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

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