Dr van Widenfelt PSYC 307 100 Fall 2015 Cognitive Development in Early Childhood Agenda Early Childhood Today Cognitive Development Topics for next week Language Development Early Education Childcare Maltreatment Gender development ON WEDNESDAY AND FRIDAY GUEST LECTURER EVAN LOEHLE CONGER Cognitive Development Children think and organize the world meaningfully but differently than adults kid logic Piaget 4 stages 1 Sensorimotor 0 2 2 Preoperational 2 7 3 Concrete operations 7 11 12 4 Formal operations Preoperational Thought Stage 2 of cognitive development symbolic thought now possible Preoperational Stage Words can now refer to things not seen preschooler uses language and mental imagery to explore and represent the world Magical animistic thinking inanimate objects have lifelike qualities and can perform actions Piaget Preoperational Thought Animism Involves belief that natural objects and phenomena are alive Eg might think doll can feel pain and have feelings Pre operational imaginative play At this age kids love stories with animals and objects talking Pre operational Stage Characterized by seeing world entirely from their own perspective and a focus on what is right in front of them Logic is difficult for child until about age 6 Piaget Preoperational Thought Centration a young child focuses centers on one idea excluding all others Focus on appearance young child ignores all attributes that are not apparent Egocentrism cannot differentiate one s own point of view from that of others and everything is mine Can t take point of view of others Pre operational Stage Centration Focuses on perceptually striking feature of an object or event and ignore other features Don t see the whole Scale error http www youtube com watch v OtngSHtz cc 3 minutes Piaget Preoperational Thought Static reasoning a young child thinks that nothing changes Whatever is now has always been and always will be Irreversibility a young child thinks that nothing can be undone A thing cannot be restored to the way it was before a change occurred Conservation and logic Principle that the amount of a substance remains the same i e is conserved when its appearance changes Conservation Task https www youtube com watch v gnArvcWaH6I 4 minutes row of quarters 4 year old http www youtube com watch v OXSI D75r48 2 min same tasks and also playdo task http www youtube com watch v h9ioMR8C9GI 3 min 7 year old conservation milk Overview Procedures to Test Conservation Transformational Reasoning Difficulty understanding how one element transitions into another Eg might not understand that you are their mother but also the child of their grandmother Lack of reversibility cannot mentally undo an action or event or trace a line of reasoning back to its beginning http www youtube com watch v RmN2G6TWB E 7 year old http www youtube com watch v SkGy7Uua3Pc 9 year old Lack of conservation constructs applied cannot understand that merely changing the appearance of objects does not change their key properties fail to understand conservation of liquids because they focus center on what they see appearance noticing only the immediate static condition It does not occur to them that they could reverse the process and re create the liquid s level of a moment earlier irreversibility Transductive thinking See similarities between two things though actually there is no relationship when objects share properties it s as if they are the same thing Examples I haven t had my nap so it can t be afternoon My ball is round the moon is round the moon must be a ball Pre operational Start becoming more intuitive by age 4 thinking is dominated by what children feel or sense to be true but they cannot explain the principles behind it the why stage Theory of mind begins to emerge between ages 4 and 5 Theory of mind A child s understanding of what others might be thinking an organized understanding of how the mind works and influences behavior Gradually develop understanding that each person has their own mental states beliefs desires intentions that these states can be different from one s self are based on people s knowledge can differ from reality and that people s behavior can be predicted by their mental states Children s Theories Theory of mind Involves person s theory of what other people might be thinking Is slow to develop but typically beginning in most children at about age 4 Before age 4 don t realize others think other thoughts than they do Testing Children s Theory of Mind The Smarties task tests preschoolers understanding of false beliefs Most 3 year olds answer in a way that suggests a lack of understanding that people s actions are based on their own beliefs even when those beliefs deviate from what the child knows to be true Theory of mind https www youtube com watch v TJkB6nrk1CA Juicebox Barbie walking in flour Mean Monkey and stickers 8 min http www youtube com watch v QjkTQtggLH4 Sally Anne Test 2 min Brain and Context What strengthens theory of mind in young children Child s ability to develop theories correlates with the maturity of the prefrontal cortex and with advances in executive processing Context and experience are relevant Context and culture matter Instant vs Delayed Gratification https www youtube com watch v Yo4WF3cSd9Q 5 minutes marshmallow experiment TED Talk for your own interest https www youtube com watch v voF8B Jr0mA 14 minutes more on delayed gratification in adults Have a great weekend