Chapter 8 Cognitive Development in Early Childhood Language Acquisition in Young Children o Where does Language come from Children s language acquisition and the nature nurture controversy These video clips highlight a new sign language created by deaf Nicaraguan children Nicaraguan Sign Language and provide insights into how language evolves Linguists wonder how even hearing children learn to speak when the language is so degenerate or broken in normal settings Young child in Nicaragua speaking Is it surprising that children can create a language from nothing Not really because Chomsky argued that the part of language most likely to be biological was the way to structure sentences Hard evidence of innate language instinct Grammar Development in Early Childhood o Basic Rules Overregulation applying rules without appropriate exceptions Overextension 2 3 year olds use words to apply more broadly Gleason s Wug Test o The Wug test designed and demonstrated here by Jean Berko Gleason investigates children s ability to acquire the plural and other inflectional morphemes of their native language to exception words Supporting Language Learning in Early Childhood o Recasts restructuring incorrect speech into its correct form o Expansions elaborating on children s speech Chapter 9 Socioemotional Development in Early Childhood Psychosocial Stage o Erik Erikson s third stage 3 6 years o Initiative Versus Guilt o A child wants to complete things successfully and feels guilt at failure o The Self Initiative versus guilt Third of Erikson s eight stages Initiative enthusiasm for new activities readiness and ability to initiate action governed by conscience o Eagerness to try new things join activities with peers o Play permits trying out new skills without criticism o Grow in conscience dev Guilt results when children s efforts result in failure to criticism lowers self esteem o Overly strict conscience causing too much guilt o Related to Excessive threats Ways to help Criticism Being punished excessively by adults o Give kids age appropriate tasks Self Understanding Conceptions o Almost as soon as they begin to speak they describe themselves in terms of physical features and certain categories E g age groupings baby child adult sex b g o These self definitions refer to concrete external traits o Preschoolers base self concepts on Appearance Possessions VERY big part of who they are Behaviors and actions I can run fast Specific skills Preferences o In early childhood young children think that the self can be described by many material characteristics size shape and color o They can distinguish themselves from others through many physical and material attributes o Preschoolers often provide self descriptions that involve Body attributes Physical activities Material possessions o Because preschooler s concepts of themselves are so connected with specific possessions we will often hear the word Mine o The stronger their self definition the more possessive they are Asserting rights to objects Mine helps define boundaries of self Ex You wouldn t share something unique to you like your car Kids who are more precocious have more trouble sharing It s important for kids to have things that are explicitly theirs o Young children s self descriptions are typically unrealistically positive o They tend to Underestimate the task Overestimate their abilities to do it o They begin to understand that they have some stable characteristics Something about them is the same in every situation Self Evaluation Self Esteem abilities includes o Judgments we make about our own worth global self esteem and competencies global appraisal judgments of different aspects of self competence Learner Social skills Getting along with parents Niceness and kindness Physical abilities o Affects preschoolers initiatives and willingness to try things o Pride o However Young children generally have a self esteem They overestimate their abilities Example Most preschoolers believe he she is the brightest smartest fastest most liked best at games etc Variations in self evaluations Young children high in self esteem Confident Curious Independent Trust own ideas Take initiative Take pride in accomplishments Young children with low self esteem Lack o Confidence o Curiosity o Independence o Take initiative o Explore Rarely o High Self esteem o Low Self esteem Reactions to stress adapt well When faced with Frustration persevere Reactions to stress have difficulty withdraw When faced with Frustration give up Emotional Development in Early Childhood o Cognitive development Social Experiences and Family experiences strongly influences preschoolers Understanding of others emotions more accurately Empathy sympathy and prosocial behavior increases Emotional slef regulation improves Big growth in self conscious emotions shame guilt as self concept develops o Greater Emotional Understanding Cognitive Development As preschoolers age they Identify and label emotions Judge causes and consequences of emotions better Predict actions based on emotions Help relieve others feelings o Increased empathy o Greater Emotional Understanding Social Experience Caregivers Label and explain emotions Discuss feelings that highlight the emotional significance of events Scaffold emotional thought Siblings and Friends Negotiate Act out emotions in play o Indirect influences Warm supportive family relationships lead to greater emotional understanding in children Physical abuse can lead to impaired emotional growth Neglected kids Less discrimination between different emotions o Empathy Sympathy Prosocial Development Empathy vs Sympathy Empathy understanding feelings respond emotionally Sympathy feelings of concern or sorrow about others misfortune Parenting affects empathy and sympathy Warm and encouraging Influences caregiving and temperament
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