PSY 226: COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT IN EARLY CHILDHOOD

Learning Objectives Describe what pretend play is, how it develops during early childhood and what it predicts later in development. Discuss Piaget’s preoperational stage. Explain the concepts of egocentrism and conservation as they relate to Piaget’s preoperational stage. Discuss theory of mind, false beliefs and the appearance- reality distinction as they relate to these to cognitive development during early childhood. Explain the concepts of scaffolding and zone of proximal development. See text for memory and language development during early childhood.

Piaget’s Theory: Preoperational Period Preoperational Period 2 – 7 years of age – Change in stages is NOT a matter that children know more – Change IS a qualitative in how children think Vs. Infants, Preoperational Children CAN – Think about events and objects not present – Symbolically represent past experience Pretend Play Language (words stand for something) – Cup is the container that holds my juice

Pretend Play Age 2: children begin to symbolize objects – to mentally represent what they have experienced in play. Something basic is mentally transformed to something complex. Emergence of symbolic play (pretend play, or “make believe” play) – 12-13mo. play is focused on oneself (children pretend to sleep or eat) – 15-20mo. play is focused on others (child will feed a doll) – 30 mo. Play includes object being active (playing dinner and doll feeds itself) 0:00-1:30

Play is More Than Fun and Games Violent pretend play can signify a problem – Predicts: lower empathy, less prosocial behavior, more antisocial behavior – Remember: This is not causal and the process is complex Elaborate pretend play – Predicts: better academic performance Solitary pretend play when social play options are available – Predicts: social skills deficits, peer rejection

Imaginary Friends This type of pretending is normal and not a sign of dysfunction or reason for concern – 2/3 of children have an I.F. – Common for 1 st born children Predicts competences – More cooperative, creative, less aggressive, better concentration, more developed language

Piaget’s Theory: Preoperational Period Mental Operations – mental acts in which objects can be changed or transformed, then changed back (mental reversal) to the original state. Child’s ability for operations is limited – Egocentrism – Reversibility – One-dimensional thinking

Piaget’s Theory: Preoperational Period EGOCENTRIC: inability to see others’ viewpoints or take another’s perspective because: (1)The child cannot hold two perspectives in mind at once (2) The child does not know other peoples perspectives differ from their own. 0:00-2:05

The 3 Mountains Task 2:00

Piaget’s Theory: Preoperational Period One-Dimensional Thinking CONSERVATION: Object characteristics do not change despite changes in appearance (volume, mass, number) Requires logic in the form of reversibility Must hold 2 or more dimensions in mind at once Can do if task is simplified (e.g., use M&Ms) 2:05-4:45

Can We Speed Up Cognitive Development? Both Piaget and Zigler say, in general, “No.” – Advancement requires active discovery by the child – Active discovery requirement intrinsic motivation – Children can memorize, learn to answer correctly, but not understand

Challenges to Piaget’s Theory Situations are contrived, complex, and unfamiliar – E.g., simplifying the questions affects the answer Stages not as clear cut as Piaget believed – Young children understand more than Piaget credited them for if tasks are simplified – More continuous than stage-like if the child has had enough experience; familiar with the experimenter Logical reasoning is not the only criteria for assessing cognitive advancement – E.g., rational/logical thinking does not always guide adult behavior

Theory of Mind Children do have perspective taking ability – E.g., Use simplified speech talking to younger children – Judy Dunn’s False Belief Task Theory of Mind: awareness of own and others’ thought processes and mental states – Biological maturation, yes, and… – Cognitive and language abilities important to development of theory of mind, as are experiences with adults and older children E.g., Siblings have a good understanding of each other’s pet peeves 4:00

Student Presentation Jackman, E. (2013). Little liars : Development of verbal deception in children. Child Development Perspectives, 7,

Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory Like Piaget… he believed children actively seek to understand their world Unlike Piaget… Child embedded in a social context and focused on increasing abilities with assistance of others Vygotsky’s Cognitive Development: – Social Roles/Responsibilities Drive Advancement (not logic) Social-Cultural Collaboration (Mechanism) – Continuous (Process)

Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory Zone of proximal development – Performance space between what is able to do (skills, ideas, understanding)… (1)…Alone (2)…With Assistance Scaffolding – Adult behaviors (parents, coaches, teachers) that provide learning opportunities, materials, hints that allow the child to succeed at a challenging task

Guided Participation Rogoff expanded Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory to examine varied ways children learn their society’s values and practices through participation in family and community activities Goes beyond explicit instructional activities to include family and community interactions and stories – Parents/others model life skills like turn-taking, question/response – Children learn adaptive behaviors that prepare them to function well in other settings (e.g., school, religious setting) Rules for participation vary cross-culturally – US vs. Sweden (colors, cookies, greetings)

Language Development Distinctly human trait to develop complex rule- governed language in early childhood – Biologically Influenced Universal sequence and timetable for vocabulary/grammar Does not require explicit teaching, instruction – Environmental Influenced Must be exposed to it during childhood to learn it (fluently) We learn what we’re exposed to and not other languages (sounds we hear/produce; rules of grammar; social rules) Vocabulary Growth – 10 new words/day on average 2 yrs. = 200 words (2-3 word sentences, plurals, possessives, past tense, etc.) 3 yrs. = words (3-4 word sentences, yes/no questions, negatives) 4 yrs. = words (5-6 word sentences, fluent speech) 6 yrs. = 8,000-10,000 words – Fast mapping

Language Development Morphology and syntax – 18-36mo: Telegraphic speech (2-word utterances) “Throw ball.” “Doggie ruff!” – 2-3 yrs: 3 word sentences (with “I” references) “I throw ball.” “Me pet doggie.” – Overregulation We know they are applying rules because they make mistakes “Make a word past tense by adding “ed” to the end.” – “I losted my doll.” “I goed by self.” Pragmatics – Social conventions of speech – what is acceptable in a given setting or culture.

VIDEO: Early Childhood: Language Development 2:30

Language and Thought Relationship between language and thought – Piaget – thought precedes language development Thought evident in sensorimotor period – Vygotsky – language and thought develop together First attempts to speak are efforts to establish and maintain social contact – social speech 3 – 4 years old children use language as a tool to organize thoughts Self-directed talk becomes inner speech

Learning Objectives Describe what pretend play is, how it develops during early childhood and what it predicts later in development. Discuss Piaget’s preoperational stage. Explain the concepts of egocentrism and conservation as they relate to Piaget’s preoperational stage. Discuss theory of mind, false beliefs and the appearance- reality distinction as they relate to these to cognitive development during early childhood. Explain the concepts of scaffolding and zone of proximal development. See text for memory and language development during early childhood.