Physical and Cognitive Development in Early Childhood

1. Chapter 7: Physical and Cognitive Development in Early Childhood

2. In this chapter

3. Physical ChangesGrowth and Motor Development In early childhood: Changes in height and weight happen more slowly during early childhood than infancy Impressive gains in major locomotor skills Manipulative skills improve but less so than major motor skills

4. Physical ChangesChildren’s Drawing Early training can accelerate rate children learn school-related fine-motor skills Older children benefit more from training more than younger Learning to write letters aids in letter understanding

5. Figure 7.1 Stages in Children’s Drawing

6. The Brain and Nervous SystemLateralization Lateralization: left and right halves of the brain's cerebral cortex execute different functional specializations Contributes to important neurological milestones in early childhood

7. The Brain and the Nervous System Basic outline of lateralization is genetically determined Genes dictate functions to be lateralized Experience shapes pace of lateralization Figure 7.2 Lateralization of Brain Function

8. The Brain and Nervous SystemMyelinization Myelinization: protective, fatty material wraps around nerve cells in the peripheral and central nervous system • Reticular formation • Hippocampus

9. The Brain and Nervous SystemHandedness Right or Left…Not right or wrong! 83% right-handed 14% left-handed 3% ambidextrous Appears very early in life Research suggests genetic link

10. Health and WellnessEating patterns Preschoolers: Often eat less than when babies May not consume the majority of daily calories at mealtime Challenges: Food aversions may surface Eating behaviors bring on family conflicts

11. Health and WellnessIllnesses and Accidents Illness Each year, 4 – 6 bouts of brief sickness High levels of family stress more likely to produce sick children

12. Health and WellnessIllnesses and Accidents Accidents 25% of U.S. children under 5 have one accident in any one year requiring medical attention Most occur in home Major cause of death in preschoolers More common among boys

13. Abuse and NeglectChild abuse What is child abuse? Child Abuse: Physical or psychological injury resulting from adult’s intentional exposure of child to potentially harmful stimuli, sexual acts, or neglect

14. Abuse and NeglectChild Abuse Prevalence Prevalence Responsible for about 10% of emergency room visits Between 1% and 5% of children suffer physical abuse 2000 infants and children die each year as result of child abuse

15. Abuse and NeglectRisk factors Overview: Sociocultural factors Personal or cultural values that regard physical abuse as morally acceptable Cultural traditions that view children as property Communities that support these beliefs

16. True or False? Episodes of abuse are typically precipitated by everyday interactions between parent and child.

17. Abuse and NeglectRisk factors: Child Characteristics Characteristics of child • Physical or mental disabilities • Difficult temperaments • Age

18. Abuse and NeglectRisk factors: Abuser Characteristics Characteristics of abuser • Depressed • Lacking in parenting skills and knowledge • History of abuse themselves • Substance abusers • Live-in male partners

19. Abuse and NeglectRisk factors: Family Stress Family stress • Poverty • Unemployment • Inter-parental conflicts The presence of several factors in combination increases likelihood of abuse

20. Abuse and NeglectConsequences of Abuse Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Delays in all developmental domains Children removed from the abusive situation typically appear to catch up within 1 year.

21. Abuse and NeglectPrevention Preventing abuse begins with education! • Inform parents about consequences • Parenting classes • Identify families at risk • Protect children from further injury

22. Cognitive ChangesPiaget’s Preoperational Stage: Overview Preoperational Stage

23. Cognitive ChangesPiaget’s Preoperational Stage: Centration Centration: tendency to think of world one variable at a time Use of animism or belief that inanimate objects are alive

24. Cognitive ChangesPiaget’s Preoperational Stage: Egocentrism Egocentrism: child’s tendency to view things from own perspective Guided by object appearance May create frustration in communication Piaget Three-mountain task (See Figure 7.3)

25. Figure 7.3 Piaget’s Three Mountain Task

26. Cognitive ChangesPiaget’s Preoperational Stage: Conservation Conservation: understanding that change in appearance can occur without change in quantity

27. Figure 7.4 Piaget’s Conservation Tasks

28. Cognitive ChangesChildren’s Play and Cognitive Development

29. Challenges to Piaget’s ViewsDo you agree or disagree? Children as young as 2 and 3 have at least some ability to understand that another person sees things or experiences things differently than they do.

30. Challenges to Piaget’s ViewsEmotions

31. Challenges to Piaget’s ViewsFlavell Flavell’s perspective-taking ability levels Level One – child knows that other people experience things differently: begins at 2 – 3 years Level Two –child develops a series of complex rules to figure out precisely what the other person sees or experiences: begins at 4 – 5 years

32. Theories of Mind Theory of Mind: understanding thoughts, desires, and beliefs of others

33. Theories of Mind

34. Theories of Mind

35. Theories of Mind Influences on Development of a Theory of Mind Correlated with: • Performance on Piaget’s tasks • Pretend play • Shared pretense with other children • Discussion of emotion-provoking events with parents • Language skills and working memory • Cross-cultural influences

36. Alternative Theories of Early Childhood Thinking Neo-Piagetian Theories: Robbie Case • Short-term storage space (STSS) • Operational efficiency • Matrix Classification Task Let’s take a closer look at this task.

37. Figure 7.5 Neo-Piagetian Matrix Task

38. Alternative Theories of Early Childhood ThinkingInformation Processing Theories Metamemory: Knowledge about and control of memory processes Metacognition: Knowledge about and control of thought processes Scripts: Cognitive structures underlie behavior and emerge during middle childhood

39. Alternative Theories of Early Childhood ThinkingVygotsky’s Socio-Cultural Theory Overview Emphasis on role of social factors in cognitive development Problem solutions socially generated and learned Key principles: Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) and scaffolding

40. Alternative Theories of Early Childhood ThinkingVygotsky’s Socio-Cultural Theory Stages of Cognitive Development

41. Alternative Theories of Early Childhood ThinkingVygotsky’s Socio-Cultural Theory How are Vygotsky’s stages related to the eventual development of adult thinking? Each stage represents a step toward child’s internalization of ways of thinking used by adults around him or her.

42. Changes in Language Fast-mapping: Ability to categorically link new words to real word referents • Occurs at about age 3 • Rapid formation of hypothesis about new word’s meaning Remember: Word learning drives process of language development

43. Changes in Language Grammar Explosion Grammar Explosion: Period when grammatical features of child speech becomes more adultlike Inflections Questions and Negatives Overregularizations Complex sentences

44. Changes in LanguagePhonological Awareness Phonological awareness: Child’s sensitivity to sound patterns that are specific to a language • Awareness of sounds represented by letters • Learned in school through formal instruction • Primarily developed through word play • Related to invented spelling

45. Figure 7.6 Invented Spelling

46. Differences in IntelligenceMeasuring Intelligence Alfred Binet Lewis Terman: Intelligence Quotient (IQ) Wechsler Intelligence Scales for Children

47. Differences in IntelligenceSomething to Consider An important assumption in studying differences in intelligence is that these differences can be measured.

48. The Normal Curve IQ scores form a normal distribution – the famous “bell curve” with which you may be familiar. Can you explain what this bell curvetells us about IQ?

49. Differences in Intelligence Stability and Predictive Value of IQ Scores • Correlation between IQ score and future grades is about .50 – .60. • Consistent relationship are found within social classes and racial groups. • IQ scores are quite stable BUT do not measure underlying competence.

50. Stop and think! A high level of predictability masks an interesting fact about children being tested. Do you know what this is?