COGNITIVE DEV IN PRESCHOOL YEARS
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Transcript of COGNITIVE DEV IN PRESCHOOL YEARS
COGNITIVE DEV IN PRESCHOOL
YEARSChapter 11
PRESCHOOLER THOUGHT
• Preschoolers think differently than adults• Preschoolers’ thinking is tied to concrete
objects, perceptions, action• Through concrete manipulation of objects,
preschoolers construct an understanding of the world
• BUT preschoolers can plan, think before acting, reflect on what is not present
• Irregular, intertwined dev: rarely clear differentiation between stages
PREOPERATIONAL THOUGHT
• See p. 225• Perception-based thought• Unidimensional thought• Irreversibility• Transductive reasoning (faulty
causal thinking)• Egocentrism
SYMBOLIC THOUGHT
• Develops over time:pretend playuse of paper
artreading and writing
PIAGETIAN TASKS
• CONSERVATION: preschoolers lack conservation ie. they don’t understand that properties and amounts stay the same even when physical appearances change
• See chart p.230• Conservation of number, category,
continuous quantity
PIAGETIAN TASKS
• SORT BY CATEGORIES• Easiest to hardest: color, then
shape, then size• Preschoolers generally can’t sort
by more than one category at one time
CRITICISMS OF PIAGETIAN THEORY
• May have underestimated intellectual abilities of preschoolers
• Cultural variations show different timetables of dev, BUT universal fundamental characteristics of preoperational thought were described by Piaget
• Altering Piaget’s research methods has led to different conclusions
CRITICISMS OF RESEARCH
• Cultural bias• Linguistic or cultural barriers
VYGOTSKY
• Interaction and communication between child and others, especially adults, is the normal learning environment and leads to higher developed reasoning in children
• Scaffolding naturally occurs during learning
• This is an argument for socializing and talking in the preschool learning environment
SELF-DIRECTED SPEECH
• Helps children guide thinking• Helps children think at higher
levels
FIELD SENSITIVE/INDEPENDENT
• Field independent kids: don’t seek outside help when problem-solving
• Field dependent kids: learn through interaction with others
• Cooperative projects and play meet the needs of these kids
NEW PERSPECTIVES
To understand the learning process we must know more about:
• Attention: seems to be improved with verbal guidance
• Theories of the Mind: When we are aware of our thought processes, we can control or modify them.When we can think about how others feel, we can interact more effectively
THEORIES OF THE MIND
• See p 240• Internal Emotional States• Motives and Intentions: aggressive
kids are less able to judge intentionality
• Knowing and Remembering • Dev of Theories of the Mind are
universal and appear generally at about 2 yr
• Theories of the mind are enhanced through play and social interactions
AUTISM
• A communication disorder• Trouble making sense of the world
as a whole• Change is disturbing• Varies in degree: high to low
functioning
HANDS-ON/MINDS ON
• A period of exploration is followed by teachers presenting planned challenges and using scaffolding to dev thought