Developmental Psychology

Chapter 5: Early Childhood

Overview We have now reached chapter 5! In this chapter, we will be looking at the physical, cognitive and social development of children during early childhood. We are now moving away from the first months of life, to the next few years. We will also be discussing potential conflicts that may arise during this stage of life. Learning Objectives At the end of this chapter, you should be able to: • Describe the physical development stages of a child • Describe the social and emotional stages of development during childhood • Understand the Preoperational Stage of Development created by Jean Piaget, and Zone of Proximal Development by Vygotsky • Understand stages of development during early childhood, according to Erik Erikson and Jean Freud • Understand Baumrind’s parenting styles • Describe the different types of play • Explain influences of daycare, divorce, and mass media on early childhood development 5.1Physical Development This is the time where children begin growing at a faster rate and will even start losing their baby fat. One of the most important things to remember is that children need to have proper nutrition. Proper nutrition is considered one of the simplest ways to help with physical development during childhood. Iron is considered to be an important aspect of a child’s nutritional intake. One of the main concerns is that some children may face iron deficiency anemia. There have been plenty of theories that have attempted to explain why children go through any kind of deficiencies within developed countries. Some of the theories that have been that children are picky eaters, that children have a lack of nutritional education by parents, the age of their parents, as well as socioeconomic disparities of the child’s parents. The brain is also another part of the body that grows at a fast rate. While it is one of the fastest growing aspects of the body, it does not tend to grow by cellular division. It grows due to the formation of additional neural pathways. When the brain is constantly stimulated, then it will continue to grow. When actions and/or behaviors are repeated connections between neurons that help complete the actions will become stronger. When the connection becomes stronger, children will become more coordinated, hence a quicker reaction time when completing actions. When there are lesser connections, then the connection used becomes weaker. With weakened neural connections a lack of coordination will occur, and slower reflex times will occur.

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