1. Physical and Cognitive Development in Early Childhood
Chapter 7:
Physical and Cognitive Development in Early Childhood

2. Differences in intelligence
In this chapter
Physical changes
Cognitive changes
Changes in language
Differences in intelligence

3. Physical Changes Growth and Motor Development
In early childhood:
Changes in height and weight happen more slowly during early childhood than infancy
Impressive gains in major locomotor skills
Manipulative skills improve but less so than major motor skills
Child adds about 2 – 3 inches and 6 pounds per year
Steady progress in major locomotor skills. See Table 7.1 for milestones in motor development from ages 2 to 6 years
Manipulative skills improve. Fine motor control used for letters and drawing will improve enough during age 5 – 6 for school skills to be displayed. See Figure 7.1.

4. Physical Changes Children’s Drawing
Early training can accelerate rate children learn school-related fine-motor skills
Older children benefit more from training more than younger
Learning to write letters aids in letter understanding

5. Figure 7.1 Stages in Children’s Drawing

6. The Brain and Nervous System Lateralization
Lateralization: left and right halves of the brain's cerebral cortex execute different functional specializations
Contributes to important neurological milestones in early childhood
Genes provide the mechanism for lateralization but experience provides the pace.
Lateralization of language functions to the left hemisphere is tied to language production.

7. The Brain and the Nervous System
Basic outline of lateralization is genetically determined
Genes dictate functions to be lateralized
Experience shapes pace of lateralization
Figure 7.2 Lateralization of Brain Function

8. The Brain and Nervous System Myelinization
Myelinization: protective, fatty material wraps around nerve cells in the peripheral and central nervous system
Reticular formation
Hippocampus
Reticular formation
Myelinization of RF important early childhood milestone; regulates attention and concentration
Hippocampus
Myelinization of H important in improvement of long term memory; transfer of information to long term memory

9. The Brain and Nervous System Handedness
Right or Left…Not right or wrong!
83% right-handed
14% left-handed
3% ambidextrous
Appears very early in life
Research suggests genetic link
Emerges between 2 and 6 years of age.

10. Health and Wellness Eating patterns
Preschoolers:
Often eat less than when babies
May not consume the majority of daily calories at mealtime
Challenges:
Food aversions may surface
Eating behaviors bring on family conflicts
Eat half as much as parents

11. Health and Wellness Illnesses and Accidents
Each year, 4 – 6 bouts of brief sickness
High levels of family stress more likely to produce sick children
4 – 6 bouts of sickness yearly – most often colds or flu
Majority accidents occur at home (drowing age 1-4 years); motor vehicle (5+ years)

12. Health and Wellness Illnesses and Accidents
Accidents 25% of U.S. children under 5 have one accident in any one year requiring medical attention Most occur in home Major cause of death in preschoolers More common among boys
4 – 6 bouts of sickness yearly – most often colds or flu
Majority accidents occur at home (drowing age 1-4 years); motor vehicle (5+ years)

13. Abuse and Neglect Child abuse
What is child abuse?
Child Abuse: Physical or psychological injury resulting from adult’s intentional exposure of child to potentially harmful stimuli, sexual acts, or neglect
2/3 of abuse results in physical injury.
25% involves sexual abuse.
5% involves neglect.

14. Abuse and Neglect Child Abuse Prevalence
Responsible for about 10% of emergency room visits
Between 1% and 5% of children suffer physical abuse
2000 infants and children die each year as result of child abuse
2/3 of abuse results in physical injury.
25% involves sexual abuse.
5% involves neglect.

15. Abuse and Neglect Risk factors
Overview: Sociocultural factors
Personal or cultural values that regard physical abuse as morally acceptable
Cultural traditions that view children as property
Communities that support these beliefs
Episodes of abuse are typically precipitated by everyday interactions between parent and child, such as a child spilling milk.

16. True or False?
Episodes of abuse are typically precipitated by everyday interactions between parent and child.
True

17. Abuse and Neglect Risk factors: Child Characteristics
Characteristics of child
Physical or mental disabilities
Difficult temperaments
Age

18. Abuse and Neglect Risk factors: Abuser Characteristics
Characteristics of abuser
Depressed
Lacking in parenting skills and knowledge
History of abuse themselves
Substance abusers
Live-in male partners
Live-in male partners whose children are not theirs

19. Abuse and Neglect Risk factors: Family Stress
Poverty
Unemployment
Inter-parental conflicts
The presence of several factors in combination increases likelihood of abuse

20. Abuse and Neglect Consequences of Abuse
Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Delays in all developmental domains
Children removed from the abusive situation typically appear to catch up within 1 year.
Related to quality of post-abuse environment

21. Abuse and Neglect Prevention
Preventing abuse begins with education!
Inform parents about consequences
Parenting classes
Identify families at risk
Protect children from further injury

22. Cognitive Changes Piaget’s Preoperational Stage: Overview
Semiotic (symbolic) functioning acquired
Increased proficiency in thinking and communicating but difficulty in logical thinking
Beginning of pretend play
Increased proficiency of symbol use (models, maps, graphics symbols)

23. Cognitive Changes Piaget’s Preoperational Stage: Centration
Centration: tendency to think of world one variable at a time
Use of animism or belief that inanimate objects are alive

24. Cognitive Changes Piaget’s Preoperational Stage: Egocentrism
Egocentrism: child’s tendency to view things from own perspective
Guided by object appearance
May create frustration in communication
Piaget Three-mountain task (See Figure 7.3)
Child guided by own point of view

25. Figure 7.3 Piaget’s Three Mountain Task

26. Cognitive Changes Piaget’s Preoperational Stage: Conservation
Conservation: understanding that change in appearance can occur without change in quantity
Successful conservation based on 3 characteristics of appearance-only matter transformation including identity, compensation, and reversibility
Unsuccessful conservation involves centration and irreversibility (usually 4 – 5 years)
Child guided by own point of view

27. Figure 7.4 Piaget’s Conservation Tasks
Ask: How would you explain each task to someone who has never heard of Piaget?
Assessing child’s stage of cognitive development involves discovery of how they arrive at answer, not just evaluating answers as right or wrong

28. Cognitive Changes Children’s Play and Cognitive Development
Constructive play
First pretend play
Substitute pretend play
Socio-dramatic play
Rule-governed play
Constructive play (2+ yrs)
First pretend play (15-21 mos)
Substitute pretend play (2-3 yrs)
Sociodramatic play (4 yrs)
Rule-governed play (5-6 yrs)

29. Challenges to Piaget’s Views Do you agree or disagree?
Children as young as 2 and 3 have at least some ability to understand that another person sees things or experiences things differently than they do.

30. Challenges to Piaget’s Views Emotions
Understanding
Young children understand others’ emotions
Regulation
Young children can regulate own emotions
Appearance and Reality
Older children understand same object can be represented differently, depending on point of view

31. Challenges to Piaget’s Views Flavell
Flavell’s perspective-taking ability levels
Level One – child knows that other people experience things differently: begins at 2 – 3 years
Level Two –child develops a series of complex rules to figure out precisely what the other person sees or experiences: begins at 4 – 5 years
Studies also suggest children regulate their emotions based on social expectations – a behavior not possible if children are completely egocentric.

32. 18 months – rudimentary beginnings
Theories of Mind
Theory of Mind: understanding thoughts, desires, and beliefs of others
18 months – rudimentary beginnings
Age 3 – some aspects of link between people’s thinking, feelings, and behavior
Age 4 – recognizes each person’s actions are based on their representation of reality

33. Theories of Mind
4 – 5 year olds
Can’t understand that others can think about them
Don’t understand that most knowledge can be derived from inference (this understanding develops by age 6)
5 – 7 year olds
Understand reciprocal nature of thought
Reciprocal nature of thought is needed to form reciprocal friendships, and to develop social skills.

34. Theories of Mind
False Belief Principle: Children see problem from another’s point of view and discern what information causes person to believe something that isn’t true
4-5 years:
understand other people think; don’t understand thinking can be about them
5-7 years:
understanding reciprocal nature of thought
6+ years:
realization knowledge can be derived through inference
Reciprocal nature of thought is needed to form reciprocal friendships, and to develop social skills.

35. Theories of Mind Correlated with: Performance on Piaget’s tasks
Influences on Development of a Theory of Mind
Correlated with:
Performance on Piaget’s tasks
Pretend play
Shared pretense with other children
Discussion of emotion-provoking events with parents
Language skills and working memory
Cross-cultural influences
Language skills, such as knowledge of words like “want,” “need,” “think,” or “remember” are related to theory of mind.
Children with disabilities – congenital deafness or mental retardation – develop a theory of mind more slowly.
Some research suggests cross-cultural influences (level of industrialization)

36. Alternative Theories of Early Childhood Thinking
Neo-Piagetian Theories: Robbie Case
Short-term storage space (STSS)
Operational efficiency
Matrix Classification Task
Let’s take a closer look at this task.
Operational Efficiency — the 7-year-old is better able to handle the processing demands of conservation tasks than is a 4-year-old because of improvements in operational efficiency.
Short-term storage space (STSS)
Refers to child’s working memory
Operational efficiency
Limited number of schemes to which a child can attend
Improves through practice and brain maturation
Matrix Classification
Requires child to place a given stimulus in two categories simultaneously

37. Figure 7.5 Neo-Piagetian Matrix Task
Child fails at task if she processes stimulus on 1 dimension; fails to reprocess on second
Young child can learn to perform correctly but approach is quantitatively different from older children
Older children use SS to think simultaneously about 2 dimensions

38. Alternative Theories of Early Childhood Thinking Information Processing Theories
Metamemory: Knowledge about and control of memory processes Metacognition: Knowledge about and control of thought processes Scripts: Cognitive structures underlie behavior and emerge during middle childhood
Metamemory: Knowledge about and control of memory processes.
2 – 6-year-olds have poor strategies for memory
Metacognition: Knowledge about and control of thought processes
Enables the child to generate strategies to solve problems
Both metamemory and metacognition improve during childhood.
Scripts especially useful for managing demands of tasks with sequential steps

39. Alternative Theories of Early Childhood Thinking Vygotsky’s Socio-Cultural Theory
Overview
Emphasis on role of social factors in cognitive development
Problem solutions socially generated and learned
Key principles: Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) and scaffolding
Remember from Chapter Two, Vygotsky emphasizes social interactions as mechanisms for cognitive development.

40. Naïve Psychology stage
Alternative Theories of Early Childhood Thinking Vygotsky’s Socio-Cultural Theory
Stages of Cognitive Development
Primitive stage
Naïve Psychology stage
Private Speech stage
Ingrowth stage
Remember from Chapter Two, Vygotsky emphasizes social interactions as mechanisms for cognitive development.
Primitive stage
Infant possesses mental processes “similar to animals”
Learns primarily through conditioning
Naïve psychology stage
Learns to use language to communicate but does not understand symbols
Private Speech stage
Uses language as a guide to solve problems
Internalized by 6-7
Ingrowth stage
Logical thinking results from internalization of speech acquired from children and adults in a social world

41. Alternative Theories of Early Childhood Thinking Vygotsky’s Socio-Cultural Theory
How are Vygotsky’s stages related to the eventual development of adult thinking?
Each stage represents a step toward child’s internalization of ways of thinking used by adults around him or her.
Remember from Chapter Two, Vygotsky emphasizes social interactions as mechanisms for cognitive development.
Primitive stage
Infant possesses mental processes “similar to animals”
Learns primarily through conditioning
Naïve psychology stage
Learns to use language to communicate but does not understand symbols
Private Speech stage
Uses language as a guide to solve problems
Internalized by 6-7
Ingrowth stage
Logical thinking results from internalization of speech acquired from children and adults in a social world

42. Remember: Word learning drives process of language development
Changes in Language
Fast-mapping: Ability to categorically link new words to real word referents
Occurs at about age 3
Rapid formation of hypothesis about new word’s meaning
Remember: Word learning drives process of language development
2.5 year old – 600 word vocabulary.
5 – 6-year-old – vocabulary is as large as 15,000 words; 10 new words a day.
Fast-mapping begins as early as 3 as children begin to think of groups of objects in a single class.
Grammar Explosion – see Table 7.2, page 183.

43. Changes in Language Grammar Explosion
Grammar Explosion: Period when grammatical features of child speech becomes more adultlike
Inflections
Questions and Negatives
Overregularizations
Complex sentences
Inflections
Additions that change meaning
Earliest inflection in English is the addition of –ing: “Where going?”
Questions and Negatives
Use particular sets of rules
Overregularization
Using rules when they don’t apply
Complex sentences
Use conjunctions to combine two ideas or using imbedded clauses
Strongly linked to vocabulary development.
Inflections – add -s to cat to change meaning.
Questions – learns to add with who, what, where and why to questions.
Negatives – put in not, -n’t, or no but omit the auxiliary verb; for example, “ I not crying.”

44. Changes in Language Phonological Awareness
Phonological awareness: Child’s sensitivity to sound patterns that are specific to a language
Awareness of sounds represented by letters
Learned in school through formal instruction
Primarily developed through word play
Related to invented spelling
Awareness of sounds being represented by letters
Can be learned in school through formal instruction
The greater a child’s phonological awareness, the faster s/he learns to read
Primarily develops through word play
Nursery rhymes
Games involving repetitive words
Invented spelling – attempting to write

45. Figure 7.6 Invented Spelling
Invented spelling required high level of phonological awareness
“A snake came to visit our class”

46. Differences in Intelligence Measuring Intelligence
Alfred Binet
Lewis Terman: Intelligence Quotient (IQ)
Wechsler Intelligence Scales for Children
Binet and Simon – measured vocabulary, comprehension of facts and relationships, mathematical and verbal reasoning.
Alfred Binet
Identify children who might have difficulty in school
Lewis Terman
Intelligence Quotient (IQ)
Mental age/chronological age x 100 = IQ
2/3 of children exhibit an IQ between 85 and 115
Wechsler Intelligence Scales for Children
Verbal scales
Performance scales
Working memory scales

47. Differences in Intelligence Something to Consider
An important assumption in studying differences in intelligence is that these differences can be measured.

48. Can you explain what this bell curve tells us about IQ?
The Normal Curve
IQ scores form a normal distribution – the famous “bell curve” with which you may be familiar.
Can you explain what this bell curve tells us about IQ?

49. Differences in Intelligence
Stability and Predictive Value of IQ Scores
Correlation between IQ score and future grades is about .50 – .60.
Consistent relationship are found within social classes and racial groups.
IQ scores are quite stable BUT do not measure underlying competence.
Correlations show a strong relationship between IQ and school performance.
High intelligence, regardless of class, is associated with resiliency and the ability to develop the kind of self-confidence and personal competence to overcome obstacles.
Lower IQ is associated with delinquency in adolescence, adult illiteracy, and criminal behavior.

50. Stop and think!
A high level of predictability masks an interesting fact about children being tested. Do you know what this is?
Many children show quite a wide fluctuation in their scores.

51. Origins of Individual Differences in Intelligence Evidence of Heredity and Family Influences
Twin and adoption studies findings
Family Influences
Adoption studies findings
Family demographics and learning environments
Family Influences
Adoption studies also provide support for environmental influences
Children adopted in higher social class homes had higher IQ scores
Parents of higher social class provide interesting and complex learning environments
Age-appropriate play materials
Warm and appropriate responses to behavior
Descriptively rich language environments
Quick in answering questions
Talk to children often
Avoid being excessively restrictive, punitive, or controlling
Appreciation and encouragement for school achievement

52. Origins of Individual Differences in Intelligence Evidence for Preschool Influences
Short- and long term outcomes from formal education programs
Head Start outcomes
Let’s look at the relationship between some early education programs and IQ scores.
When an enrichment program is begun in infancy rather than at age 3 or 4, IQ scores remain elevated into adulthood.
Head Start aids poor children and supports intellectual development
Provide intellectual stimulation
Help children to acquire new vocabulary
Children show a gain of about 10 IQ points
Long term impact on children
Less likely to be placed in special education, repeat a grade

53. Figure 7.8 Early Education and IQ Scores
What does the figure reveal?
IQs of children enrolled in special programs higher at every level

54. ? ?
Questions To Ponder
Piaget sees the child as the little scientist who works on her own to discover knowledge. Vygotsky suggests children learn from skilled social partners in a social setting. Which theory or combination describes children the best? Why? What makes Head Start a successful program?

55. Group Differences in Intelligence Test Scores Can you hypothesize why these findings occur?
Higher scores than white children Chinese and Japanese children Lower scores than white children African American children Higher scores in all groups over two centuries Flynn Effect
Chinese and Japanese children
Demonstrate higher performance on achievement tests
African American children consistently score lower than white children.
Differences appear to be narrowing
Fall within the reaction range of scores possible with different environments
May reflect poverty differences
Mixed-race adoptions studies support environmental influence
Flynn Effect: over last two centuries IQ scores have increased in all groups; argues for environmental effects