Psychology 240 – Flashcards

Physical growth increases during the years from 3 to 6, but more slowly than during infancy and toddlerhood. Boys are on average slightly taller, heavier, and more muscular than girls. Internal body systems are maturing, and all primary teeth are present. Preschool children generally eat less for their weight than before--and need less--but the prevalence of obesity has increased.

Sleep patterns change during early childhood and are affected by cultural expectations. It is normal for preschool children to develop bedtime rituals that delay going to sleep. Prolonged bedtime struggles or persistent sleep terrors or nightmares may indicate emotional disturbances that need attention. Bed-wetting is common and is usually outgrown without special help.

Children progress rapidly in gross and fine motor skills and eye-hand coordination, developing more complex systems of action. Stages of art production, which appear to reflect brain development and fine motor coordination, are the scribbling stage, shape stage, design stage, and pictorial stage. Handedness is usually evident by age 3, reflecting dominance by one hemisphere of the brain.

The self-concept undergoes major change in early childhood. According to neo-Piagetians, self-definition shifts from single representations to representational mappings. Young children do not see the difference between the real self and the ideal self. Understanding of emotions directed toward the self and of simultaneous emotions develops gradually.

According to Erikson, the developmental conflict of early childhood is initiative versus guilt. Successful resolution of this conflict results in the "virtue" of purpose. Self-esteem in early childhood tends to be global and unrealistic, reflecting adult approval.

Gender identity is an aspect of the developing self-concept. The main gender difference in early childhood is boys' greater aggressiveness. Girls tend to be more empathic and prosocial and less prone to problem behavior. Some cognitive differences appear early, others not until preadolescence or later. Children learn gender roles at an early age through gender-typing. Gender stereotypes peak during the preschool years. Four major perspectives on gender development are biological, psychoanalytic, cognitive, and socialization-based. Evidence suggests that some gender differences may be biologically based.

In Freudian theory, a child identifies with the same-sex parent after giving up the wish to possess the other parent. According to social cognitive theory, children learn gender roles through socialization. Parents, peers, and the media influence gender-typing. Cognitive-developmental theory maintains that gender identity develops from thinking about one's gender. According to Kohlberg, gender constancy leads to acquisition of gender roles. Gender-schema theory holds that children categorize gender-related information by observing what males and females do in their culture.

Major contagious illnesses, obesity has increased. under-nutrition,. Food allergies are becoming increasingly common. Accidents are the leading cause of death. Exposure to poverty, smoking, air pollution and pesticides increase risks of illness or injury.

Play has physical, cognitive, and psychosocial benefits. Changes in the types of play children engage in reflect cognitive and social development. According to Piaget and Smilansky, children progress cognitively from functional play to constructive play, pretend play, and then formal games with rules. Pretend play becomes increasingly common during early childhood and helps children develop social and cognitive skills. Rough-and-tumble play also begins during early childhood. According to Parten, play becomes more social during early childhood. However, later research has found that nonsocial play is not necessarily immature. Children prefer to play with (and play more socially with) others of their sex. Cognitive and social aspects of play are influenced by the culturally approved environments adults create for children.

Peer group is more important in middle childhood. Peer grps consist in of children of similiar age & sex, SES, neighborhood. Boys tend to have more friends, whereas girls tend to have closer friends

A child at about age 7 enters the stage of concrete operations. Children are less egocentric than before and are more proficient at tasks requiring logical reasoning, such as spatial thinking, understanding of causality, categorization, inductive and deductive reasoning, conservation, and working with numbers. However, their reasoning is largely limited to the here and now. Cultural experience, as well as neurological development, seems to contribute to the rate of development of conservation and other Piagetian skills. According to Piaget, moral development is linked with cognitive maturation and occurs in two stages as children move from rigid to more flexible thinking.

Children in the preoperational stage show several important advances, as well as some immature aspects of thought. The symbolic function enables children to reflect upon people, objects, and events that are not physically present. It is shown in deferred imitation, pretend play, and language. Early symbolic development helps preoperational children make more accurate judgments of spatial relationships. They can understand the concept of identity, link cause and effect, categorize living and nonliving things, and understand principles of counting. Centration keeps preoperational children from understanding principles of conservation. Their logic also is limited by irreversibility and a focus on states rather than transformations. Preoperational children appear to be less egocentric than Piaget thought. The theory of mind, which develops markedly between the ages of 3 and 5, includes awareness of a child's own thought processes, social cognition, understanding that people can hold false beliefs, ability to deceive, ability to distinguish appearance from reality, and ability to distinguish fantasy from reality. Hereditary and environmental influences affect individual differences in theory-of-mind development.

School-age children spend less time w/ parents & are less close to them. But relationships are important. Family environment has 3 major components: Family structure & family atmosphere.

Although sensory memory shows little change with age, the capacity of working memory increases greatly during middle childhood. The central executive, which controls the flow of information to and from long-term memory, seems to mature between ages 8 and 10. Reaction time, processing speed, selective attention, and concentration also increase. These gains in information-processing abilities may help explain the advances Piaget described. Metamemory, selective attention, and use of memory strategies improve during these years.

During middle childhood aggression declines. Highly aggressive children tend to be unpopular but may gain in status as children move into adolescence. Aggressiveness is promoted by lots of exposure to media (TV, video games) but could be established earlier.

Information-processing models describe three steps in memory: encoding, storage, and retrieval. At all ages, recognition is better than recall, but both increase during early childhood. Early episodic memory is only temporary; it fades or is transferred to generic memory. Autobiographical memory begins at about age 3 or 4 and may be related to early self-recognition ability and language development. Children are more likely to remember unusual activities that they actively participate in. The way adults talk with children about events influences memory formation.

The intelligence of school-age children is assessed by group or individual tests. IQ tests are fairly good predictors of school success but may be unfair to some children. Differences in IQ among ethnic groups appear to result to a considerable degree from socioeconomic and other environmental differences. Schooling seems to increase measured intelligence. Attempts to devise culture-free or culture-fair tests have been unsuccessful. IQ tests tap only three of the "intelligences" in Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences. According to Robert Sternberg's triarchic theory, IQ tests measure mainly the componential element of intelligence, not the experiential and contextual elements. New directions in intelligence testing include the Sternberg Triarchic Abilities Tests (STAT), Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC), and tests based on Vygotsky's concept of dynamic testing

Common emotional and behavioral disorders among school-age children include anxiety or mood disorders and disruptive behavioral disorders. Childhood depression often emerges during the transition to middle school; its prevalence increases during adolescence. Treatment techniques include individual psychotherapy, family therapy, behavior therapy, play therapy, art therapy, and drug therapy. Often therapies are used in combination.

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The roots of altruism and prosocial behavior appear early. This may be an inborn disposition, which can be cultivated by parental modeling and encouragement. Instrumental aggression--first physical, then verbal--is most common in early childhood. Most children become less aggressive after age 6 or 7, but the proportion of hostile aggression increases. Boys tend to practice overt aggression, whereas girls often engage in relational aggression. Preschool children show temporary fears of real and imaginary objects and events; older children's fears tend to be more realistic.

Sibling and peer relationships contribute to self-efficacy. Most sibling interactions are positive. Older siblings tend to initiate activities, and younger ones to imitate. Same-sex siblings, especially girls, get along best. Siblings tend to resolve disputes on the basis of moral principles. Parental intervention in sibling conflict, especially among younger siblings, may prevent worse conflict later. The kind of relationship children have with siblings often carries over into other peer relationships. Only children seem to develop at least as well as children with siblings. Preschoolers choose playmates and friends who are like them. Aggressive children are less popular than prosocial children. Friends have more positive and negative interactions than other playmates. Parenting can affect children's social competence with peers.

During early childhood, vocabulary increases greatly, and grammar and syntax become fairly sophisticated. Children become more competent in pragmatics. Private speech is normal and common; it may aid in the shift to self-regulation and usually disappears by age 10. Causes of delayed language development are unclear. Although many children who speak late catch up, treatment may be needed to avoid serious cognitive, social, and emotional consequences. Interaction with adults can promote emergent literacy

Growth slow in middle childhood, and wide differences in height and weight exist. Children with retarded growth due to growth hormone deficiency may be given synthetic growth hormone. Proper nutrition is essential for normal growth and health. The permanent teeth arrive in middle childhood. Dental heath has improved, in part because of use of sealants on chewing surfaces. Malnutrition can affect all aspects of development. Obesity, which is increasingly common among U.S. children, entails health risks. It is influenced by genetic and environmental factors and can be treated. Concern with body image, especially among girls, may lead to eating disorders. Because of improved motor development, boys and girls in middle childhood can engage in a wide range of motor activities. About 10 percent of schoolchildren's play, especially among boys, is rough-and-tumble play. Many children, mostly boys, go into organized, competitive sports. A sound physical education program should aim at skill development and fitness for all children. Many children, especially girls, do not meet fitness standards.