Chapter 9- Early Childhood:Cognitive Development

Piaget and Vygotsky

Piaget: Preoperational Thought• Preoperational means “before (pre)

logical operations (reasoning processes).”

• The child’s verbal ability permits symbolic thinking. – Language frees the child from the limits of

sensorimotor experience.

Piaget and Vygotsky

Four Limitations of Preoperational Thought

• Centration- a young child focuses (centers) on one idea, excluding all others.– Egocentrism- “self-centeredness”

• Focus on appearance- a thing is whatever it appears to be

• Static reasoning- belief that the world is unchanging

• Irreversibility- what is done cannot be undone

Piaget and Vygotsky• Conservation- The principle that the amount of a substance

remains the same (is conserved) when its appearance changes.

Piaget and Vygotsky

•Animism- Belief that natural objects and phenomena are alive.

•Children simultaneously hold rational and magical ideas.

Piaget and Vygotsky

Vygotsky: Social Learning• Every aspect of children’s cognitive

development is embedded in the social context.

• Guided participation- process by which people learn from others who guide their experiences and explorations (mentor).

Piaget and Vygotsky

• Zone of proximal development (ZPD)-Vygotsky’s term for the skills—cognitive as well as physical—that a person can exercise only with assistance, not yet independently.

• Scaffolding- Temporary support that is tailored to a learner’s needs and abilities and aimed at helping the learner master the next task in a given learning process.

Language as a Tool

• Private speech- The internal dialogue that occurs when people talk to themselves (either silently or out loud).

• Social mediation- Human interaction that expands and advances understanding, often through words that one person uses to explain something to another.

Children’s Theories• Theory-theory- The idea that children attempt to

explain everything they see and hear using theories

• Theory of mind- A person’s theory of what other people might be thinking. – In order to have a theory of mind, children must realize

that other people are not necessarily thinking the same thoughts that they themselves are.

– That realization is seldom achieved before age 4.

Language

• Language is pivotal to every kind of cognition in early childhood.

• Early childhood is a sensitive period, the best time to master vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation.

• The average child knows about 500 words at age 2 and more than 10,000 at age 6.

Language

Fast-mapping• The speedy and sometimes imprecise way

in which children learn new words by tentatively placing them in mental categories according to their perceived meaning.

Language

Language

Basic Grammar• The grammar of a language includes the

structures, techniques, and rules that communicate meaning. Word order and word repetition, prefixes and suffixes, intonation and emphasis—all are part of grammar.

• Overregularization- The application of rules of grammar even when exceptions occur, making the language seem more “regular" than it actually is.

Learning Two Languages

• Young bilinguals site both languages in the same areas of the brain but keep them separate when speaking, not so in adults

• Pronunciation is hard to master after childhood

• Balanced Bilingual: fluent in two languages, not favoring one over the other

Early Childhood Education

Child-Centered Programs• Stress children’s natural inclination to learn through play

rather than by following adult directions.• Show the influence of Vygotsky, who thought that

children learn from other children and through cultural practices that structure life.

• Montessori schools emphasize individual pride and accomplishment, presenting literacy-related tasks.

• Reggio Emilia approach- A famous program of early-childhood education that originated in the town of Reggio Emilia, Italy; it encourages each child’s creativity in a carefully designed setting.

Early Childhood Education

Teacher-Directed Programs• Stress academic subjects taught by a teacher

to an entire class.• Children learn letters, numbers, shapes, and

colors, as well as how to listen to the teacher and sit quietly.

• Make a clear distinction between work and play.

• Are much less expensive, since the child/adult ratio can be higher.

Early Childhood Education

Intervention Programs• Project Head Start- The most widespread

early-childhood education program in the United States, begun in 1965 and funded by the federal government.

• At first, the program was thought to be highly successful at raising children’s intelligence; ten years later, early gains were said to fade.