6.4 Developmental Tasks in Early Childhood

Immature Aspects of Preoperational Thought

Centration

Irreversibility

Lack of Conservation

Transductive Reasoning

Egocentrism

Animism

Magical Thinking

Theory of Mind

The awareness of the broad range of human mental states—beliefs, intents, desires, dreams, and so forth—and the understanding that others have their own distinctive beliefs, desires, and intentions

Genetic Memory

Memory that produces scripts of familiar routines to guide behavior which begin at about age 2

Episodic Memory

Long-term memory of specific experiences or events, linked to time and place

Autobiographical Memory

A type of episodic memory, memories of distinctive experiences that form a person’s life history which emerges between ages 3 and 4

Social Interaction Model

A model based on Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory, that proposes children construct autobiographical memories through conversation with adults about shared events

Fast Mapping

The process by which a child absorbs the meaning of a new word after hearing it once or twice in conversation

Grammar

The deep underlying structure of a language that enables us to produce and understand utterance

Syntax

It involves the rules for putting together sentences in a particular language

Pragmatics

The practical knowledge of how to use language to communicate, knowing how to ask for things, how to tell a story or joke, how to begin and continue a conversation, and how to adjust comments to the listener’s perspective

Social Speech

Speech intended to be understood by a listener

Private Speech

Talking aloud to self with no intent to communicate with others

Oral Language Skills

Vocabulary, syntax, narrative structure, and the understanding that language is used to communicate

Specific Phonological Skills

Linking letters with sounds

Social Emotions

A comparison of one’s self or one’s actions to social standards and typically develop by the end of the 3rd year after children gain self-awareness and accept the standards of behavior their parents have set

Reticent Play

A combination of Parten’s unoccupied and onlooker categories

Gender Segregation

Tendency to select playmates of one’s own gender

Functional, Constructive, Dramatic, & Formal

Cognitive levels of Play

Functional Play (Locomotor Play)

Play that begins during infancy and playing involving repetitive large muscular movements

Constructive Play (Object Play)

Play involving use of objects or materials to make something

Dramatic Play (Pretend Play/Fantasy Play/Imaginative Play)

Play that involves imaginary objects, actions, or roles

Formal Games With Rules

Play with organized games with known procedures and penalties