PART 4: EARLY CHILDHOOD
COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT IN EARLY CHILDHOOD
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PIAGETIAN APPROACH: THE PREOPERATIONAL CHILD
Preoperational stage = second major stage in cognitive development ~ 2 – 7 years
Piaget: children cannot think logically until the stage of concrete operations in middle childhood
Advances of preoperational thought

Advances in symbolic thought accompanied by growing understanding of causality, identities, categorisation and number ~ some have roots in
infancy and toddlerhood while others begin to develop in early childhood but aren’t fully achieved until middle childhood
The symbolic function

Piaget: “ability to use mental representations to which a child has attached meaning” ~ universal mark of human culture – people cannot
communicate without them

Preschool children show symbolic function through deferred imitation (mental representation of observed action), pretend play (making an object
stand for something else) and language (system of symbols used to communicate)

Until 3, children do not reliably grasp relationships between pictures, maps or scale models and the objects or spaces they represent

Older preschoolers can use simple maps, and can transfer spatial understanding gained from working with models to maps and vice versa
Cognitive Advances during Early Childhood:
Advance
Significance
Use of symbols
Children do not need to be in sensorimotor contact with an object, person, or event in order to think about it
Children can imagine that objects or people have properties other than those they actually have.
Understanding of identities
Children are aware that superficial alterations do not change the nature of things
Understanding cause and
Children realise that events have causes
effect
Ability to classify
Children can organise objects, people, and events into meaningful categories
Understanding number
Children can count and deal with quantities
Empathy
Children become more able to imagine how others might feel
Theory of mind
Children become more aware of mental activity and the functioning of the mind
Immature Aspects of Preoperational Thought (according to Piaget):
Limitation
Description
Centration: inability to
Children focus on one aspect of a situation and neglect others
decentre
Irreversibility
Children fail to understand some operations or actions can be reversed, restoring original situation
Focus on states rather than
Children fail to understand the significance of transformation between states
transformations
Transductive reasoning
Children do not use deductive or inductive reasoning; instead they jump from one particular to another and see cause
where none exists
Egocentrism
Children assume everyone else thinks, perceives, and feels as they do
Animism
Children attribute life to objects not alive
Inability to distinguish
Children confuse what is real with outward appearance
appearance from reality
Causality

Piaget recognised toddlers have some understanding of connection between actions and reactions – preoperational children cannot yet reason
logically about cause and effect

Transduction: ‘Piaget’s term for preoperational child’s tendency to mentally link particular experiences, whether or not there is logically a causal
relationship

Young children’s understanding of familiar events in the physical world enables them to think logically about causation
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Preschoolers seem to view all causal relationships as equally and absolutely predictable
Understanding of identities and categorisation

Identity: people and many things are basically the same even if they change in form, size or appearance
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Categorisation: requires child to identify similarities and differences, it is a cognitive ability with psychosocial implications
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Animism: tendency to attribute life to objects that are not alive
Number
Five principles of counting:
1-to-1 principle
Say only one number-name for each item being counted (‘one...two...three’)
Stable-order principle
Say number-names in a set order (‘one, two three...’ rather than ‘three, one, two...’)
Order-irrelevance
Start counting with any item, total count will be the same
principle
Cardinality principle
Last-number used is total number of items being counted
Abstraction principle
Previous principles apply to any kind of object

Children extract principles from their experience ~ children younger than 3 ½ do not seem to understand cardinality principle
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By 5, most children can count to 20+ and know relative sizes of numbers and some can do single digit addition and subtraction
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Learning time depends on culture’s counting system and in part their education
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Ordinality: concept of more or less, bigger or smaller ~ begins around 12 – 18 months and at first is limited to comparisons of very few objects, by
3 or 4 children have words for comparing quantities, by 4 or 5 children can solve Ordinality problems with up to 9 objects
Immature aspects of preoperational thought
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Piaget: ‘main characteristics of preoperational thought is centration – preschoolers come to illogical conclusions because they cannot decenter’
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Centration: ‘tendency of preoperational children to focus on one aspect of situation and neglect others’ – can limit young children’s thinking about
physical and social relationships
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Decenter: ‘think simultaneously about several aspects of a situation’
Conservation
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Conservation: ‘awareness that 2 objects that are equal according to certain measure remain equal in face of perceptual alteration so long as
nothing is added or taken away’
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Horizontal décalage: ‘inability to transfer learning of one type of conservation to other types, which causes a child to master different types of
conservation tasks at different ages’
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Piaget: ‘Preoperational children cannot consider height and width at the same time. Since they centre on one aspect, they cannot think logically’ –
glass experiment
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Ability to conserve limited by irreversibility: ‘a preoperational child’s failure to understand that an operation can go in two or more directions’
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Preoperational children think as if watching a slide show of static frames: focus on successive states and do not recognise transformation from
one state to another’
Tests of Various Kinds of Conservation:
Conservation
What Child Is Shown
Task
Number
Two equal parallel rows of candles
Length
Two parallel sticks of same length
Liquid
Matter (mass)
Two identical glasses holding
equal amounts of liquid
Two balls of clay of same size
Weight
Two balls of clay of same weight
Area
Two toy rabbits, two pieces of
cardboard (grassy field), blocks or
toys (barns)
Two glasses of water with two
equal-sized balls of clay in them
Volume
Transformation
Question for Child
Space candles in one
row further apart
Move one stick to the
right
Pour liquid from one
glass into taller glass
Roll one ball into
sausage shape
Roll one ball into
sausage shape
Rearrange barns on
one piece of board
“Are there the same numbers of candles
in each row or does one have more?”
“Are both sticks the same size or is one
longer?”
“Do both glasses have same amount of
liquids or is one more?”
“Do the pieces have same amount of
clay or does one have more?”
“Do both weigh the same or does one
weigh more?”
“Does each rabbit have the same
amount of grass to eat or does one have
more?”
If we put the sausage back in the glass,
will the water be the same height or will
one be higher?”
Roll one ball into
sausage shape
Preoperational
Child’s Usual
Answers
“Longer one has
more”
“One is longer”
“Taller one has more”
“Sausage has more”
“Sausage weighs
more”
“The one with block
close together has
more to eat”
“Water in glass with
sausage will be
higher”
Egocentrism
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Egocentrism: ‘inability to consider another person’s point of view’
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May help explain why young children have trouble separating reality from what is in their heads & why they show confusion
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Other experiments point to the fact that young children may show egocentrism primarily in situations beyond their immediate experience
Do young children have theories of mind?
(Bear in mind that young children may have a clearer picture of reality than Piaget believed)
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Theory of mind: awareness and understanding of mental processes

Piaget: ‘children younger than 6 cannot distinguish between thoughts or dreams and real physical entities and have no theory of mind
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Recent research indicates children between 2 and 5, knowledge about mental processes grows dramatically
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Methodology made a difference: Piaget posed abstract questions where they could not put understanding into words whereas contemporary
researchers use vocabulary and objects children are familiar with, observe them in everyday activities or give concrete examples
Knowledge about thinking and mental states
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Between 3 and 5: children come to understand that thinking goes on inside the mind; real and imaginary; can think at the same time as doing
something else; person with eyes and ears covered can think about objects; thinking is different from seeing, talking touching and knowing
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Not until middle childhood do children know mind is continuously active – preschoolers have little or no awareness that they or other people think
in words
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Not until 7 or 8 do children realise people who are asleep do not engage in conscious mental activity – do not know they are asleep
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Children equate dreams to imagining – not until 11 do they realise they cannot control dreams
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Social cognition: recognition that others have mental states is a distinctly human capacity that accompanies decline of egocentrism and
development of empathy
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14 – 18 months, children are able to infer intentions of another person from vocal expressions (Whoops!)
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By 3, children realise that someone gets what he wants is happy and if not, sad
False beliefs and deception
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Understanding that people can hold false beliefs flows from realisation that people hold mental representations of reality, which can sometimes be
wrong

Some researchers claim 3 year olds have rudimentary understanding of false beliefs but may not show it when presented with complicated
situations ~ failure to recognise false beliefs stems from egocentric thinking – everyone knows what they now and believe what they do and have
trouble understanding their own beliefs can be false ~ older preschoolers advanced understanding due to decline in egocentrism
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Deception: effort to plant a false belief in someone’s mind – requires child to suppress impulse to be truthful ~ children are capable of deception
as early as 2
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Piaget: children regard all falsehoods as lies
Distinguishing between appearance and reality
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Awareness of false beliefs related to distinguishing between appearance and reality; both require child to refer to two conflicting mental
representations at the same time
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Piaget: ‘unable to distinguish hat it seems to be and what it is until 5 or 6’ ~ some studies however found ability emerging from before age 4
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Putting the task in context of deception helped children realise that an object can be perceived as other than what it actually is
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3 year olds difficulty in understanding appearance from reality may be more apparent than real
Distinguishing between fantasy and reality
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Between 18 month and 3 years, children learn to distinguish between real and imagined events ~ line between fantasy and reality blurred (difficult
to tell if children are being serious or pretending)
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Magical thinking in children 3= does not stem from confusion between fantasy and reality – it is a way to explain events that do not seem to have
obvious realistic explanations or children may enjoy pretending ~ it declines near the end of preschool period
Influences on individual differences in theory-of-mind development
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Development reflects brain maturation and general improvements in cognition
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Social competence and language development contribute to understanding of thought and emotions
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Children with high social skills able to recognise false beliefs, distinguish between real and feigned emotion, take another person’s point of view,
have strong language skills
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Advanced language development and having older siblings to talk to are better able to take part in family discussions and understand falsehoods
earlier than other children
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Kind of talk heard at home affects understanding of mental states – cognitive talk increases with age, talk about desires and feeling diminish
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Pretend play stimulates development of theory-of-mind – they try and assume other perspectives
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Talking with children about how characters in story feels help develop social understanding – empathy arises earlier in children whose families talk
about feelings and causality
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Bilingual children do better at some theory-of-mind tasks ~ they know an object or idea can be represented linguistically in more than one way,
and this knowledge helps them see different people have different perspectives ~ they also recognise need to match language of partner and
indicates awareness of change in mental state ~ have better attentional control which enables them to focus on what is true or real rather than
what it seems to be
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Heredity plays part in theory-of-mind development
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Different cultures have different views of looking at the mind, and these cultural attitudes influence children
LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT
Private speech: Piaget versus Vygotsky
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Private speech: talking aloud to oneself with no intent to communicate
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Piaget: private speech = sign of cognitive immaturity ~ because children are egocentric, they are unable to recognise others’ viewpoints and
therefore unable to communicate meaningfully ~ they simply vocalise whatever is on their minds. He also said they do not yet distinguish between
words and the actions the words stand for or symbolise ~ by the end of preoperational stage, with cognitive maturation and social experience,
children become less egocentric and more capable of symbolic thought and so discard private speech
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Vygotsky: also believed private speech helps young children integrate language with thought but he did not see it as egocentric but rather a
special form of communication: conversation with the self ~ says it served a very important function in transition between early social speech and
inner speech – a transition toward internalisation of socially derived control of behaviour ~ private speech follows an inverted “U” shape –
increases in preschool years, fades in early part of middle childhood as children become more able to guide and master their actions ~ Research
supports Vygotsky as to the functions of private speech
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Private speech increases when children are faced with difficult tasks, especially without adult supervision
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Children progress through at least 3 levels of private speech:
1) Speech that is purely self-expressive
2) Vocal statements relevant to a task at hand
3) External signs of task-directed inner speech
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Preschool girls use more mature forms of private speech than preschool boys; middle-income children use more mature forms than low-income
children
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Vygotsky considered need for private speech a universal stage of cognitive development – wide range of individual differences
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Understanding significance of private speech has practical implications, especially in school ~ talking to oneself not a problem
Social interaction and preparation for literacy
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Emergent literacy: preschoolers’ development of skills, knowledge, and attitudes that underlie reading and writing
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Prereading skills:
1) General linguistic skills (vocabulary)
2) Specific skills (phonemic awareness: realisation that words are composed of distinct sounds)
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Children have been taught the alphabet and other Prereading skills before entering school and tend to become better readers
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Social interaction can promote emergent literacy – children more likely to become good readers and writers if, parents provide conversational
challenges the children are ready for
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As children learn the skills they need to translate written word into speech, they also learn that writing can express ideas, thoughts and feelings –
preschool children pretend to write by scribbling, lining up their marks from left to right – later they begin using letters, numbers, and letter-like
shapes to represent words, syllables or phonemes ~ often spelling so inventive they cannot read it themselves
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Reading to children is one of the most effective paths to literacy ~ motivates them to learn to read
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Moderate exposure to educational TV helps prepare children for literacy, especially if parents talk with children about what they see
INFORMATION-PROCESSING APPROACH: MEMORY DEVELOPMENT
Recognition and recall
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Recognition: ability to identify a previously encountered stimulus
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Recall: ability to reproduce material from memory
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Preschool children do better on recognition than on recall but both abilities improve with age ~ the more familiar children are with item, better they
can recall – recall also depends on motivation and on strategies child uses to enhance it
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4-5 year olds process face-recognition information holistically, as adults do
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Young children often fail to use strategies for remembering – even already known strategies – unless reminded – this tendency not to generate
efficient strategies reflects lack of awareness of how a strategy would be useful ~ older children become more efficient in spontaneous use of
memory strategies
Forming childhood memories
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Memory of experiences in early childhood rarely deliberate: young children simply remember events that made strong impression, and most of
these early conscious memories seem to be short-lived
3 types of childhood memory:
Generic memory
Episodic memory
Autobiographical memory
Memory that produces scripts (general
Long-term memory of specific experiences or
Memory of specific events in ones own life –
remembered outline of a familiar, repeated
events, linked to time and place
specific and long lasting
event, used to guide behaviour) of familiar
routines to guide behaviour
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The way adults talk with a child about a shared experience can influence how well the child will remember it:
o Repetitive style: repeat own previous statements or questions – focus on checking child’s memory performance
o Elaborative style: move on to a different aspect of event or add more information – focus on mutually rewarding conversation and affirming
child’s responses
Implicit memory
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“ Unconscious recall, generally of habits and skills; sometimes called procedural memory”
Influences on measured intelligence – the family environment
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Common misconception = IQ scores represent fixed quantity of inborn intelligence ~ IQ = measure of how well a child can do certain tasks at a
certain time in comparison with others his age
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How well child does influenced by temperament, match between cognitive style and tasks posed, social and emotional maturity, ease in testing
situation, preliteracy or literacy skills, socioeconomic status and ethnicity or culture
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Twin and adoption studies suggest family has strongest influence in early childhood – the influences diminishes by adolescence
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Family economic circumstances can exert powerful influence, not so much in themselves as in way they affect parenting practices and the
atmosphere in the home
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Socioeconomic status is only one of several social and family risk factors – IQ is affected by the total number of risk factors – the more risk factors
there were, the lower the child’s IQ score
PSYCHOSOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN EARLY CHILDHOOD
THE DEVELOPING SELF
The self-concept and cognitive development
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Self concept: sense of self; descriptive and evaluative mental picture of one’s abilities and traits – also has a social aspect: children incorporate
into their self-image their growing understanding of how others see them
Early self-concept development: The continuous self
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Shift in self-awareness occurs near age 4, as autobiographical memory and more sophisticated theory of mind develop
Self-definition: A Neo-Piagetian view
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By age 4, attempts of ‘self-definition’ (cluster of characteristics used to describe oneself) become more comprehensive

Talk mostly about concrete, observable behaviours; external characteristics, such as physical features; preferences; possessions; and members
of household. Mention particular skills rather than general abilities ~ descriptions unrealistically positive.
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Not until middle childhood can he describe in terms of generalised traits, recognise conflicting emotions, self-critical while positive
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Neo-Piagetian theory describes the 5-7 shift as occurring in three steps
1st step
o
4 years old
o
Single representations: first stage in development of self-definition, in which children describe themselves in terms of individual,
unconnected characteristics and in all-or-nothing terms
o
Cannot imagine experiencing two emotions at once (happy and sad)
o
Cannot decenter ~ partly due to short-term memory capacity
o
Cannot consider different aspects of himself at the same time
o
Thinking is all-or-nothing
o
Cannot acknowledge real self (person you are) is not the same as ideal self (person you’d like to be)
2nd step
o
5 – 6 years old
o
Representational mappings: second stage in development of self-definition, in which child makes logical connections between
aspects of the self but still sees these characteristics in all-or-nothing terms
o
Cannot see how you can be good at some things and not others
3rd step
o
Middle childhood
o
Representational systems: children begin to integrate specific features of the self into a general, multidimensional concept
o
As all-or-nothing thinking declines, self-descriptions become more balanced
Self-esteem
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“Judgement a person makes about their self-worth”
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Neo-Piagetian: based on children’s growing cognitive ability to describe and define themselves
Developmental changes in self-esteem
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Attempts to measure young children’s self-esteem often incorporate teacher and parent reports or puppets and doll play in addition to self-reports
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Children’s positive or negative self-perceptions at age 5 tend predict their self-perceptions and socioeconomic functioning at 8 years old

Able to make judgements about competence, not yet able to rank them in importance

Tend to accept judgements of adults, who give positive, uncritical feedback, and thus may overrate abilities

Self-esteem in early childhood tend be all-or-non ~ at middle childhood personal evaluations of competence become critical in shaping and
maintaining realistic self-worth
Erikson: Initiative versus guilt
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Third stage in psychosocial development in which children balance urge to pursue goals with moral reservations that may prevent them carrying
them out
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Conflict marks a split in the personality: the child – still wanting to try new things; and the part becoming an adult – constantly examining propriety
of motives
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Virtue: purpose ~ the courage to envision and pursue goals without being unduly inhibited by guilt or fear of punishment
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If conflict unresolved, child may turn into adult constantly striving for success or showing off; inhibited and unspontaneous or self-righteous and
intolerant; suffers from impotence or psychosomatic illness ~ with ample opportunities to do things on their own – but under guidance and
consistent limits – children attain healthy balance between tendency to overdo competition and achievement and tendency to be repressed and
guilt ridden
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GENDER
Gender identity: awareness developed in early childhood that one is male or female
Gender differences

Gender differences: psychological or behaviour differences between males and females

Measurable differences in babies = girls are less vulnerable and tend to survive infancy, boys are longer and heavier and are stronger

Earliest behavioural difference at age 1 – 2: preference for specific toys, play activities and play mates (same sex)

Gender differences pronounced after age 3: boys more aggressive behaviour, girls more empathic and helpful, also more compliant and
cooperative with parents and seek adult approval more than boys

Intelligence test scores show no gender differences ~ most widely used test designed to eliminate gender bias

Differences in specific abilities: females better at verbal tasks, mathematical computation and tasks requiring fine motor and perceptual skills,
males excel in spatial abilities and abstract mathematical and scientific reasoning

At age 4: problem behaviour diminishes in girls, boys tend to get in trouble (‘act up’) ~ this difference persists into adolescence where girls prone
to depression and anxiety

Lower reactivity to stress help girls control frustration or anger, and greater facility with language enables communication of feelings in healthier
ways – another reason is difference in way boys and girls are socialised: girls are taught more than boys to share, control themselves and think
about their actions and greater empathic ability helps internalise social standards

Gender differences are valid for large groups of boys and girls but not necessarily for individuals
Perspectives on gender development: Nature and nurture

Most influential explanations centred on differing experiences and social expectations that boys and girls meet from birth ~ they concern 3 related
aspects of gender identity:
Gender roles
Behaviours, interests, attitudes, skills and traits that culture considers appropriate for males or females
Gender-typing
Socialisation process whereby children, at an early age, learn appropriate gender roles
Gender
Preconceived generalisations about male or female role behaviour
stereotypes
Appear as young as 2 – 3 years, and reach peak at 5
Preschoolers – even older – attribute good qualities to own sex and negative qualities to opposite sex

Investigators are uncovering evidence of biological explanations for gender differences: genetic, hormonal and neurological ~ biological influences
not necessarily universal, inevitable, or unchangeable; nor are social and cultural influence easily overcome
Cognitive approach

Kohlberg: children actively search for cues about gender in their social world ~ who does what, and who can play with whom

As they realise their gender they adopt behaviours they perceive as consistent with being male or female

Kohlberg: acquisition of gender roles hinges on gender constancy (sex-category constancy): awareness that one will always be male or female ~
once children realise they are permanently male or female they adopt behaviours appropriate to sex

Gender constancy seem to develop in 3 stages: gender identity, gender stability and gender consistency:
Gender identity
Awareness of own gender ~ 3 years
Gender stability
When girl realises she will grow up to be a woman, and a boy realises he will grow up to be a man – gender remains the same
across time
Gender
Realisation that girl remains girl even with short hair and pants, and boy remains boy even with long hair and earrings ~ 3 – 7
consistency
years

Kohlberg’s view that long before children attain final stage of gender constancy, they show gender-typed preferences (categorisation of activities
and objects by gender, know a lot about what females and males do, and acquire gender-appropriate behaviours) is challenged ~ gender typing
heightened by more sophisticated understanding gender constancy brings

Gender-schema theory: (Bem) children socialise themselves in their gender roles by developing a mentally organised network of information
(schema) about what it means to be male or female in a particular culture

They organise information on basis because they see their society classifying people that way: males and females wear different clothes, play with
different toys, use separate bathrooms ~ once children know their sex, they take on gender roles by developing a concept of what it means to be
that in their culture ~ children match own behaviour to culture’s gender schema which promote gender stereotypes by influencing judgements
about behaviour

Problem with Kohlberg’s theory and gender-schema theory: gender stereotyping does not always become stronger with increased gender
knowledge, opposite also true ~ Current view: gender stereotyping rises and then falls in developmental pattern:
According to gender-schema theory
o
4 – 6 years: children are constructing then consolidating their gender schema’s, they notice and remember information consistent with these
schema’s and even exaggerate it – in fact they misremember information that challenges gender stereotypes (picture of boy cooking) and insist
genders in photos are the other way around ~ young children quick to accept gender labels, when told an unfamiliar toy is for the opposite sex
they will drop it like a hot potato and expect the same from other children
o
5 – 6 years: children develop repertoire of rigid stereotypes about gender that they apply to themselves and others (boy pay more attention to
boy’s toys)
o
7 – 8 years: schemas become more complex – children begin to take in contradictory information and develop more complex beliefs about gender
and become more flexible in views about gender roles

Cognitive approaches to gender development have made an important contribution by exploring how children think about gender and what they
know about it at various ages ~ may not fully explain link between knowledge and conduct ~ this disagreement about what mechanism prompts
children act out gender roles and why some children become more strongly gender-typed than others (~ socialisation)
Socialisation-based approach

Albert Bandura’s social cognitive theory: expansion of social learning theory, holds that children learn gender roles through socialisation

Socialisation: way child interprets and internalises experiences with parents, teachers, peers and cultural institutions = central to social cognitive
theory

Children initially acquire gender roles by observing models ~ choose models seen as powerful or nurturing – typical: parent (same sex)

Behavioural feedback and direct teaching by parents and other adults reinforces gender-typing

Socialisation begins in infancy, long before a conscious understanding of gender formed – as children begin to regulate own activities, standards
of behaviour internalised

Substantial part of the shift from socially guided control to self-regulation of gender-related behaviour may occur between 3 and 4 years old

Family influence: boys tend be more strongly gender-socialised concerning play preferences than girls ~ untraditional in single-parent families
(mother/father plays both roles)

Peer influence: begin to reinforce gender-typed behaviour by age 3 and influence increases with age ~ 4 year olds more consistently apply
judgements to themselves

Cultural influence: life portrayed on TV continues to be more stereotyped than life in real world – children who watch a lot of TV will become more
gender-typed by imitating models, children’s books source of gender stereotypes: male characters predominate (used to be the case, girls are
now portrayed in more heroic characters as well)

Major strengths of socialisation approach: breadth and multiplicity of processes it examines and scope for individual differences it reveals – the
complexity makes it difficult to establish clear causal connections between way children are raised and way they think and act
PLAY: THE BUSINESS OF EARLY CHILDHOOD



Play is the work of the young, and it contributes to all domains of development ~ children stimulate senses, learn how to use muscles, coordinate
sight with movement, gain mastery over bodies, acquire new skills, lay foundation for mathematical concepts and learn new ways of thinking
Preschoolers engage in different types of play at different ages ~ have different styles of play and play at different things
Categorise children’s play by content and social dimension
Types of play

4 categories of play that increase levels of cognitive complexity identified by Piaget:
Functional play:
o
Piaget and Smilansky: lowest cognitive level of play, involving repetitive muscle movements
o
As gross motor skills improve, preschoolers run, jump, skip, hop, throw and aim
o
Towards end of this period and into middle childhood, rough and tumble play (wrestling, kicking and chasing) becomes more common
Constructive play:
o
Piaget and Smilansky: 2nd cognitive level of play involving use of objects or materials to make something
o
4-year-olds in preschools or day care centres may spend more than half their time in this kind of play – becomes more elaborate by 5 – 6 years
Pretend play (fantasy play, dramatic play, imaginative play):
o
Piaget and Smilansky: 3rd cognitive level of play involving imaginary people or situations
o
Begins during last part of 2nd year and increases in preschool years
Formal games with rules:
o
Pretend play declines when school-age children are more involved in this 4th level of play
o
Organised games with known procedures and penalties

Through pretending, children try out roles, cope with uncomfortable emotions, gain understanding of others’ viewpoints and construct image of
social world ~ develop problem-solving skills, experience joy of creativity and more proficient with language

Children who often play imaginatively tend to cooperate more with other children and more popular and joyful

Children who watch a great deal of television play less imaginatively – passively absorb images instead of create own
How gender influences play

Gender differences in play provide practice for adult behaviours important for reproduction and survival

Sex segregation common among preschoolers and becomes more prevalent in middle childhood

Boys and girls play with same toys but play more socially with others of same sex ~ boys and girls play differently:
Boys
Girls
o
Enjoy active, forceful play in fairly large groups
o
Enjoy quieter, more harmonious play with one playmate
o
Play more boisterously
o
Play more cooperatively
o
Play more spontaneously on sidewalks, street or empty lots
o
Play more structurally, prefer adult-supervised activities

Tendencies more exaggerated when children play in groups ~ mix-sex groups: play tends revolve around traditionally masculine activities,
perhaps because boys play preferences are more stereotyped than girls ~ children’s developing gender concepts influence dramatic play
PARENTING
Forms of discipline

Discipline: methods of moulding children’s character and of teaching them to exercise self-control and engage in acceptable behaviour ~ not the
same as punishment
Reinforcement and punishment

External reinforcement = tangible or intangible ~ child must see it as rewarding and receive it fairly consistently after showing desired behaviour –
eventually behaviour should provide own internal reward: sense of pleasure or accomplishment

Harsh punishment = counterproductive ~ evokes aggressive in children even if intended to stop aggressive behaviour; frequently harshly punished
children may have trouble interpreting other peoples action and words, may perceive hostile intentions where none exist, may become passive as
they feel helpless or become frightened if parents lose control and eventually try avoid punitive parent, undermining the parent’s ability to influence
behaviour

Corporal punishment: use of physical force with the intention of causing pain but not injury so as to correct or control behaviour ~ spanking, hitting,
slapping etc ~ believed to be more effective than other remedies and harmless if done in moderation by loving parents – these beliefs are untrue,
corporal punishment can have serious negative effects and should not be used

Punishment necessary at times, should be consistent, immediate and clearly tied to offence, should be administered calmly, in private, and aimed
at eliciting compliance, not guilt – effective when accompanied by short explanation
Power assertion, induction and withdrawal of love
Categories of discipline:
Power assertion
o
Disciplinary strategy designed to
discourage undesirable behaviour through
physical or verbal enforcement of parental
control
o
Demands, threats, withdrawal of
privileges, spanking etc






Inductive techniques
Withdrawal of love
Disciplinary techniques designed to
o
Disciplinary strategy that may involve
induce desirable behaviour by appealing
ignoring, isolating or showing dislike for a
to a child’s sense of reason and fairness
child
o
Setting limits, demonstrating logical
consequences of an action, explaining,
discussing, negotiating and getting ideas
from child about fairness
Choice and effectiveness of disciplinary strategy depends on parent’s personality, child’s personality & age, quality of parent-child relationship as
well as on culturally based customs and expectations
Use reasoning to get child to show concern for others; use power assertion to stop play that gets too rough; use both to deal with lying and
stealing ~ strategy chosen may depend not only on belief in effectiveness, but also on confidence that they can carry it out
Inductive reasoning arouses empathy for victim of wrongdoing as well as guilt on part of wrongdoer
Psychological aggression: verbal attacks by parent resulting in psychological harm to a child: 1) yelling/ screaming 2) threatening to spank or hit
the child 3) swearing or cursing at the child 4) threatening to send away or kick out 5) calling dumb or lazy – emotional abuse
Effectiveness of parental discipline hinges on how well child understands and accepts parent’s message, cognitively and emotionally ~ for
acceptance of message, child has to recognise it as appropriate ~ parents need be fair, accurate, clear and consistent about their expectations fit discipline to misdeed and child’s temperament, cognitive and emotional level ~ more motivated to accept if parents are normally warm and
responsive and if they arouse child’s empathy for someone the child has harmed
Child interprets and responds to discipline in context of ongoing relationship with a parent ~ look beyond specific parental practices to overall
styles/patterns of parenting
o
Parenting styles
Baumrind’s model

Baumrind identified 3 parenting styles, and described typical behaviour patterns of children raised according to each
Authoritarian parents
Permissive parents
Authoritative parents
o
Emphasises control and
o
Emphasises self-expression and selfo
Blend respect for child’s individuality with effort to instil social
obedience
regulation
values
o
Try make children
o
Make few demands and allow children
o
Confident in ability to guide children – also respect children’s
conform rigidly to a set of
to monitor their own activities as much
independent decisions, interests, opinions and personalities
conduct and punish them
as possible
o
Loving and accepting – demand good behaviour, firm in
for violating it
o
Consult children with policy decisions
maintaining standards and willing to impose limited judicious
o
Use power-assertive
and rarely punish
punishment when necessary within context of warm,
techniques
o
Warm, non-controlling and
supportive relationship
o
Detached and less warm
undemanding or even indulgent
o
Favour inductive discipline, explaining reasoning behind their
o
Children tend to be more
o
Children tend to be immature – least
stands and encouraging verbal negotiation and give-and-take
discontented, withdrawn
self-controlled and least exploratory
o
Children secure in knowing they are loved and what is
and distrustful
expected of them – most self-reliant, self-controlled, selfassertive, exploratory, and content

Maccoby and Martin add 4th parenting style: Neglectful or uninvolved parenting: parent who because of stress and depression put their own
needs first rather than child – it is linked to a variety of behavioural disorders in childhood and adolescence
Promoting altruism
Prosocial behaviour

Altruism: behaviour intended to help others that comes from inner concern and without expectation of external reward; may involve self-denial or
self-sacrifice

Prosocial behaviour: any voluntary behaviour intended to help others ~ girls tend to be more so than boys, differences are small though ~
prosocial disposition partly temperamental/genetic as it involves inhibitory control – preschoolers who are shy and withdrawn tend to be less
prosocial as they hesitate to reach out to others

Family important as model and source and reinforcer of explicit standards of behaviour – parents pf prosocial children = prosocial ~ they point out
models of prosocial behaviour and steer children toward stories, films and television programs depicting cooperation, sharing and empathy, and
encourage sympathy, generosity and helpfulness

Inductive disciplinary methods encourages prosocial behaviour

Relationships with siblings provide important laboratory for trying out caring behaviour and learning to see another person’s point of view; peers
and teachers can model and reinforce prosocial behaviour

Motives for it may change as children grow older and develop more mature moral reasoning ~ preschoolers have egocentric motives – want to
earn praise and avoid disapproval

As they grow older motives become less self-centred ~ adopt societal standards of being good which eventually become internalised as principles
and values

Individual differences in prosocial behaviour reflect individual differences in moral reasoning

Cultures vary in degree to which they foster prosocial behaviour
Aggression

Instrumental aggression: aggressive behaviour used as a means of achieving a goal ~ most common in early childhood (2 ½ - 5 years) – children
who fight most tend to be most sociable and competent – ability to show instrumental aggression necessary in social development; between 2 – 4
years children develop more self-control and become better able to express themselves ~ less physical and more vocal; after 6 – 7 years children
become less aggressive as they grow more cooperative, less egocentric, more empathic and better able to communicate

As aggression declines, hostile aggressing (aggression intended to hurt another person) increases

Boys engage in more overt aggression: either instrumental or hostile

Girls practice relational aggression (covert/social aggression): aimed at damaging/interfering with another person’s relationships, reputation or
psychological well-being

In middle childhood and adolescence, relational aggression becomes more sophisticated and indirect – consequences are more serious for girls
as they are more preoccupied with relationships than boys

Sources of aggression:
o
Biology and temperament may play a part in aggression: children intensely emotional and low in self-control express anger more
aggressively
o
Bred from early childhood by combination of stressful and stimulating home atmosphere, harsh discipline, lack of maternal warmth and
social support, exposure to aggressive adults and neighbourhood violence, and transient peer groups which prevent stable friendships
o
Negative parent-child relationships may set stage for prolonged, destructive sibling conflicts, in which children imitate their parents’ hostile
behaviour

Triggers of aggression:
o
Exposure to violence can trigger aggression – parent may be able to moderate effects of frustration by modelling non-aggressive behaviour
o
Bandura’s experiment of inflated clowns
Fearfulness

Passing fears common in early childhood

Fears stem from intense fantasy life and tendency to confuse appearance with reality (imagination can get carried away)

Fears come from personal experiences or from hearing about other people’s experiences, appraisals of danger, triggered by events

Parents can allay fears by instilling sense of trust and normal caution without being too protective, they can reassure fearful child and encourage
expression of feelings

Ridicule, coercion, and logical persuasion are not helpful

Systematic desensitisation can help children overcome fears
RELATIONSHIPS WITH OTHER CHILDREN
Siblings – or their absence
Brothers and sisters

Earliest, most frequent, and most intense disputes among siblings are over property rights ~ sibling disputes and settlement viewed as
socialisation opportunities, in which children learn to stand up for moral principles

Sibling rivalry not main pattern between siblings in early life – affection, interest, companionship, and influence also exists

Same-sex siblings , particularly girls, closer and play together more peaceably than boy-girls pairs

Quality of relationships with siblings often carries over to relationships with other children
The only child

In occupational, educational achievement and intelligence they surpass children with siblings

Tend to be more mature and motivated to achieve and to have higher self-esteem – do not differ in overall adjustment or sociability ~ perhaps do
better because they are the only focus of their parents’ attention

Children with siblings get along better with kindergarten classmates than do only children
Playmates and friends

Through friendships and interaction with casual playmates, young children learn how to get along with others

Learn how to solve problems in relationships, learn how to put themselves in another person’s place and see different models of various kinds of
behaviour

Learn moral values and gender-role norms, and they practice adult roles
Choosing playmates and friends

Preschoolers like to play with children of own age and sex – spend most time with children they have had positive experiences with and whose
behaviour is like their own

Children who have frequent positive experiences with each other will most likely become friends

Important features of friendships: doing things together, liking and caring for each other, sharing and helping one another, and to a lesser degree,
living nearby or same school

Younger children rated physical traits higher than did older ones and rated affection and support lower

Preschool children prefer prosocial playmates ~ reject disruptive, demanding, intrusive, or aggressive children and tend to ignore those who are
shy, withdrawn or tentative

Shy boys especially excluded by peers

Well-liked preschoolers, and those who are rated by parents and teachers as socially competent, cope well with anger ~ respond directly, in ways
that minimise further conflict and keep relationships going; avoid insults and threats

Unpopular children tend to hit back or tattle