PSY 3059 Chapter 8 Cognitive Development in Early Childhood

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