Child Development & Behavior Flashcards

Which strategy is most effective when a toddler is having a meltdown in a public place?

Answer: Stay calm, acknowledge the child's feelings, and move to a quieter space if possible

Co-regulation — remaining calm, validating emotions, and reducing stimulation — helps a dysregulated toddler regain control more effectively than punishment or capitulation.

Fine motor development in early childhood is best supported by activities such as:

Answer: Cutting with child-safe scissors and stringing beads

Cutting, beading, drawing, and similar activities strengthen small hand muscles and hand-eye coordination essential for fine motor skill development.

A nanny notices a 9-month-old shows preference for familiar faces and cries when strangers approach. This is best described as:

Answer: Stranger anxiety

Stranger anxiety emerges around 6–9 months as infants develop the cognitive ability to distinguish familiar from unfamiliar people.

Which statement about temperament is most accurate?

Answer: Temperament is biologically based and relatively stable over time

Research supports that temperament has strong biological roots and remains fairly consistent, though it can be influenced by environment and relationships over time.

A 7-year-old understands that flattening a ball of clay does not change the amount of clay. This demonstrates Piaget's concept of:

Answer: Conservation

Conservation — the understanding that quantity remains constant despite changes in shape or arrangement — develops in the concrete operational stage around age 7.

Which of the following best describes 'parallel talk' as a language facilitation technique?

Answer: Narrating the child's own actions and observations aloud

Parallel talk involves a caregiver narrating what the child is seeing or doing ('You're pouring the water…'), which enriches language input without requiring a response.

A 5-year-old is able to count 10 objects correctly and recognize her own name in writing. These skills fall under which developmental domain?

Answer: Cognitive and language development

Counting with one-to-one correspondence and print recognition are early literacy and numeracy skills that belong to the cognitive and language developmental domain.