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developmental exam 2 Questions with
Detailed Verified Answers
Question: describe height and weight as well as brain development
during the preschool years
Ans✅ ✅: -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
Question: explain how preschoolers acquire gross motor skills
Ans✅ ✅: -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)
Question: describe sex differences as well as individual differences in
relationship to gross motor skill development
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Ans✅ ✅: -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
Question: explain the role of drawing and its relationship to the
development of motor and cognitive skills
Ans✅ ✅: -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
Question: describe the four stages of picture drawing...
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Ans✅ ✅: -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
Question: describe the origin of handedness
Ans✅ ✅: -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
Question: explain the nutritional needs of preschool-age children
Ans✅ ✅: -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
Question: describe the sleep needs and sleep patterns of preschool
children
, Page | 4
Ans✅ ✅: -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)
Question: compare and contrast potential sleep disorders common to
early childhood
Ans✅ ✅: -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
Question: apply jean piaget's preoperational stage theory (symbolic
thought, pretend play, and egocentrism) to early childhood development
developmental exam 2 Questions with
Detailed Verified Answers
Question: describe height and weight as well as brain development
during the preschool years
Ans✅ ✅: -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
Question: explain how preschoolers acquire gross motor skills
Ans✅ ✅: -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)
Question: describe sex differences as well as individual differences in
relationship to gross motor skill development
, Page | 2
Ans✅ ✅: -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
Question: explain the role of drawing and its relationship to the
development of motor and cognitive skills
Ans✅ ✅: -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
Question: describe the four stages of picture drawing...
, Page | 3
Ans✅ ✅: -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
Question: describe the origin of handedness
Ans✅ ✅: -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
Question: explain the nutritional needs of preschool-age children
Ans✅ ✅: -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
Question: describe the sleep needs and sleep patterns of preschool
children
, Page | 4
Ans✅ ✅: -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)
Question: compare and contrast potential sleep disorders common to
early childhood
Ans✅ ✅: -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
Question: apply jean piaget's preoperational stage theory (symbolic
thought, pretend play, and egocentrism) to early childhood development
