Cognitive Development
Piaget
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
Four Limitations of Preoperational Thought
(ages 2-6)
 Centration
 Focus on Appearance
 Static Reasoning
 Irreversibility
Limitations of Preoperational Thought
 Centration- a young child focuses (centers)
on
one idea, excluding all others.
(i.e. mother can’t be a sister)
Egocentrismseeing things exclusively
from own point of view
Limitations of Preoperational Thought
 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
 Conservation- The principle that the amount of a
substance remains the same (is conserved) when its
appearance changes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnArvcWaH6I
Piaget
•Animism- Belief that natural objects and
phenomena are alive.
•Children simultaneously
hold rational and magical
ideas.
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).
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.
Vygotsky: Language as a Tool
Language advances thinking in
two ways:
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.
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.
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MId8M2pf3dg)
 Reggio Emilia approach- A famous program of early-childhood
education; 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.
Psychosocial Development
Emotional Development
 Emotional Regulation
 The ability to control when and how emotions are expressed
due to connections between limbic system and prefrontal
cortex
 Initiative versus guilt
 Erikson’s third psychosocial crisis, in which children
undertake new skills and activities and feel guilty when they do
not succeed at them.
Emotional Development
 Self-concept: A person’s understanding of who
he or she is, incorporating self-esteem, appearance,
personality, and various traits (e.g. gender, size).
 Protective Optimism: Preschoolers predict that
they can solve impossible puzzles, remember long
lists of words, and control their dreams.
 Helps
them try new things
Motivation
 Intrinsic motivation
 Occurs when people do something for the joy of doing it.
 Extrinsic motivation
 Occurs when people do something to gain praise or some other
reinforcement.
Seeking Emotional Balance
 Lack of emotional regulation may be an early sign
of psychopathology (disorder of the mind)
 Externalizing problems

expressing powerful feelings through uncontrolled
physical or verbal outbursts, as by lashing out at other
people or breaking things
 Internalizing problems

turning one’s emotional distress inward, as by feeling
excessively guilty, ashamed, or worthless
Play
 Play is the most productive and enjoyable activity that
children undertake
 Play is universal and timeless
Form of play changes with age and culture:
 Increasingly complex social play is
due to brain maturation coupled
with many hours of social play
 Children must learn how to make,
and keep, friends
 Young children play best with peers
 Toddlers are not yet good
playmates
Cultural Differences in Play
Types of Play (Midred Parten, 1932)
1. Solitary play: A child plays alone, unaware of any
other children playing nearby.
2.Onlooker play: A child watches other children play.
3.Parallel play: Children play with similar toys in
similar ways, but not together.
4.Associative play: Children interact, observing each
other and sharing material, but their play is not yet
mutual and reciprocal.
5.Cooperative play: Children play together, creating
and elaborating a joint activity or taking turns.
Drama and Pretending
 Sociodramatic play: Pretend play in which
children act out various roles and themes in stories
that they create.
 Sociodramatic play enables children to:
Explore and rehearse social roles
 Test their ability to explain and to convince playmates of
their ideas
 Practice regulating their emotions by pretending to be
afraid, angry, brave, and so on
 Develop a self-concept in a nonthreatening context

Gender Expectations
Age 2: Children know whether they are boys
or girls and apply gender labels consistently
Age 4: Children have learned that certain
toys (such as dolls or trucks) are appropriate
for one gender but not the other
As socially defined gender expectations
are questioned, more children allowed to
choose with supportive parents.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFn81_HAvWg
Gender Expectations
Parenting Styles
Diana Baumrind (1967, 1971). Parents differ on
four important dimensions:
1. Expressions of warmth: From very affectionate
to cold and critical
2.Strategies for discipline: Parents vary in
whether and how they explain, criticize, persuade,
ignore, and punish.
3.Communication: Some parents listen patiently to
their children; others demand silence.
4.Expectations for maturity: Parents vary in the
standards they set for their children regarding
responsibility and self-control.
Three + 1 Styles of Parenting
 Authoritarian parenting: High behavioral
standards, strict punishment of misconduct, and
little communication
 Permissive parenting: High nurturance and
communication but little discipline, guidance, or
control
 Authoritative parenting: Parents set limits and
enforce rules but are flexible and listen to their
children
 Neglectful/uninvolved parenting: Parents are
indifferent toward their children and unaware of
what is going on in their children’s lives
Baumrind’s Three Styles of Parenting
Styles of Parenting
Children of authoritarian parents tend to
• become conscientious, obedient, and quiet but not especially happy
• feel guilty or depressed and blame themselves when things don’t go well
• rebel as adolescents and leave home before age 20
Children of permissive parents tend to:
• be unhappy and lack self-control, especially in peer relationships
• suffer from inadequate emotional regulation
• be immature and lack friendships (main reason for their unhappiness)
• continue to live at home, still dependent, in early adulthood
Children of authoritative parents tend to:
• be successful, articulate, happy with themselves, and generous with others
• be well-liked by teachers and peers, especially in societies in which
individual initiative is valued
Children of uninvolved parents tend to:
• be immature, sad, lonely and at risk of abuse
• may have social and cognitive problems
Moral Development
 Empathy: The ability to understand the emotions
and concerns of another person, especially when
they differ from one’s own.
 Antipathy: Feelings of dislike or even hatred for
another person.
 Prosocial behavior: Actions that are helpful and kind
but that are of no obvious benefit to the person doing them.

Increases from age 3 to 6
 Antisocial behavior: Actions that are deliberately
hurtful or destructive to another person.

Declines beginning at age 2
Moral Development
1. Instrumental aggression: Hurtful behavior
intended to get something that another person has
and to keep it.
2. Reactive aggression: An impulsive retaliation for
another person’s intentional or accidental action,
verbal or physical.
3. Relational aggression: Nonphysical acts, such as
insults or social rejection, aimed at harming the
social connection between the victim and other
people.
4. Bullying aggression: Unprovoked, repeated
physical or verbal attack, especially on victims who
are unlikely to defend themselves.
Parental Discipline
1. Remember theory of mind. Young children
gradually come to understand things from other
viewpoints.
2. Remember emerging self-concept. When the
sense of self is developing, sharing becomes more
difficult.
3. Remember fast-mapping. Young children are
eager to talk and think, but they say more than they
really understand. Explanations and discussion
before and after misbehavior help children learn.
4. Remember that young children are not
logical. Children may disconnect a misdeed from the
punishment.
Physical Punishment
 Some researchers believe that
physical punishment is harmless;
some don’t.
 Physical punishment increases
obedience temporarily, but increases
the possibility of later aggression.
 Many children who are spanked do
not become violent adults; other
factors (e.g. poverty, temperament)
are stronger influences.
Theories of Sex Role Development
Psychoanalytic Theory
 Phallic stage: Freud’s third stage of development, when the
penis becomes the focus of concern and pleasure.
 Oedipus complex: The unconscious desire of young boys to
replace their fathers and win their mothers’ exclusive love.
 Superego: The judgmental part of the personality that
internalizes the moral standards of the parents.
 Electra complex: The unconscious desire of girls to
replace their mothers and win their fathers’ exclusive
love.
 Identification: An attempt to defend one’s selfconcept by taking on the behaviors and attitudes of
someone else.
Theories of Sex Role Development
Behaviorism
 Gender differences are the product of ongoing
reinforcement and punishment

"Gender-appropriate" is rewarded more frequently than
"gender-inappropriate" behavior
 Social learning theory: Children notice the ways
men and women behave and internalize the
standards they observe
Theories of Sex Role Development
Cognitive Theory
Gender schema
•
•
A child’s cognitive concept or general belief about sex
differences, which is based on his or her observations and
experiences.
Young children categorize themselves and everyone else as
either male or female, and then they think and behave
accordingly.