Infants, Children, and Adolescents Chapter 9 Cognitive Development in Early Childhood Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Piaget’s Preoperational Stage Ages 2 to 7 Gains in mental representation Make-believe play Dual representation Sensorimotor activity leads to internal images of experience, which children then label with words. Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Development of Make-Believe Play With age, make-believe gradually becomes more detached from real-life conditions. less self-centered. more complex, sociodramatic play. © Eladora | Dreamstime.com Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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. Make-believe strengthens a variety of mental abilities, including sustained attention, logic, memory, reasoning, and creativity. © Anke Van Wyk | Dreamstime.com Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Enhancing Make-Believe Play in Early Childhood Provide sufficient space and play materials. Supervise and encourage children’s play without controlling it. Offer a variety of both realistic materials and materials without clear functions. Ensure that children have many rich, real-world experiences to inspire positive fantasy play. Help children solve social conflicts constructively. Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Dual Representation Viewing a symbolic object as both object and symbol Mastered around age 3 Adult teaching can help provide lots of maps, photos, drawings, make-believe playthings, etc. point out similarities to the real world. © Fred Goldstein | Dreamstime.com Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Egocentrism Failure to distinguish others’ views 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. Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Animistic Thinking Belief that inanimate objects have lifelike qualities, such as thoughts or wishes © Hieng Ling Tie | Dreamstime.com Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Piagetian Conservation Tasks Figure 9.2 Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Piagetian Class Inclusion Problem Figure 9.3 Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Follow-Up Research on Preoperational Thought Egocentric, Animistic, and Magical Thinking Can adjust language to others and take others’ perspectives in simple situations Animistic thinking comes from incomplete knowledge of objects. Illogical Thought Can do simplified conservation Can reason by analogy Use causal expressions Categorization Everyday knowledge is categorized. Appearance versus Reality Make-believe helps children tell the difference. Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Categories of Imaginary Animals Shown to Preschoolers Figure 9.4 Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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. Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Educational Principles Derived from Piaget’s Theory Discovery learning Sensitivity to children’s readiness to learn Developmentally appropriate practice Acceptance of individual differences © Monika Adamczyk | Dreamstime.com Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Children’s Private Speech Piaget called “egocentric speech” Vygotsky viewed as foundation for all higher cognitive processes Helps guide behavior Used more when tasks are difficult, after errors, or when confused Gradually becomes more silent Children with learning and behavior problems use longer Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Relationship of Private Speech to Task Difficulty Among 5- and 6-Year-Olds Figure 9.5 Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Social Origins of Early Childhood Cognition Intersubjectivity Scaffolding Guided participation © Monkey Business Images | Dreamstime.com Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Vygotsky’s Theory and Early Childhood Education Vygotskian classrooms promote assisted discovery. Teachers guide children’s learning with explanations and verbal prompts. Peer collaboration is also emphasized. Challenges to Vygotsky’s theory: Verbal communication is not the only way new information is mastered. The theory says little about how basic motor, perception, attention, memory, and problem-solving skills contribute to higher cognitive processes. Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Children in Village and Tribal Cultures Observe and Participate in Adult Work Western Cultures School prepares children for work. Parents focus on preparing children for school success. Child-focused activities Village/Tribal Cultures Little schooling Children observe adults at work to learn. Children assume adult responsibilities early. Children make more decisions for themselves. Limited make-believe play and scaffolding Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Improvements in Attention Sustained attention increases sharply between 2 and 3½ years. Frontal lobe growth Increasingly complex play goals Adult scaffolding Quality preschooling Planning improves. Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Gains Between Ages 3 and 7 in Performance on Tasks Requiring Children to Inhibit an Impulse and Focus on a Competing Goal Figure 9.6 Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Memory in Early Childhood Recognition better than recall Beginnings of memory strategies Limited by working memory Familiar events remembered as scripts More elaborate with age Elaborative style best Adults help with autobiographical memories. © Darren Baker | Dreamstime.com Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Problem Solving in Early Childhood Overlapping Waves Theory Try variety of strategies. Observe how well they work. Gradually select those leading to rapid, accurate answers. Figure 9.7 Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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 Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Example of a False-Belief Task Awareness of mental life: infancy to age 3 Mastery of false beliefs: around age 4 Figure 9.8 Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Factors Contributing to Preschoolers’ Theory of Mind Language and verbal reasoning Cognitive skills Make-believe play Social interaction © Goh Siok hian | Dreamstime.com Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Early Literacy and Mathematical Development Preschooler’s understanding occurs before practical usage. Emergent literacy “Read” but don’t understand symbolism Gradual mastery of functions and phonological awareness More informal experiences contribute to earlier and better literacy. Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Supporting Emergent Literacy in Early Childhood Provide literacy-rich homes and preschool environments. Engage in interactive book reading. Provide outings to libraries, museums, parks, zoos, and other community settings. Point out letter–sound correspondences, play rhyming and language–sound games, and read rhyming poems and stories. Support children’s efforts at writing, especially narrative products. Model literacy activities. Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Reading Readiness Skills at Kindergarten Entry by SES Figure 9.10 Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Early Childhood Mathematical Reasoning Builds on informal knowledge Ordinality Order relationships between quantities Cardinality Last number when counting is the total. Estimation © Kszott | Dreamstime.com Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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 Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Features of a High-Quality Home Life for Preschoolers: The HOME Early Childhood Subscales Sources: Bradley, 1994; Bradley et al., 2001. Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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 Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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. Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 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. Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Child Care Center-based care has a greater association with cognitive gains than other child-care arrangements. In another investigation of 2- to 4-year-olds from very-low-income families, the more time spent in high-quality child-care centers, the less likely children were to display emotional and behavioral problems, even after many family characteristics were controlled. Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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 Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 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. Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Vocabulary Development in Early Childhood Fast-mapping Mutual exclusivity bias Syntactic bootstrapping Inventing own words © Barbara Reddoch | Dreamstime.com Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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 Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Children Using a New Verb in the Subject-Verb-Object Form After Hearing It in Another Construction Figure 9.13 Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 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. Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Supporting Language Learning in Early Childhood Recasts: restructuring incorrect speech into correct form Expansions: elaborating on children’s speech Role of adults: Listening attentively Elaborating on what children say Modeling correct usage Stimulating children to talk further © Nyul | Dreamstime.com Copyright © 2012 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved.