Vygotsky Zone of Proximal Development

Includes pretend play - need adult support

Why toodlers and children lie?

This behavior is normal and they lie for a number of reasons including avoid punishment, keep promise, save embarrasment and achive personal gain

Pre-School Kids

↑ TV   = ↓  CREATIVITY

Critical and Sensitive Periods:

critical period ►In humans, there are several critical periods during prenatal development. For example, if the newly-formed gonads do not produce male hormones about seven weeks after conception, the embryo will develop female genitalia even if it is genetically male. The role of critical periods in human development following birth remains controversial,

sensitive periods► which are longer in duration and more flexible. Exposure to appropriate environmental events during sensitive periods is optimal but not entirely necessary - that is, a lack of exposure during a sensitive period does not necessarily have irreversible consequences.

Prenatal Development:

Heavy alcohol consumption by a pregnant woman can cause fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) in her child. ►delays in physical development; heart, eye, and other organ defects; facial and body malformations; and central nervous system dysfunction. At birth, babies with FAS have brain wave abnormalities and sleep disturbances; later, they have attention problems, motor impairments, mental retardation, and learning disabilities, and they tend to be excessively irritable and hyperactive. Although some problems decline with increasing age, most symptoms of FAS - including retardation, learning disabilities, and hyperactivity - persist into adulthood.

Prenatal Development:

Babies who were exposed to cocaine during prenatal development are excessively irritable, difficult to soothe when upset, and highly reactive to environmental stimulation. They often have physical defects involving their internal organs and abnormalities in motor development. Once these children start school, they have higher-than-normal rates of learning disabilities, concentration and memory problems, and difficulties with peers.

Physical Maturation in Adolescence:

Research comparing the effects of early, late, and on-time physical maturation suggests that, for boys, early maturation has a number of benefits including better adjustment, greater popularity with peers, and superior athletic skill. For girls, early maturation is more likely to have negative consequences, especially during the early adolescent years: Early-maturing girls tend to have a poor self-concept, to be dissatisfied with their physical development, to have lower academic achievement, and to engage in sexually-precocious behavior and drug and alcohol use.

Cognitive Development:

A key concept in Vygotsky's theory is the zone of proximal development. According to Vygotsky, teaching is optimal when it occurs within this zone, which is defined by what the child can accomplish alone and what he/she can do with assistance from an adult or more experienced peer. The help provided by another person is referred to as scaffolding. Scaffolding is most effective when it emphasizes prompts and feedback rather than providing right answers and solutions.

Language Development:

Research on the effects of bilingual education has produced mixed results. the best conclusion is that children in good-quality bilingual (transition) programs do as well - or sometimes even better - than children in English-only (immersion) programs in terms of both English skills and mastery of subject matter.bilingual speakers may initially have smaller vocabularies than monolingual speakers, they eventually catch up, and they tend to score higher on measures of certain cognitive skills including cognitive flexibility and metalinguistic awareness.  positive effects on children's self-esteem and cultural identity.

Temperament:

Thomas and Chess's goodness-of-fit (transactional) model, maladjustment in childhood is related to a poor fit between the child's basic temperament and his/her parents' behavior. Consequently, while difficult children are most prone to maladjustment, even easy children can develop behavioral problems when parents' childrearing practices do not fit their child's temperament.

Attachment:

four stages of attachment development -

• preattachment,
• "attachment-in-the-making,"
• "clearcut" attachment, and
• formation of reciprocal relationships.

experiences = develops an internal working model about the availability of attachment figures and their likelihood of providing support during times of stress. This mental representation then acts as a model for future close relationships.

Attachment:

Mothers classified as dismissing describe early relationships with their parents in very positive ways. However, they cannot provide examples that support these descriptions or they provide contradictory examples. Their children often display an insecure/avoidant attachment pattern.

Mothers categorized as preoccupied describe their childhood relations in a very confused or angry manner. Babies of these mothers are most likely to exhibit an insecure/resistant attachment pattern.

Aggression:

Over time aggressive interactions between parents and their children escalate in terms of intensity. Patterson has developed a parent training program that teaches parents of aggressive children to reinforce their children's desirable behaviors, enforce rules consistently, and use time-out and similar techniques as alternatives to physical punishment.

Family Factors:

Research found that boys exhibit more behavioral and academic problems than girls do following the divorce of their parents. However, subsequent studies suggest that (1) girls may also experience immediate negative outcomes but these involve less obvious behaviors such as depression, withdrawal, and low self-esteem and (2) girls may experience a sleeper effect - that is, girls who were in preschool or elementary school at the time of the divorce may not show negative consequences until adolescence when they are prone to noncompliant behavior, low self-esteem, and early involvement in sexual contact

Family Factors:

Stepfathers who establish a parent-child relationship involving warmth and mutual respect are much more likely to be accepted by both male and female stepchildren. Overall, adolescent girls have the greatest trouble adjusting to their mothers' remarriage and accepting a new stepfather

Family Factors:

Other factors - such as social support and childrearing skills - seem to be more important for children's adjustment than a parent's sexual preference.

School Factors:

Boys receive more attention from teachers - including more praise and criticism. Also, when boys are criticized, it is more often for misbehavior and lack of neatness, while girls are more likely to be criticized for lack of ability or inadequate performance. Finally, there is evidence that teachers tend to attribute the poor performance of boys to low effort but the poor performance of girls to low aptitude.

Chromosomal Disorders 

All human cells (except the sperm and ovum) contain 46 chromosomes that are arranged in 23 pairs.

22 pairs of chromosomes ►autosomes,

The 23rd pair contains the sex chromosomes.

In females→"XX";

In males→"XY."

Disorder in autosome→"autosomal disorder";

Disorder in a sex chromosome→"sex-linked."

1. Disorders Due to Dominant or Recessive Genes:

Dominant gene disorders►due to inheritance of a single dominant gene from one parent.

Huntington’s Disease►autosomal dominant gene disorder(psychiatric, cognitive, and motor symptoms).
Recessive gene disorders►due to the inheritance of a pair of recessive genes (one from each parent) ►cystic fibrosis, sickle cell disease, Tay-Sachs disease, and phenylketonuria (PKU). 

PKU►lack an enzyme needed to metabolize phenylalanine, an amino acid found in milk, eggs, bread, and other foods.

Diet►low in phenylalanine after birth prevents the severe mental retardation that can accompany this disorder.

2. Disorders Due to a Chromosomal Abnormality:

There are two types of chromosomal abnormality that can cause a chromosomal disorder – a variation in the number of chromosomes and an alteration in the structure of chromosomes:

Variations in Chromosome Number (Aneuploidy): too many or too few. Down Syndrome►autosomal disorder caused by an extra chromosome 21→mental retardation, retarded physical growth and motor development, distinctive physical features, and increased susceptibility to Alzheimer’s dementia, leukemia, and heart defects. ↑ risk with mother’s (and possibly the father’s) age increases.

Klinefelter Syndrome and Turner Syndromeare ►caused by abnormality in the # of sex chromosomes. Klinefelter syndrome in males→2 or more X and 1 Y chromosomes. →small penis and testes, develops breasts during puberty, has limited interest in sexual activity, is often sterile, and may have learning disabilities. Turner Syndrome in females → due to single X chromosome. →short in stature, have characteristic physical features (e.g., drooping eyelids, webbed neck), have retarded or absent development of the secondary sex characteristics, and may have certain cognitive deficits.

2. Disorders Due to a Chromosomal Abnormality:

There are two types of chromosomal abnormality that can cause a chromosomal disorder – a variation in the number of chromosomes and an alteration in the structure of chromosomes:

Alterations in Chromosome Structure: Structural abnormalities include deletions, translocations, and inversions.

Deletion►part of a chromosome is missing. Prader-Willi syndrome →mental retardation, obese, and may exhibit obsessive-compulsive behaviors. Cri-du-chat syndrome →chromosomal deletion. →underweight at birth and have characteristic facial features (e.g., a round face and widely separated eyes), retarded physical and mental development, and, during the first few weeks following birth, a high-pitched cry.

Translocation►transfer of a chromosome segment to another chromosome. Down Syndrome→extra chromosome 21, or a translocation in which the extra chromosome 21 is attached to another chromosome.

Inversion ►chromosome breaks in two places and turns upside down and reattaches to the chromosome.

Gender-Role Identity

Research on gender-role identity has linked it to several outcomes. Hall and Halberstadt (1980), found that gender-role identity has a greater impact than biological sex on self-esteem and that androgyny (which combines masculine and feminine characteristics and preferences) and masculinity are both associated with higher levels of self-esteem than femininity for boys and girls.

Gender-Role Identity  

The most influential are psychodynamic theory, social learning theory, cognitive development theory, and gender schema theory:

Psychodynamic Theory: According to Freud’s  the development of gender-role identity depends on successful resolution of the psychosexual crisis of the phallic stage of development, which results in identification with the same-sex parent.

Gender-Role Identity

The most influential are psychodynamic theory, social learning theory, cognitive development theory, and gender schema theory

Social Learning Theory: predicts that children first acquire gender-typed behaviors through rewards and punishments (Mischel, 1966) and modeling and imitation (Bandura, 1969). Eventually, they develop a gender-role identity.

Gender-Role Identity

The most influential are psychodynamic theory, social learning theory, cognitive development theory, and gender schema theory:

Cognitive Development Theory: Kohlberg’s (1966), the acquisition of gender-role identity involves a sequence of stages that parallels cognitive development: By age 2 or 3, children recognize that they are either male or female (gender identity). Soon thereafter, children realize that gender identity is stable over time (gender stability) – boys grow up to be men and girls grow up to be women. Finally, by age 6 or 7, children understand that gender is constant over situations and know that people cannot change gender by superficially altering their external appearance or behavior (gender constancy).

Gender Schema Theory: Bem’s (1981) attributes the acquisition of a gender-role identity to a combination of social learning and cognitive development. According to Bem, children develop "schemas" (conceptual frameworks) of masculinity and femininity as the result of their sociocultural experiences. These schemas then organize how the individual perceives and thinks about the world.