Module 15 Review

REVIEW Infancy and Childhood

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

RETRIEVAL PRACTICE Take a moment to answer each of these Learning Objective Questions (repeated here from within this section). Then click the 'show answer' button to check your answers. Research suggests that trying to answer these questions on your own will improve your long-term retention (McDaniel et al., 2009).

15-1 During infancy and childhood, how do the brain and motor skills develop?

The brain’s nerve cells are sculpted by heredity and experience. As a child’s brain develops, neural connections grow more numerous and complex. Experiences then trigger a pruning process, in which unused connections weaken and heavily used ones strengthen. This process continues until puberty. Early childhood is an important period for shaping the brain, but our brain modifies itself in response to our learning throughout life. In childhood, complex motor skills—sitting, standing, walking—develop in a predictable sequence, though the timing of that sequence is a function of individual maturation and culture. We have no conscious memories of events occurring before about age 3½. This infantile amnesia occurs in part because major brain areas have not yet matured.

15-2 From the perspectives of Piaget, Vygotsky, and today’s researchers, how does a child’s mind develop?

In his theory of cognitive development, Jean Piaget proposed that children actively construct and modify their understanding of the world through the processes of assimilation and accommodation. They form schemas that help them organize their experiences. Progressing from the simplicity of the sensorimotor stage of the first two years, in which they develop object permanence, children move to more complex ways of thinking. In the preoperational stage (about age 2 to about 6 or 7), they develop a theory of mind. In the preoperational stage, children are egocentric and unable to perform simple logical operations. At about age 7, they enter the concrete operational stage and are able to comprehend the principle of conservation. By about age 12, children enter the formal operational stage and can reason systematically.
     Research supports the sequence Piaget proposed, but it also shows that young children are more capable, and their development more continuous, than he believed.
     Lev Vygotsky’s studies of child development focused on the ways a child’s mind grows by interacting with the social environment. In his view, parents and caretakers provide temporary scaffolds enabling children to step to higher levels of learning.

15-3 What is autism spectrum disorder?

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a disorder marked by social deficiencies and repetitive behaviors. By age 8, 1 in 68 U.S. children now gets diagnosed with ASD, though the reported rates vary by place. The increase in ASD diagnoses has been offset by a decrease in the number of children with a “cognitive disability” or “learning disability,” suggesting a relabeling of children’s disorders.

15-4 How do parent-infant attachment bonds form?

At about 8 months, soon after object permanence develops, children separated from their caregivers display stranger anxiety. Infants form attachments not simply because parents gratify biological needs but, more important, because they are comfortable, familiar, and responsive. Many birds and other animals have a more rigid attachment process, called imprinting, that occurs during a critical period.

15-5 How have psychologists studied attachment differences, and what have they learned?

Attachment has been studied in strange situation experiments, which show that some children are securely attached and others are insecurely attached. Infants’ differing attachment styles reflect both their individual temperamentand the responsiveness of their parents and child-care providers. Adult relationships seem to reflect the attachment styles of early childhood, lending support to Erik Erikson’s idea that basic trust is formed in infancy by our experiences with responsive caregivers.

15-6 How does childhood neglect or abuse affect children’s attachments?

Children are very resilient, but those who are severely neglected by their parents, or otherwise prevented from forming attachments at an early age, may be at risk for attachment problems.

15-7 How do children’s self-concepts develop?

Self-concept, an understanding and evaluation of who we are, emerges gradually. By 15 to 18 months, children recognize themselves in a mirror. By school age, they can describe many of their own traits, and by age 8 or 10 their self-image is stable.

15-8 What are three parenting styles, and how do children’s traits relate to them?

Parenting styles—authoritarian, permissive, and authoritative—reflect varying degrees of control. Children with high self-esteem tend to have authoritative parents and to be self-reliant and socially competent, but the direction of cause and effect in this relationship is not clear. Child-raising practices reflect both individual and cultural values.

TERMS AND CONCEPTS TO REMEMBER

RETRIEVAL PRACTICE Match each of the terms on the left with its definition on the right. Click on the term first and then click on the matching definition. As you match them correctly they will move to the bottom of the activity.

Question

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