Early Childhood

Chapter 7-8Psyc311Jen Wright

body development Eating habits 2-6 year olds eat less than infants and older

children. “Just right” phenomenon – picky eaters!

Like: salty/sweet foods Dislike: bitter/sour foods

Learning what is appropriate and not appropriate to eat

Early signs of disgust Infants show “disgust” facial expression Strong food preferences

Role of disgust

Higher order cognition evolved Protection against dangerous substances

Infants: facial expression associated with rejection of food they dislike Poisonous foods often bitter Rotten foods often sour

Facial expression also functions as warning Protection against contamination

Children not sensitive to contamination until early childhood

Protection against deformity and disease

Higher-order disgust

Physical contamination social contamination 7-8 year olds “cooties”

Physical contamination moral contamination

Examples?

Obesity Early signs of obesity as young as 2 years old Obesity rates among 2- to 5-year-olds rose to

14% for the years 2003-2006 compared with 5% in 1980

Need less food than did as an infant Problem for forcing child to “clean their plate” Esp w/ desert as an incentive!

Attraction to salty and sweet foods Too much juice Junk food Not enough veggies and fibers

Other contributors Too much (full fat) milk Not enough physical/mental activity

Consequences

Type II diabetes 50% of some children in low-income areas http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rutaw8OJ9Wo

Bone development problems Stunted hip/leg bone growth

Cardiovascular disease HBP, High cholesterol Lower IQ Obesity programs for toddlers?

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Story?id=5602922&page=1

developing cognitive skills Memory development

Still better memory for content than context No memory of when/where something is learned

Increase in “executive function” Impulse control

Delayed gratification Perseverance http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EjJsPylEOY

Ability to override current intentions given new information

Color/shape card sorting game

sort by color

sort by shape

What is the driving force behind this development?

Brain maturation Plasticity

Cognitive exploration Piaget Vygotsky

brain development Brain is 95% of adult weight by 6 years of age.

Much of this is due to myelination. Rapid growth and death spurts as brain

restructures High degree of plasticity

Thickening of corpus callosum Bi-hemospheric communication Better, faster thinking More coordinated actions

Frontal lobe development Not completed until late adolescence/early adulthood

Piaget’s theory Child as Scientists Children learn on their own Children are intrinsically

motivated to learn. Language and education play

only minimal roles.

Sensorimotor – birth to 2 years Pre-operational – 2 to 7 years

Vygotsky: socio-cultural theories

Children as Apprentices Child learns through social

interaction Children are socially motivated to

learn Language and education play

central roles.

Children as apprentices guided

participation

Scaffolding temporary support that

is tailored to a learner’s needs and abilities and aimed at helping the learner master the next task in a given learning process

Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) The skills that we can

exercise only with assistance, not yet independently.

ZPD applies to the ideas or cognitive skills we are close to mastering as well as to more apparent skills.

Examples?