PSYCH 2314, Lifespan & Growth, Chap. 5-10,
Exam #2, T. Klein, DMC Study Set
Vygotsky's Sociocultural Theory - ANSWER the approach that emphasizes how
cognitive development proceeds as a result of social interactions between
members of a culture
Describe the growth rate of children in early childhood. - ANSWER - grows 2.5
inches & 5-7 lbs per year
- growth rate slows
- head still large for body
- body fat - slow steady decline
- girls are only slightly smaller and lighter than boys - continues until puberty
- girls have more fatty tissue than boys
- boys have more muscle tissue than girls
5 yrs old - taller & weigh more, longer truck and legs
Describe the development of the brain at this age. - ANSWER - maturation of the
brain and experience add to emerging cognitive abilities
- brain size does not increase dramatically from 3-15
- dramatic changes of local patterns within the brain
- brain material doubles in nearly a year, while brain tissue decreases as
unneeded cells are pruned from unused areas; brain continues to reorganize
- 3 to 6 most rapid growth in prefrontal cortex; plays a key role in planning and
organizing new actions and maintaining attention to tasks
- # & size of dendrites increase
- myelination continues - increasing the speed & efficiency of traveling
information through the nervous system
What gross motor skills are now possible in early childhood? - ANSWER Age 3 -
hopping, jumping, running back and forth
Age 4 -
more adventurous - climb stairs using one foot at a time in both directions; climb
low jungle gyms
Age 5 -
run hard and enjoy races; adventurous at climbing and performing stunts
Describe how nutrition affects the development of a young child. - ANSWER
nutrition and exercise affects their skeletal growth, body shape, and
susceptibility to disease
,What are the trends related to obesity with children? - ANSWER - 20% of US 4 yo
are obese
- 45% of children's meals exceed levels of saturated and trans fat - increasing
the risk of heart disease
- 1/3 of children's calories come from restaurants - high in salt & fat
- french fries and other fried potatoes are the vegetable most likely consumed
- % of overweight has increased dramatically - fewer preschool children are
obese
- 12.1% of 2-5 classified as obese
- overweight children are 4x more likely to be obese at 14
- US has 2nd highest rate of childhood obesity
BMI - ANSWER body mass index (measurement of body fat based on height and
weight)
Are there trends in obesity rates according to race/ethnicity of the child? -
ANSWER obesity is more common for:
- Hispanic
- African American
- Native American (highest)
How much exercise should a child get each day? - ANSWER Preschoolers - 2 hrs
per/day
1 hr structured
1 hr unstructured
Child's life structured on activities not meals
What is malnutrition? - ANSWER lack of proper nutrition, caused by not having
enough to eat, not eating enough of the right things, or being unable to use the
food that one does eat.
How many children in this country are served by programs to alleviate hunger? -
ANSWER 7-8 million
preoperational stage of development (2-7) - ANSWER - symbolic thought (words,
images, drawings)
- form stable concepts & begin to reason
- has obtained object permanence
- has not yet mastered object conservation
- has not yet mastered empathy
- has not yet mastered complex thinking
- engages in parallel play
- dominated by egocentrism & magical play
- no operations (reversible mental actions)
, centration - ANSWER focusing attention on one characteristic to the exclusion of
all others
conservation - ANSWER In Piaget's theory, awareness that altering an object's
or a substance's appearance does not change its basic properties.
Focus on appearance (Piaget) - ANSWER the child ignores everything except
appearance:
taller = older
girl = long hair
boy = older
Static reasoning (Piaget) - ANSWER child assumes that the world is unchanging
- whatever it is now has always been and always will be. Not the same person if
they normally:
have glasses vs. seen w/o glasses
have facial hair vs. clean shaven
change hair style
or believe a show stops when the TV goes off
irreversability - ANSWER the child fails to recognize that reversing a process
can sometimes restore whatever existed before the transformation occurred
(Ex. take lettuce off a sandwich)
Zone of Proximal Development ZPD (Vygotsky) - ANSWER In Vygotsky's theory,
the range between children's present level of knowledge and their potential
knowledge state if they receive proper guidance and instruction; stage when
children can benefit from instruction
- inner circle (already know)
- outer circle (don't know, but ready to learn)
- beyond outer circle (not ready to learn)
Scaffolding (Vygotsky) - ANSWER support of learning allows students to
complete tasks they are not able to complete independently
Private Speech (Vygotsky) - ANSWER Children's self-talk, which guides their
thinking and action; eventually internalized as silent inner speech; used for
social communication, to solve tasks, and to plan, guide, and monitor their
behavior
information processing theory - ANSWER a perspective that compares human
thinking processes, by analogy, to computer analysis of data, including sensory
Exam #2, T. Klein, DMC Study Set
Vygotsky's Sociocultural Theory - ANSWER the approach that emphasizes how
cognitive development proceeds as a result of social interactions between
members of a culture
Describe the growth rate of children in early childhood. - ANSWER - grows 2.5
inches & 5-7 lbs per year
- growth rate slows
- head still large for body
- body fat - slow steady decline
- girls are only slightly smaller and lighter than boys - continues until puberty
- girls have more fatty tissue than boys
- boys have more muscle tissue than girls
5 yrs old - taller & weigh more, longer truck and legs
Describe the development of the brain at this age. - ANSWER - maturation of the
brain and experience add to emerging cognitive abilities
- brain size does not increase dramatically from 3-15
- dramatic changes of local patterns within the brain
- brain material doubles in nearly a year, while brain tissue decreases as
unneeded cells are pruned from unused areas; brain continues to reorganize
- 3 to 6 most rapid growth in prefrontal cortex; plays a key role in planning and
organizing new actions and maintaining attention to tasks
- # & size of dendrites increase
- myelination continues - increasing the speed & efficiency of traveling
information through the nervous system
What gross motor skills are now possible in early childhood? - ANSWER Age 3 -
hopping, jumping, running back and forth
Age 4 -
more adventurous - climb stairs using one foot at a time in both directions; climb
low jungle gyms
Age 5 -
run hard and enjoy races; adventurous at climbing and performing stunts
Describe how nutrition affects the development of a young child. - ANSWER
nutrition and exercise affects their skeletal growth, body shape, and
susceptibility to disease
,What are the trends related to obesity with children? - ANSWER - 20% of US 4 yo
are obese
- 45% of children's meals exceed levels of saturated and trans fat - increasing
the risk of heart disease
- 1/3 of children's calories come from restaurants - high in salt & fat
- french fries and other fried potatoes are the vegetable most likely consumed
- % of overweight has increased dramatically - fewer preschool children are
obese
- 12.1% of 2-5 classified as obese
- overweight children are 4x more likely to be obese at 14
- US has 2nd highest rate of childhood obesity
BMI - ANSWER body mass index (measurement of body fat based on height and
weight)
Are there trends in obesity rates according to race/ethnicity of the child? -
ANSWER obesity is more common for:
- Hispanic
- African American
- Native American (highest)
How much exercise should a child get each day? - ANSWER Preschoolers - 2 hrs
per/day
1 hr structured
1 hr unstructured
Child's life structured on activities not meals
What is malnutrition? - ANSWER lack of proper nutrition, caused by not having
enough to eat, not eating enough of the right things, or being unable to use the
food that one does eat.
How many children in this country are served by programs to alleviate hunger? -
ANSWER 7-8 million
preoperational stage of development (2-7) - ANSWER - symbolic thought (words,
images, drawings)
- form stable concepts & begin to reason
- has obtained object permanence
- has not yet mastered object conservation
- has not yet mastered empathy
- has not yet mastered complex thinking
- engages in parallel play
- dominated by egocentrism & magical play
- no operations (reversible mental actions)
, centration - ANSWER focusing attention on one characteristic to the exclusion of
all others
conservation - ANSWER In Piaget's theory, awareness that altering an object's
or a substance's appearance does not change its basic properties.
Focus on appearance (Piaget) - ANSWER the child ignores everything except
appearance:
taller = older
girl = long hair
boy = older
Static reasoning (Piaget) - ANSWER child assumes that the world is unchanging
- whatever it is now has always been and always will be. Not the same person if
they normally:
have glasses vs. seen w/o glasses
have facial hair vs. clean shaven
change hair style
or believe a show stops when the TV goes off
irreversability - ANSWER the child fails to recognize that reversing a process
can sometimes restore whatever existed before the transformation occurred
(Ex. take lettuce off a sandwich)
Zone of Proximal Development ZPD (Vygotsky) - ANSWER In Vygotsky's theory,
the range between children's present level of knowledge and their potential
knowledge state if they receive proper guidance and instruction; stage when
children can benefit from instruction
- inner circle (already know)
- outer circle (don't know, but ready to learn)
- beyond outer circle (not ready to learn)
Scaffolding (Vygotsky) - ANSWER support of learning allows students to
complete tasks they are not able to complete independently
Private Speech (Vygotsky) - ANSWER Children's self-talk, which guides their
thinking and action; eventually internalized as silent inner speech; used for
social communication, to solve tasks, and to plan, guide, and monitor their
behavior
information processing theory - ANSWER a perspective that compares human
thinking processes, by analogy, to computer analysis of data, including sensory
