early childhood

Piaget: What is the sensorimotor stage?

• a child’s first stage of development

• Lasts from birth to 2 years old

• The newborn does not have a well- developed brain, particularly in the frontal cortex. Therefore, the child must develop an understanding of the world through the 5 senses.

• behaviours that occur during the sensorimotor stage include: the reflexes, object permanence, circulate reactions

Piaget: What is the pre operational stage?

• Children can form mental representations but cannot perform mental operations

• 18-24 months: semiotic (symbolic) function

• Inability to logically manipulate info

• Thinking based on how things look, rather than logic

• Children’s play reflects their cognitive development- forms of play: Constructive, first pretend, substitute pretend, sociodramatic, rule-governed

Describe the three mountains task

Describe paigets conversation tasks

• cognitive process of conservation+ understanding that matter can change in appearance without changing in quantity

• Such tasks typically failed prior to age 5 due to concentration and irreversibility

• Types of conservation: number, liquid, mass

Describe theory of mind

• understanding others thoughts, beliefs and behaviours

• From 18 months: some understanding that people operate with goals and intentions

• By age 3: some understanding of the link between peoples thinking/ feeling and their behaviour

• Age 3-5: understanding that people’s actions are their individual perception of reality

• Most frequently assessed via false-belief tests

• Derksen et al (2018): abilities other than ToM required to pass false belief tests, such as the use of language, which may not be developed sufficiently prior age 4. Longitudinal studies indicate that ToM develops throughout ones lifespan.

Psychosocial changes

• early childhood “stepping out” phase

Erikson’s stages:

• until approx. age 3: autonomy VS shame and doubt: emerging selfhood

• Approx. age 3-6: initiative VS guilt

Takes autonomy one step further

Development of conscience

Guilt when criticised or punished excessively by adults

Shift in parenting: from protecting towards control

Self understanding

• enabled through their development of language, as they can talk about their subjective experience

• Self concept: set of attributes, abilities, attitudes and values that an individual believes defines who they are. In early childhood: largely consistent of observable characteristics. Warm, sensitive parent-child relationship fosters a more positive, coherent early self-concept.

• Self esteem: begins to emerge in early childhood via making judgements about our own worth and the feelings associated with those judgements

• The emotional self: emotional regulation. Hoffman’s (1979) stages of empathy: Global empathy, egocentric, empathy for another’s feelings, empathy for another’s life condition.

• The social self: increasing awareness of social roles

How can you encourage a small child to talk and understand language?

• encourage your child to say simple sounds after you

• Pretend to have conversations with your child when they babble

• Respond to their gestures

• Encourage the to mirror you with games like peek-a-boo

• Name animal sounds

• Talk to them about activities you do and places you go

• Point out colours and shapes

• Count the things you see

• Use gestures like pointing

• Expanding on simple words