Ch 10 Cog Dev in Early child - St. Edwards University Sites

Cognitive Development In Early Childhood Chapter 10

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Piagetian Approach: The Preoperational Child Early childhood: preoperational stage  Advances of preoperational thought 

– Symbolic function: ages 2 to 7 yrs. shows great expansion in use of symbolic thought – Deferred imitation is proof of symbolic function – becomes more robust after 18 months

Piagetian Approach: The Preoperational Child 

Advances of Preoperational Thought – In early childhood, 5 principles of counting are recognized – By age 5, most can count to 20 – U.S. and Chinese children progress at same rate until ages 4 to 5, then Chinese learn their number system faster

Piagetian Approach: The Preoperational Child 

Immature Aspects of Preoperational Thought – Failure to understand conservation 

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– Egocentrism - a form of centration 

Egocentrism shown primarily in situations beyond child’s immediate experience

A preoperational child is unable to describe the “mountains” from the doll’s point of view - an indication of egocentrism, according to Piaget

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Piagetian Approach: The Preoperational Child

Do Young Children Have Theories of Mind? – Theory of mind: emerging awareness of their own and others’ mental processes – Theory of mind knowledge dramatically increases between 2 and 5, peaking around age 4

Language Development 

Grammar and Syntax – At 3, children typically begin to use plurals, possessives, and past tense – They still make errors of overregularization – By ages 5 to 7, children’s speech is quite adultlike, but they still have not mastered the fine points of language

Language Development 

Private Speech – Talking aloud to oneself with no intent to communicate with others – Normal and common in childhood, accounting for 20% to 50% of what is said by 4- to 10-year-olds – Piaget viewed it as cognitive immaturity – Vygotsky saw it as very important for development and social experiences

Language Development 

Social Interaction and Preparation for Literacy – Emergent literacy: development of these skills, knowledge, and attitudes that underlie reading and writing – Social interaction can promote emergent literacy – Reading to children is one of the most effective paths to literacy

Early Childhood Education 

The Transition to Kindergarten – Emotional and social adjustment: important factors in readiness for kindergarten and strongly predict school success – Kindergarten adjustment may depend on a child’s age, gender, temperament, coping skills, cognitive and social competencies, and environment of school and home