and practice also play significant roles.
Corpus Callosum and Lateralization
- The corpus callosum connects the cerebral hemispheres and peaks in synapse production and myelination between ages 3-6.
- Lateralization refers to functional specialization in the brain, where different skills are primarily managed by one hemisphere over the other.
Key Brain Structures
- Pituitary Gland: Major endocrine gland crucial for growth and development.
- Hippocampus: Inner brain structure vital for memory and spatial navigation; develops substantially during preschool and elementary years.
- Cerebellum: Controls balance and movement; coordination improvements correlate with motor skills development.
- Reticular Formation: Governs alertness and attention; synapses generation contributes to controlled attention.
Nutrition and Health in Preschoolers
- Appetite declines due to slowed growth; a high-quality diet with limited fats, oils, and sugars is recommended.
- Nutrients such as iron, calcium, Vitamin A, and Vitamin C are essential for physical and mental development.
- Tooth decay in children often results from improper dental hygiene.
Motor Development
- Development split into gross and fine motor skills; gross skills include running, jumping, and tricycle riding.
- Fine motor skills involve self-help abilities like dressing and feeding; increased control enables children to practice complex tasks.
Progression of Drawing Skills
- Scribble Stage (18 months - 3 years): Random scribbles transition to controlled markings, aiding in physical and cognitive development.
- Pre-Schematic Stage (2 - 4 years): Drawings become more complex but unrealistic; children display continued skill growth in observation and problem-solving.
- Schematic Stage (5 - 8 years): Proportional and detailed drawings emerge; colors become realistic, developing patterns and schemas.
- Preteen Stage (9 - 11 years): Drawings exhibit spatial perspective; children may express frustration over their ability to draw realistically.
Piaget's Cognitive Development Stages
- Preoperational Stage (2 - 7 years): Marked by symbolic activity and imagination but lacks logical reasoning.
- Limitations: Children exhibit egocentrism, centration, and irreversibility in thinking, making logical operations difficult.
- Conservation Tasks: Test children’s ability to recognize that certain properties remain unchanged despite physical alterations.
Vygotsky's Social Learning Theory
- Emphasizes the role of language in cognitive development and social dialogues.
- Private speech aids children's self-guidance; it becomes internalized as children grow.
- The zone of proximal development identifies tasks too difficult for independent completion but manageable with assistance.
Factors Influencing Mental Development
- Key aspects include home environment, stimulation variety, emotional support, and avoiding physical punishment.
- Child-centered and academic approaches differ, with formal instruction potentially undermining motivation.
- Project Head Start and other initiatives provide enriching preschool experiences, linking early cognitive benefits to future success.
Dual Representation and Other Concepts
- Dual Representation: Understanding an object as both itself and as something else.
- Hierarchical Classification: Children learn to sort objects into categories by age 7-10.
- Egocentrism: Refers to children's inability to view situations from perspectives other than their own, expressive of their developmental stage.### Educational Outcomes of Preschool Attendance
- Preschool attendees are more likely to graduate from high school and college compared to those without preschool experience.
- Higher earnings and home ownership are also more common among students who attended preschool.
- Many preschool attendees are married by the age of 27.
Developmentally Appropriate Practice (DAP)
- DAP involves teaching methods that are tailored to the individual development levels of children.
- It emphasizes meeting children where they are developmentally and helping them achieve appropriate goals.
Effects of Educational Media
- Slow-paced, narrative television programs enhance early literacy and math skills.
- Such programs encourage imaginative play and correlate with higher academic achievement.
- Excessive consumption of entertainment TV can be detrimental to children's development.
Fast-Mapping
- Fast-mapping is the ability of children to connect new words to their meanings after brief exposure.
- Children categorize new vocabulary based on perceived meanings, often leading to imprecise understandings.
Overregularization
- Overregularization occurs when children apply grammatical rules, making language seem more regular than it is, such as using "falled" instead of "fell."
Pragmatics in Language
- Pragmatics refers to the social aspects of language use, including greetings, requests, and demands.
- It involves adjusting language based on the audience and context, such as how one speaks to a child versus an adult.
- Rules include turn-taking in conversation and using appropriate verbal and nonverbal cues.
Emotional Regulation
- Emotional regulation refers to managing and understanding one's emotions and establishing healthy relationships.
- Key components include recognizing one's feelings, understanding others' emotions, and developing empathy.
Erikson's Third Psychosocial Crisis: Initiative vs. Guilt
- Occurs during the preschool years; children learn to initiate play and cooperate with peers.
- A supportive environment fosters initiative, while excessive criticism can lead to guilt and inhibition in activities.
Self-Concept vs. Self-Esteem
- Self-concept is the factual understanding of oneself, whereas self-esteem pertains to the value and feelings associated with that self-knowledge.
- Both are reflective processes, shaped by self-observation and external feedback.
Empathy vs. Sympathy
- Sympathy is "feeling with" another, while empathy is "feeling into," involving a deeper understanding of another's experiences.
Factors Influencing Empathy and Prosocial Behaviors
- Temperamental traits like sociability and emotional self-regulation contribute to empathic behaviors.
- Warm and sensitive parenting fosters emotional expressiveness and empathetic concern.
Emotional Competence
- Emotional competence includes recognizing and responding to emotions effectively.
- It emphasizes distinguishing useful from non-useful emotions and resolving negative emotions efficiently.
Baumrind's Parenting Styles
- Authoritative: Encouraging verbal communication, acknowledges child's interests; leads to well-rounded outcomes.
- Authoritarian: Strict control and obedience; can lead to anxious dispositions.
- Permissive: Few demands; often results in poor emotional regulation.
- Uninvolved: Minimal responsiveness; neglects child's needs, linked to various behavioral issues.
Comparison of Sex Differences and Gender Differences
- Early childhood is marked by rigid gender stereotypes influenced by environmental factors.
- Children associate various aspects of life with gender, contributing to fixed perceptions of behavior and roles.
Types of Hostile Aggression
- Instrumental Aggression: Aimed at obtaining something; harm is incidental.
- Hostile Aggression: Intent to harm others; includes physical and emotional bullying.
- Relational Aggression: Focuses on damaging relationships, common in older children.
Types of Play
- Categories include unoccupied, solitary, onlooker, parallel, associative, and cooperative play, each reflecting different social interactions and levels of engagement.
Cognitive Play Types
- Functional play, symbolic play, play with rules, and constructive play comprise cognitive play, facilitating learning through active and collaborative participation.
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Description
Test your knowledge on child development during the preschool years with these flashcards. This quiz covers important growth patterns, body proportions, and skeletal growth from ages 2 to 6. Perfect for students in the ABCD Child Development program at Mt. Sac.