Psychosocial, Cognitive and Linguistic) : Unit 4 Early Childhood (Physical
Psychosocial, Cognitive and Linguistic) : Unit 4 Early Childhood (Physical
Psychosocial, Cognitive and Linguistic) : Unit 4 Early Childhood (Physical
4.0 INTRODUCTION
In the previous unit you have studied about the infancy period its characteristics and
common hazards during infancy period. The physical, psychosocial, cognitive and
linguistic development of infancy were also discussed in detailed. Now in this unit we
will discuss all these aspect in the early childhood period. Firstly, we have to
understand the concept of early childhood period and its characteristics. Childhood
begins when the infancy period is over approximately two years of the age group.
Childhood period is divided into two age group (i) early childhood, 2-6 years (ii) late
childhood, 6- to the time the child becomes sexually mature. Early childhood period
is called as a conclusion of the infancy period. The child enters in the preschool and
forms a personality that no –one adults or other children. His personality is absolutely
individual. We generally consider as a ‘little individual’ or ‘small figure’ of the family.
It is widely recognised age group and fairly long period in the life span. There are
many factors are influence the child personality, that is,
i) Child social history: The child learning experiences comes form the society and
these experiences are supervise by the parents or teachers;
ii) Culture: The child is encouraged to embody the typical or ideal personality of
her culture;
iii) Place: the element of place and time that bring out some personality traits and
leave others to reserve and; 41
Prenatal, Infancy and Early iv) Biological makeup: facial features, physique, growth rate, genetic and temperament
Childhood
can advance the child personality.
4.1 OBJECTIVES
After going through this unit, you will be able to:
z define and describe early childhood;
z describe the characteristic of early childhood and explain how they differ from
other periods in the life span;
z explain the physical and psychological hazards which faces the child;
z describe physical and psycho-social development in early childhood period; and
z explain cognitive and linguistic development in early childhood period.
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Prenatal, Infancy and Early iv) Moral hazards: Inconsistent discipline slows down the process of learning
Childhood
to conform to social expectations. Children are confused when they find
that different people have different views about the particular behaviour.
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Early Childhood (Physical,
4.12 SUGGESTED READINGS Psychosocial, Cognitive and
Linguistic)
Amborn S.R. (1975) Child Development, Rinehart Press/Holt, Rinehart and Winson,
San Fransico.
Hurlock, E. B. (1980). Developmental Psychology (5th edition) Tata McGraw- Hill
Publishing Company Ltd.
Mussen, P. H, Conger, J.J & et.al (1984) Child Development and Personality (6th
edition) Harper & Row, Publishers, New York.
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