Physical and Cognitive Development in Early Childhood 7 Physical and Cognitive Development in Early Childhood This multimedia product and its contents are protected under copyright law. The following are prohibited by law: any public performance or display, including transmission of any image over a network; preparation of any derivative work, including the extraction, in whole or part, of any images; any rental, lease, or lending of the program.

Growth and Motor Development Changes in height and weight happen more slowly during early childhood. Child adds about 2 – 3 inches and 6 pounds per year Steady progress in major locomotor skills Running, jumping, skipping Manipulative skills improve but less so than major motor skills Steady progress in major locomotor skills. See Table 7.1. Manipulative skills improve. Fine motor control used for letters and drawing will improve enough during age 5 – 6 for school skills to be displayed. See Figure 7.1. © 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers

Figure 7.1 Stages in Children’s Drawings FIGURE TO COME © 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers

Figure 7.1 Stages in Children’s Drawings (continued) © 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers

Growth of the Corpus Callosum The Brain and Nervous System Lateralization Growth of the Corpus Callosum Helps create functional specialization of left and right hemispheres Genes provide the mechanism for lateralization but experience provides the pace. Lateralization of language functions to the left hemisphere is tied to language production. © 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers

Figure 7.2 Lateralization of Brain Function © 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers

The Brain and Nervous System Myelinization Reticular formation Regulates attention and concentration Hippocampus Transfer of information to long term memory © 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers

The Brain and Nervous System Handedness 83% right-handed 14% left-handed 3% ambidextrous Appears very early in life Research suggests a genetic link Emerges between 2 and 6 years of age. © 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers Health and Wellness Eating patterns Often eat less than when babies Food aversions surface Eating behaviors bring on family conflicts May not consume the majority of daily calories at mealtime © 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers

Illnesses and Accidents Health and Wellness Illnesses and Accidents Each year, 4 – 6 bouts of brief sickness High levels of family stress more likely to produce sick children 25% of U.S. children under 5 have one accident in any one year requiring medical treatment More common among boys 4 – 6 bouts of sickness yearly – most often colds or flu. © 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers Abuse and Neglect Child abuse Physical or psychological injury resulting from an adult’s intentional exposure of a child to potentially harmful stimuli, sexual acts, or neglect 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 the result of child abuse 2/3 of abuse results in physical injury. 25% involves sexual abuse. 5% involves neglect. © 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers Abuse and Neglect Risk factors Socio-cultural factors Personal or cultural values that regard physical abuse as morally acceptable Arise from cultural traditions of children as property Living in communities that support these beliefs increases abuse Episodes of abuse are typically precipitated by everyday interactions between parent and child, such as a child spilling milk. © 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers Abuse and Neglect Risk factors Characteristics of the child Physical or mental disabilities Difficult temperaments Characteristics of the abuser Depressed Lacking in parenting skills and knowledge History of abuse themselves Substance abusers Live-in male partners whose children are not theirs © 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers Abuse and Neglect Risk factors Family stress Poverty Unemployment Interparental conflicts The presence of several factors in combination increases likelihood of abuse © 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers Abuse and Neglect Consequences of Abuse Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Delays in all domains of development Children removed from the abusive situation appear to catch up © 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers Abuse and Neglect Preventing abuse begins with education! Information to parents Parenting classes Identification of families at risk Protect children from further injury © 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers

Piaget’s Preoperational Stage Cognitive Changes Piaget’s Preoperational Stage Increased proficiency in the use of symbols Still have difficulty thinking logically Centration Child’s tendency to think of the world in terms of one variable at a time © 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers Cognitive Changes Egocentrism Child’s tendency to look at things from his or her own perspective May create frustration in communication Piaget Three-mountain task See Figure 7.3 © 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers

Figure 7.3 Piaget’s Three Mountain Task © 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers

Inability to solve conservation tasks Cognitive Changes Piaget’s Preoperational Stage Animism The belief that inanimate objects are alive Irreversibility The inability to mentally reverse actions or ideas Inability to solve conservation tasks See Figure 7.4 Conservation – the understanding that matter can change appearance without changing in quantity. © 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers

Figure 7.4 Piaget’s Conservation Tasks © 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers

Challenges to Piaget’s Views Children as young as 2 and 3 seem to have at least some ability to understand that another person sees things or experiences things differently than they do Flavell’s perspective-taking ability 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 out precisely what the other person sees or experiences: begins at 4 – 5 years Studies also suggest children regulate their emotions based on social expectations – a behavior not possible if children are completely egocentric. © 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers

Challenges to Piaget’s Views Young children do understand others’ emotions Can regulate their own emotions Appearance and Reality Older children understand the same object can be represented differently, depending on point of view © 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers Theories of Mind Understanding thoughts, desires, and beliefs 18 months – rudimentary beginnings Age 3 – some aspects of link between people’s thinking, feelings, and behavior Age 4 – basic principle that each person’s actions are based on their representation of reality © 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers Theories of Mind 4 – 5 year olds Can’t understand that others can think about them Don’t understand that most knowledge can be derived from inference (this understanding develops by age 6) 5 – 7 year olds Understand reciprocal nature of thought False Belief Principle Children can look at a problem from another’s point of view and discern what information causes a person to believe something that isn’t true Reciprocal nature of thought is needed to form reciprocal friendships, and to develop social skills. © 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers 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 Some research suggests cross-cultural replication Language skills, such as knowledge of words like want, need, think, or remember are related to theory of mind. Children with disabilities – congenital deafness or mental retardation develop a theory of mind more slowly. © 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers

Alternative Theories of Early Childhood Thinking Neo-Piagetian Theories: Robbie Case Short-term storage space (STSS) Refers to child’s working memory Operational efficiency Limited number of schemes to which a child can attend Improves through practice and brain maturation Matrix Classification Requires child to place a given stimulus in two categories simultaneously Operational Efficiency — the 7 year old is better able to handle the processing demands of conservation tasks than is a 4-year-old because of improvements in operational efficiency. © 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers

Figure 7.5 Neo-Piagetian Matrix Task © 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers

Metamemory Metacognition Alternative Theories of Early Childhood Thinking Information Processing Theories Metamemory Knowledge about and control of memory processes. 2 – 6 year olds have poor strategies for memory Metacognition Knowledge about and control of thought processes Enables the child to generate strategies to solve problems Both metamemory and metacognition improve during childhood. © 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers

Alternative Theories of Early Childhood Thinking Vygotsky’s Socio-Cultural Theory Stages of Cognitive Development Primitive stage Infant possesses mental processes “similar to animals” Learns primarily through conditioning Naïve psychology stage Learns to use language to communicate but does not understand symbols Private Speech stage Uses language as a guide to solve problems Internalized by 6-7 Ingrowth stage Logical thinking results from internalization of speech acquired from children and adults in a social world Remember from chapter two, Vygotsky emphasizes social interactions as mechanisms for cognitive development. © 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers Changes in Language Fast-mapping Occurs about age 3 Ability to categorically link new words to real-world referents Rapidly form a hypothesis about a new word’s meaning 2.5 year old – 600 word vocabulary. 5 – 6 year old – vocabulary is as much as 15,000 words; 10 new words a day. Fast-mapping begins as early as 3 as children begin to think of groups of objects in a single class. Grammar Explosion – see Table 7.2, page 183. © 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers Grammar Explosion Inflections Additions that change meaning Earliest inflection in English is the addition of –ing: “Where going?” Questions and Negatives Use particular sets of rules Overregularization Using rules when they don’t apply Complex sentences Use conjunctions to combine two ideas or using imbedded clauses Strongly linked to vocabulary development. Inflections – add -s to cat to change meaning. Questions – learns to add to questions with who, what, where and why. Negatives – put in not, -n’t, or no but omit the auxiliary verb; for example, “ I not crying.” © 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers

Phonological Awareness A child’s sensitivity to sound patterns that are specific to a language Awareness of sounds being represented by letters Can be learned in school through formal instruction The greater a child’s phonological awareness, the faster s/he learns to read Primarily develops through word play Nursery rhymes Games involving repetitive words Invented spelling – attempting to write © 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers

Figure 7.6 Invented Spelling © 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers

Differences in Intelligence Measuring Intelligence Alfred Binet Identify children who might have difficulty in school Lewis Terman Intelligence Quotient (IQ) Mental age/chronological age x 100 = IQ 2/3 of children exhibit an IQ between 85 and 115 Wechsler Intelligence Scales for Children Verbal scales Performance scales Working memory scales Binet and Simon – measured vocabulary, comprehension of facts and relationships, mathematical and verbal reasoning. © 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers

Figure 7.7 The Normal Curve © 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers

Differences in Intelligence Stability and Predictive Value of IQ Scores Correlation between IQ score and future grades is about .50 – .60 Consistent relationship within social classes and racial groups IQ scores are quite stable BUT IQ tests do not measure underlying competence Correlations show a strong relationship between IQ and school performance. High intelligence, regardless of class, is associated with resiliency and the ability to develop the kind of self-confidence and personal competence to overcome obstacles. Lower IQ is associated with delinquency in adolescence, adult illiteracy, and criminal behavior. © 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers

Origins of Individual Differences in Intelligence Heredity Twin and adoption studies show strong influence of heredity Family Influences Adoption studies also provide support for environmental influences Children adopted in higher social class homes had higher IQ scores Parents of higher social class provide interesting and complex learning environments Age-appropriate play materials Warm and appropriate responses to behavior Quick in answering questions Talk to children often Avoid being excessively restrictive, punitive, or controlling © 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers

Origins of Individual Differences in Intelligence Preschool Influences Formal education programs help Head Start aids poor children and supports intellectual development Provide intellectual stimulation Help children to acquire new vocabulary Children show a gain of about 10 IQ points Long term impact on children Less likely to be placed in special education, repeat a grade More likely to graduate high school When an enrichment program is begun in infancy rather than at age 3 or 4, IQ scores remain elevated into adulthood. © 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers

Figure 7.8 Early Education and IQ Scores © 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers

Group Differences in Intelligence Test Scores Chinese and Japanese children Demonstrate higher performance on achievement tests African American children consistently score lower than white children. Differences appear to be narrowing Fall within the reaction range of scores possible with different environments May reflect poverty differences Mixed-race adoptions studies support environmental influence Flynn Effect: over last two centuries IQ scores have increased in all groups; argues for environmental effects Chinese and Japanese children consistently demonstrate higher performance on achievement tests, particularly math and science. © 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers

© 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers Questions to Ponder Piaget sees the child as the little scientist who works on her own to discover knowledge. Vygotsky suggests children learn from skilled social partners in a social setting. Which theory or combination describes children the best? Why? What makes Head Start a successful program? © 2009 Allyn & Bacon Publishers