Chapter 7:
Physical and Cognitive
Development in Early Childhood
In this chapter
Physical Changes
Growth and Motor Development
In early childhood:
 Changes in height and weight happen more
slowly during early childhood than infancy
 Impressive gains in major locomotor skills
 Manipulative skills improve but less so than
major motor skills
Physical Changes
Children’s Drawing

Early training can accelerate rate children
learn school-related fine-motor skills

Older children benefit more from training
more than younger

Learning to write letters aids in letter
understanding
Figure 7.1 Stages in Children’s
Drawing
The Brain and Nervous System
Lateralization
Lateralization: left and right halves of the
brain's cerebral cortex execute different
functional specializations
 Contributes to important neurological
milestones in early childhood
The Brain and the Nervous System
•
•
•
Figure 7.2 Lateralization of Brain Function
Basic outline of
lateralization is
genetically
determined
Genes dictate
functions to be
lateralized
Experience
shapes pace of
lateralization
The Brain and Nervous System
Myelinization
Myelinization: protective, fatty material wraps
around nerve cells in the peripheral and
central nervous system
 Reticular formation
 Hippocampus
The Brain and Nervous System
Handedness
Right or Left…Not right or wrong!
 83% right-handed
 14% left-handed
 3% ambidextrous
 Appears very early in life
 Research suggests genetic link
Health and Wellness
Eating patterns
Preschoolers:
 Often eat less than when babies
 May not consume the majority of daily
calories at mealtime
Challenges:
 Food aversions may surface
 Eating behaviors bring on family conflicts
Health and Wellness
Illnesses and Accidents
Illness
 Each year, 4 – 6 bouts of brief sickness
 High levels of family stress more likely to
produce sick children
Health and Wellness
Illnesses and Accidents
Accidents
25% of U.S. children under 5 have one
accident in any one year requiring medical
attention
Most occur in home
Major cause of death in preschoolers
More common among boys
Abuse and Neglect
Child abuse
What is child abuse?
Child Abuse: Physical or psychological injury
resulting from adult’s intentional exposure of
child to potentially harmful stimuli, sexual
acts, or neglect
Abuse and Neglect
Child Abuse Prevalence
Prevalence
 Responsible for about 10% of emergency
room visits
 Between 1% and 5% of children suffer
physical abuse
 2000 infants and children die each year as
result of child abuse
Abuse and Neglect
Risk factors
Overview: Sociocultural factors
 Personal or cultural values that regard
physical abuse as morally acceptable
 Cultural traditions that view children as
property
 Communities that support these beliefs
True or False?
Episodes of abuse are typically precipitated by
everyday interactions between parent and
child.
Abuse and Neglect
Risk factors: Child Characteristics
Characteristics of child
 Physical or mental disabilities
 Difficult temperaments
 Age
Abuse and Neglect
Risk factors: Abuser Characteristics
Characteristics of abuser
 Depressed
 Lacking in parenting skills and knowledge
 History of abuse themselves
 Substance abusers
 Live-in male partners
Abuse and Neglect
Risk factors: Family Stress
Family stress
 Poverty
 Unemployment
 Inter-parental conflicts
The presence of several factors in combination
increases likelihood of abuse
Abuse and Neglect
Consequences of Abuse
 Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
 Delays in all developmental domains
 Children removed from the abusive situation
typically appear to catch up within 1 year.
Abuse and Neglect
Prevention
Preventing abuse begins with education!




Inform parents about consequences
Parenting classes
Identify families at risk
Protect children from further injury
Cognitive Changes
Piaget’s Preoperational Stage: Overview
Preoperational Stage
Semiotic
(symbolic)
functioning
acquired
Beginning of
pretend play
Increased proficiency in
thinking and
communicating but
difficulty in logical
thinking
Cognitive Changes
Piaget’s Preoperational Stage: Centration
Centration: tendency to think of world one
variable at a time
 Use of animism or belief that inanimate
objects are alive
Cognitive Changes
Piaget’s Preoperational Stage: Egocentrism
Egocentrism: child’s tendency to view things
from own perspective
 Guided by object appearance
 May create frustration in communication
Piaget Three-mountain task (See Figure 7.3)
Figure 7.3 Piaget’s Three Mountain
Task
Cognitive Changes
Piaget’s Preoperational Stage: Conservation
Conservation: understanding that change in
appearance can occur without change in
quantity
Figure 7.4
Piaget’s Conservation
Tasks
Cognitive Changes
Children’s Play and Cognitive Development
Challenges to Piaget’s Views
Do you agree or disagree?
Children as young as 2 and 3 have at least
some ability to understand that another
person sees things or experiences things
differently than they do.
Challenges to Piaget’s Views
Young
children can
regulate
own
emotions
Appearance and Reality
Young
children
understand
others’
emotions
Regulation
Understanding
Emotions
Older
children
understand
same object
can be
represented
differently,
depending
on point of
view
Challenges to Piaget’s Views
Flavell
Flavell’s perspective-taking ability levels
 Level One – child knows that other people
experience things differently: begins at 2 – 3
years
 Level Two –child develops a series of
complex rules to figure out precisely what
the other person sees or experiences:
begins at 4 – 5 years
Theories of Mind
Theory of Mind: understanding thoughts,
desires, and beliefs of others
18 months –
rudimentary beginnings
Age 3 – some aspects of
link between people’s
thinking, feelings, and
behavior
Age 4 – recognizes each
person’s actions are
based on their
representation of reality
Theories of Mind
4 – 5 year olds
5 – 7 year olds
• Can’t understand that others
can think about them
• Don’t understand that most
knowledge can be derived
from inference (this
understanding develops by
age 6)
• Understand reciprocal nature
of thought
Theories of Mind
False Belief Principle: Children see problem from
another’s point of view and discern what information
causes person to believe something that isn’t true
4-5 years:
• understand other people think; don’t
understand thinking can be about them
5-7 years:
• understanding reciprocal nature of thought
6+ years:
• realization knowledge can be derived
through inference
Theories of Mind
Influences on Development of a Theory of Mind
Correlated with:
 Performance on Piaget’s tasks
 Pretend play
 Shared pretense with other children
 Discussion of emotion-provoking events
with parents
 Language skills and working memory
 Cross-cultural influences
Alternative Theories of Early
Childhood Thinking
Neo-Piagetian Theories: Robbie Case

Short-term storage space (STSS)

Operational efficiency

Matrix Classification Task
Let’s take a closer look at this task.
Figure 7.5
Neo-Piagetian Matrix Task
Alternative Theories of Early
Childhood Thinking
Information Processing Theories
Metamemory: Knowledge about and control of
memory processes
Metacognition: Knowledge about and control
of thought processes
Scripts: Cognitive structures underlie behavior
and emerge during middle childhood
Alternative Theories of Early
Childhood Thinking
Vygotsky’s Socio-Cultural Theory
Overview
 Emphasis on role of social factors in
cognitive development
 Problem solutions socially generated and
learned
 Key principles: Zone of Proximal
Development (ZPD) and scaffolding
Alternative Theories of Early
Childhood Thinking
Vygotsky’s Socio-Cultural Theory
Stages of Cognitive Development
Primitive stage
Naïve Psychology stage
Private Speech stage
Ingrowth stage
Alternative Theories of Early
Childhood Thinking
Vygotsky’s Socio-Cultural Theory
How are Vygotsky’s stages related to
the eventual development of adult thinking?
Each stage represents a step toward child’s
internalization of ways of thinking used by
adults around him or her.
Changes in Language
Fast-mapping: Ability to categorically link new
words to real word referents
 Occurs at about age 3
 Rapid formation of hypothesis about new
word’s meaning
Remember: Word learning drives process of
language development
Changes in Language
Grammar Explosion
Grammar Explosion: Period when
grammatical features of child speech
becomes more adultlike
 Inflections
 Questions and Negatives
 Overregularizations
 Complex sentences
Changes in Language
Phonological Awareness
Phonological awareness: Child’s sensitivity to
sound patterns that are specific to a
language
 Awareness of sounds represented by
letters
 Learned in school through formal
instruction
 Primarily developed through word play
 Related to invented spelling
Figure 7.6
Invented Spelling
Differences in Intelligence
Measuring Intelligence
•
Alfred Binet
•
Lewis Terman: Intelligence Quotient (IQ)
•
Wechsler Intelligence Scales for Children
Differences in Intelligence
Something to Consider
An important assumption in studying differences
in intelligence is that these differences can
be measured.
The Normal Curve
IQ scores form a
normal
distribution –
the famous
“bell curve”
with which you
may be
familiar.
Can you explain what this bell curve
tells us about IQ?
Differences in Intelligence
Stability and Predictive Value of IQ Scores
 Correlation between IQ score and future
grades is about .50 – .60.
 Consistent relationship are found within
social classes and racial groups.
 IQ scores are quite stable BUT do not
measure underlying competence.
Stop and think!
A high level of predictability masks an
interesting fact about children being
tested.
Do you know what this is?
Origins of Individual Differences in
Intelligence
Evidence of Heredity and Family Influences
Heredity
 Twin and adoption studies findings
Family Influences
 Adoption studies findings
 Family demographics and learning
environments
Origins of Individual Differences in
Intelligence
Evidence for Preschool Influences
 Short- and long term outcomes from formal
education programs
 Head Start outcomes
Let’s look at the relationship between some
early education programs and IQ scores.
Figure 7.8
Early Education and IQ
Scores
Questions To Ponder
Piaget sees the child as the little scientist who
works on her own to discover knowledge.
Vygotsky suggests children learn from
skilled social partners in a social setting.
Which theory or combination describes
children the best? Why?
What makes Head Start a successful program?
Group Differences in Intelligence Test
Scores
Can you hypothesize why these findings
occur?
Higher scores than white children
Chinese and Japanese children
Lower scores than white children
African American children
Higher scores in all groups over two centuries
Flynn Effect