PSY210: 4. Cognitive Development in Early Childhood

Question 1

Piaget’s 
 Preoperational Stage

Answer 1

Ages 2 to 7!
Gains in mental representation!
! make-believe play!
! symbol–real-world relations! Limitations in thinking!
! egocentrism!
! conservation!
! hierarchical classification
preoperational: before operation on thoughts - can’t manipulate

Question 2

Early Childhood
 Development of Make-Believe

Answer 2

With age, make-believe gradually becomes more detached from real-life conditions!
Less self-centred, more complex
sociodramatic play
early on grounded make believe play - routines in daily lives

Question 3

Early Childhood
 Development of Make-Believe

Answer 3

don’t have capacity things as something else, but can see it as real because of mental representation
self centred play - can’t adopt mindset of other child’s mind so can’t incorporate other ppl
2-6 years old

Question 4

Benefits of 
 Make-Believe Play

Answer 4

Practice representational schemes!
Reflect on thinking, control behaviour, and take another’s perspective!
Gain in social, language, and literacy skills!
Improve attention, memory, and logical reasoning!
Strengthen imagination and creativity

Question 5

Benefits of 
 Make-Believe Play

Answer 5

enables them to practice schemas - include events
practicing roles (schemas) so they come to a better understanding
reflect on thinking processes - practice with metacognition
ability to control behaviour especially adhering to rules
practice on taking other ppl’s perspective
language capacity: explain make believe play
opportunity to stay focused + improve memory, use logic

Question 6

Dual Representation

Answer 6

viewing a symbolic object as both an object in itself + a symbol
Mastered around age 3! Adult teaching can help!
maps, photos, drawings, and make-believe play supports experience with symbols!
! point out similarities to real world
teach children takes time to learn symbols

Question 7

Limitations of 
 Preoperational Thought

Answer 7

Cannot perform mental operations! Egocentrism and animistic thinking! Cannot conserve
egocentrism: can’t think about other ppl’s point of view

Question 8

Egocentrism

Answer 8

failure to distinguish others’ view from one’s own
children can’t extend beyond own view
mountain task
4 vs. 8 year old
can’t turn themselves in space in thought

Question 9

Animistic Thinking

Answer 9

Belief that inanimate objects have lifelike qualities
if i am alive, objects are alive as well
misattribute intentions to inatimate objects
we still do this: we get angry at phones, cars

Question 10

Limits on Conservation

Answer 10

Centration!
! focus on one aspect and neglect others!
Irreversibility!
! cannot mentally reverse a set of steps

Question 11

Limits on Conservation

Answer 11

inability to understand essential properties are unchanged even if there are physical changes
water transfer: don’t understand tall + skinny has same amount as short + fat glass
attention focused on salient aspect - length of paper clip
children can’t reverse operations in their head

Question 12

Educational Principles 
 Derived from Piaget’s Theory

Answer 12

Discovery learning!
Sensitivity to children’s readiness to learn!
! developmentally appropriate practices!
Acceptance of individual differences
need to physically interact to learn
provide physical blocks
child has limitations on thought - can’t teach beyond that
each child progresses at separate paces

Question 13

Vygotsky’s 
 Sociocultural Theory

Answer 13

Private speech!
Zone of !
!proximal development

Question 14

Children’s Private Speech

Answer 14

Piaget called this “egocentric speech”!
Vygotsky viewed it as foundation for all higher cognitive processes!
Helps guide behaviour used more when tasks are difficult after errors, or when confused
Gradually becomes more silent

Question 15

Children’s Private Speech

Answer 15

Piaget: don’t understand it is used to communicate - expression of information
internal monologuing out loud
limited WM: can’t do both internal speech + thinking of task
external speech becomes internal once we have cognitive capacity
adults do this as well

Question 16

Zone of Proximal Development

Answer 16

scaffolding: adjusting the support offered to fit the child’s current level of performance!
Supports children’s learning
can teach a child any skill as long as its just outside their ability
helper helps with the next step
scaffolding: giving aid in learning new skill
teaching individual steps, child will repeat it out loud
over time becomes internal

Question 17

Vygotsky and Education

Answer 17

Assisted discovery! ! Teacher:!
!guides learning! !tailors help to !
! zone of proximal ! ! development!
Peer collaboration
other children roughly same skill set - teach each other in seperate parts
used in classroom
kids in groups: learn through interaction

Question 18

Improvements in 
 Information Processing

Answer 18

Attention!
! inhibition!
! planning!
! Working Memory! ! memory strategies!
Theory of mind! ! metacognition
ability to override prepotent response to make another response possible

Question 19

Improvements in 
Inhibiting Impulses

Answer 19

day-night task: moon = day, sun = night
accuracy increases substantially in children
tapping task: errors in alternating
correlation betw speed of processing + inhibition
inhibition linked to ability to think quickly

Question 20

Planning

Answer 20

Can engage in some tasks systematically!
Have difficulty thinking ahead.!
Can be taught to plan.
difficulty - piaget can’t organize their thoughts
due to poor metacognition
put away toy, instead of taking lid off first, take lid on + off each time
inattention

Question 21

Memory

Answer 21

Preschoolers do not use:!
! rehearsal!
! organization! ! elaboration!
Working Memory: M-capacity increases
don’t know any memory techniques
elaboration: create connection of categories
pascal leone: starts at 2 years, can remember 2 + 1/2 units

Question 22

Metacognition

Answer 22

Awareness and understanding of various aspects of thought!
Develops with theory of mind
no time to reflect on how cognition works
Theory of mind: understand how minds of others works

Question 23

Development of
 Theory of Mind

Answer 23

Awareness of mental life! from infancy
Desire TOM!: 2- to 3-year-olds
Belief-desire TOM!: False beliefs: around 4
influence of cultural and social factors
1 year old: researcher drops pencil, pick it up for researcher
child infers that researcher wants the pencil
understand that people have intentions - 6 months
come out of egocentrism - they must want to as well

Question 24

Development of
 Theory of Mind

Answer 24

tom: understand that ppl have desires that guide behaviour
belief: understand beliefs also determined behaviours
false beliefs: failed false belief test - don’t understand that other ppl can have a false belief due to egocentrism
improves theory of mind: having older siblings - conversations where they have to explain themselve - realize they don’t think like i do
mind mindedness talk: talk about mental processes - i think/believe x

Question 25

Language Development
 in Early Childhood

Answer 25

Vocabulary!
! fast-mapping!
Grammar!
! overregularization!
Conversation! ! pragmatics

Question 26

Vocabulary Development

Answer 26

Fast-mapping! ! objects, verbs, modifiers! Coin new words!
6 - 10000 words
description of that single-use of word - children can learn that word
best as fast mapping objects, then verbs, least modifiers
objects co-occur with verb, for verbs, you can’t witness same time as hearing
modifiers: have to figure it out themselves
put together words that they know- objects + ppl have words that refer to them

Question 27

Strategies for 
 Word Learning

Answer 27

Mutual exclusivity bias! Figure out sentences! Adult help
undergeneralization: use word for the entirety of the object
give object a term: applies to entire object
analyze sentences to understand word meanings
multisensory approach to teach child

Question 28

Learning Grammar

Answer 28

Basic rules: subject–verb–object structure by age 4
plurals
Overregularization
Complex structures! ! questions!
! not complete until middle childhood
prior speak in telegraphic speech

Question 29

Learning Grammar

Answer 29

begin to build on complexity
overregularization: misapply word
apply it too broadly - parents correct
difficulty phrasing things in question, or passive tense

Question 30

Pragmatics: Conversations

Answer 30

2-year-olds can have effective conversations
By age 4, adjust to fit age, sex, social status of listener
Difficult situations telephone
still talk over you but undestanding of turntaking increases
start understanding grammar rules (him,her,ms.mr.)
on the telephone they can’t engage in effective conversation, but use more words
aware their conversation is lacking due to inability to use hands

Question 31

Erikson’s Theory:
 Initiative versus Guilt

Answer 31

Initiative
!New sense of purposefulness
!Eagerness to try new tasks, join activities with peers
!Play permits trying out new skills
!Strides in conscience development
Guilt
!Overly strict superego, or conscience, causing too much guilt
!Related to excessive ! threats
! criticism
! punishment

Question 32

Erikson’s Theory:
 Initiative versus Guilt

Answer 32

engaging in new activities - doing things for the first time
morality forms based on modelling morality of parents
when parents guilt every time they take initiative, child will develop guilt
child feels impotent

Question 33

Self-Esteem

Answer 33

Judgments we make about our own worth
Feelings about those judgments Includes:
! Begins - global appraisal
! Age 4 - judgments of different aspects of self
1 judgement 2. extent to which we care about that judgement
if you cared, then it harms self esteem (relevance)
general positive/negative, most children are positive

Question 34

Self-Esteem

Answer 34

after 4 - refine self esteem - for physical activity, interactions with peers, academics
teach children which aspects are important
parents focused on outcome - reward on successful outcome
attach self esteem on outcome - low expectations - don’t increase self esteem but understand they have low expectations
reward effort + highlight criticism + achievement

Question 35

Emotional Understanding

Answer 35

Preschoolers judge:
! causes of emotions
! consequences of emotions
Challenged by conflicting cues
Parents & siblings contribute to understanding
understand cause: happy because she is at the beach, with mom, taking picture

Question 36

Emotional Understanding

Answer 36

upset in picture: child understands boy will not share with them
understand relationship betw emotion + behaviour
older than 6, can understand conflicting emotional cues
children can’t understand they can be happy + sad at once
more interaction, more likely to express language
i feel happy when you x, i feel sad when you feel x

Question 37

Emotional Self-Regulation

Answer 37

By age 3–4, know strategies for adjusting emotional arousal
Effortful control important Affected by parents, temperament
involves display rules for emotions + extent of feeling emotions
trying to elicit emotion in self
language based emotional regulation
parents teach us how to regulate
some children are better at regulating

Question 38

Self-Conscious Emotions

Answer 38

Shame
! Embarrassment ! Guilt
! Pride
Preschoolers depend on adult feedback to know when to experience these emotions.
Culture also influences

Question 39

Self-Conscious Emotions

Answer 39

know who they are as a person, beliefs, ideals, self esteem
start to feel things about themselves
largely influenced by emotion
NA: mostly feel pride, in collectivistic: pride puts self above others

Question 40

Peer Relationships

Answer 40

peers: same aged, similar experience

first friendships: look at children’s play

Question 41

Peer Sociability in Play

Answer 41

Nonsocial activity
Unoccupied, onlooker behaviour Solitary play
Parallel play: Plays near other children with similar materials
Does not try to influence them
Social interaction
Associative play 
Cooperative play
mildred barton
nature of interactions amongst the peers

Question 42

Peer Sociability in Play

Answer 42

engage in all 3 types once they can do all 3
parallel play: both playing with lego, not playing together
associative: seperate activities but will share - comment on each other, help
cooperative play: singular goal - building same house

Question 43

Cognitive Play Categories

Answer 43

Functional play
Simple, repetitive motor movements
With or without objects
Constructive play
Creating or constructing something
Make-believe play
Acting out everyday and imaginative roles
as children get older, last two becomes more frequent
functional: running in circles, bouncing ball
constructive: making house
make-believe play: cops + robbers, house

Question 44

Early Childhood Friendships

Answer 44

Someone “who likes you,” plays with you, shares toys
Friendships change frequently.
Friends more reinforcing, emotionally expressive than nonfriends
Ease in acquiring predicts later achievement behaviours.

Question 45

Early Childhood Friendships

Answer 45

young children describe friends as someone they play with, solely focused on joint activities
2-6 no trust, no divulging of personal info
children with friends more likely to laugh + smile (happier)
not sharing of themselves, but there is an emotional connections
children have diff making friends predictive of difficulty later on

Question 46

Parental Influences on 
Early Peer Relations

Answer 46

Direct
Indirect
Arrange informal peer Secure attachment
activities
Guidance on how to act toward others
Emotionally expressive, sensitive communication
Parent–child play

Question 47

Parental Influences on 
Early Peer Relations

Answer 47

parents put them in preschool, arrange playmates
lessons on sharing, how to play well
secure attachment: more likely to develop friendships - reproduce behaviour with other kids
avoidance: play independently
talk about emotions: children are more expressive
parent teaches child how to play + child uses skills to make friends

Question 48

Perspectives on 
 Moral Development

Answer 48

Psychoanalytic
“ Freud: superego and guilt “ Today: induction discipline
Social learning
Modelling moral behaviour
Cognitive- developmental
“ Children as active thinkers about social rules
model superego of parents unconsciously
induction discipline: parent models good moral behaviour + use guilt in displays of bad morality
cognitive-development: what is morality, what is a social rule

Question 49

Social Learning

Answer 49

Characteristics of Good Models of Moral Behaviour:
- Warmth and responsiveness
- Competence and power
- Consistency between words and behaviour
model adults: whether or not they choose adult as a model
positive emotional climate + responsive to child’s needs
competence: they must demonstrate effective performance
choose a model where words + behaviour aligns
child can learn immoral behaviour from an immoral model

Question 50

Prevalence 


of Corporal Punishment 
 by Children’s Age

Answer 50

operant conditioning
corporal (physical) punishment
isn’t effective for 4 reasons
1. models aggression, 2. focuses on own distress not on the moral aggression - don’t synthesize, draw connection betw pain + behaviour 3. immediate relief for adult - reinforces behaviour of adult + child 4. children more likely to use corporal punishment with children

Question 51

Cognitive-Developmental Perspective

Answer 51

Moral imperatives
Actions that protect people’s rights and welfare
Social conventions
!Customs determined solely by social consensus
Matters of personal choice
! ! !
Do not violate rights Not socially regulated Up to the individual

Question 52

Cognitive-Developmental Perspective

Answer 52

schema: categories
moral imperatives: lying
distinguish morals, conventions, personal choice
recognize diff, they judge moral imperatives when you break them as more wrong
they say lying is the most wrong
understanding of moral imperatives are immature: focus on salient feature - white lies are also wrong
judge moral imperatives effects - breaking toy worse than lying
tend to focus on outcomes

Question 53

Types of Aggression

Answer 53

Proactive/Instrumental
! meant to help the child get something he or she wants
Reactive/Hostile
! meant to hurt someone else
as inhibitive + regulation improves - stop themselves for acting out aggressively to achieve a goal
we better understand why ppl engage in behaviour
can understand complex scenario - hurt because someone hit me

Question 54

Types of Hostile Aggression

Answer 54

Physical
! Physical injury
either
Verbal
! Threats of physical aggression
Name-calling Teasing
always direct
Relational
Social exclusion Malicious gossip Friendship manipulation
either
physical aggression is frowned upon by adults

Question 55

Sources of Aggression

Answer 55

Individual differences ! gender
! temperament Family
! harsh, inconsistent discipline Media violence
boys are more aggressive than girls
more likely to punish girls physical aggression
children w/ difficult temperament style are more likely to be aggressive
families who engage in corporal punishment are more
likely to have children to who are aggressive (because
they are modelling aggressive behaviour)
children are good at recognizing inconsistent discipline
“maybe i won’t get caught this time and i’ll get away with it”

Question 56

Television Viewing 
 and Aggression

Answer 56

violent media is related to children’s aggressive
behaviour
hostile attribution bias—misconception that the worldis hostile and people have hostile intent
if we consume enough violent media, we attribute
violence to people’s behaviour
miscontrue other’s behaviours after watching media
ex. after watching fast and furious, people were more
likely to street race and assume others on the road wanted to race them

Question 57

Gender-Typing
 in Early Childhood

Answer 57

Association of objects, activities, roles or traits with one sex that conform to cultural stereotypes.
Begin around 18 months
! men: sharp, rough
! women: soft, round
Strengthen and become rigid through early childhood
Urban Youth
! Divide toys, clothing, tools, jobs, games, emotions, and more by gender.

Question 58

Gender-Typing
 in Early Childhood

Answer 58

rigid because they don’t have the capacity to understand fuzzy boundaries
they need experience to shape categories

Question 59

Influences on Gender-Typing

Answer 59

Genetic
• Are we genetically programmed to engage in certain behaviours?
Environmental • Parents
• Toys, values, & language. • Teachers
• Differential treatment • Peers
• Playing & Peers
Can Be Reduced
we expect boys to be more aggressive because they have more testosterone
playing is segregated by sex that reinforce stereotypes
all within our control

Question 60

Child-Rearing Styles

Answer 60

Authoritative Authoritarian Permissive Uninvolved
Combinations of parenting behaviours that occur over a wide range of situations, creating an enduring child- rearing climate

Question 61

Child-Rearing Styles

Answer 61

uninvolved: abusive, dysfunctional families
psychological control: through guilt, related to maladjustment, manipulation results in maladaptive, see themselves as a bad person
behavioural control: bed time, hard + fast

Question 62

Characteristics of 
 Child-Rearing Styles

Answer 62

Acceptance Involvement Control Autonomy
Authoritative: high, high, adaptive, appropriate
Authoritarian: low, low, *high, low
Permissive: high, too low or too high
low, high
Uninvolved: low, low, low, indifference

Question 63

Characteristics of 
 Child-Rearing Styles

Answer 63

is the parent supportive, always there

control: lots/no rules, allow child to be part of process
autonomy: how much control they have
authoritative: warm, knows their kid, seperate hard + fast rule (bed time at 8, as the kid gets older, can compromise), recognize when they can have some input

Question 64

Characteristics of 
 Child-Rearing Styles

Answer 64

cold, not accepting, not involved, lots of control

permissive: too involved/not enough, no hard + fast rule, make decisions when they aren’t ready
uninvolved: neglect, substance abuse, depression
authoritative: good role models - consistent, warm, caring - kids internalize interaction, appropriate autonomy = competence