Exam 2: Chapter 9 (Early Childhood-Cognitive Development)

Question 1

what is the type of thinking that characterizes early childhood?

Answer 1

preoperational thought

Question 2

what is an operation?

Answer 2

thought characterized by specific logical properties
actions carried out by thinking them through instead of actively performing

Question 3

what is a key element in cognitive development?

Answer 3

symbolic thought: words and numbers are thought of as symbols and pictures

it is the first step from action to thinking-internalizing action

***I don’t totally get this concept

Question 4

what are the characteristics of the preoperational period?

Answer 4

1. difficulty solving conservation problems (logic problems)
   -kids have problems realising that quantity stays the same even tho shape changes
   ex.) the water glass problem

Question 5

what inhibits logical thinking in the the preoperational pd.

Answer 5

centering: concentration on one feature of something and neglecting other aspects

Question 6

what is the principle achievement of the preoperational period?

Answer 6

kids begin to represent the external world through symbols

in language words and numbers act as symbols

Question 7

what are the characteristics of the preoperational pd?

Answer 7

-difficulty solving conservation problems (logical problems)
-egocentrism

Question 8

how do children struggle with solving logical problems?

Answer 8

-trouble realizing quantity stays the same even tho shape changes
-logical thorught is inhibted by characteristic thinking that includes:
-centering
-focus of states rather than transformations (compare only starting and endpoints)
-don’t recognize reversibility (don’t recognize an operation can be undone

Question 9

what is needed to solve concentration problems

Answer 9

decentering

Question 9

what is centering?

Answer 9

concentration on one feature of a situation and neglect other aspects (only thinking about the height of the water class and neglect that it’s 3d)

Question 10

what is the focus on states rather than transformation a cause of?

Answer 10

only being able to focus on start and endpoints, and inability to recognize reversibility

Question 11

what is an example of not children being unable to recognize reversibility

Answer 11

children were presented a story of a road on their way to school with a lion, tree, tower, and house. They were then asked in what order they would see the animals on the way back, they answered the same answer that they saw the objects in instead of the reverse order

Question 12

what is egocentrism?

Answer 12

tendency to lack awareness of viewpoints other than their own
(when children are asked to draw from another perspective, they will draw from their own perspective

Question 13

egocentrism contributes to…

Answer 13

-animistic thinking

Question 14

what is animistic thinking?

Answer 14

the belief that inanimate objects have thoughts, feelings, and emotions like children do

Question 15

what is the contemporary research on egocentrism?

Answer 15

kids may not be as illogical or egocentric as Piaget once thought
(kids present empathy, sharing, and communication that refutes Piagets thoughts and beliefs)

Question 16

what is piagets “American question”

Answer 16

“what should we do to foster cognitive development in our children?”
-led to “hot-housing and “jumpstarting”
-questions to consider:
-what might be some of the
advantages or disadvantages of
doing this?
-what is acceptable and what is too
much?

Question 17

what is hothousing?

Answer 17

“Hothousing” refers to an intensive method of educating or training individuals, especially children, in a particular subject or skill, often with the aim of achieving advanced proficiency or excellence.

Question 18

who is Vygotsky?

Answer 18

psychologist who highlighted the importance of social interaction and support in cognitive development

posited that at any given point, there are problems a child is on the verge of solving and they need social interaction to solve it

Question 19

what is the zone of proximal development? (ZPD)

Answer 19

range of skills an individual can perform with assistance but could not perform on their own

Question 20

what are the key concepts within the zone of proximal development?

Answer 20

-scaffolding
-private speech

Question 21

what is scaffolding?

Answer 21

the willingness of an assistant to structure learning activities and to participate to foster capabilities

example: a helper will give clues/reminders/or break things down for the child like breaking up a word for the child to sound out. or learning to write letters step by step.

Question 22

Vygosky placed much more emphasis on… in the role of cognitive development than Piaget

Answer 22

language

Question 23

what is private speech

Answer 23

language in the form of talking to yourself, guides cognitive development

initially it starts out loud, then becomes silent (which shows the development of procedural memory)

Question 24

what are the types of childhood memory?

Answer 24

procedural memory
declarative memory

Question 25

what is procedural memory?

Answer 25

the implicit memory system (basal ganglia and cerebellum)

remembering how to do something like ride a bike or other muscle memory type things

Question 26

what are the different types of declarative memory?

Answer 26

1. semantic memory
2. episodic memory
   -declarative memory forms last because the hippocampus is the last formed structure and language to describe episodic memory is not acquired until later.

-shows how the physical meets the cognitive
-prefrontal cortex is not super developed at the point?

Question 27

what is semantic memory?

Answer 27

consists of…
-general knowledge
-organization and structure
-language and communication

Question 28

what is episodic memory?

Answer 28

consists of…
-personal experience
-temporal and spatial details
-subjective perspective
-autobiographical memory
-identity and self awareness

Question 29

what is childhood amnesia?

Answer 29

(up to ages 3-31/2)
when some memories get confused, do we really remember or did we just see pics/hear stories?

Question 30

what are the key parts of language during this period?

Answer 30

A. vocab
B. Vocab Building
C. Children Learning Language
D. Differences in language development
E. Development of language
F. communication difficulties
G. Key concepts that are often difficult

Question 31

what does vocab consist of during early childhood?

Answer 31

a 3 yo in a stimulating environment can learn 10 words a day

Question 32

vocab building in early childhood

Answer 32

1. sequence
   -nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, conjunctions, and interrogatives
2. receptive v. expressive
   -receptive is always greater than expressive

Question 33

how do children learn language in early childhood?

Answer 33

fastmapping-the speedy and non precise process of acquiring vocabulary by mentally charting new new words into interconnecting categories

Question 34

what are the differences in language development in early childhood

Answer 34

1. kids have specialized areas of interest
   (ex. you and hockey when youwere younger)
2. differences in vocab based on gender, birth order, and SES
   -female usually have higher vocab than males bc they are more sedentary
   
   • oldest children have higher vocab because they have the most interaction with parents
   • children with higher SES have larger vocabs because they have more opportunities

Question 35

what is the development of language look like in early childhood?

Answer 35

it is significantly impacted by by home environment
Based on
1. quantity (how much a child is being interacted with)
2. Quality (are they being exposed and interacted with?)
3. Stimulation (ie. reading often)

Question 36

what are some communication difficulties in early childhood?

Answer 36

1. monologue
   -talking just to talk, not listening, talking to themselves
2. collective monologue
   -both kids talking “to one another” but neither are listening

Question 37

what are some key concepts that are often difficult to understand in early childhood?

Answer 37

1. temporal (time)
   ex. today, tomorrow, yesterday
2. location
   ex. in, out, up, down
3. comparison
   ex. fast, slow, tall, small

Question 38

what are some of the significant gains from headstart?

Answer 38

1. better scores on achievement tests and IQ tests
2. increased social skills
3. increased intellectual skills and reasoning ability
4. fewer behavioral problems (antisocial and delinquent)
5. greater success, better grades
6. less likely to be placed in special ed classes or repeaters
7. more likely to finish HS
8. more motivated later on, higher goals
   (sleeper effects)