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