Chapter 9 - Cognitive Development in Early Childhood Flashcards

Question

class inclusion

Answer 1

The understanding, more advanced than simple classification, that some classes or sets of objects are also sub-sets of a larger class. (E.g. there is a class of objects called dogs. There is also a class called animals. But all dogs are also animals, so the class of animals includes that of dogs)

Answer 2

It is not a hard time distinguishing appearance from reality rather it seems to be largely a verbal issue In cases where they can pick the right answer from objects then they do better than when they need to name the object It involves the attainment of duel representation At first this understanding is fragile

Answer 3

Piaget’s theory has led to three educational principles that continue to have a major influence on childhood education Offered strong theoretical justification for child-orientated approaches to classroom teaching. • Discovery learning – children learn for themselves through spontaneous interactions with the environment. Teachers provide a rich variety of activities designed to promote learning. • Sensitivity to children’s readiness to learn – teachers introduce activities that build on children’s current thinking and challenge incorrect ways of viewing the world but do not try to speed up development by imposing new skills before children indicate they are interested and ready. • Acceptance of individual differences – different rates of the same stage development. Activities planned for individuals or small groups

Answer 4

2-4 years Dramatic gains in represential activity as reflected in the development of language, make-believe play, understating of dual representation, and categorization. Takes perspective of others in simplified, familiar situation and everyday face to face communication Distinguishes animate beings from inanimate objects; denies that magic can alter everyday experiences Grasps conservation, notices transformation, reverses thinking, and understands many cause-and-effect relationships in familiar contexts Categorizes objects on the basis of common function, behavior, and natural kind. Devises ideas about underlining characteristics that category members share and uses inner causal features to categorize objects varying widely in external appearance. Sorts familiar objects into hierarchically organized categories Distinguishes appearance with reality. 4-7 years Becomes increasingly aware that make believe play (and other thought processes) are representational activities Replaces magical beliefs about fairies, exedra and events that violate expectations with plausible explanations Solves verbal appearance-reality problems, signifying a more secure understanding

Answer 5

Whereas Piaget was sometimes criticized for focusing on children’s interaction with the physical environment, to the exclusion of the social environment, Vygotsky focused on development in a social context Piaget de-emphasis on language as a source of cognitive development brought on another challenge from Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory. In Vygotsky’s view the child and social environment collaborate to mold cognition in culturally adaptive ways. During early childhood, rapid growth of language broadens preschoolers participation in social dialogues with more knolagable individuals who encourage them to master culturaly important tasks.

Answer 6

Greatly enhances the complexity of their thinking Brighter preschoolers use more private speech than do those who are less bright Children use private speech more often when engaged in tasks that are within their zone of proximal development, but challenging More attentive and better task performance at a task then children that did not use it Children with learning and behaviour problems engage in private speech longer than do their peers This helps them control their own behavior. Self guidance Eventually becomes internalized as silent “inner speech”

Answer 7

Self speech that is directed to them self because of egocentrism. “talk for self” Precursor to social speech Now called private speech and uses Vygotsky’s ideas

Answer 8

Intersubjectivity – the process by which two participants who begin a task with different understandings arrive at a shared understanding. Between 3 and 5 children strive for intersubjectivity in dialogues with peers, as when they affirm a playmates message, add new ideas, and make contributions to ongoing play to sustain it. It this way they create a zone of proximal development for one another. Scaffolding – adjusting the support offered during a teaching session to fit the child’s current level performance. (direct teaching activitys)

Answer 9

Guided participation is shared endeavors between more expert and less expert participants, regardless of the precise features of communication. More diverce opportunities to learn. (indirect teaching)

Answer 10

Both Piagetian and Vygotskian classrooms emphasize active participation and acceptance of individual differences but a Vygotskian classroom goes beyond independent discovery to promote assisted discovery. Vygotsky’s theory suggests that classrooms should involve Assisted discovery Peer collaboration Make-believe play – learn to follow internal ideas and social rules rather than their immediate impulses.

Answer 11

Teachers guide learning with explanations, demonstrations, and verbal prompts, tailoring their intervention to each child’s zone of proximal development. It is aided by peer collaboration

Answer 12

Vygotsky’s theory focuses on the important role of teaching and social learning There is, however, a lot of variation in how this really takes place • In Western cultures, parents take much responsibility for teaching children during interactions • In some cultures, children are expected to learn through observation and participation in community activities Vygotsky has also been criticized for largely ignoring the importance of basic motor, perceptual, attention, memory, and problem-solving skills

Answer 13

Recall that information processing theories tend to • Focus on continuity in development • Focus on the components that make up an ability • Focus on mental strategies as a vehicle for change

Answer 14

Becomes easier in childhood due to language skills Recognition and recall - 4-5 years - great at recognition - 4 years - can recall 3 to 4 items - Better recall is associated with better language development - Show beginnings of memory strategies - They don’t use memory strategies often because it taxes their working memory Memory for experiences - Episodic memory - Between 3-6 years improve sharply for memory for relations among stimuli. - The capacity to bind together stimuli when encoding or retrieving supports the development of an increasingly rich event memory - Scripts – general descriptions of what occurs and when it occurs in a particular situation - Scripts begin as a structure of main acts. Lacking in detail but usually recalled in the right sequence with age scripts become more spontaneous and elaborate - They act out scripts in make believe play - Scripts support planning - Autobiographical memory – onetime events - as 3-6 year olds cognitive and conversational skills improve their description of special events become better organized in time, more detailed. More personal perspective, and related to the bigger picture of their lives - adults have 2 styles to elicit children’s autobiographical memory: - elaborative style (follow child’s lead, ask varied questions, add information, volunteer own recollection – this helps re-establish and reorganize their memory) - repetitive style (provide little information and keep to repeating the same questions regardless of child’s interest) - Children who experience elaborative style recall more and produce more organized and detailed personal stories. Enhances richness of event memories - as children convers with adults about the past the improve their autobiographical memory, crate shared history that strengthens close relationships and self-understanding. - Girls produce more organized and detailed narratives about the past

Answer 15

Memory strategies - Deliberate mental activities that improve our chances of remembering - Rehearsal - organization

Answer 16

A preschool curriculum inspired by Vygotsky’s theory – scaffolding of attention skills is woven in to virtually all classroom activities.

Answer 17

the theory of problem solving that states that when given challenging problems, children try various strategies and gradually select those that are fastest and most accurate gradually at discontinuous stages two criteria - accuracy - speed

Answer 18

Use of less-efficient techniques can lead children to the discovery of more-efficient techniques Correct solutions become more strongly associated with problems, and display the most efficient strategy. Other times, trying to solve a complex problem using a less-sophisticated strategy may spark children to find a better strategy Many factors including practice, reasoning, tasks with new challenges, and adult assistance contribute to improved problem solving.

Answer 19

Minimizes work

Answer 20

Theory of mind is the ability to attribute mental states—beliefs, intents, desires, pretending, knowledge, etc.—to oneself and others and to understand that others have beliefs, desires, and intentions that are different from one's own. Understanding attention, understanding of others' intentions, and imitative experience with other people are hallmarks of a theory of mind that may be observed early in the development of what later becomes a full-fledged theory. Limitations: 3-4 year olds are unaware that people continue to think while they wait, look at pictures, listen to stories, or read books. (No obvious clues that they are thinking. They also do not realize when two people view the same object their trains of thought will differ. Children under 5 pay little attention to the process of thinking. They will say they have always known something they just learned, or that events must be observed to be know they do not understand mental inferences can be a source of knowledge. Preschoolers view the mind as a passive container of information They greatly underestimate the amount of mental activity the people engage in and are poor at inferring what people know or thinking about

Answer 21

Language and verbal reasoning - prefrontal cortex crucial and the activation pattern usually appears when adults verbally reason about mental concepts. - Understanding the mind require the ability to reflect on thoughts, which is greatly aided by language Cognitive abilities - The ability to inhibit inappropriate responses, think flexibly, and plan fosters mastery of false belief Make believe play - Offers rich context for thinking about the mind - Extencive fantcy play or make belive companions show advanced falce belief understanding Social interactions - Sucurly attached - Parents who talk to and describe their baby in terms of mental states - Parent child nerratives and conversations - Siblings - Preschool - Interacting with more mature members of society

Answer 22

higher-order thinking that enables understanding, analysis, and control of one’s cognitive processes, especially when engaged in learning. Which we use to interpret our own and other behavior and improve our performance on various tasks.

Answer 23

At the end of the first year babies view people as intentional beings who can share and influence one another’s mental states. Milestone and predictor to later theory of mind. At 2 they show clearer grasp of others emotons and desires, evident in their realization that people often differ and likes, wants, needs They show vocab for words like think, remember and pretend By 3 they relizes that thinking goes on inside their head and a person can think about things that are not present or being talked about Between 3 and 4 they use words think and know to refer to their own and others thoughts and belifes From 4-6 they realize that both beliefs and desires determine behavior. (false beliefs) it might be seen earlier in tests that do not require language. Understanding false belifes become a powerfull tool for reflecting on the thoughts and emotions of oneself and others and a good predictior of social skills. It is also associated with early reading ablity.

Answer 24

Emergent literacy is young children’s active efforts to construct literacy knowledge through informal experiences Preschoolers understand a great deal about written language long before they learn to read or write. They often have some letter knowledge, an understanding that sounds relate to written words, and knowledge about what writing “looks like” before any real literacy training begins Think a letter is a word Do not distinguish between drawing and writing Think that the symbol represents characteristics of the word (O for Sun) Invented spellings between 5 and 7 when they find out that letters represent sounds. Vocabulary and grammatical knowledge are influential Adult-child narrative conversations enhance diverse language skills that are essential. The more informal literacy experience the better their language.

Answer 25

The ability to reflect on and manipulate the sound structure of spoken language. Phonological awareness often precedes other signs of emergent literacy, and is a good predictor of both emergent literacy and later reading and spelling achievement

Answer 26

* Pointing out letter-sound correspondences to children * Playing language-sound games * Interactive reading * Nursery rhymes * Adult-supported writing activities

Answer 27

Early childhood math curriculum. Uses 3 types of media - Computers - Manipulatives - print

Answer 28

Preschoolers from low-SES families often • Lack in opportunities to learn about language and literacy at home • Are behind in emergent literacy skills, and later in reading achievement Kindergarteners who start behind on early literacy tend to stay behind and that extends to other achievement areas, widening the disparities between economically advantaged and disadvantaged. Giving low SES parents children’s books and guidance on how to stimulate emergent literacy. As with literacy, informal mathematical training is often absent in low-SES children, so interventions (when done correctly) can be helpful • Even something as simple as counting the number of steps taken getting from one room to another can help • A few sessions playing a board game

Answer 29

The beginnings of mathematical knowledge also come early, without formal training Between 14 and 16 months, we see beginnings of ordinality though only with very low numbers By age 3, they can often count to 5, though they may not know what the number names mean Most children grasp cardinality by about 3 ½ or 4 An understanding of cardinality increases the efficiency of counting Counting, in turn, can be used to solve simple arithmetic problems by age 4 Children may go from counting on their fingers to counting from the first addend, to the min strategy Understanding basic arithmetic makes possible the beginning of estimation (only just beyond their calculation competence) Arithmetic knowledge emerges universally around the world but when adults provide occasions for counting , comparing quantities, and talking about number concepts children acquire sooner.

Answer 30

Ordinality is the relationships of order (more than and less than) between quantities Between 14 and 16 months, we see beginnings of this, though only with very low numbers Early in preschool children attach verbal labels (lots, little) to amounts and sizes

Answer 31

Cardinality is the principle stating that the last number in a counting sequence indicates the quantity of items in the set Most children grasp this by about 3 ½ or 4 An understanding of cardinality increases the efficiency of counting

Answer 32

In early childhood, tests of mental development no longer focus on perceptual and motor responses Intelligence tests for preschoolers, and for older children and adults, sample a wide range of mental abilities Tests for preschoolers tend to include both verbal and nonverbal tasks Low SES: May react with anxiety also may not define the test in terms of achievement instead may look for attention and approval. – spend time playing with them before and encourage through out.

Answer 33

Verbal may include • Naming pictures to assess vocabulary • Repeating sentences and sequences of numbers to test memory • Simple addition and subtraction problems to test quantitative knowledge and problem solving Nonverbal often tests spatial knowledge through • Copying designs with special blocks • Finding a pattern in a series of shapes • Indicating what a piece of paper folded and cut would look like when unfolded

Answer 34

Have homes rich in educational toys and books Have parents who • Are warm and affectionate • Stimulate language and academic knowledge • Arrange interesting outings • Make reasonable demands for socially mature behaviour • Resolve conflicts with reason instead of physical force and punishment

Answer 35

Predict reading achievement in middle childhood | May explain much of the correlation between SES and intelligence test scores and emergent literacy skills

Answer 36

Early childhood is a period when children are away from their homes and parents more than infants and toddlers are We see more preschool and child-care centre use among children of higher-income parents, and of very low-income parents • Those in between (especially low-income, without the “very”) often can’t afford preschools and don’t qualify for government subsidization Even within the title of ‘preschool’ or of ‘child care’, there are different types • Child-centred programs • Academic programs

Answer 37

Preschool - a program with planned educational experiences aimed at enhancing the development of 2- to 5-year-olds

Answer 38

Child care - includes a variety of arrangements for supervising children, ranging from care in the caregiver’s or the child’s home to some type of centre-based program Substandard – lower cognitive and social skills, more behavior problems. Worse effects if center based rather than home based, or long periods of time, or instability of exposure of different child care settings. Goo child care – enhances cognitive, language, and social development. Especially for low SES. Better effects if center based rather than home based.

Answer 39

Child-centred programs - preschools and kindergartens in which teachers provide activities from which children select, and most of the day is devoted to play

Answer 40

Academic programs - preschools and kindergartens in which teachers structure children’s learning, teaching academic skills through formal lessons, often using repetition and drill

Answer 41

* Evidence that stressing formal academic training in early childhood undermines motivation and emotional well-being * More stress behaviours, like wiggling and rocking * Lower confidence * Preference for less challenging tasks * Less advanced motor, academic, language, and social skills * Poorer study habits and lower achievement test scores through elementary school

Answer 42

Montessori education a type of child-centred approach that involves • Multi-age classrooms • Teaching materials specially designed to promote exploration and discovery • Long time periods for individual and small-group learning in child-chosen activities • Equal emphasis on academic and social development The result? • Better literacy and math skills • More cognitive flexibility • Better understanding of false belief • Concern with fairness in solving conflicts with peers • More playground time spent engaged in positive, joint play with classmates

Answer 43

1960’s government program Part of “war on poverty” Effort to address learning problems before formal schooling begins Provides: a year or two of preschool, nutritional and health services, parent involvement.

Answer 44

``` Higher IQ and achievement in elementary but declining after that School adjustment scores stayed higher then controls Were less likely to be placed in special ed or held back a grade Grader number graduated Increased employment Reduced teen pregnancy and delinquency More collage graduateds Higher income Married Own home Less criminal justice system Less drug use ```

Answer 45

Group size Caregiver to child ratio Caregivers educational preparation Caregivers personal commitment to learning

Answer 46

Higher grades Reading more books Placing more value on achievement in high school

Answer 47

Shows with slow-paced action and easy-to-follow narratives, such as Mr. Roger’s Neighborhood and Barney and Friends is associated with more elaborate make-believe play than programs that present quick, disconnected pieces of information

Answer 48

Less time spent reading Less time spent interacting with others Poorer academic skills

Answer 49

* Young children can be introduced to programming skills using simplified computer languages that will allow them to make designs or build structures * With adult support, computer programming promotes improved problem solving and metacognition * Because it often takes multiple minds to solve computer issues, children more often work cooperatively than they do at many other tasks

Answer 50

* Produce more elaborate pictures and text * Make fewer writing errors * Edit their work much as older children do

Answer 51

* As with non-educational television, non-educational computer games tend to involve violence and gender stereotypes * So, as with television, the benefits and detriments of computers are dependent on the type of program or activity, rather than being inherent in the technology itself

Answer 52

Early childhood is a time of great gains in language use 10000 words by age 6 – an average of 5 words a day Vocabulary fast-mapping

Answer 53

- Connect new words with concepts after only a brief encounter Nouns first – later verbs which are harder because they are the relationship between objects – finally adverbs, and agictives which are modifiers that start general (big-small) then specific (tall-short, wide-narrow) They assign a word a paliminary meaning and start using it right away, slowly refining it The ability to acquire words quickly through fast-mapping may rest on several constraints that seem to exist… • Mutual exclusivity bias • whole object constraint Constraints aren’t likely the only contributor, and not everyone agrees that they are important One suggested explanation is syntactic bootstrapping Invent new words and metaphors A coalition of cues which shift in importance with age. (infants use perceptual cues, toddlers start using social cues, and pre-schoolers start using linguistic cues). Preschoolers do best when multiple types of cues are available.

Answer 54

a proposed principle of semantic development stating that children assume that an object can have only one name - tend to use when the objects are perceptually distinct (shape) - once they hear a new name for the object the set aside Mutual exclusivity bias - cannot account for remarkable flexibility

Answer 55

The whole object constraint refers to children’s assumption that a new word, applied to a new object, refers to the entire object

Answer 56

Syntactic bootstrapping - a proposed mechanism of semantic development in which children use syntactic cues to infer the meaning of words

Answer 57

Overextensions - an early language error in which children use labels they already know for things whose names they do not yet know Underextensions - an early language error in which children fail to apply labels they know to things for which the labels are appropriate

Answer 58

Subject-verb-object word order starts piecemeal – limited to just a few verbs. By 3 ½ to 4 they can apply subject-verb-object word order broadly to newly acquired verbs. Once they form 3 word sentences they can also make small changes it the words to express meaning. (plural, prepositions, tenses) Complex structures – errors: asking questions, passive sentences,

Answer 59

One suggestion is semantic bootstrapping Semantic bootstrapping - a proposed mechanism of grammatical development in which children use semantic cues to infer aspects of grammar A Chomskian perspective (language acquisition) may be that children are born with an innate understanding of rules of grammar, and just need to learn the vocabulary of their given language However, languages often differ significantly from one another in terms of grammatical rules

Answer 60

a hypothesized innate strategy for analyzing language input and discovering grammatical structure Slobin suggests several important strategies that seem to exist across languages • Pay attention to the order of words • Avoid exceptions • Pay attention to the ends of words

Answer 61

Overregularization - an early structural language error in which children apply inflectional rules to irregular forms A child who used to say an irregular word correctly may appear to regress when s/he begins overregularlizing Overregularization is more common when the irregular word is less familiar

Answer 62

Pragmatics - the practical, social side of language, concerned with how to engage in effective and appropriate communication Even at age 2, children know to take turns in talking, and can respond appropriately their partner’s remarks

Answer 63

Over time, they learn to adjust their speech to fit the age, sex, and social status of their listeners However, we do still see some egocentricity in early childhood, as children sometimes will gesture while on the phone, or refer to an early conversation that their partner was not part of. This tendency decreases between age 4 and 6

Answer 64

Although parents don’t often respond explicitly to the grammatical correctness of a child’s speech, they do support language development Overcorrecting discourages children from freely using language Expansion - a repetition of speech in which errors are corrected and statements are elaborated / Recast - a response to speech that restates it using a different structure Clarification question - a response that indicates that a listener did not understand the statement