Piaget’s Stage of Preoperational Thinking
a time of both stability and great change
Stage lasts from the age of 2 years until around 7 years
During this stage, children’s use of symbolic thinking grows, mental reasoning emerges, and the use of concepts increases
Which Row Contains More Buttons?
When preschoolers are shown these two rows and asked the question of which row has more buttons, they usually respond that the lower row of buttons contains more, because it looks longer. They answer in this way even though they know quite well that 10 is greater than 8.
Conservation: Learning that Appearances are Deceiving
Children in early childhood cannot understand that changes in one dimension do not necessarily mean that other dimensions change
Conservation
The knowledge that quantity is unrelated to the arrangement and physical appearance of objects
Transformation
The process whereby one state is changed into another
Children in preoperational period are unable to envision or recall successive transformations
Egocentric thought
Thinking that does not take the viewpoints of others into account
Autobiographical memory
Memory of particular events from one’s own life
Zone of proximal development (ZPD)
According to Vygotsky, the level at which a child can almost, but not fully, comprehend or perform a task without assistance
Scaffolding
The support for learning and problem solving that encourages independence and growth
The Growth of Language
During the preschool years, children’s language skills reach new heights of sophistication
By the end of the preschool years, they can speak confidently with adults by comprehending and producing language that has many of the qualities of adults’ language
Syntax
The combining of words and phrases to form meaningful sentences
Private speech
Spoken language that is not intended for others and is commonly used by children during the preschool years
Social speech
Speech directed toward another person and meant to be understood by that person