Test Two Study Guide Chapter Seven Early Childhood Physical and Cognitive Development 2 6 years old o Physical Growth Influences on Physical Development Heredity and Hormones o Children s physical size and rate of growth are related to o Genes influence growth by controlling the body s production those of their parents of hormones o The pituary gland located at the base of the brain plays a critical role by releasing two hormones that induce growth o The first growth hormone is necessary for development of all body tissues except the central nervous system and the genitals o The thyroid stimulating hormone prompts the thyroid gland in the neck to release thyroxine which is necessary in brain development and for GH to have its full impact on body size Emotion Well Being o Children with stressful home lives suffer more respiratory and intestinal illnesses and more unintentional injuries than others o High stress suppresses the release of GH extreme emotional deprivation can to psychosocial dwarfism a growth disorder that usually appears between ages 2 and 15 Typical characteristics include decreased GH secretion very short stature immature skeletal age and serious adjustment problems Nutrition slowed o Preschooler s appetite declines because their growth has o They require a high quality diet children tend to imitate the food choices of people they admire o Too much parental control limits children s opportunities to develop self control Infectious Disease and Malnutrition 1 o Disease is a major contributor to malnutrition affects both physical growth and cognitive development o Illness reduces appetite and limits the body s ability to absorb o Most developmental impairments and deaths are due to diarrhea and can be prevented with oral rehydration therapy foods ORT o Immunization widespread of immunization of infants prevents infectious diseases Childhood Injuries o Accidental injuries occur within a complex ecological system of individual family community and societal influences o Boy are 1 5 more likely to be injured than girls Children with certain temperamental and personality characteristics inattentiveness over activity irritability defiance and aggression are also at greater risk o Poverty single parenthood and low parental education are strongly associated with injury o Childhood injury rates are high in the United States because of extensive poverty shortages of high quality child care and a high rate of birth to teenagers who are not ready for parenthood o Motor Development Gross and Fine Motor Milestones During the preschool years children continue to integrate previously acquired skills into more complex dynamic systems Gross Motor Development o Center of gravity shifts downward toward the trunk balance improves greatly o By age 2 preschoolers become smooth and rhythmic running jumping galloping and skipping Experiment with new skills throwing and catching balls o 5 and 6 year old steer and pedal tricycles and flexibly move their whole body when throwing catching hopping and jumping 2 o By the end of preschool gross motor skills are performed with greater speed and endurance Fine Motor Development o Control of the fingers and hands improves o Children s care of their own bodies Self help skills o Drawings and paintings Scribbles First representational forms More realistic drawings Early printing When parents and teachers criticize a child s performance push specific motor skills or promote competitive attitude they risk undermining children s self confidence and motor progress o Cognitive Development Piaget s Theory Preoperational Stage 2 7 years old o Extraordinary increase in representational or symbolic activity o Make Believe Play development of representation in childhood Through pretending young children practice and strengthen newly acquired representational schemes increases sophistication Play detaches from real life conditions Play becomes less self centered Play includes more complex combination of schemes Sociodramatic Play the make believe with others that is under way around age 2 and increases rapidly during the next few years o Symbol Real World Relations Dual Representation viewing a symbolic object as both an object in its own right and a symbol Limitations of Preoperational Thought o Egocentrism failure to distinguish the symbolic viewpoints of others from one s own prevents children from accommodating 3 Three Mountains Problem Children cannot select a picture that shows the mountains from the doll s perspective Instead they simply choose the photo that reflects their own vantage point o Animistic Thinking the belief that inanimate objects have lifelike qualities such as thoughts wishes feelings and intentions o Conservation refers to the idea that certain physical characteristics of objects remain the same even when their outward appearance changes Centration focus on one aspect of a situation neglecting other important factors Irreversibility inability to mentally go through a series of steps in a problem and then reverse direction returning to the starting point o Hierarchal Classification the organization of objects into classes and subclasses on the basis of similarities and differences o Illogical Thought o Categorization o Appearance vs Reality 4 Chapter Eight Early Childhood Emotional Development 2 6 years old o Vygotsky s Sociocultural Theory Stresses the social context on cognitive development During childhood rapid growth of language broadens preschoolers participation in social dialogues with more knowledgeable individuals who encourage them to master culturally important tasks o Language helps children think about their mental activities and behavior and select courses of actions foundation for all higher cognitive processes controlled attention deliberate memorization recall categorization planning problem solving and self reflection Private Speech children s self directed speech children use more of it when tasks are appropriately challenging after they make errors or when they are confused about how to proceed Scaffolding adjusting the support offered during a teaching session to fit the child s current level of performance The adult uses direct instruction Guided Participation a broader concept than scaffolding It refers to shared endeavors between more expert and less expert participants without specifying the precise features of communication o Erikson Initiative vs Guilt Erikson described early childhood as a period of vigorous