early childhood chapter 7-8 psyc311 jen wright. body development eating habits 2-6 year olds eat...
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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?