1. Early Childhood: Physical and Cognitive Development
CHAPTER 7
Early Childhood: Physical and Cognitive Development

2. Growth Patterns

3. -Slows during preschool years
Growth Patterns
Growth rate
-Slows during preschool years
-Girls and boys gain 2 to 3 inches in height per year
-Weight gains remain fairly even at about 4 to 6 pounds per year
-Children become “slender” as height increases
-Boys become slightly taller and heavier than girls
Variations are shown from child to child

4. Figure 7.1: Growth Curves for Height and Weight, Ages 2 to 6 Years.
The numbers on the curves indicate the percentiles for height and weight at different ages. The growth rate slows down during early childhood. As in infancy, boys are only slightly taller and heavier than girls.
Fig. 7-1, p. 134

5. Development of the Brain
-Brain develops more quickly than any other organ during childhood
-At 2 years, brain is 75% of adult weight
-At 5 years, brain is 90% of adult weight
Increase in brain size due in part to myelination of nerve fibers
Completion of myelination of neural pathways that link the cerebellum to the cerebral cortex helps development of fine motor skills, balance, and coordination.

6. Brain Development (cont’d)
Parts of the brain involved in the ability to sustain attention and screen out distractions have become increasingly myelinated (between ages 4 and 7).
Visual processing speed improves and reaches adult level (at adolescence)
Functions of left and right hemispheres overlap
The hemispheres are aided in cooperation by the myelination of the corpus callosum.
- a thick bundle of nerve fibers that connects the
hemispheres
The parts of the brain that enable the child to sustain attention and screen out distractions become increasingly myelinated between the ages of about 4 and 7, enables most children to focus
on schoolwork.
Research does suggest that in right- handed individuals, the left hemisphere is relatively more involved in intellectual undertakings
The right hemisphere is usually superior in visual–spatial functions, aesthetic and emotional responses, and understanding metaphors.

7. Brain Development (cont’d)
Plasticity
-Brain’s ability to compensate for injuries to particular
parts of the brain
-Greatest at 1 to 2 years of age
Preschoolers with damage to language areas can overcome them due to plasticity.
Neurological factors that enable plasticity include the growth of new dendrites (“sprouting”) and the redundancy of neural connections

8. Motor Development

9. Motor Development Gross motor skills
-Involve large muscles used in locomotion
-ex.: balancing on one foot, walking up stairs, pedaling a bike
-By age 4 to 5, most older preschoolers have mastered large motor skills.
Boys and girls similar in motor skills
-Girls somewhat better in balance and precision
-Boys show some advantage in throwing and kicking
Motor experiences in infancy may affect the development of motor skills in early childhood.

10. Table 7-1, p. 136

11. Table 7-2, p. 137

12. Physical Activity
Preschoolers spend an average of 25 hours a week in large muscle activity.
-Decreases as child ages
Rough-and-tumble play helps develop physical and social skills in children.
-Is not the same as aggressive behavior
Physically active parents are likely to have physically active children.
-Children of active fathers 3.5 times as likely to be active
-Twin studies also suggest there is a genetic tendency
for activity level
Fine motor skills develop gradually, a bit slower than gross motor skills.
Control over the wrists and fingers enables children to hold a pencil properly, dress themselves, and stack blocks

13. Fine Motor Skills & Children’s Artistic Development
Fine motor skills involve the small muscles used in manipulation and coordination.
-Development of drawing is linked to the development of motor and cognitive skills
-Kellogg (1959, 1970) identified basic scribbles needed in the building blocks of art: vertical, horizontal, diagonal, circular, curving, waving/zigzagging, and dots
-Four stages of making scribbles consist of
1. placement
2. shape
3. design
4. pictorial
stage develops from random placement of scribble on paper at age 2 to drawing basic shapes at age three to drawing a recognizable object at age 4 or 5

14. Handedness Handedness emerges during infancy Origins of handedness
-By 4 months
-clear preference for right
hand
-By 6 to 14 months
-preference to grasping with particular hand increases
-By childhood
-clear preference for right or
left hand
Origins of handedness
If both parents are right-handed, 92% chance that child will be right-handed
If both parents are left-handed, 50% chance that child will be left-handed
Heredity contributes to handedness

15. Health and Illness

16. Nutrition Nutritional needs vary by age.
-1- to 3-year-olds need 1,000 to 1,300 calories a day
-Appetite becomes erratic during 2nd and 3rd year of life and caloric needs decrease
-4- to 6-year-olds need 1,400 calories a day
Children are often fed too much salt and sugar.
Food preferences are somewhat environmental.
Repeated exposure to a food increases the liking of it.
Parents are the role model for which types of food a child will like to eat.

17. Minor Illnesses Minor illnesses include -respiratory infections
-gastrointestinal upsets
-last a few days to a week
These diseases in childhood are normal
-Leading killer of children in developing countries is diarrheal illness
American children between the ages of 1 and 3 average eight to nine minor illnesses a year
Between the ages of 4 and 10, the average drops to four to six

18. Major Illnesses
Advances in immunization along with development of antibiotics have reduced and/or eradicated illnesses such as rubella, measles, tetanus, mumps, whooping cough, diphtheria, and polio.
1/3 of children in the U.S. (younger than 18 years of age) suffer from a chronic illness such as:
arthritis, diabetes, cerebral palsy, or cystic fibrosis
Worldwide, 8 to 9 million children die from:
pneumonia, diarrhea, measles, tetanus, whooping cough, and tuberculosis
Air pollution from the combustion of fossil fuels for heating and cooking causes many respiratory infections.
Respiratory infections are responsible for one death in five for children younger than 5 years of age

19. Major Illnesses (cont’d)
Diarrhea
-kills nearly 2 million children under the age of 5 each year
-is due to unsafe drinking water and poor sanitation/hygiene
Lead exposure
-Consuming lead
-Breathing in dust from paint with lead in it
-Drinking tap water with lead in it
-Can contribute to neurological damage and lowered cognitive functioning and other delays in childhood

20. Accidents Number one cause of death in early childhood
-Motor vehicle accidents
Boys
-More likely than girls to incur accidental injuries at all ages and in all socioeconomic groups
Poor children
-Five times as likely to die from fires
-More than twice as likely to die in motor vehicle accidents
High accident rate of low-income children may result in part from living in dangerous housing and neighborhoods.

21. Sleep

22. Sleep Disorders Sleep terrors -More severe than nightmares
-Occur during deep sleep (not during REM)
-Begin in childhood; end in late adolescence
-Can be associated with stress
-May wake suddenly with a surge in heart and respiration rates, talk incoherently; thrash about
Sleep terrors can contribute to child’s fear of going to sleep and insomnia; caretakers have to be understanding and give affection; regular sleep routine helps

23. Sleep Disorders (cont’d)
Sleep walking (somnambulism)
-Children may walk, rearrange toys, go to the bathroom, go to the refrigerator
-Will have no memory of the activity
-Awakening does not cause aggressive behavior
-Onset is between ages of 3 and 8
-Occurs during deep sleep
-Associated with immaturity of the nervous system

24. Table 7-3, p. 141

25. Elimination Disorders

26. Elimination Disorders
Most American children potty train between the ages of 3 and 4; may still have “accidents”
Enuresis
-Failure to control the bladder (urination) once the “normal” age for achieving bladder control has been reached
(usually at age 5)
-Does not include bed-wetting under twice a month
-Immaturity of the motor cortex may be contributor
-Outgrow between age 8 and adolescence
Bed-wetting
-Inability to wake up during the night and go to the bathroom
-8-10% of American children bed wet
-Occurs during deep sleep

27. Elimination Disorders (cont’d)
Encopresis
-Lack of control over the bowels
-More common with boys as is bed-wetting
-1-2% of children at the ages of 7 and 8 have continuing problems with bowels
-Soiling more likely to happen during the day, causing embarrassment to the child
-Stems from physical causes such as chronic constipation as well as psychological factors such
as harsh punishment for toileting accidents

28. Jean Piaget’s Preoperational Stage

29. Jean Piaget’s Preoperational Stage
Preoperational stage lasts from age 2 to age 7.
Language ability is the greatest symbolic activity during this stage.
-Scribbling/drawing begins at start of this stage
Symbolic play (pretend play) is engaged in from months of age.
-Increases in complexity as child ages
Quality of child’s play has long-term implications.
-Preschoolers who engage in violent pretend play are less empathic, less likely to help other children, and more likely to engage in antisocial behavior later on

30. Jean Piaget’s Preoperational Stage (cont’d)
65% of preschoolers have imaginary friends.
-More common among first born and only children than
children with older siblings
Children with imaginary playmates are
-less aggressive, more cooperative, more creative than
children without imaginary friends; show better ability to
concentrate and are more advanced in language development
Egocentrism
-One-dimensional thinking
-Think parents are aware of everything that is happening to them
-Piaget used “three-mountains” test to measure it

31. Figure 7.4: The Three-Mountains Test.
Piaget used the three-mountains test to learn whether children at certain ages are egocentric or can take the viewpoints of others.
Fig. 7-4, p. 144

32. Jean Piaget’s Preoperational Stage (cont’d)
Precausal
-Unless preoperational children know the natural causes of an event, their reasons are likely to be based egocentrically and not based on science.
Transductive reasoning
-Children reason by going from one specific isolated event to another.
Animism
-Attribution of life and intentions to inanimate objects
Artificialism
-Assumes environmental factors such as rain and thunder have been designed and made by people

33. Jean Piaget’s Preoperational Stage (cont’d)
Preoperational child has difficulty making distinctions between mental and physical events; may believe dreams are real
Can only focus on one dimension at a time
Conservation
-Law that holds that properties of substances such as volume, mass, and number remain the same even if you change their shape or arrangement
-Attainment of this skill moves the child into concrete
operational stage
Preoperational child has not mastered reversibility

34. Figure 7.5: Conservation.
(a) The boy in this illustration agreed that the amount of water in two identical containers is equal. (b) He then watched as water from one container was poured into a tall, thin container. (c) When asked whether the amounts of water in the two containers are now the same, he said no.
Fig. 7-5, p. 145

35. Figure 7.6: Conservation of Number.
In this demonstration, we begin with two rows of pennies that are spread out equally, as shown in the left-hand part of the drawing. Then one row of pennies is spread out more, as shown in the drawing on the right-hand side. We then ask the child, “Do the two rows still have the same number of pennies?” Do you think that a preoperational child will conserve the number of pennies or focus on the length of the longer row in arriving at an answer?
Fig. 7-6, p. 146

36. Jean Piaget’s Preoperational Stage (cont’d)
Class inclusion
-Including new objects or categories in broader mental classes or categories
-Requires child to focus on two aspects of a situation at once
-This skill not observed during preoperational stage

37. Factors in Cognitive Development

38. Vygotsky’s Factors in Cognitive Development
Scaffolding
-Temporary support provided by a parent or teacher to learning children
-Guidance by adult decreases as child is capable of carrying out task on their own
Zone of proximal development (ZPD)
-Vygotsky’s term for the situation in which a child carries out tasks with the help of someone who is more skilled
-Gap between what children are capable of doing now and what they could do with help from others
-Adults or older children help in guiding by gearing assistance to children’s capabilities

39. The “HOME” Environment
-Home Observation for the Measurement of the Environment
-Caldwell et al. (2003) developed measure for evaluating children’s home environments
-Contains six subscales
-Better predictor of young children’s IQ than social class, mother’s IQ, or infant IQ scores
-Home environment is connected with occupational success as
an adult
Factors such as parental responsiveness, stimulation, encouraging independence of preschooler are connected with higher IQ scores and greater school achievement.

40. Table 7-4, p. 147

41. Effects of Early Childhood Education
Preschool education enables children to get an early start on achievement in school.
Children from lower SES
-show lower performance on standardized
intelligence tests
-are at greater risk for school failure
Effects of preschool intervention programs
-Studies of Head Start and other enrichment programs show that environmental enrichment as well as parent education can enhance the cognitive development of economically disadvantaged children.

42. Television
U.S. children spend more time watching television than they do in school.
3-year-olds watch 2 to 3 hours of TV per day
Children’s programming
Shows mild to moderate effects on preschoolers’ cognitive development
Sesame Street
Regular viewing increases children’s learning of numbers, letters, and cognitive skills

43. Theory of Mind

44. Theory of Mind
Preschoolers can accurately predict and explain human action and emotion in terms of mental states.
Preschoolers can separate their beliefs from those of another person who has false knowledge of a situation by age 4 to 5.
By age 4, children understand that senses contribute to understanding qualities of an object.
Appearance-reality distinction
-Understanding the difference between real events and mental events

45. Development of Memory

46. Development of Memory
By age 4, children can remember events from 1 1/2 years earlier.
Scripts
-Young children form scripts when describing what happens during a particular event.
-Script becomes more elaborate as it is told
Autobiographical memory (episodic memory)
-Memory or specific events is facilitated by children talking about them with others
Parental interest and questioning increases preschooler’s memory.
Children remember events that follow a logical order easier
Children remember according to interest
Younger children depend on older children for cues to help them retrieve their memories

47. Development of Memory (cont’d)
When preschoolers are younger, they remember more than they reported.
Verbal reports used to measure accuracy of preschoolers’ memory appear to underestimate their memory.
Rehearsal
-Memory strategy using repetition; engaged in around 5 years
Sorting objects enhances preschoolers’ memory.
Memory strategies advance during middle childhood.

48. Language Development: Why “Daddy Goed Away”

49. Development of Vocabulary
Preschoolers learn an average of 9 words a day.
Fast-mapping
-Process where child quickly attaches a new word to its
appropriate concept
Whole-object assumption
-Assume that words refer to whole objects and not to their component parts or characteristics
Contrast assumption
-The assumption that objects have only one label

50. Development of Grammar
Children’s sentence structure increases during 3rd year of life
Overregularization
-Children acquire grammatical rules as they learn language; young ages apply rules rigidly
-Reflects accurate knowledge of grammar
Certain “wh” questions (what, who, where) appear earlier than others (why, when, which, how).
Passive sentences are difficult for 2- and 3-year-olds.

51. Pragmatics and Language
-Practical aspects of communication
-Children demonstrate pragmatism when they adjust speech to fit the social situation
Language and cognitive development are interwoven.
Piaget maintained cognitive development precedes language development.
-Children learn the word and then apply it to the category
Research on which develops first is inconclusive
Vygotsky maintained that vocalizations and thoughts are separate during the first year.
Inner speech
-Spoken aloud thoughts are internalized