Intellectual Development
Chapter 14
Intellectual Development

Toddler’s are curious about their
environment.
◦ Parents play an important role
◦ Parents’ enthusiasm is contagious
◦ Toddlers who see the world as an exciting place
are more likely to explore
Piaget and Younger Toddlers
Last two stages of Sensorimotor stage and
beginning of Preoperational stage.
 Sensorimotor

◦ 1E: Tertiary Circular Reactions
◦ 1F: Mental Representation

Preoperational
◦ 2A: Preconceptual Phase

Tertiary Circular Reactions
◦ 12-18mos: Tries out new ideas by planning
changes in their actions on objects to meet a
goal
 Example: they may tear, pinch and mash playdough
to see what happens
 This is different from Primary and Secondary
Circular reactions this is the THIRD change in the
child’s behavior toward objects…
 in this stage the child repeats different actions over
and over = circular response
Mental Representation

18mos: toddlers begin to have mental
images
◦ This helps in problem solving
◦ Thinks about actions then results
 Example: a toddler can mentally “turn” an object to
put it through the shaped hole in a sorting box
 This substage is the bridge to the next stage in
which mental thinking replaces motor actions
Mental Representation contd

Two intellectual skills develop during this
stage:
◦ 1. Object permanence is complete.
 Example: toddlers look for a completely hidden
object and even look in places they have never seen
the object
◦ 2. Imitation
 The ability to imitate takes a major leap
 Increased memory capacity
 Can imitate what they saw at an earlier time
Piaget and Older Toddlers

Preoperational Stage: the period before
logical thought and is divided into 2 stages
◦ According to Piaget, 2-4 year old children are
in the first substage of preoperational thinking
called the preconceptual phase
 Despite toddlers’ intellectual ability, their concepts
and reasoning are often illogical.
 To show the difference between logical and
confused concepts, Piaget referred to the toddlers’
concepts as preconcepts
 Example:Toddlers get facts and the order of events mixed up
when they try to retell a story
USE OF SYMBOLS

Symbols: represent objects (and eventually
ideas) that are not present at the time
◦ WORDS
◦ ART
◦ PRETEND PLAY
Prelogical Thinking

Piaget focused on what older toddlers do
not yet understand….because toddler
thinking is often illogical and irrational, Piaget
called this thinking prelogical…Some examples
include (see page 348-349)
◦ Confusion about cause and effect
◦ Egocentrism: cannot see things from another’s
perspective
◦ Animism: believe everything has a life
◦ Focus on the “bits and pieces”: can’t yet see the
big picture
PIAGET HANDOUT

Please use Appendix B to complete chart
and handout:
◦ Please COPY exactly as written.

Page 596

STOP HERE
Part 2: Playtime Means Learning
Intellectual Development occurs through play in the toddler
years
 PHYSICAL PLAY

◦ Develop muscles and refine balance and coordination
◦ Use energy and build stamina
◦ Sets a good pattern for exercise that will maintain health

OBJECT PLAY:
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
More interested in the activity then the outcome of the activity
Empty and fill containers
Pushing buttons
Pouring
Stacking blocks
Learning the meaning of more, less, tall, short, and big and little
Develops fine motor skills
Pretend Play

Toddlers’ mental images allow them to
begin pretend play
◦ Between two and three years pretend play
becomes based on imitation of others’
experiences.
◦ These imitations are usually short in duration
 May say “hi” and “by” on the phone
 May “sweep” the floor
 Read a book
The PLAY Environment
NEED SAFE PLACES
 NEED OPEN SPACES: to use large muscles
 COZY AREAS: for object play and pretend
play
 Most toys should be Open Toys: allow
children to use their imaginations and
creativity

◦ examples?

Closed Toys: toys that work one way
◦ Examples?
Language Development
A child’s first spoken word is often said in
infancy-typically by 11 or 12 months of age
 Using words to name objects or people
begins at 13 months
 Before 18 mos., most toddlers say a single
word with expression and gestures to
convey meaning
 By 18-22 mos. toddlers start combining twoword sentences
 By the end of toddlerhood, their
vocabularies may contain more than 500
words

Importance of Books
Books are VITAL to a child’s intellectual
development and enjoyment of learning
 Picture books are books that are
predominately pictures BUT may have
words and text..such as the alphabet
 Can begin reading books as early as you
want, but most parents begin by 6 months

The Parents Role in Language
Development









Match your interaction style with toddlers skills
Reduce language difficulty during early stages of
development: “r” sound
Expanding language after 18 mos or two years:
labeling
Respond to toddlers attempts at conversation
Try to understand what toddlers want or need based
on nonverbal cues
Reading, singing and saying rhymes DAILY
Using dolls and stuffed animals to encourage talking
Playing “I spy”
Using positive, approving words with toddlers
Recognizing Language delay






Parents should seek professional help if their
toddlers:
Do not babble with expression by 1 year
Do not say a few understandable words by 18
months
Show little understanding of words
Communicate only with gestures at 2 years
Cannot speak in short sentences after age 2
◦ Up to 10 percent of toddlers have delays in language
◦ May be a sign of hearing loss or developmental delay
ACTIVITIES FOR TODDLERS