A bit more re. health…
Physical and Cognitive Development in
Early Childhood
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Closer to home…
Parental Smoking
World Health Issues
Nearly one-fourth are exposed to tobacco
smoke in the home
z Children exposed to smoke are more
likely to develop wheezing symptoms and
asthma than children in non-smoking
homes
z Also have significantly lower levels of
vitamin C in their blood than their
counterparts in non-smoking homes
z
Many deaths could be prevented by a
reduction in poverty and improvements in
nutrition, sanitation, education, and health
services
z Dramatic increase in the number of
young children who have died because of
HIV/AIDS transmitted to them by their
parents
z
– these deaths occur in countries with high
rates of poverty and low levels of education
(Bhutta & others, 2005; Kalichman & others, 2005)
(Arshad, 2005; Preston & others, 2003)
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Socioeconomic Status
z
Piaget’s Stages (4 in all)
z
Poor health status of many young children from
low-income families in the United States
Qualitative transformations in this balance
– Sensorimotor (0-2)
– Preoperational (2-6)
– Concrete Operational (6-12)
– Formal Operations (12-19)
– Many do not have adequate medical insurance and
receive less adequate medical care compared with
children living in higher socioeconomic conditions
z
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Approximately 11 million preschool children are
malnourished and have lowered resistance to
diseases
(Howell, Pettit, & Kingsley, 2005; Ramey, Ramey, & Lanzi, 2006; Olson, Tang, & Newacheck, 2005)
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Developmental Psychology
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1
Cognitive Development
z
Preoperational Stage
Piaget’s Preoperational Stage
z
– from approximately 2 to 7 years of age
– children begin to represent the world with
words, images, and drawings
– form stable concepts and begin to reason
– dominated by egocentrism and magical
beliefs
– Child does not yet perform operations -which are reversible mental actions
1) Egocentrism
2) Confusion of Appearance with Reality
3) Non-logical reasoning
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Three major limitations:
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Theory of Mind
3 Mountain Task
Awareness of one’s own mental
processes and the mental processes of
others
z Studies view the child as “a thinker who is
trying to explain, predict, and understand
people’s thoughts, feelings, and
utterances”
z Children’s theory of mind changes as they
develop through childhood
z
(Harris, 2006; Flavell, Miller, & Miller, 2002)
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Theory of Mind
z
Theory of Mind: Beyond age 5
Not until middle and late childhood do
children see the mind as an active
constructor of knowledge or processing
center
z Then they can move from understanding
that beliefs can be false to realizing that
the same event can be open to multiple
interpretations
z
Age 2 - 3, children begin to understand
three mental states:
– perceptions
– emotions
– desires
z
Age 4 - 5, they come to understand that
the mind can represent objects and
events accurately or inaccurately
(Flavell, Green, & Flavell, 2000; Carpendale & Chandler, 1996)
– they realize that people can have false
beliefs -- beliefs that are not true
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Developmental Psychology
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2
Appearance/Reality Distinction
Difficulty telling difference between
how things seem and how things are
z Example:
z
– Maynard-the-cat studies (DeVries, 1969)
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Non-logical Reasoning
Non-logical Reasoning
z
z
Precausal Thinking (or Intuitive
Reasoning)
z
z
– Can’t reason cause-and-effect
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Preoperational Thought:
Intuitive Thought Substage
Between ages of 2 and 4
Child gains the ability to mentally
represent an object that is not present
z Egocentrism -- inability to distinguish
between one’s own perspective and
someone else’s perspective
z Animism -- the belief that inanimate
objects have life-like qualities and are
capable of action
z
Between approximately 4 and 7 years of
age
z Begin to use primitive reasoning and ask all
sorts of questions
z Questions signal the emergence of interest
in reasoning and in figuring out why things
are the way they are
z “Intuitive” because children seem sure
about their knowledge and understanding
z
z
(Gelman & Opfer, 2004)
Developmental Psychology
E.g., I haven’t had a nap, so it isn’t afternoon
E.g., There are no cemetaries in NYC, so
people don’t die there
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Preoperational Thought:
Symbolic Function Substage
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Reasoning from one particular to
another
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Centration and Limits of Preoperational
Thought
z
Another limitation of preoperational
thought is centration -- centering of
attention on one characteristic to the
exclusion of all others.
– centration is most clearly evidenced in young
children’s lack of conservation
z
Lack of conservation: lack of awareness that
altering an object’s or substance’s appearance
does not change its basic properties
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Non-logical Reasoning
z
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Language and Thought
z
Failure of Conservation
According to Vygotsky (1962), children use
speech not only for social communication, but
also to help them solve tasks -- children use
language to plan, guide, and monitor their
behavior
– language for self-regulation is called private
speech
– for Piaget, private speech is egocentric and
immature
– for Vygotsky, it is an important tool of
thought during the early childhood years
(John-Steiner, 2007; Wertsch, 2007)
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Comparing Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s Theories
z
z
Vygotsky’s emphasis
on the importance of
inner speech in
development
The main implication
of Vygotsky’s theory
for teaching is that
students need many
opportunities to learn
with a teacher and
more-skilled peers
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Developmental Psychology
z
Piaget’s view that
such speech is
immature
z
Implication of
Piaget’s theory for
teaching is that
children need
support to explore
their world and
discover knowledge
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Evaluation of Piaget:
Kids want to know why you’re
asking such stupid questions!
Evaluating Vygotsky
Critics say Vygotsky overemphasized the
role of language in thinking
z Emphasis on collaboration and guidance
has potential pitfalls
z
– Facilitators might be too helpful
– Some children might become lazy and expect
help when they might have done something
on their own
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Developmental Psychology
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