Physical Development
About how many inches and pounds do children typically grow each year between ages 2–6?
~3 inches in height and 4–5 pounds in weight per year.
What stage of Piaget’s theory are children in during early childhood?
The Preoperational Stage.
A child’s vocabulary grows from about ______ words at age 2 to over ______ words by age 6.
~200 words to over 10,000 words.
According to Erikson, what is the main psychosocial stage for early childhood?
Initiative vs. Guilt.
Name Baumrind’s three main parenting styles.
Authoritarian, Permissive, Authoritative.
By age 6, a child’s brain is what percentage of its adult weight?
About 95%.
About 95%.
What is centration?
Focusing on one aspect of a situation while ignoring others.
What is fast-mapping?
Quickly connecting new words with existing concepts.
What is self-concept?
The idea of who we are, what we can do, and how we feel about ourselves.
What is uninvolved parenting?
A disengaged style with no demands and little responsiveness.
What is synaptic pruning?
The loss of unused synapses, making brain processes quicker and more complex.
What is conservation?
Understanding that changing appearance doesn’t change the substance’s properties.
What is overregularization in grammar?
Applying grammar rules too broadly, like “goed” instead of “went.”
List two types of play observed in early childhood.
Examples: Solitary, Parallel, Cooperative, Onlooker, Associative, Unoccupied.
In operant conditioning, what is positive reinforcement?
Adding something pleasant to increase a behavior (e.g., giving praise).
Name one gross motor skill and one fine motor skill.
Gross motor = running/jumping; Fine motor = using scissors/drawing.
Define theory of mind.
The understanding that people have different beliefs, desires, and perspectives.
Who proposed the Zone of Proximal Development?
Lev Vygotsky
What is the “looking-glass self”?
Seeing ourselves through the eyes of others and forming judgments about ourselves.
What is toxic stress?
Chronic, excessive stress that overwhelms a child’s ability to cope.
What part of the brain undergoes major growth during early childhood and supports emotional control and planning?
The prefrontal cortex.
What test is often used to measure theory of mind in young children?
The Sally-Anne Test.
What did Hart and Risley’s research highlight about language exposure?
A significant “word gap” between children from higher and lower socioeconomic backgrounds.
By around what age do most children develop a strong sense of gender roles?
By ages 4–5
What does ACEs stand for, and why is it important?
Adverse Childhood Experiences — linked to long-term health and developmental risks.