Develoopmental Profile

Developmental Profile

Jeanne Harmon

PSYCH/600

June 26, 2017

Dr. Albert Munoz-Flores

Developmental Profile

        Children from early childhood through middle childhood experience many changes to their physical body, brain and nervous system and in social and emotional development.  Many of these changes vary depending on the sex of the child.  Family support and interactions can also affect how the changes in social and emotional development progress over time.  The changes in the body, how they think and interact with others show steady changes throughout the early to middle childhood ages.

During the early childhood years, physical growth slows down as compared to the first two years of life.  New growth occurs in the skeleton leading to a longer and leaner body style (Berk,2014).  These changes allow for improved motor development.  Berk (2014) stated, “boys continue to be slightly taller, heavier and more muscular than girls” (p. 216).  There are several factors that can influence the amount of growth seen during this period.  Heredity plays a part as children’s growth rate and stature tend to follow the pattern of their parents (Berks, 2014, p.219).  Two hormones, the growth hormone and thyroid-stimulating hormone are also influenced by genetics (Berk,2014, p.219).  Another important factor that effects physical growth is nutrition.  Eating a well-balanced diet is essential to promote healthy growth in children.  Unhealthy diets will lead to smaller stature and can cause the child to be more susceptible to infectious disease.  In turn, this can also negatively affect the child’s physical growth. (Berk, 2014, p.220).  The physical changes during early childhood result in these changes, according to Berk (2014), “a more streamlined, flat-tummied, longer-legged child” (p.216).

During middle childhood, the growth seen is a gradual process.  Berk (2014) stated, “children add about 2-3 inches in height and 5 pounds in weight each year” (p.290).   Girl’s growth pace is slower than boys until 9 years old, they also tend to have more body fat while boys are more muscular.  By the end of middle childhood, all their permanent teeth are in place with girls ahead of boys. (Berk, 2014, p.290).  Nutritional intake impacts the quality of growth seen during this time.  Poor nutritional intake can cause permanent physical growth impairment.  Poverty can also be a negative factor for physical growth.  Physical growth during the early school years involves the bones of the body becoming longer and more flexible.  

The brain and nervous system undergo many changes during early childhood.  Several areas of the cerebral cortex experience growth.  Berk (2014) states, “between ages 2 and 6, the brain increases form 70% of its adult weight to 90%” (p.217).  Growth in the prefrontal cortex results in better coordination, improved attention and language (Berk 2014, p.217).  The left cerebral hemisphere becomes more active which has increased influence on language development.  During this period, growth between the cerebral cortex and cerebellum allow preschoolers to become more coordinated, allowing them to learn to skip and play catch. (Berk, 2014, p.218).  Being able to stay alert and pay closer attention is due to neuron growth from the brain stem to the other regions of the brain.  The hippocampus, according to Berk (2014), “undergoes rapid synapse formation and myelination in the second half of the first year, when recall memory and independent memory emerge” (p.218).  Another area of the brain showing rapid growth is the corpus callosum which connects the cerebral hemispheres.  This growth can be seen with better problem- solving abilities and increased attention.  There are some differences seen in girl’s and boy’s development.  As language development improves, Berk (2014) states, “girls produce more organized and detailed narrative than boys” (p.238).  Some of the differences seen between girl’s and boy’s development is influenced by being exposed to more gender specific toys and interaction with same sex playmates.  Miller (1987) stated, “it has been suggested that the process of sex role socialization not only teaches children a particular set of “gender-appropriate” behaviors, but also results in gender-related differences in global cognitive processing as well as in specific problem-solving strategies” (p.473).  Brain growth in preschoolers allows for better language skills and starting to understand the world they live in.

The brain growth see in early childhood continues a steady pace in middle childhood.  According to Berk (2014), “time needed to process information on a wide variety of cognitive tasks declines rapidly between ages 6 and 12, likely due to myelination and synaptic pruning in the cerebral cortex” (p.302).  The brain prunes the neuron pathways that are not being used to allow the others to work more efficiently.  These children can understand spatial reasoning better, allowing them to give directions on how to get from home to school (Berk, 2014).  Increased attention spans help children learn the steps to more complex tasks and use memory skills to retain the information. As language development improves, so does reading comprehension.  According to Berks (2014), “on average, children learn about 20 new words each day, a rate of growth greater than in early childhood” (p. 316).  Many learning opportunities emerge as brain development continues.