Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Early Childhood Physical, Cognitive, and Language Development Chapter 6 6

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Early Childhood Physical, Cognitive, and Language Development Physical Development Motor Skills Development Cognitive Development Language Development Play and Learning

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Early Childhood Ages 2 to 6 involve a time of remarkable growth and achievement Accompanying physical development are rapid changes in children’s thinking Neurological development underlies much of early childhood development, including advances in: –Thinking, memory, problem solving, language, physical coordination, and social and emotional development

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Physical Development Physical development is the result of interaction of genetics, experience, nutrition, care, play, and exercise Changes in Body –Age 2 to 6 is a time of rapid physical growth –Bodies become longer, more slender, less-top-heavy –Bones harden Brain Development –Rapid growth spurt –Myelinization and lateralization occur –Neural impulses become faster and more precise

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. X-ray of a 2-year-old’s and a 6-year-old’s hand and wrist

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Changing Body Proportion in Girls and Boys from Birth to Maturity SOURCE: FromMoving and learning: The elementary school physical education experience (3rd ed.), by B. Nichols, copyright ｩ Reprinted by permission of the McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Handedness A function of brain lateralization May have a genetic basis Preference for hand develops by 20 months, but may be seen in developing fetus (sucking dominant thumb) Only 10% of children are left-handed Left-handed people are more likely to be ambidextrous

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Brain Development and Early Intervention Remediation for developmental problems should begin by age 3 High-risk children benefit from educational programs and other interventions targeting nutrition, health needs, social and cognitive development, and family needs

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Development: Interactive and Individual Brain development and other aspects of development interact Generalized statements about growth may or may not apply to individual children

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Motor Skills Development Gross Motor Skills –Develop automaticity, ability to perform without thinking –Become able to integrate separate, simple actions into more complex patterns—functional subordination Fine Motor Skills between 2 and 6: –Grasping –Fastening and unfastening clothing –Using scissors and eating utensils –Tying knots

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Motor Development in Early Childhood

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Learning and Motor Skills Motor development requires readiness to learn Practice is essential to motor development Motor learning is enhanced by attention Feedback helps children acquire and refine their skills Children’s behaviors may be extrinsically or intrinsically motivated

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Cognitive Development Piaget’s Preoperational Period (ages 2-7) –Cognitive development builds on schemes developed in the sensorimotor stage –Two parts: Preconceptual period – age 2 to 4 or 5 Intuitive or transitional period – age 4 or 5 to 7 Limitations on realistic thinking –Animism –Reification Young children are also egocentric

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Characteristics of Preoperational Thought

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Cognitive Development Symbolic representation – use of actions, images, words, to represent past and present events, experiences, and concepts Limitations of Preoperational Thinking –Lack of conservation –Thinking is perception-based, rather than logic-based –Preoperational children can’t think backwards

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Limitations of Preoperational Thinking

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Conservation of Mass Problems

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. A Conservation of Number Problem

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. The Classic Liquid-Beakers Problem

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Video Clip Piaget’s three mountains task demonstrating preoperational egocentrism

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Video Clip Demonstration of conservation tasks with preoperational child

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Video Clip Funny Piaget conservation tasks video: Piaget teaches Stewie from Family Guy, Kenny from South Park, and Michael Jackson conservation of number and volume

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Video Clip Demonstration of liquid conservation task with concrete operational child

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Video Clip Deductive reasoning demonstration

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Evaluating Piaget’s Theory Critics say that children’s thinking is not as limited as Piaget described Children may be able to use more logic than he gave them credit for, if they can relate to the problem Piaget underemphasized the role of social aspects of learning, which Vygotsky advanced

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Beyond Piaget: Social Perspectives Lev Vygotsky’s concept of zone of proximal development means children’s achievement can be optimized by adult guidance The most effective guidance, or instruction, involves scaffolding, the progressive structuring of tasks so that the level of difficulty is appropriate to the child’s ability

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. The Role of Memory Memory is central to cognitive development Memory processes reach nearly adult capabilities by the age of 7 Two different types of information retrieval: –Recognition –Recall Memory is improved with effective strategies for encoding and retrieval –For instance, children learn scripts, or sequences, for routine activities –Scripts form the beginnings of the historical self

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Language Development In early childhood, children learn that words can be used to express concepts Children learn the rules of grammar in an orderly sequence, but sometimes apply them inappropriately (e.g., overregularization) Children develop private speech, the language they use to talk to themselves They learn to talk to each other: –Collective monologues –Pragmatics

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Stages of Grammar Acquisition

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Language Development Parents teach children about categories and symbols and how to translate children’s worlds into ideas and words Assumptions about gender are often embedded in parents’ language Young children may become bilingual when different languages are used at home and at school Being bilingual enhances cognitive development and flexibility

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Play and Learning Play is the work of childhood Play’s many forms promote cognitive development Children learn about physical laws and properties by playing with objects Young children are too egocentric to engage in social play, but engage in parallel play Social play and dramatic play develop at age 3 or 4 Play with peers –Promotes social and personality development and –Cognitive and motor skills

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Kinds of Play

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Summary Early childhood—from age 2 to 6—is a period of remarkable growth and achievement Physical and cognitive development is rapid, and is most dependent on the developing brain The ways children behave and think—and the ways their brains develop—for an integrated, interactive, and dynamic system Connections continue to be made between the neurons, unneeded connections are pruned, and cells become coated in myelin, a sheathing that makes the neurons function more precisely

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Summary Physical development involves the child’s ability to perform increasingly complex motor activities without thinking about them (automaticity) They learn motor skills with practice and they learn most easily when their brains are ready Piaget called this stage of cognitive development the preoperational period, when children are developing language and thinking skills Piaget believe that children actively construct their view of the world by assimilating and accommodating new experiences

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Summary Cognitive ability at this stage, however, has many limits. This stage of thinking is characterized by egocentrism and lack of conservation Vygotsky felt that children learn best when they are guided by a competent adult or older child At this stage children’s memory develops and improves Language development at this stage is rapid, particularly the explosion of vocabulary

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Summary Girls and boys develop language skills at different rates Play is the work of childhood. Children become more social and interactive in their play at this stage They move from parallel play to dramatic play Play with other children promotes social and personality development, as well as cognitive and motor skills