Exam 2: Chapter 9 (book) Flashcards
piaget focuses on this type of force on cognitive development in early childhood:
maturation
Vygotsky focuses on this type of force on cognitive development in early childhood:
social forces
what is executive function
the cognitive ability to organize and prioritize the many thought that arise from the various parts of the brain, which allow the person to anticipate, strategize and plan behavior
executive function dramatically improves in early childhood
what are the three foundations of executive function?
- memory
- inhibition
- flexibility
describe memory in executive function
-memory for what was seen a minute ago/yesterday NOT years ago
children with better memory skills tend to be come better…
students at age 15
describe inhibition in executive function
-the ability to control responses, to stop and think for a moment before acting or talking
what is flexibility in executive function?
the ability to see things from another perspective rather than getting stuck in one idea
-very hard at age 2 but possible by age 6
example of flexibility
when a child wants a toy another child is playing with, they are able to shift their interest to another toy rather than staying stuck focusing on the toy in use.
advances in executive function enable young children…
to gain “core skills critical for cognitive, social, and psychological development” that allow “playing with ideas, giving a considered response rather than an impulsive one, and being able to change course or perspectives as needed, resist temptations, and stay focused
what are the tests for each foundation of executive function?
-memory: shown a series of barnyard animals and asked to remember them in order
-inhibition: kids push a button when they see a fish, but not a shark
-flexibility: kids alternate stamping on a picture of a dog and one of a bone
what are the two key points regarding executive function?
- Executive function skills are foundational. They undergird later cognitive abilities and academic achievement, including in reading and math
- Executive function skills are not determined at conception. They are developed during childhood.
what is an example of an activity designed to promote executive functioning?
two children develop a pretend scenario together, they get to decide their roles and actions and then carry out the play with memory, inhibition, and flexibility in response to their playmates actions
what is the impact of video games on executive function
they are a detriment: they merely promote rapid response with is the opposite of memory, inhibition, and flexibility.
what is the “theory-theory” explanation?
the idea that children attempt to explain everything they see and hear by constructing theories
pre-schoolers have intuitive theories about the world that help them think and remember
what is an example of the theory theory explanation in action?
theory- everyone intends to do everything correctly
ex. when kids are asked to repeat something ungrammatical, they will correct the grammar as they expect all adults intend to speak grammatically but failed to do so
what is the “theory of mind”
the theory of mind is when a child begins to have a theory about how other minds work.
example of the ToM at work
a puppet puts a toy dog into a red box,, while the puppet is removed the toy dog is moved to a blue box. The child is then asked where the puppet will look for the toy when he gets back.
3year olds will confidently say the red box because they assume the puppet knows what they do
6 year olds will correctly say the blue bc they have ToM
then development of ToM can be seen when…
children begin to lie in order to escape punishment
without theory of mind, children do not know how to fool others
experiment that shows evidence of brain maturation
children are asked to say day when shown a picture of the moon and night when shown picture of the sun. their success in this task indicated advanced executive functioning and therefore maturation of the prefrontal cortex
that is piagets theory of cognition in early childhood?
preoperational thought
what is symbolic thought?
-a major accomplishment of preoperational intelligence that allows a child to think symbolically, including understanding that words can refer to things not seen and that an item, such as a flag can symbolize something else
language is an example of…
symbolic thought
example: prior to preoperational thinking, when a child hears the word “dog” it only refers to the family dog licking them. But, when preoperational intelligence is acquired, the term dog becomes symbol and can refer to a stuffed dog, the neighbors dog, the family dog, or a plastic dog
symbolic thought helps explain…
animism
what is animism
the belief of many young children that natural objects are alive and that nonhuman animals have the same characteristics as humans, especially people the child knows best
what are some obstacles to logic/characteristics of preoperational intelligence in early childhood?
centration/egocentrism
focus on appearance
static reasoning
irreversibility
what is centration?
the tendency to focus on (center) on one aspect of a situation to the exclusion of all others
ex.) kids will insist their Dad is only a “father” and not a “brother” despite him having a brother
centration also illustrates:
egocentrism
(self centeredness) where kids can only see the world through their own perspective
what is “focus on appearance”
a characteristic of preoperational thought in which a young child ignores all attributes that are not visible
ex.) a girl given a short haircut may fear she has turned into a boy
what is static reasoning?
kids believe the world is stable and unchanging. It is always in the state in which they currently encounter it
ex.) children cannot imagine their own parents as children or at any other age than what they are in that moment
ex.) kids will as their grandmother to tell their mother not to spank them bc “their mother has to do what her mother says
what is irreversibility?
when preoperational thinkers fail to recognize a process might restore what existed before
ex.) a child may cry when lettuce is put on their sandwich and refused to eat the sandwich even after the lettuce is taken off because what is done cannot be undone
what is conservation
a part of preoperational intelligence that exemplifies inability to use logic.
it is the notion that the amount of something remains the same despite changes in its appearance
when a child is presented with two glasses filled with the same amount of water, one taller and narrower one and another shorter wider one the preoperational child will say this one has more water
the taller narrower one because the level of water is higher in comparison
example of the interactions of the 4 characteristics of preoperational intelligence
the water level mistake
-young children fail to understand conservation because they focus (center) on what they see (appearance) noticing only the immediate (static) condition. It does not occur to them that they could pour the lemonade back into the wider glass and recreate the level of a moment earlier (irreversibility)
what was Vygotsky’s theory of early childhood cognition
social learning theory
What does Vygotsky say about how thought is shaped?
culture shapes thought through the influence of mentors
according to Vygotsky, children learn because their mentors do the following
-present challenges
-offer assistance (without taking over)
-add crucial information
-encourage motivation
what is the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)
the intellectual arena in which new ideas and skills can be mastered through which Vygotsky believed all individuals learn within
includes the ideas and skills children are close to mastering but cannot demonstrate independently
what is scaffolding?
temporary sensitive support that is tailored to a learners needs and abilities and aimed at helping the learner master the next task in a given learning process
examples of how culture influences scaffolding
book reading
some cultures would add time to reading to have conversation and ask questions, other cultures emphasize the child staying quiet and listening
One study of U.S. parents found that many book-reading parents who are Chinese Americans pointed out how misbehavior caused problems for the book’s characters, while many Mexican American parents highlighted the characters’ emotions
what is over imitation
when a person imitates an action that is not a relevant part of the behavior to be learned. Common among 2-6 year olds when they imitate adult actions that are irrelevant and inefficient
private speech
the internal dialogue that occurs when people talk to themselves (either silently or out loud)
-decreases out loud with maturation, but continues into adulthood thorugh speaking to yourself when no one is arund, and writing journal entries
Vygotsky says private speech aids…
cognition and self reflection
Vygotsky believes that speech…
-aids cognition and self reflection
-facilitates social interaction vital to learning
what is social mediation
human interaction that expands and advances understanding, often through words that one person uses to explain something to another
in terms of facilitating social interaction, speech provides…
social mediation as mentors guide mentees in their ZPD learning numbers, recalling memories, and following routines
what is the language ability of a 2 year old?
(Vocab, sentence length, grammar, and questions)
vocab: 100-2,000 words
sentence length: 2-6 words
grammar: plurals, pronouns, verbs, adjectives
questions: many “what’s that” questions
language ability of a 3-6 years old
(Vocab, sentence length, grammar, and questions)
vocab: 1,000-5,000 words
sentence length: 3-8 words
grammar: conjunctions, adverbs, articles
questions: Many “why” questions
language ability of a 4 year old
(Vocab, sentence length, grammar, and questions)
vocab: 3,000-10,000 words
sentence length: 5-20 words
grammar: dependent clauses, tags at sentence end (…didn’t I?…wont you?)
questions: peak of Why? questions, many How? and When? questions
language ability of a 6 year old and beyond
(Vocab, sentence length, grammar, and questions)
Vocab: 5,000 to 30,000 words
sentence length: some seem unending (and…who…and…that…and…)
Grammar: complex, depending on what the child has heard with some children even correctly using passive voice (Man bitten by dog) and subjunctive (If I were)
Questions: SOme about social differences (male-female, ld-young, rich-poor) and many other issues)
early childhood is a _____ for language learning
sensitive period
why is language learning easier in the preoperational period?
children are not self critical about fluency
what is fast mapping
learning a word after one exposure
rather than figuring out the exact definition after hearing a word used in several contexts children hear a word once and quickly stick it into a category in their mental language grid
fast mapping explains childrens learning of…
colors
-kids will use broach color terms (ie blue) to describe specific colors (like turquoise, or some greys)
learning colors like chartreuse or turquoise is slow mapping
what is logical extension?
closely related to fast mapping
after learning a word, children use it to describe other objects in the same category
ex.) a child says she saw dalmatian cows when seeing holstein cows because she just learned what a dalmatian was
what is overreguization
the application of rules of grammar even when exceptions occur, making the language seem more regular than it actually is
ex.) kids add an s to foot to make foots instead of feet
what are pragmatics?
knowing which words, tones, and grammatical forms to use with whom
what are some of the benefits of being bilingual?
reduced risk of Alzheimers diseaase, and aids executive function
what’s is a language shift?
when a child becomes fluent in their school language and begin to neglect their second home a language, this is because theory-theory leads childen to conclude their home language matters less than their school language`
child centered programs
focus on the development of the child and stress the child being ale to select their own interests rather than adult direction,, encourage artistic expression
Montessori schools
schools that offer early-childhood education based on the philosophy of maria montessori, which emphasizes careful work and tasks each young child can do
what is reggio emilia?
a program of early childhood education that originated in town of reggio emilia, Italy and encourages each childs creativity in a carefully designed setting
waldorf schools
An early-childhood-education program that emphasizes creativity, social understanding, and emotional growth. It originated in Germany with Rudolf Steiner and now is used in thousands of schools throughout the world
teacher directed programs
stress academics, where one adult teaches an entire group
what is head start?
a type of intervention program for children from low SES families
a program for 4 years olds that attempts to lift families out of poverty by teaching children standard english,providing dental care, and immunizations
