Developmental Psychology 1. A bit more re. health. World Health Issues. Piaget s Stages (4 in all) Socioeconomic Status

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1 A bit more re. health Physical and Cognitive Development in Early Childhood 1 2/7/2008 2/7/ World Health Issues Many deaths could be prevented by a reduction in poverty and improvements in nutrition, sanitation, education, and health services Dramatic increase in the number of young children who have died because of HIV/AIDS transmitted to them by their parents these deaths occur in countries with high rates of poverty and low levels of education Closer to home Parental Smoking Nearly one-fourth are exposed to tobacco smoke in the home Children exposed to smoke are more likely to develop wheezing symptoms and asthma than children in non-smoking homes Also have significantly lower levels of vitamin C in their blood than their counterparts in non-smoking homes (Bhutta & others, 2005; Kalichman & others, 2005) 2/7/ (Arshad, 2005; Preston & others, 2003) 2/7/ Socioeconomic Status Poor health status of many young children from low-income families in the United States Many do not have adequate medical insurance and receive less adequate medical care compared with children living in higher socioeconomic conditions Approximately 11 million preschool children are malnourished and have lowered resistance to diseases Piaget s Stages (4 in all) Qualitative transformations in this balance Sensorimotor (0-2) Preoperational (2-6) Concrete Operational (6-12) Formal Operations (12-19) (Howell, Pettit, & Kingsley, 2005; Ramey, Ramey, & Lanzi, 2006; Olson, Tang, & Newacheck, 2005) 2/7/ /7/ Developmental Psychology 1

2 Cognitive Development Piaget s Preoperational Stage from approximately 2 to 7 years of age children begin to represent the world with words, images, and drawings form stable concepts and begin to reason dominated by egocentrism and magical beliefs Child does not yet perform operations -- which are reversible mental actions Preoperational Stage Three major limitations: 1) Egocentrism 2) Confusion of Appearance with Reality 3) Non-logical reasoning 2/7/ /7/ Mountain Task Theory of Mind Awareness of one s own mental processes and the mental processes of others Studies view the child as a thinker who is trying to explain, predict, and understand people s thoughts, feelings, and utterances Children s theory of mind changes as they develop through childhood (Harris, 2006; Flavell, Miller, & Miller, 2002) 2/7/ /7/ Theory of Mind Age 2-3, children begin to understand three mental states: perceptions emotions desires Age 4-5, they come to understand that the mind can represent objects and events accurately or inaccurately they realize that people can have false beliefs -- beliefs that are not true Theory of Mind: Beyond age 5 Not until middle and late childhood do children see the mind as an active constructor of knowledge or processing center Then they can move from understanding that beliefs can be false to realizing that the same event can be open to multiple interpretations (Flavell, Green, & Flavell, 2000; Carpendale & Chandler, 1996) 2/7/ /7/ Developmental Psychology 2

3 Appearance/Reality Distinction Difficulty telling difference between how things seem and how things are Example: Maynard-the-cat studies (DeVries, 1969) 2/7/ /7/ Precausal Thinking (or Intuitive Reasoning) Can t reason cause-and-effect Reasoning from one particular to another E.g., I haven t had a nap, so it isn t afternoon E.g., There are no cemetaries in NYC, so people don t die there 2/7/ /7/ Preoperational Thought: Symbolic Function Substage Between ages of 2 and 4 Child gains the ability to mentally represent an object that is not present Egocentrism -- inability to distinguish between one s own perspective and someone else s perspective Animism -- the belief that inanimate objects have life-like qualities and are capable of action (Gelman & Opfer, 2004) Preoperational Thought: Intuitive Thought Substage Between approximately 4 and 7 years of age Begin to use primitive reasoning and ask all sorts of questions Questions signal the emergence of interest in reasoning and in figuring out why things are the way they are Intuitive because children seem sure about their knowledge and understanding 2/7/ /7/ Developmental Psychology 3

4 Centration and Limits of Preoperational Thought Another limitation of preoperational thought is centration -- centering of attention on one characteristic to the exclusion of all others. centration is most clearly evidenced in young children s lack of conservation Lack of conservation: lack of awareness that altering an object s or substance s appearance does not change its basic properties 2/7/ /7/ Failure of Conservation Language and Thought According to Vygotsky (1962), children use speech not only for social communication, but also to help them solve tasks -- children use language to plan, guide, and monitor their behavior language for self-regulation is called private speech for Piaget, private speech is egocentric and immature for Vygotsky, it is an important tool of thought during the early childhood years (John-Steiner, 2007; Wertsch, 2007) 2/7/ /7/ Comparing Piaget s and Vygotsky s Theories Vygotsky s emphasis on the importance of inner speech in development The main implication of Vygotsky s theory for teaching is that students need many opportunities to learn with a teacher and more-skilled peers Piaget s view that such speech is immature Implication of Piaget s theory for teaching is that children need support to explore their world and discover knowledge 2/7/ /7/ Developmental Psychology 4

5 Evaluating Vygotsky Critics say Vygotsky overemphasized the role of language in thinking Emphasis on collaboration and guidance has potential pitfalls Facilitators might be too helpful Some children might become lazy and expect help when they might have done something on their own Evaluation of Piaget: Kids want to know why you re asking such stupid questions! 2/7/ /7/ Developmental Psychology 5