Life Span Development
The Play Years (ages 2 to 6):
Biosocial Development – Chapter 8
Cognitive Development – Chapter 9
June 29, 2004
Class #7
Body and Brain
•
Young children’s body and brain develop
according to powerful epigenetic forces
–
–
Biologically driven
Socially guided
Body Shape and Growth Rates

Lower body lengthens


child becomes slimmer
Steady increase in height and weight


3 inches in height per year
4 1/2 pounds in weight per year
Genes and Ethnic and Cultural Differences



Genetic background prepares child to be
experience-expectant
Cultural patterns and differences guide
development
Most influential factors


genes, health, nutrition
Other influencing factors

sex, birth order, geography
Eating Habits

Food should be nutritious


Isn’t always—often far from “ideal”
Enough calories—not enough vitamins and
minerals—major nutritional problems are
iron-deficiency anemia
 too much sugar
 too much fat
 not enough fruits and vegetables

Brain Development

Underlies rapidly expanding cognitive
abilities



by age 2, 75% of brain weight achieved
by age 5, 90% of brain weight achieved
pruning of dendrites has occurred
Speed of Thought

Myelination

process by which axons become insulated with a
coating of myelin, a fatty substance that speeds
transmission of nerve impulses
thoughts follow each other fast enough for children
to perform one task after another
 fast processing essential for fast and complex
communication
 experience affects rate of myelination

Connecting the Brain’s Hemispheres

Corpus Callosum

Large band of
neural fibers
that connects
the two brain
hemispheres
Lateralization

The two sides of our brains serve different
functions (lateralized or specialization of
tasks):



Left hemisphere: Language, math, logic
Right hemisphere: spatial abilities, face recognition,
visual imagery, musical and artistic abilities,
emotional tasks.
This is the case for almost all righthanders
(about 95%) and about half of lefthanders
Planning and Analyzing

Prefrontal cortex (or frontal lobe) is the
final part of the human brain to reach
maturity


the area in the very front of the brain that is
least developed in nonhumans
mid-adolescence

maturation occurs gradually and incomplete until
advances at about age 3 or 4 make possible impulse
control and formal education
Perseveration

The tendency to persevere, to stick to a
thought or action long after it is time to move
on

Occurs normally in young children—another aspect
of immature self- control
Educational Implications of Brain
Development

By age 6, children are ready for formal
instruction

before, brain not sufficiently developed in ways it
needs to be, but now child can
sit still for more than an hour
 scan a page of print
 balance sides of body
 draw and write with one hand
 listen and think before talking
 remember important facts
 control emotions

Gross Motor Skills

Large body movements improve




Running, jumping, climbing, throwing
Gross motor skills are practiced and
mastered
Motor skills develop as rapidly as brain
maturation, motivation, guided practice, and
innate ability allow
Children learn basic motor skills by teaching
themselves and learning from other children
Fine Motor Skills

Small body movements are harder to master


pouring, cutting, holding crayon, tying
lacking the muscular control, patience, and
judgment needed
fingers short and fat
 confusion over which is dominant hand

Artistic Expression

Children’s artistic endeavors are also their
play

drawings often connected to perception and
cognition



gradual maturation of brain and body is apparent
artwork helps develop fine motor skills
in artwork, many children eagerly practice
perseveration
Serious Injuries

Accidents are the most common cause of
childhood death



poison, fire, falls, choking, and drowning
unintended injuries cause millions of
premature deaths per year until the age of 40;
then disease becomes greatest cause of
mortality
Injury control/harm reduction

the idea that accidents are not random, but
can be made less harmful with proper control
Three Levels of Prevention

Primary prevention


Secondary prevention


Actions that change overall background conditions
to prevent some unwanted event or circumstance
Actions that avert harm in the immediate situation
Tertiary prevention

Actions taken after an adverse event to reduce the
harm or prevent disability
Example: Pedestrian Deaths
.

Primary prevention:


Secondary prevention:


Better sidewalks, slower speeds, wider roads,
longer traffic signals, etc.
Improving car brakes, having school-crossing
guards, having children walk with adults, etc.
Tertiary prevention:

Protective helmets, laws against hit-and-run
driving, emergency room procedures, etc.
Child Maltreatment

Abuse and neglect



child maltreatment—intentional harm or avoidable
endangerment to child
child abuse—deliberate action that is harmful to
child’s well-being
child neglect—failure to meet child’s basic needs
Child Maltreatment
•
Sensational cases attract attention
-
but don’t represent the typical case
still, we need to learn lessons about abuse
in order to understand its causes and
consequences
-
Case Studies:
- Madelyn Gorman Toogood
- Andrea Yates
Child Maltreatment

Yates family
photo
Child Maltreatment

Andrea Yates in
jail after arrest
Child Maltreatment


Types of abuse: physical, sexual,
emotional, and educational
Neglect twice as common as abuse


one sign is failure to thrive
another is hypervigilance

can be a symptom of post-traumatic stress
disorder
Consequences of Maltreatment

Possible brain damage

Shaken baby syndrome


condition caused by maltreatment involving shaking a
crying baby, with severe brain damage as result
Brain damage in despondent or terrorized child

memory may be impaired; logical thinking may be
delayed
Consequences of Maltreatment
•
Another brain disorder may appear in
neglected child with clinically depressed
mother unable to provide emotional
support and guidance
-
•
right prefrontal cortex develops more than
left; consequently, negative emotions
dominate, with greater likelihood of
depression occurring
Inadequate essential nourishment also
impedes normal brain development
Consequences of Maltreatment

Impaired Social Skills


less friendly, more isolated and aggressive
the earlier abuse begins, the worse the
relationship with peers
Three Levels of Prevention

Primary prevention—prevents maltreatment before
problem starts


need for family support, e.g.,
 stable neighborhoods
 basic values
 SES
Secondary prevention—responds to first symptoms
or signs of risk
-
spots and treats early problems
 identifies high-risk children
potential disadvantages
 wrongfully stigmatizes family as inadequate
 undermines helpful cultural or family patterns
 creates sense of helplessness in families
Three Levels of Prevention

Tertiary prevention—halting harm after it
occurs, then treating victim



removal from family
adoption
Foster care—legally sanctioned, publicly
supported plan that transfers care of maltreated
child from parents to others
Chapter 9:
How Young Children Think

Piaget—Swiss developmentalist

believed young children were limited by their
egocentric perspective


egocentrism—Piaget’s term for type of centration in
which child sees world solely from his/her personal
perspective
Vygotsky—Russian developmentalist

recognized how child’s social/cultural context
helps shape his/her cognitive development
Preoperational

Begins about the time the child starts to
talk to about age 6 or 7







Applying new knowledge of language, the child begins
to use symbols to represent objects
Early in this stage the child also personifies objects
The child is now better able to think about things and
events that aren't immediately present
Oriented to the present, the child has difficulty
conceptualizing time
Thinking is influenced by fantasy – the way they
would like things to be – and they assume that others
see situations from the same viewpoint
They take in information and then changes it in their
mind to fit their ideas
Teaching must take into account the child's vivid
fantasies and undeveloped sense of time
Preoperational

They are egocentric….


Can’t see things from another’s point of view
yet…
 They may stand in front of the TV
blocking everyone else’s view
Children do not yet have conservation…

They do not yet understand logical mental
operations…
 See next three slides
Conservation of Liquid
Saul Kassin, Psychology. Copyright © 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Reprinted by permission.
Conservation of Substance
Saul Kassin, Psychology. Copyright © 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Reprinted by permission.
Conservation of Number
Saul Kassin, Psychology. Copyright © 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Reprinted by permission.
Vygotsky’s Views

Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky
(1896-1934) focused not on the
physical world (as Piaget did) but rather
on the social world of people

He felt that the infant’s mind grows as a
result of its interaction with other minds
Vygotsky: Children as Apprentices

One Theory

theory-theory
 idea that children attempt to construct a
theory to explain everything they see and
hear
Vygotsky: Children as Apprentices

Children do not strive alone; their efforts
are embedded in social context

parents guide young children’s cognitive
growth in many ways
present new challenges for learning
 offer assistance and instruction
 encourage interest and motivation

Scaffolding
Scaffolding—sensitive structuring of child’s
participation in learning encounters
Zone of proximal development (ZPD)— skills
too difficult for child to perform alone but
that can be performed with guidance and
assistance of adults or more skilled children



lower limit of ZPD can be reached independently
upper limit of ZPD can be reached with assistance
ZPD is a measure of learning potential
Vygotsky’s Views

Two main principles:


Cognitive development is limited to a
certain range at any given age
Full cognitive development requires social
interaction