Child Development

PHYSICAL & MOTOR

DEVELOPMENT

Friday, September 8th

Happy Friday! Our calm before the storm…

As you enter, please:

Pick up a KWL chart off the front table

Complete your KWL chart as follows:

Childhood Development

K What I Know Write down 3+ things you already know

W What I Want to Know Write down 3+ things you want to know

Pick out your favorite & write it on our

anchor chart upfront

L What I Have Learned We’ll complete this part next week!

Class Updates

Unit 3 Classwork & Homework – graded & in Synergy

Psych Progress Reports

Return signed by next Wednesday for bonus points!

1B – went home yesterday – any returns??

2B – going home today

Infant, Toddler, Child

Infant: first year

Toddler: from about 1 year to 3 years of age

Child: span between toddler and teen

Basic Growth Rates

Growth rate declines throughout infancy but

is faster than during any other postnatal period

double birth weight in 5 months

triple birth weight by 1 year

gain 4-6 pounds/year afterwards

grow 10 inches in 1st year

grow 4-6 inches more in 2nd year

grow 2-3 inches/year afterwards until

adolescent growth spurt

Basic Development

physical and motor development in children

goes from:

head to toe

example: lift and turn head before sitting up

big muscles to small muscles or center outward

example: move arms well before finger coordination

brain more extensive neural networks form

Rank the following motor and verbal abilities according to

their developmental sequence, beginning with 1, which

indicates the first ability to develop, and ending with 12:

Order of

Development

Motor and Verbal Abilities

_____ Walks alone; says several words

_____ Describes the difference between a bird and a dog

_____ Turns head to follow moving object

_____ Names penny, nickel, and dime

_____ Climbs stairs; says many words

_____ Laces shoes

_____ Sits alone for one minute; says “da-da”

_____ Tells how a baseball and an orange or an airplane and a kite are alike

_____ Puts on shoes

_____ Tells time to quarter hour

_____ Runs; uses simple word combinations

_____ Walks while holding onto something

4

10

1

9

5

8

2

12

7

11

6

3

2 months

9 months

12 months

15 months

18 months

2 years

3 years

4 years

5 years

6 years

7 years

8 years

Development Timetable

"maturational" perspective

belief that child development occurs according to a biological,

predetermined, naturally unfolding plan of growth, relatively

uninfluenced by experience

maturation sets basic course for development, experience

adjusts it

"normative" approach to studying children

observed large numbers of children of various ages and

determined the typical age, or "norms," for which most

achieved developmental milestones

some children may skip a step

still in use today

Crash Course –

The Growth of Knowledge

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nz2dtv--ok

Child Development

Cognitive Development

Cognitive Development

Refers to the way children mentally represent and think

about the world

Growth and extension of thinking, knowing, remembering,

and communicating

Happens over many years

Piaget’s Cognitive Stages

Jean Piaget

Developmental psychologist who introduced

a 4-stage theory of cognitive development

According to him, children…

think differently than adults

develop more mature/complex thinking skills as

they get older

Schemas

Schema: mental framework, mold or organizational structure that

interprets information

Exists of reflexes at birth

Schemas are adjusted and learning is internalized through:

Assimilation: the inclusion of a new event or idea into an existing

schema

Child comes to understand difference between a “daddy bull”, a “mommy cow”,

and a “baby calf” incorporates this learning into existing “cow” schema

Schemas

Schemas are adjusted and learning is internalized through:

Accommodation: changing or creating new schemas as a result of new

information and experiences

Child learns that not all vehicles with flashing lights are police cars creates

new schemas for ambulances, fire trucks, etc.

Assimilation and Accommodation work together: Adaptation process

Assimilation and Accommodation

Child has learned what a dog is and now sees a

picture of a horse for the first time:

ASSIMILATION ACCOMMODATION

Dog

But larger

Large dog

But has a mane

Dog with a mane

But has hooves

Dog with mane & hooves

Horse

Sensorimotor Stage

1st stage during which infants know the world mostly in terms of

their sensory impressions and motor activities

Lasts from birth to 2 years

Circular Reactions: repetitive motions babies engage in as they

explore their environment nonreflexively

Throwing food off high chair to watch it fall

Shaking rattle repeatedly to make a sound

Sensorimotor Stage

Object Permanence: understanding that objects continue to

exist, even when hidden from view

“Out of sight” is literally “out of mind” prior to around 6 to 8 months of age

Preoperational Stage

2nd stage during which a child learns to represent things with

words and images but does not yet comprehend the mental

operations of concrete logic

Language development

Draw pictures

Understands language but not logic

Lasts from ages 2 to 6

Preoperational Stage

Egocentrism: assumption that others think the same way you do; cannot perceive the world from another’s point of view Child who makes himself “invisible” by putting his hands over his eyes

Child who blocks the TV and assumes you can see it because she can

Often revealed in conversations with child “Johnny, do you have a brother?”

“Yes.”

“What’s his name?”

“Jim.”

“Does Jim have a brother?”

“No.”

Preoperational Stage

Animism: tendency to attribute life-like qualities to inanimate objects “Why do you put bread in the toaster?”

“Because it’s hungry and it needs to eat.”

Artificialism: tendency to believe everything is a product of human invention or action “Why is the sky blue?”

“Cause mommy painted it.”

Preoperational Stage

One-dimensional Thought

Lack Conservation: recognition that basic properties of

substances (mass, volume and number) remain the same even

when special features (form or arrangement) change

Concrete Operational Stage

3rd stage which children gain the mental operations that allow

them to think logically about concrete events

Lasts from ages 6/7 to 11/12

Acquire Conservation

Classification: ability to arrange things in logical groups or

categories based on similarities and differences

Concrete Operational Stage:

Conservation

Formal Operational Stage

4th stage in which people begin to think logically about abstract concepts (involving imagined realities and symbols)

Begins around age 12

Can consider many alternative solutions to a problem and select the best option (brainstorming)

Capable of Hypothetical Thought (what if?)

Capable of Deductive Reasoning (if this, thenthat—applies generalizations, laws, rules, norms to specific situations)

Critique of Piaget

Timing Children may reach stages or develop conceptual abilities

earlier than Piaget proposed (underestimated cognitive skills)

Stages Development may be more gradual and less distinct than

Piaget’s stages imply

Research Methodology Unrepresentative, small sample of children (all from white

American well-educated, high SES professionals)

Studies focused too much on logic and reasoning tasks and neglected creative problem solving (right-brain modes)

Overall, the sequence of Piaget’s stages has held up well over time