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Copyright © 2016 Laura E. Berk. All Rights Reserved. Infants, Children, and Adolescents Eighth Edition Chapter 9 Cognitive Development in Early Childhood Piaget’s Preoperational Stage Ages 2 to 7 Sensorimotor activity leads to internal images of experience, which children then label with words. Advances in mental representation: Development of make-believe play Gains in understanding of symbol–real-world relations Age 2 Age 3 Age 4 Age 5 Age 6 Age 7 Development of Make-Believe Play With age, make-believe gradually becomes: more detached from real-life conditions. less self-centered. more complex, combinations of schemes sociodramatic play develops by the end of the 2nd year. Benefits of Make-Believe Play During social pretend, interactions last longer, show more involvement, and draw more children into the activity in a more cooperative manner. Gains in Social Competence. Make-believe strengthens a variety of mental abilities, including sustained attention, inhibition of impulses, logical reasoning, memory, language and literacy, and imagination/creativity. Dual Representation Viewing a symbolic object as both object and a symbol. Mastered around age 3 Adult teaching can help Expose to symbols (picture books, maps, photos, drawings, make-believe playthings, etc.) point out similarities to the real world. Limitations of Preoperational Thought Egocentrism Animistic thinking Inability to conserve: Centration Irreversibility Lack of hierarchical classification Egocentrism Failure to distinguish others’ viewpoints from one’s own. Figure 9.1 Piaget’s three-mountains problem. Each mountain is distinguished by its color and by its summit. One has a red cross, another a small house, and the third a snow-capped peak. Children at the preoperational stage respond egocentrically. They cannot select a picture that shows the mountains from the doll’s perspective. Instead, they simply choose the photo that reflects their own vantage point. Belief that inanimate objects have lifelike qualities, such as thoughts or wishes Magical thinking: assigning human purposes to physical events Animistic Thinking Piagetian Conservation Tasks Figure 9.2 A Piagetian Class Inclusion Problem Figure 9.3 Egocentric, Animistic, and Magical Thinking On simplified tasks with familiar objects, 3-year-olds show clear awareness of others’ vantage points. Perspective taking develops gradually throughout childhood and adolescence. Even infants have begun to distinguish animate from inanimate. Preschoolers’ notions of magic are flexible and appropriate. Illogical Thought On simplified, relevant tasks, preschoolers display logical thinking. Preschoolers engage in impressive reasoning by analogy about physical changes. Categorization Preschoolers flexibly organize knowledge into nested categories. Children’s categories differentiate into basic-level categories and subcategories. Follow Up Research on Preoperational Thought: Children’s Questions: Catalyst for Cognitive Development Majority of children’s questions are information-seeking (not requests). Provides precise knowledge when children need it Content related to cognitive development Context shapes questions. Adults seem to formulate answers based on children’s maturity. Educational Principles Derived from Piaget’s Theory Discovery learning: opportunities for spontaneous interaction with environment Sensitivity to children’s readiness to learn Developmentally appropriate practice Building on current thinking Acceptance of individual differences: individual and small group activity. Children’s Private Speech Piaget called self-directed utterances “egocentric speech.” Vygotsky viewed this as the foundation for all higher cognitive processes. Helps guide behavior Used more when tasks are difficult, after errors, or when confused. In ZPD. Gradually becomes more silent (whispers, silent lip movements. Children with learning and behavior problems use more and over longer periods. Social Origins of Early Childhood Cognition Intersubjectivity: process by which two participants arrive at shared understanding of a task Scaffolding: adjusting support offered during a teaching session to fit child’s current level of performance Guided participation: shared endeavors between more and less expert participants, varying across situations and cultures Vygotsky’s Theory and Early Childhood Education Vygotskian classrooms promote assisted discovery. Teachers guide children’s learning with explanations and verbal prompts. Peer collaboration between children with varying abilities is also emphasized. Challenges to Vygotsky’s theory: Verbal communication is not the only way new information is mastered. Vygotsky says little about how basic motor, perception, attention, memory, and problem-solving skills contribute to higher cognitive processes. Children in Village and Indigenous Cultures Observe and Participate in Adult Work Western Cultures School prepares children for work. School = formal 4 wall experience. Parents focus on preparing children for school success. Emphasis on Child-focused activities. Village/IndigenousCultures Children observe adults at work to learn. Children assume adult responsibilities early. Children make more decisions for themselves. Limited make-believe play and scaffolding Improvements in Attention -Sustained attention improves in toddlerhood and early childhood. -Children gain in ability to inhibit impulses and focus on a competing goal. -Gains in working memory permit more complex play and problem-solving goals. -Adult scaffolding of attention supports gains in language and executive function. Memory in Early Childhood Recognition is better than recall. Recall associated with language development. Beginnings of memory strategies. Limited by working memory Familiar events remembered as scripts. © Darren Baker | Dreamstime.com More elaborate with age Elaborative style best Adults help with autobiographical memories. Problem Solving in Early Childhood Overlapping Waves Theory Try variety of strategies at one time. Observe how well they work. Gradually select strategies on the basis of accuracy and speed. Figure 9.7 Young Child’s Theory of Mind Theory of mind, or coherent set of ideas about mental activities (metacognition). Milestones: Age 1: view others as intentional beings who are available for communication Age 2: aware of others’ emotions and desires Age 3: realize that thinking is internal, but focus on desires Age 4: realize both beliefs and desires determine behavior; awareness of false beliefs Factors Contributing to Preschoolers’ Theory of Mind Language and verbal reasoning Cognitive skills Make-believe play Social interaction © Goh Siok hian | Dreamstime.com Example of a False-Belief Task Awareness of mental life: infancy to age 3 Mastery of false beliefs: around age 4 Factors Contributing to Preschoolers’ Theory of Mind Language and verbal reasoning about mental states: Left prefrontal cortex plays a crucial role. Executive function: Several aspects of executive function predict false-belief mastery. Make-believe play: Make-believe offers a rich context for thinking about the mind. Social interaction: Social experiences promote understanding of the mind. Early Literacy and Mathematical Development Preschooler’s understanding of written language occurs before they learn to read or write. Emergent literacy “Read” but don’t understand symbolism Gradual mastery of functions and phonological awareness More informal experiences contribute to earlier and better literacy. Reading Readiness Skills at Kindergarten Entry by SES Figure 9.10 Early Childhood Mathematical Reasoning Builds on informal knowledge Ordinality Order relationships between quantities 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th Cardinality Last number when counting is the total. Estimation © Kszott | Dreamstime.com Individual Differences in Early Childhood Mental Development Factors Home environment Quality of child care, preschool, or kindergarten Child-centered versus academic Early intervention programs Television Educational TV © Serhiy Kobyakov | Dreamstime.com Types of Preschool and Kindergarten Child-centered programs: Teachers provide activities from which the children select and most of the day is devoted to play. Academic programs: Teachers structure children’s learning through formal lessons, often using repetitive drills (an approach that can undermine motivation and well-being, especially for low-SES children). Montessori education: Child-centered approach with equal emphasis on academic and social development Early Intervention for At-Risk Preschoolers Project Head Start Parent involvement essential Long-term benefits: Better early school achievement Less special education and grade retention More high school graduation, college enrollment Advantages still evident at age 40 Jumpstart for Young Children provides extra enrichment. Some Outcomes of the High/Scope Perry Preschool Project on Follow-up at Age 27 Figure 9.12 Source: Adapted from Schweinhart et al., 2005. Signs of Developmentally Appropriate Practice Physical setting Group size Caregiver–child ratio Daily activities Adult–child interactions Teacher qualifications Relationships with parents Licensing and accreditation Photodisc Educational Media Computers: 85% of U.S. children have computers at home; about 2/3 have Internet access. 70% of 4- to 6-year-olds have used a computer. Often used for entertainment and game playing Television: Remains dominant youth media, even for infants One study links Sesame Street viewing with higher grades, reading more books, and valuing academic achievement. Slow-paced narratives like Barney and Friends can lead to more extensive make-believe play. Low-SES children are more frequent viewers. Entertainment-only programming can detract from academic and social success. Vocabulary Development in Early Childhood Fast-mapping: connecting new words with underlying concepts after only a brief encounter Mutual exclusivity bias: assumption that words refer to entirely separate categories Syntactic bootstrapping: discovering word meanings by observing how words are used in syntax Inventing own words Grammar Development in Early Childhood Basic rules Overregulation: applying rules without appropriate exceptions Complex structures Explaining grammatical development Semantic bootstrapping Relying on word meanings to figure out grammatical rules © Hongqi Zhang | Dreamstime.com Conversation Around age 2, preschoolers begin to master pragmatics. Presence of sibling helps. Adapt language to social expectations by age 4 Telephone talk improves significantly from ages 4 to 8. Supporting Language Learning in Early Childhood Recasts: restructuring incorrect speech into correct form Expansions: elaborating on children’s speech, increasing its complexity. Role of adults: Listening attentively Elaborating on what children say Modeling correct usage Stimulating children to talk further © Nyul | Dreamstime.com