The Play Years: Biosocial Development

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Part III
Chapter Eight

• The Play Years Biosocial Development

Body Changes Brain Development Injuries and Abuse
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The Play Years Biosocial Development

• Children grow bigger and stronger become more
  skilled at tasks by age 6, they can skip, write,
  and much more, as long as they have had enough
  practice.

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Body Changes

• 1-year-olds are cute and chubby, while 6 year
  olds are grown up
• the body and brain develop according to powerful
  epigenetic forces
• biologically driven as well as socially guided,
  experience-expectant and experience-dependent

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Body Changes

• Growth Patterns
• children become slimmer
• the lower body lengthens
• lose baby fat and gain muscle

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Body Changes

• Growth Patterns
• gone is the protruding belly
• round face
• short limbs
• large head (that characterize the toddler)

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Body Changes

• Growth Patterns
• each year from age 26, well-nourished children
  add almost 3 inches and gain about 4 ½ pounds
• 6-year-olds weigh about 46 pounds

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Body Changes

• Growth Patterns
• A typical 6-year-old
• is at least 3 ½ feet tall
• weighs between 40 and 50 pounds
• looks lean, not chubby
• has adult-like body proportions

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Body Changes

• Growth Patterns
• ethnic groups living together in the same
  developed nation, children of
• African descent tend to be the tallest, then
• European descent
• Asian descent
• Latino descent

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Body Changes

• Eating Habits
• Infants and young children today play outside
  less than their parents or grandparents did

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Body Changes

• Eating Habits
• Nutritional deficiencies
• children in developed nations consume enough
  calories but lack iron, zinc, and calcium
• most cultures encourage their children to eat
  sweets

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Body Changes

• Eating Habits
• Just right
• just right or just so phenomenon is normal
  and widespread among children
• most young childrens food preferences and
  rituals are far from ideal

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Body Changes

• Eating HabitsJust Right
• phase peaked at about age 3...
• have things done in a particular order or in a
  certain way
• strong preference to wear or not wear certain
  clothes
• prepare for bedtime by engaging in a special
  activity, routine, or ritual
• strong preference for certain foods

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Body Changes

• Eating Habits
• by age 6 the just right fades
• parents should be patient until the just right
  obsession fades

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Brain Development

• Brains grow rapidly even before birth.
• by age 2 the brains increase in size
• a great deal of pruning of dendrites has already
  occurred
• brain growth after infancy is a crucial
  difference between humans and other animals

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Brain Development

• Speed of Thought
• continued proliferation of the communication
  pathways (dendrites and axons) results in some
  brain growth
• Myelination is the process by which axons become
  coated with myelin, a fatty substance that speeds
  the transmission of nerve impulses from neuron to
  neuron

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Brain Development

• Connecting the Brains Hemispheres
• Corpus Callosum
• a long band of nerve fibers that connect the left
  and right hemispheres of the brain
• Lateralization
• the specialization of certain functions by each
  side of the brain, with one side dominant for
  each activity

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Brain Development

• The Left-Handed Child
• infants and toddlers usually prefer one hand over
  the other
• for centuries, parents who saw a preference for
  the left-hand forced their children to be
  right-handed
• developmentalist advise against trying to switch
  a childs handedness, because it might interfere
  with the natural and necessary process of
  lateralization

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Brain Development

• The left half controls the right side of the body
  and contains the areas dedicated to logical
  reasoning, detailed analysis, and the basics of
  language.
• The right half controls the left side of the
  body and contains the area dedicated to
  generalized emotion and creative impulses,
  including appreciation of most music, art, and
  poetry.

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Brain Development

• severely brain-damaged people are exclusively
  left-brained or right-brained
• every cognitive skill requires both sides of the
  brain
• older children have more myelinated fibers in the
  corpus callosum, resulting in better thinking and
  less clumsy actions

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Brain Development

• Planning and Analyzing
• the prefrontal cortex or frontal cortex is an
  area in the front part of the brains outer layer
  
• it is the executive part of the brain ruling
  all the other areas
• this area underlies higher-order cognition

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Brain Development

• Maturation of the Prefrontal Cortex
• Notable benefits occur from age 2 6
• sleep becomes more regular
• emotions become more and responsive to specific
  stimuli
• temper tantrums subside
• uncontrollable laughter or tears become less
  common

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Brain Development

• Attention
• a major function of the prefrontal cortex is to
  focus attention and thus curb impulsiveness
• perseveration is the tendency to persevere in, or
  stick to, one thought or action for a long time

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Brain Development

• Emotions and the Brain
• amygdala
• a tiny brain structure that registers emotions,
  particularly fear and anxiety
• hippocampus
• a brain structure that is a central processor of
  memory, especially the memory of location
• hypothalamus
• a brain area that responds to the amygdala and
  the hippocampus to produce hormones that activate
  other parts of the brain and body

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Brain Development

• Emotions and the Brain

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Brain Development

• Emotions and the Brain
• stressful experiences can foster growth if the
  child has someone or something to moderate the
  stress
• prolonged physiological responses to stress put
  children at risk for a variety of problems
• physical and mental disorders
• poor emotional regulation
• cognitive impairments

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Brain Development

• Motor Skills
• maturation of the prefrontal cortex improves
  impulse control
• myelinaton of the corpus callosum and
  lateralization of the brain permits better
  coordination

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Brain Development

• Gross Motor Skills
• involves large body movement
• Fine Motor Skills
• involve small body movement (are harder to
  master)
• many fine motor skills involve two hands both
  sides of the brain

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Brain Development

• Artistic Expression
• during the play years children are imaginative,
  creative, and not yet very self-critical
• all forms of artistic expression blossom during
  early childhood
• in every artistic domain, maturation of brain and
  body is gradual and comes with practice

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Brain Development

• Artistic Expression

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Injuries and Abuse

• more young children die of violence, either
  accidental or deliberate than from any other
  cause
• they are more vulnerable to injuries and abuse
  than older children
• they are impulsive, yet depend on others

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Injuries and Abuse

• Avoidable injury
• worldwide injuries cause millions of premature
  deaths among young adults as well as children
• injury control/harm reduction
• practices that are aimed at anticipating,
  controlling, and preventing dangerous activities

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Injuries and Abuse

• Avoidable injury3 Levels of Prevention
• Primary Prevention
• actions that change overall background conditions
  to prevent some unwanted event or circumstances,
  such as injury, disease, or abuse

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Injuries and Abuse

• Avoidable injury
• Secondary Prevention
• actions that avert harm in a high-risk situation,
  such as stopping a car before it hits a pedestrian

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Injuries and Abuse

• Avoidable injury
• Tertiary Prevention
• actions, such as immediate and effective medical
  treatment, that are taken after an adverse event
  occurs, and are aimed at reducing the harm or
  preventing disability

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Injuries and Abuse

• Avoidable injury

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Child Maltreatment

• Child Maltreatment
• intentional harm to, or avoidable endangerment
  of, anyone under 18 years of age
• Child Abuse
• deliberate action that is harmful to a childs
  physical, emotional, or sexual well-being
• Child Neglect
• failure to meet a childs basic physical,
  educational, or emotional needs

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Child Maltreatment

• Reported Maltreatment
• harm or endangerment about which someone has
  notified the authorities
• Substantiated Maltreatment
• harm or endangerment that been reported,
  investigated, and verified

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Child Maltreatment

• First warning signs of maltreatment are
• delayed development
• slow grow
• immature communication
• lack of curiosity
• unusual social interaction

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Child Maltreatment

• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
• is a delayed reaction to a trauma or shock
• may include hyperactivity and hyper-vigilance
• displaced anger, sleeplessness, sudden terror or
  anxiety
• and confusion between fantasy and reality

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Child Maltreatment

• Consequences of Maltreatment
• is effected by cultural context
• maltreatment compromises basic health
• maltreated children and adolescents are often
  bullies or victims or both
• these perspectives can last for a life span