Developmental Psychology

Achieve Test Prep: Developmental Psychology

Chapter 5: Early Childhood

Overview: During this chapter, there will be an exploration of the physical, cognitive, and social development which occurs during early childhood. This chapter moves beyond infancy to the next few years of life. In addition, conflicts which arise during this stage will be discussed. Objectives: By the end of this chapter, you should be able to recognize, understand, and explain: • The stages of physical development of a child. • The stages of social and emotional development of childhood. • Piaget’s Preoperational Stage of Development and Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development • Erikson’s and Freud’s stages of development during early childhood • Baumrind’s parenting Styles • Different types of play • Influences of daycare, divorce, and mass media maltreatment on early childhood development infancy. Proper nutrition is the easiest factor of physical development that can be controlled during childhood. In the USA, children face the problem of obesity more than they face malnutrition. The main nutritional concern in developed countries is iron deficiency anemia . There are many theories that attempt to explain why children surfer any deficiencies in developed countries. Such theories include: children being picky eaters, lack of parental education, age of parents, and socioeconomic disparities of parents. The brain is the fastest growing part of the body. However, it does not grow by cellular division as much as it does by forming more neural pathways. The more the brain is used and actively engaged, the more it grows; this notion is called ‘use it or lose it’. Every time an action or behavior is repeated, the connection between the neurons used to complete the action become stronger. As connections become stronger, a child becomes more coordinated and will have quicker Physical Development: During early childhood, children grow rapidly and start to lose the extra baby fat from

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