Early Childhood Flashcards
General trends
Physical growth in the preschool years is slower than the rapid growth rate seen in infancy
As a result of cephalocaudal development and proximodistal development, children’s proportions change during early childhood, becoming progressively more adult-like, mainly as a result of lengthening arms and legs.
Body fat, which decreases in proportion to total body tissue, also contributes to a more slender and more mature body shape
Brain development
The process of myelination of the axons speeds the rate at which messages are transmitted.
Between the ages of two and six, the brain increases from 70 per cent of its adult weight to 90 per cent.
During early childhood, it is this resulting efficiency of neural transmission that is partly responsible for greater increases in muscular coordination, particularly gross and fine motor skills, cognitive functioning, and a high energy need.
Cognitive capacities such as attention, memory, planning and organising behaviour advance markedly during the preschool years.
Piaget - Pre-operational
Preoperational children can create efficient mental representations of
their world, their mental representations are limited in the way they
understand people, things and events in their everyday world (Hoffnung et al., 2019 p. 303)
* Conservation - refers to one’s ability to understand quantity, number or volume does not change despite changes to its outward appearance
* Piaget believed children at this stage do not have this capacity. They tend to focus on only one aspect of a situation and neglect others.
Symbolic representation - Cognition that allows one entity to stand for another. Children begin to deal with their world through substitutes for the real objects. Children develop language in the preoperational period
Conservation - refers to an understanding that the essential characteristics of things — such as quantity, number, area or volume — does not change, despite changes in their outward superficial appearance. Children under 5 are unable to understand this.
Identity - A comprehensive and coherent sense of self
Centration - The tendency to focus on one aspect at the expense of others, associated with inability to conserve.
Reversibility - the ability to undo an action mentally and go back to its beginning
Egocentrism - Inability to distinguish between one’s own point of view and that of another person. Egocentrism involves the inability of young children to put themselves into another person’s shoes confusing one’s own perspective with that of another’s (Tested by the three mountains task and Ability termed ‘theory of mind’)
- Theory of mind - The capacity to reflect on one’s own thoughts, and to distinguish them from other people’s thoughts or ideas.
Examples of Piaget’s thinking
Symbolic representation – Pretend & make-believe play. Using a banana for a phone. Understanding that words are symbols for things in real life
Conservation - Children under 5 will think a tall glass has more water even if it’s poured into a short glass
Identity - A person remains the same even if they change clothes/ wear a mask
Centration – will focus on the number of pieces of cake rather than the overall amount of cake
Reversibility – able to visualize the water going back into the tall glass
Egocentrism – In hide & seek, will think if they can’t see someone, that person can’t see them – hide in obvious places
Theory of mind – If I’m sad, you’re sad
3 phases of moral reasoning
- Amoral (very young children)
- Heteronomous morality (4–5 years)
- Autonomous morality (10 years)
Amoral reasoning
Very young children lack the cognitive capacity to make judgements about right or wrong. Their behaviour is largely governed by older individuals
Heteronomous morality (4–5 years)
Younger children’s thinking is based on the results of their actions and the way these actions affect them. The outcome is more important than the intention. A behavior is judged as either good or bad only in terms of consequences. There is no room for negotiation or compromise. Eating one cookie from the jar because a child is hungry is just as wrong as stealing all the cookies from the jar by a naughty child. Taking cookies is forbidden and therefore always wrong, regardless of the intention.
Autonomous morality (10 years)
Children are now beginning to overcome the egocentrism of middle childhood. Their appreciation of morality changes as a result of their newly acquired ability to view situations from other people’s perspectives. They are, therefore, also capable of considering rules from someone else’s point of view
Neo-Piagetian theories
Stage-based progression, but revision of stage content
Looks at how and by what process skills are attained
Stages relate to specific skills
Skills attained independently of others
Stages can be reached at different rates – cognitive development not uniform
Vygotsky’s make-believe play
Vygotsky saw play as the ideal social context for cognitive development.
As children create imaginary situations, they are learning to follow internal plans, problem solve and to follow social rules (Berk, 2018).
It is through play children can try out new ideas and challenging activities in a safe environment.
In this stage, Sociodramatic play develops: coordinating a plot and several roles with others
The importance of play
A way of building and shaping the architecture of our brain
Play contributes to the development of motor skills and coordination.
It’s rich in language development
Children can try out new ideas and challenging activities in a safe environment.
As children create imaginary situations, they are learning to follow internal plans, problem solve and to follow social rules
Dramatic play (trying on new roles) contributes to development of cognitive qualities such as curiosity, exploration, symbolic thinking, and problem solving.
Play may help with children learning to control impulses
Children need active, representational and make-believe play to develop not only physical strength and control but to assist with the development of self- confidence and the ability to regulate emotions.
