DEVELOPMENTAL EXAM 2 UPDATED QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
describe height and weight as well as brain development during the preschool years - CORRECT
ANSWER✅✅-brain develops more quickly than any other organ in early childhood...brain development
helps improve processing of visual info
-growth rate in height and weight slow during preschool years
-girls/boys tend to gain about 2-3 inches per year...weight gain is fairly even (4-6 lbs/year
-start to shed baby fat, boys become taller and heavier than girls
explain how preschoolers acquire gross motor skills - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅-age 3, children can
balance on one foot
-3-4: can walk up stairs as adults do by placing a foot on each step
-4-5: can skip, pedal a tricycle
-in general, preschoolers acquire gross motor skills by teaching themselves and watching observing
other children (imitating other kids is more important than adult instruction at this age)
describe sex differences as well as individual differences in relationship to gross motor skill development
- CORRECT ANSWER✅✅-boys/girls similar in motor skills overall throughout early childhood
-boys a little better at throwing/kicking
-girls a little better at balance/precision
-individual differences are larger than gender differences throughout early/middle childhood
-some kids genetically predisposed to develop better coordination or strength
-motivation/practice: extremely important
-motor experiences in infancy play role too...kids with early crawling experience perform better on
motor skills tests than kids who do not
explain the role of drawing and its relationship to the development of motor and cognitive skills -
CORRECT ANSWER✅✅-artistic development is linked to the development of motor and cognitive skills
-children begin to scribble during age 2
-holding pencils/ crayons...motor skills
-children's early drawings tend to be symbolic of broad categories (draw same building if told to draw a
school or a house)
,-beyond age 5, children become able to draw pictures they have in mind...can also copy figures better
-drawing helps with creativity
describe the four stages of picture drawing... - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅-placement: two year olds;
scribble in various locations on the page...in the middle, near the borders
-shape: age 3: kids can draw basic shapes (squares, circles)
-design: as soon as they can draw shapes, they can start to combine the shapes into designs
-pictorial: ages 4-5; designs begin to resemble recognizable objects
describe the origin of handedness - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅-some infants show no hand preference
during infancy
-in most cases by age 2-3 months, a rattle placed in an infant's hand is held longer in the right hand than
the left
-by 4 months, most infants show a clear-cut right hand preference
-preferring to grasp with one hand or the other increases markedly between 6-14 months
-handedness becomes more strongly established during early childhood (most people right handed)
-origins of handedness have genetic component: if both parents are right-handed, you have a 92%
chance of being right-handed too
-if both parents are left-handed, you have 50% chance of being left handed
explain the nutritional needs of preschool-age children - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅-2-3 year olds need
apprx 1000-1400 calories per day
- 4-8 year olds need about 1200-2000 per day
-need balanced diet of protein sources, fruits, veggies, diary, grains
describe the sleep needs and sleep patterns of preschool children - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅-don't need
as much sleep as infants
-11-13 hours of sleep recommended in a 24-hour period
-common pattern: 9-10 hours at night plus nap of 1-2 hours
-many need transitional object (blanket, stuffed animal)
,compare and contrast potential sleep disorders common to early childhood - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅-
sleep terrors: occur during deep sleep, more severe than nightmares, begin in early childhood, outgrow
by adolescence..sometimes associated w stress...may wake suddenly with surge in heart/respiration
rates...may then fall back to sleep...kids might become afraid of going to sleep...could eventually
develop insomnia
-nightmares: occur during lighter REM sleep
-sleepwalking (somnambulism): more common in kids than adults (ages 3-8)...reflects immaturity of the
nervous system...declines w age
apply jean piaget's preoperational stage theory (symbolic thought, pretend play, and egocentrism) to
early childhood development - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅-preoperational stage: second stage of piaget's
scheme (ages 2-7)
-kids learn how to think, logic is under construction
-characterized by mental manipulation of symbols...
-preoperational thought: use symbols to represent objects, how objects relate to each other, most
important for kids to learn language during this time
-symbolic function: remember things even if you don't see it right in front of you...
-symbolic thought: symbols to represent objects...language...drawings are symbols of objects
-symbolic play: pretend play...make believe toys/other objects are other things
-egocentrism: put oneself at the center of things...can't see world from another's shoes..."3 mountains
test"...can see from other's viewpoint
-kids who engage in violent pretend play are less empathic, more likely to engage in antisocial behavior
later on
-quality of pretend play is connected to child's academic performance later on...social and creativity
skills too
-imaginary friends: usually happens with only children, firstborns...these kids are less aggressive more
creative and cooperative, have more real friends more language advancements
-precausal, transductive reasoning, animism, artificialism, conservation, centrationclass inclusion
apply Vgotsky's concepts of scaffolding and zone of proximal development to early childhood
development - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅-scaffolding: temporary support provided by parents,
teachers...guidance provided decreases as the child gets better at the task
, -zone of proximal development: where optimal development occurs...venn diagram: one circle: what
one cannot do even with help...other circle: what one can do by one's self...in the middle: zone of
proximal development: probably can do these things if pushed )taking off training wheels)
-zone is where children develop new cognitive skills as a function of working with more skilled
people...key forms of cognitive development occurs through interaction with older and more
experienced adults who teach and guide them
describe how a preschooler would discuss their understanding of theory of mind; compare this
understanding to an adult's - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅-theory of mind: seeing from others' perspectives
-sally/anne task: sally leaves ball in crate...sally leaves and anne puts ball in box...young kids say sally will
look for ball in box when she gets back because they don't understand that she has a different
perspective...adults say she'll look in crate first bc that's where she left it
-don't understand that people have different perspectives, only see their own perspective
- 3 year olds don't understand this, but 6 year olds usually can...autistic kids struggle w theory of mind
explain autobiographical memory (episodic memory) and the factors that influence memory - CORRECT
ANSWER✅✅-autobiographical memory: the memory of specific events or episodes...facilitated by
children talking about the memories with others
-by age 4, kids can remember events that occurred at least 1.5 years earlier
-3 year olds can present, coherent, orderly accounts of familial events (form scripts or generalized
accounts of those repeated events)
-factors that influence memory: what the child is asked to remember, the interest level of the child, the
availability of retrieval cues or reminders, and the memory measure being used
-kids find it easier to remember events that follow a fixed and logical order (cookie recipe instruction
order rather than playing randomly in the sand)
-boys and girls show better recognition for the toys in which they were interested in
-children remember more when given cues to help them retrieve memories
-remember more when asked to use dolls to reenact an event rather than just being asked to give a
verbal report
describe how words are learned by preschoolers - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅-development of vocab
happens quickly
-kids learn an average of 9 new words per day
describe height and weight as well as brain development during the preschool years - CORRECT
ANSWER✅✅-brain develops more quickly than any other organ in early childhood...brain development
helps improve processing of visual info
-growth rate in height and weight slow during preschool years
-girls/boys tend to gain about 2-3 inches per year...weight gain is fairly even (4-6 lbs/year
-start to shed baby fat, boys become taller and heavier than girls
explain how preschoolers acquire gross motor skills - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅-age 3, children can
balance on one foot
-3-4: can walk up stairs as adults do by placing a foot on each step
-4-5: can skip, pedal a tricycle
-in general, preschoolers acquire gross motor skills by teaching themselves and watching observing
other children (imitating other kids is more important than adult instruction at this age)
describe sex differences as well as individual differences in relationship to gross motor skill development
- CORRECT ANSWER✅✅-boys/girls similar in motor skills overall throughout early childhood
-boys a little better at throwing/kicking
-girls a little better at balance/precision
-individual differences are larger than gender differences throughout early/middle childhood
-some kids genetically predisposed to develop better coordination or strength
-motivation/practice: extremely important
-motor experiences in infancy play role too...kids with early crawling experience perform better on
motor skills tests than kids who do not
explain the role of drawing and its relationship to the development of motor and cognitive skills -
CORRECT ANSWER✅✅-artistic development is linked to the development of motor and cognitive skills
-children begin to scribble during age 2
-holding pencils/ crayons...motor skills
-children's early drawings tend to be symbolic of broad categories (draw same building if told to draw a
school or a house)
,-beyond age 5, children become able to draw pictures they have in mind...can also copy figures better
-drawing helps with creativity
describe the four stages of picture drawing... - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅-placement: two year olds;
scribble in various locations on the page...in the middle, near the borders
-shape: age 3: kids can draw basic shapes (squares, circles)
-design: as soon as they can draw shapes, they can start to combine the shapes into designs
-pictorial: ages 4-5; designs begin to resemble recognizable objects
describe the origin of handedness - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅-some infants show no hand preference
during infancy
-in most cases by age 2-3 months, a rattle placed in an infant's hand is held longer in the right hand than
the left
-by 4 months, most infants show a clear-cut right hand preference
-preferring to grasp with one hand or the other increases markedly between 6-14 months
-handedness becomes more strongly established during early childhood (most people right handed)
-origins of handedness have genetic component: if both parents are right-handed, you have a 92%
chance of being right-handed too
-if both parents are left-handed, you have 50% chance of being left handed
explain the nutritional needs of preschool-age children - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅-2-3 year olds need
apprx 1000-1400 calories per day
- 4-8 year olds need about 1200-2000 per day
-need balanced diet of protein sources, fruits, veggies, diary, grains
describe the sleep needs and sleep patterns of preschool children - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅-don't need
as much sleep as infants
-11-13 hours of sleep recommended in a 24-hour period
-common pattern: 9-10 hours at night plus nap of 1-2 hours
-many need transitional object (blanket, stuffed animal)
,compare and contrast potential sleep disorders common to early childhood - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅-
sleep terrors: occur during deep sleep, more severe than nightmares, begin in early childhood, outgrow
by adolescence..sometimes associated w stress...may wake suddenly with surge in heart/respiration
rates...may then fall back to sleep...kids might become afraid of going to sleep...could eventually
develop insomnia
-nightmares: occur during lighter REM sleep
-sleepwalking (somnambulism): more common in kids than adults (ages 3-8)...reflects immaturity of the
nervous system...declines w age
apply jean piaget's preoperational stage theory (symbolic thought, pretend play, and egocentrism) to
early childhood development - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅-preoperational stage: second stage of piaget's
scheme (ages 2-7)
-kids learn how to think, logic is under construction
-characterized by mental manipulation of symbols...
-preoperational thought: use symbols to represent objects, how objects relate to each other, most
important for kids to learn language during this time
-symbolic function: remember things even if you don't see it right in front of you...
-symbolic thought: symbols to represent objects...language...drawings are symbols of objects
-symbolic play: pretend play...make believe toys/other objects are other things
-egocentrism: put oneself at the center of things...can't see world from another's shoes..."3 mountains
test"...can see from other's viewpoint
-kids who engage in violent pretend play are less empathic, more likely to engage in antisocial behavior
later on
-quality of pretend play is connected to child's academic performance later on...social and creativity
skills too
-imaginary friends: usually happens with only children, firstborns...these kids are less aggressive more
creative and cooperative, have more real friends more language advancements
-precausal, transductive reasoning, animism, artificialism, conservation, centrationclass inclusion
apply Vgotsky's concepts of scaffolding and zone of proximal development to early childhood
development - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅-scaffolding: temporary support provided by parents,
teachers...guidance provided decreases as the child gets better at the task
, -zone of proximal development: where optimal development occurs...venn diagram: one circle: what
one cannot do even with help...other circle: what one can do by one's self...in the middle: zone of
proximal development: probably can do these things if pushed )taking off training wheels)
-zone is where children develop new cognitive skills as a function of working with more skilled
people...key forms of cognitive development occurs through interaction with older and more
experienced adults who teach and guide them
describe how a preschooler would discuss their understanding of theory of mind; compare this
understanding to an adult's - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅-theory of mind: seeing from others' perspectives
-sally/anne task: sally leaves ball in crate...sally leaves and anne puts ball in box...young kids say sally will
look for ball in box when she gets back because they don't understand that she has a different
perspective...adults say she'll look in crate first bc that's where she left it
-don't understand that people have different perspectives, only see their own perspective
- 3 year olds don't understand this, but 6 year olds usually can...autistic kids struggle w theory of mind
explain autobiographical memory (episodic memory) and the factors that influence memory - CORRECT
ANSWER✅✅-autobiographical memory: the memory of specific events or episodes...facilitated by
children talking about the memories with others
-by age 4, kids can remember events that occurred at least 1.5 years earlier
-3 year olds can present, coherent, orderly accounts of familial events (form scripts or generalized
accounts of those repeated events)
-factors that influence memory: what the child is asked to remember, the interest level of the child, the
availability of retrieval cues or reminders, and the memory measure being used
-kids find it easier to remember events that follow a fixed and logical order (cookie recipe instruction
order rather than playing randomly in the sand)
-boys and girls show better recognition for the toys in which they were interested in
-children remember more when given cues to help them retrieve memories
-remember more when asked to use dolls to reenact an event rather than just being asked to give a
verbal report
describe how words are learned by preschoolers - CORRECT ANSWER✅✅-development of vocab
happens quickly
-kids learn an average of 9 new words per day
