Week 4: Early Childhood Cognitive Development

Common Interventions in Early Childhood

-Parent Intervention(sleeping, toileting, eating, anxiety, disruptive behaviors)

-Direct Intervention(typically after age 4)

-Assessment Evaluation

-Training and Consultation(community, preschools, primary care settings)

-Advocacy and Policy Involvement

Piaget's Preoperational Stage

-Ages 2-7

-Symbolic Function Substage: the child gains the ability to mentally represent an object that is not present

-Animism: belief that inanimate objects are capable of actions and have lifelike qualities (that mean chair hurt me)

-Artificialism: belief that environmental characteristics can be attributed to human actions or interventions (the clouds are blowing hard)

-Transductive Reasoning: when a child draws a relationship between two separate events that are otherwise unrelated(I'm putting on my bathing suit so it will be summer(

Danger of Acquisition of Symbols

-We can confuse our symbolic representation of reality with reality itself(aka take words literally)

-If an important person consistently tells a 4 y.o. they are "bad," how might this affect them?

Vygotsky's theory: Social Constructivist Approach

-an emphasis on the social contexts of learning and the construction of knowledge through social interaction

-children think and understand primarily through social interaction

Vygotsky's Theory: Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)

the range of tasks too difficult for the child alone, but can be learned with guidance

Scaffolding(related to ZPD)

Changing the level of support and instruction provided. As competence increases, less guidance is given

Montessori Method

child-centered educational approach focused on self-directed activity, hands-on learning, and collaborative play

Private Speech (Vygotsky)

-When a child talks out loud to themselves to guide their own behavior, focus their attention, and solve problems

-Plays a positive role in development

-Delayed in children with executive functioning challenges

Inner Speech (Vygotsky)

-When that self-talk goes completely silent, turning into the internal, private stream of thoughts we use to think things through in our heads

-Ex: kid with ADHD does not have inner speech

Sustained Attention

The ability to remain focused on a stimulus for an extended period of time

Selective Attention

The ability to systematically deploy one's attention, focusing on relevant information and ignoring distractors

Working Memory and Executive Function

-Young children get better at attention, memory, and cognitive tasks by staying focused and inhibiting impulses

-It is easier for children to control impulses when they are better skilled in self-regulation

Socio-emotional Development

The gradual and integrative process in which children learn to:

-understand, experience, express, and manage emotions

-develop meaningful relationships with others

-actively explore their environment and learn

How do emotions help?

Emotions act as an instant survival radar, triggering an automatic split-second reaction to either run away from danger or move toward safety

Parenting Styles(Baumrind)

The degree of warmth, support, and boundaries that parents provide

Authoritarian Parenting Style

Emphasizes behavioral control and obedience over warmth

Permissive Parenting Style

Emphasizes warmth, acceptance, and indulgence

Uninvolved Parenting Style

Parents focus on their own needs rather than those of their children

Authoritative Parenting Style

Parents are warm and sensitive to children's needs, but also are firm in their expectations

Cycle of Escalation in Parenting

-Kids learn that pushing boundaries can get them what they want:

-Kid pushes a boundary

-Parent raises their voice

-Kid pushes another boundary

-Parent yells even louder

T/F: Parenting interventions often don't consider parent POV

True

Advice for parents to improve relationships with their kids

1. When they get home from school, make eye contact and say "I'm so excited to see you"

2. Tell parents they need to get comfortable with relationship ruptures and repair

What kind of research is on parenting styles and children's development?

Correlational, not causal

Themes of Gender Identity Development in Children

Children begin to:

-label themselves and others by gender in the toddler and preschool years

-develop expectations about what people of different genders look like, prefer, and do

-understand that gender has some stability across time

-gradually recognize that changes in clothing, hairstyle, activities, or appearance do not necessarily change a person's gender

Preschoolers and gender rules

Early childhood is often characterized by increasing knowledge of gender stereotypes and temporarily greater rigidity about gender rules

Preschoolers' Rigidity About Gender Rules

Reflects several developmental processes:

-Strong reliance on categories to organize a complex social world

-Emerging gender schemas that initially function like rules

-Limited ability to appreciate exceptions and variability within categories

-Desire for predictability and consistency

-Increasing awareness of peer norms and social consequences

Individual Variation and Gender Diversity

-Psychologists need to be able to hold normative developmental processes and individual variation simultaneously

-Good assessment requires curiosity about the child's meaning and developmental context rather than interpreting all three through the same lens

Promoting Gender Inclusivity in Preschool Settings

-Emphasize individuality and self-expression

-Model inclusive language and behavior

-Observe and listen to children

What does play support the development of in early childhood?

-Executive functioning

_language

-Social development

-Peer relations

-Physical development

-Sense of agency

Approaching Tough Topics with Preschoolers

-Anything that is mentionable is manageable

-Let the child Lead. Consider responding with a question first

-Respond in a manner that is developmentally appropriate