Early Childhood Development PDF

section four ©Ariel Skelley/Corbis You are troubled at seeing him spend his early years doing nothing. What! Is it nothing to be happy? Is it nothing to skip, to play, to run about all day long?...

section four ©Ariel Skelley/Corbis You are troubled at seeing him spend his early years doing nothing. What! Is it nothing to be happy? Is it nothing to skip, to play, to run about all day long? Never in his life will he be so busy as now. —JEAN JACQUES ROUSSEAU Swiss-born French Philosopher, 18th Century Early Childhood In early childhood, our greatest untold poem was being only ! years old. We skipped and ran and played all the sun long, never in our lives so busy, busy being something we had not quite grasped yet. Who knew our thoughts, which we worked up into small mythologies all our own? Our thoughts and images and drawings took wings. The blossoms of our heart, no wind could touch. Our small world widened as we discovered new ref- uges and new people. When we said “I,” we meant something totally unique, not to be confused with any other. This section consists of two chapters: “Physical and Cognitive Development in Early Childhood” and “Socioemo- tional Development in Early Childhood.” 196 chapter 7 PHYSICAL AND COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT IN EARLY CHILDHOOD chapter outline 1 Physical Changes 3 Language Development Learning Goal 1 Identify physical changes in Learning Goal 3 Summarize how language early childhood. develops in early childhood. Body Growth and Change Understanding Phonology and Morphology Motor and Perceptual Development Changes in Syntax and Semantics Sleep Advances in Pragmatics Nutrition and Exercise Young Children’s Literacy Illness and Death 4 Early Childhood Education 2 Cognitive Changes Learning Goal 4 Evaluate di!erent Learning Goal 2 Describe three views of the approaches to early childhood education. cognitive changes that occur in early childhood. Variations in Early Childhood Education Piaget’s Preoperational Stage Education for Young Children Who Are Vygotsky’s Theory Disadvantaged Information Processing Controversies in Early Childhood Education ©Ariel Skelley/Blend Images/Superstock  T he Reggio Emilia approach is an educational program for young children that was developed in the northern Italian city of Reggio Emilia. Children of single parents and children with disabilities have priority in admission; other children are admitted according to a scale of needs. Parents pay on a sliding scale based on income. The children are encouraged to learn by investigating and exploring topics that interest them (Bredekamp, 2017; Follari, 2019). A wide range of stimulating media and materials is available for children to use as they learn music, move- ment, drawing, painting, sculpting, collages, puppets and disguises, and photog- raphy, for example (Bond, 2015). In this program, children often explore topics in a group, which fosters a sense of community, respect for diversity, and a collaborative approach to problem solv- ing. Two co-teachers are present to serve as guides for children. The Reggio Emilia teachers treat each project as an adventure that may be sparked by an adult’s suggestion, a child’s idea, or an event such as a snowfall or something else unexpected. The teachers allow children enough time to think about a topic and craft a project. At the core of the Reggio Emilia approach is the image of children who are competent and have rights, especially the right to receive outstanding care and edu- cation. Parent participation is considered essential, and cooperation is a major theme in the schools. Many early childhood education experts believe the Reggio Emilia approach provides a supportive, stimulating context in which children are motivated to explore their world in a A Reggio Emilia classroom in which young children explore topics that competent and confident manner (Feeney, Moravcik, & interest them. ©Ruby Washington/The New York Times/Redux Pictures Nolte, 2019; Morrison, 2017, 2018). topical connections looking back Physical growth in infancy is dramatic. Even though physical growth in early childhood slows, it is not di!cult to distinguish young children from infants when you look at them. Most young children lose their “baby fat,” and their legs and trunks become longer. In addition to what you can see with the naked eye, much development also continues below the surface in the brain. In infancy, myelination of axons in the brain paved the way for development of such functions as full visual capacity. Continued myelination in early childhood provides children with much better hand-eye coordina- tion. In terms of cognitive development, you learned that infants make amazing prog- ress in their attentional, memory, concept formation, and language skills. In this chapter, you will discover that these information-processing skills continue to show remarkable advances in early childhood. 198 CHAPTER 7 Physical and Cognitive Development in Early Childhood preview Parents and educators who clearly understand how young children develop can play an active role in creating programs that foster their natural interest in learning, rather than stifling it. In this chap- ter we will explore the physical, cognitive, and language changes that typically occur as the toddler develops into the preschooler, and then examine di"erent approaches to early childhood education. 1 Physical Changes LG1 Identify physical changes in early childhood. Body Growth and Change Motor and Perceptual Sleep Nutrition and Exercise Illness and Death Development Recall that an infant’s growth in the first year is rapid and follows cephalocaudal and proximodis- tal patterns. Improvement in fine motor skills—such as being able to turn the pages of a book one at a time—also contributes to the infant’s sense of mastery in the second year. The growth rate continues to slow down in early childhood. If it did not, we would be a species of giants. BODY GROWTH AND CHANGE Growth in height and weight is the obvious physical change that characterizes early childhood. Unseen changes in the brain and nervous system are no less significant, however, in preparing children for advances in cognition and language. Height and Weight The average child grows 2! inches in height and gains 5 to 10 pounds a year during early childhood. As the preschool child grows older, the percentage of increase in height and weight decreases with each additional year (Goldstone & Reynolds, 2014). Girls are only slightly smaller and lighter than boys during these years, a di"erence that continues until puberty. During the preschool years, both boys and girls slim down as the trunks of their bodies lengthen. Although their heads are still somewhat large for their bodies, by the end of the preschool years most children have lost their top-heavy look. Body fat also shows a slow, steady decline during the preschool years. The chubby baby often looks much leaner by the end of early child- hood. Girls have more fatty tissue than boys; boys have more muscle tissue. Growth patterns vary individually (Kliegman & others, 2016; London & others, 2017). Think back to your preschool years. This was probably the first time you noticed that some children were taller than you, some shorter; some were fatter, some thinner; some were stronger, some weaker. Much of the variation was due to heredity, but environmental experi- ences were also involved (Bindler & others, 2017). A review of the height and weight of The bodies of 5-year-olds and 2-year-olds are children around the world concluded that the two most important contributors to height dif- di!erent. Notice that the 5-year-old not only is ferences are ethnic origin and nutrition (Meredith, 1978). Urban, middle-socioeconomic-status, taller and weighs more, but also has a longer and firstborn children were taller than rural, lower-socioeconomic-status, and later-born children. trunk and legs than the 2-year-old. Can you In the United States, African American children are taller than non-Latino White children. think of some other physical di!erences Why are some children unusually short? The primary contributing influences are con- between 2- and 5-year-olds? ©Michael Hitoshi/Getty Images genital factors (genetic or prenatal problems), growth hormone deficiency, a physical problem that develops in childhood, maternal smoking during pregnancy, or an emotional di#culty (Hay & others, 2017; Krebs & others, 2016). Growth hormone deficiency is the absence or deficiency of growth hormone produced by the pituitary gland to stimulate the body to grow (Krebs & others, 2016). Growth hormone deficiency may occur during infancy or later in childhood (Collin, Whitehead, & Walker, 2016; Grimberg & Allen, 2017). As many as 10,000 to 15,000 U.S. children may have growth hormone deficiency (Stanford University Medical Center, 2012). Without treatment, most children with growth hormone deficiency Absence or growth hormone deficiency will not reach a height of five feet. Twice as many boys as girls are deficiency of growth hormone produced by the treated with growth hormone, likely because there is a greater stigma attached to boys being pituitary gland to stimulate the body to grow. SECTION 4 Early Childhood 199  Myelin Sheath Axon short. A recent study of children born small for gestational age or short in stature revealed that five years of growth hormone treatment in childhood was linked to an increase to close to average height (Ross & others, 2015). And one study also revealed that growth hormone treatment of children who were very short in stature was linked to an increase in height as well as improve- ments in self-esteem and mood (Chaplin & others, 2012). Also, a recent review concluded that accurate assessment of growth hormone deficiency is di#cult and that many children diagnosed with growth hormone deficiency re-test normal later in childhood (Murray, Dattani, & Clayton, 2016). The Brain One of the most important physical developments during early childhood is the continuing development of the brain and nervous system (Bell & others, 2018). Although the brain continues to grow in early childhood, it does not grow as rapidly as it did in infancy. By the time children reach 3 years of age, the brain is three-quarters of its adult size. By age 6, the brain has reached about 95 percent of its adult size (Lenroot & Giedd, 2006). Thus, the brain of a 5-year-old is nearly the size it will be when the child reaches adult- hood, but as we will see in later chapters, the development that occurs inside the brain continues through the remaining years of childhood and adolescence (Bell, Ross, & Patton, 2018; Cohen & Casey, 2017; Goddings & Mills, 2017). Some of the brain’s interior changes involve increases in dendritic connec- tions as well as myelination, in which nerve cells are covered and insulated with FIGURE 1 a layer of fat cells (see Figure 1). Myelination has the e"ect of increasing the A MYELINATED NERVE FIBER. The myelin sheath, shown in speed and e#ciency of information traveling through the nervous system. Myelin- brown, encases the axon (white). This image was produced by an ation is important in the development of a number of abilities during childhood electron microscope that magnified the nerve fiber 12,000 times. (Juraska & Willing, 2017; van Tilborg & others, 2018). For example, myelination What role does myelination play in the brain’s development and children’s cognition? in the areas of the brain related to hand-eye coordination is not complete until ©Steve Gschmeissner/Science Source about 4 years of age. In a recent study, young children with higher cognitive ability showed increased myelination by 3 years of age (Deoni & others, 2016). Researchers also have discovered that children’s brains undergo dramatic anatomical changes between the ages of 3 and 15 (Bell, Ross, & Patton, 2018; Cohen & Casey, 2017). By repeatedly obtaining brain scans of the same children for up to four years, they have found that children’s brains undergo rapid, distinct spurts of growth. The amount of brain material in some areas can nearly double within as little as a year, followed by a drastic loss of tissue developmental connection as unneeded cells are purged and the brain continues to reorganize itself. The scientists have Brain Development discovered that the overall size of the brain does not show dramatic growth in the 3- to 15-year In middle and late childhood, cortical age range. However, what does dramatically change are local patterns within the brain. thickening occurs in the frontal lobes, Researchers have found that in children from 3 to 6 years of age the most rapid growth takes which may be linked to improve- place in the frontal lobe areas involved in planning and organizing new actions, and in main- ments in language abilities such as taining attention to tasks (Carlson, Zelazo, & Faja, 2013). reading. Connect to “Physical and Recently, researchers have found that contextual factors such as poverty and parenting Cognitive Development in Middle quality are linked to the development of the brain (Black & others, 2017; Lomanowska & and Late Childhood.” others, 2017; Marshall & others, 2018). In one study, children from the poorest homes had significant maturational lags in their frontal and temporal lobes at 4 years of age, and these lags were associated with lower attainment of school readiness skills (Hair & others, 2015). In another study, higher levels of maternal sensitivity in early childhood were associated with higher total brain volume (Kok & others, 2015). MOTOR AND PERCEPTUAL DEVELOPMENT Most preschool children are more active than they will ever be at any later period in the life span. Let’s explore what this activity involves in young children’s lives, as well as advances in their perceptual skills. Gross Motor Skills The preschool child no longer has to make an e"ort simply to stay myelination The process by which the nerve upright and to move around. As children move their legs with more confidence and carry cells are covered and insulated with a layer of themselves more purposefully, moving around in the environment becomes more automatic fat cells, which increases the speed at which (Perry & others, 2018). However, there are large individual di"erences in young children’s gross information travels through the nervous system. motor skills (Kliegman & others, 2016). 200 CHAPTER 7 Physical and Cognitive Development in Early Childhood  At 3 years of age, children enjoy simple movements, such as hopping, jumping, and run- ning back and forth, just for the sheer delight of performing these activities. They take con- siderable pride in showing how they can run across a room and jump all of 6 inches. The run-and-jump will win no Olympic gold medals, but for the 3-year-old the activity is a source of considerable pride in accomplishment. At 4 years of age, children are still enjoying the same kind of activities, but they have become more adventurous. They scramble over low jungle gyms as they display their athletic prowess. At 5 years of age, children are even more adventuresome than when they were 4. It is not unusual for self-assured 5-year-olds to perform hair-raising stunts on practically any climbing object. Five-year-olds run hard and enjoy races with each other and their parents. How can early childhood educators support young children’s motor development? Young children need to practice skills in order to learn them, so instruction should be followed with ample time for practice (Follari, 2019; Morrison, 2017, 2018). A recent study of 4-year-old girls found that a nine-week motor skills intervention improved the girls’ ball skills (Veldman & others, 2017). There can be long-term negative e"ects for children who fail to develop basic motor skills (Barnett, Salmon, & Hesketh, 2016; Gorgon, 2018). These children will not be as able to join in group games or participate in sports during their school years and in adulthood. In a recent study, children with a low level of motor competence had a lower motivation for sports participation and had lower global self-worth than their counterparts with a high level of motor competence (Bardid & others, 2018). Another recent study found that higher motor proficiency in preschool was linked to higher levels of physical activity in adolescence (Venetsanou & Kambas, 2017). Fine Motor Skills At 3 years of age, although children have had the ability to pick up the tiniest objects between their thumb and forefinger for some time, they are still somewhat clumsy at it. Three-year-olds can build surprisingly high block towers, placing each block with intense concentration but often not in a completely straight line. When 3-year-olds play with a simple jigsaw puzzle, they are rather rough in placing the pieces. Even when they recognize the hole a piece fits into, they are not very precise in positioning the piece. They often try to force the piece into the hole or pat it vigorously. By 4 years of age, children’s fine motor coordination has improved substantially and become much more precise. Sometimes 4-year-old children have trouble building high towers with blocks because, in their attempts to place each of the blocks perfectly, they may upset those already stacked. By age 5, children’s fine motor coordination has improved further. Hand, arm, and body all move together under better command of the eye. Perceptual Development Changes in children’s perceptual development continue in childhood (Bank & others, 2015). When children are about 4 or 5 years old, their eye muscles usually are developed enough that they can move their eyes e#ciently across a series of letters. Many preschool children are farsighted, unable to see close up as well as they can see far away. By the time they enter the first grade, though, most children can focus their eyes and sustain their attention e"ectively on close-up objects. What are the signs of vision problems in children? They include rubbing the eyes, blinking or squinting excessively, appearing irritable when playing games that require good distance vision, shutting or covering one eye, and tilting the head or thrusting it forward when looking at some- thing. A child who shows any of these behaviors should be examined by an ophthalmologist. After infancy, children’s visual expectations about the physical world continue to develop. In one study, 2- to 4!-year-old children were given a task in which the goal was to find a ball that had been dropped through an opaque tube (Hood, 1995). As shown in Figure 2, if the ball is dropped into the tube at the top left, it will land in the box at the bottom right. How- ever, in this task, most of the 2-year-olds, and even some of the 4-year-olds, persisted in search- ing in the box directly beneath the dropping point. For them, gravity ruled and they had failed to perceive the end location of the curved tube. In one study 3-year-olds were presented with the same task shown in Figure 2 (Joh, Jaswal, & Keen, 2011). In the group that was told to imagine the various paths the ball might take, the FIGURE 2 young children were more accurate in predicting where the ball would land. In another recent VISUAL EXPECTATIONS ABOUT THE study, 3-year-olds improved their performance on the ball-dropping task shown in Figure 2 when PHYSICAL WORLD. When young children see the ball dropped into the tube, many of they were instructed to follow the tube with their eyes to the bottom (Bascandziev & Harris, 2011). them will search for it immediately below the Thus, in these two studies, 3-year-olds were able to overcome the gravity bias and their impulsive dropping point. tendencies when they were given verbal instructions from a knowledgeable adult (Keen, 2011). Courtesy of Dr. Bruce Hood, University of Bristol SECTION 4 Early Childhood 201  How do children learn to deal with situations like that in Figure 2, and how do they come to understand other laws of the physical world? These questions are addressed by studies of cog- nitive development, which we discuss later in this chapter. SLEEP Getting a good night’s sleep is important for children’s development (Kouros & El-Sheikh, 2017; Paul & Pinto, 2017; Rangan & others, 2018). Experts recommend that young children get 11 to 13 hours of sleep each night (National Sleep Foundation, 2016). Most young children sleep through the night and have one daytime nap. Not only do children need a certain amount of sleep, but also What characterizes young children’s sleep uninterrupted sleep (Owens & Mindell, 2011). However, it sometimes is di#cult to get young problems? ©Imagemore/Glow Images children to go to sleep as they drag out their bedtime routine. Studies often report that young children don’t get adequate sleep (Palermo, 2014). A recent study of children 36 to 42 months old found that a consistent bedtime routine was associated with more nightly sleep and an increase in nightly sleep minutes across a 6-month period (Staples, Bates, & Petersen, 2015). Children can experience a number of sleep problems (El-Sheikh, Hinnant, & Philbrook, 2017: Huhdanpaa & others, 2018). These include narcolepsy (extreme daytime sleepiness) (Inocente & others, 2014), insomnia (di#culty getting to sleep or staying asleep) (Miano & developmental connection Peraita-Adrados, 2014), and nightmares (Akinsanya, Marwaha, & Tampi, 2017). One estimate Sleep indicates that more than 40 percent of children experience a sleep problem at some point in What sleep disorder in infancy leads their development (Boyle & Cropley, 2004). The following research studies indicate links to the most infant deaths and at what between children’s sleep problems and negative developmental outcomes: age is the infant most at risk for this Sleep problems in early childhood were associated with subsequent attention problems disorder? Connect to “Physical that in some cases persisted into early adolescence (O’Callaghan & others, 2010). Development in Infancy.” In a Chinese study, preschool children who slept seven hours per day or less had a worse school readiness profile (including language/cognitive deficits and emotional immaturity) (Tso & others, 2016). Also in this study, preschool children who used elec- tronic devices three or more hours per day had shortened sleep durations. Preschool children with a longer sleep duration were more likely to have better peer acceptance, social skills, and receptive vocabulary (Vaughn & others, 2015). Short sleep duration in children was linked with being overweight (Hart, Cairns, & Jelalian, 2011). In 2- to 5-year-old children, each additional hour of daily screen time was associated with a decrease in sleep time, less likelihood of sleeping 10 hours or more per night, and later bedtime (Xu & others, 2016). Four-year-old children who had insomnia were characterized by hostile-aggressive and hyperactive-distractible problems (Armstrong & others, 2014). To improve children’s sleep, Mona El-Sheikh (2013) recommends making sure that the bed- room is cool, dark, and comfortable; maintaining consistent bedtimes and wake times; and building positive family relationships. Also, helping the child slow down before bedtime often contributes to less resistance to going to bed. Reading the child a story, playing quietly with the child in the bath, and letting the child sit on the caregiver’s lap while listening to music are quieting activities. NUTRITION AND EXERCISE Eating habits are important aspects of development during early childhood (Blake, Munoz, & Volpe, 2019; Thompson & Manore, 2018; Wardlaw, Smith, & Collene, 2018). What children eat a"ects their skeletal growth, body shape, and susceptibility to disease. Exercise and physi- cal activity also are very important aspects of young children’s lives (Powers & Dodd, 2017; Powers & Howley, 2018; Walton-Fisette & Wuest, 2018). Overweight Young Children Being overweight has become a serious health problem in early childhood (Donatelle, 2019; Perry & others, 2017). A national study revealed that 45 percent of children’s meals exceed recommendations for saturated and trans fats, which can raise cholesterol levels and increase the risk of heart disease (Center for Science in the Public Interest, 2008). The same study found that one-third of children’s daily caloric intake comes from restaurants—twice the 202 CHAPTER 7 Physical and Cognitive Development in Early Childhood percentage consumed away from home in the 1980s. Further, 93 percent of almost 1,500 possible choices at 13 major fast-food chains exceeded 430 calories— one-third of what the National Institute of Medicine recommends that 4- to 8-year- old children consume in a day. Nearly all of the children’s meal options at KFC, Taco Bell, Sonic, Jack in the Box, and Chick-fil-A were too high in calories. One study of U.S. 2- and 3-year-olds found that French fries and other fried potatoes were the vegetable they were most likely to consume (Fox & others, 2010). Young children’s eating behavior is strongly influenced by their caregivers’ behavior (Black & Hurley, 2017; Brown, 2017; Lindsay & others, 2018; Sorte, Daeschel, & Amador, 2017; Tan & Holub, 2015). Young children’s eating behav- ior improves when caregivers eat with children on a predictable schedule, model choosing nutritious food, make mealtimes pleasant occasions, and engage in cer- tain feeding styles. Distractions from television, family arguments, and competing activities should be minimized so that children can focus on eating. A sensitive/ responsive caregiver feeding style, in which the caregiver is nurturant, provides What are some trends in the eating habits and weight of young clear information about what is expected, and appropriately responds to chil- children? dren’s cues, is recommended (Black & Hurley, 2017). Forceful and restrictive ©Lilian Perez/age fotostock caregiver behaviors are not recommended (Tylka, Lumeng, & Eneli, 2015). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2018) has established categories for obesity, overweight, and at risk of being overweight. These categories are determined by body mass index (BMI), which is computed using a formula that takes into account height and weight. Children and adolescents at or above the 97th percentile are classified as obese, those at the 95th or 96th per- centile as overweight, and those from the 85th to the 94th percentile as at risk of being overweight. The percentages of young children who are overweight or at risk of being overweight in the United States have increased dramatically in recent decades, but in the last several years there are indications that fewer preschool children are obese (Wardlaw, Smith, & Collene, 2018). In 2009–2010, 12.1 percent of U.S. 2- to 5-year-olds were classified as obese, compared with 5 percent in 1976–1980 (Ogden & others, 2012). However, in 2013–2014, a substantial drop in the obesity rate of 2- to 5-year-old children occurred in comparison with their counterparts in 2009– 2010 (Ogden & others, 2016). In 2013–2014, 9.4 percent of 2- to 5-year-olds were obese compared with 12.1 percent in 2009–2010. It is not clear precisely why this drop occurred, but among the possibilities are families buying lower-calorie foods and the Special Supplementation Program for Women, Infants, and Children (which subsidizes food for women in low-income families) empha- sizing reduced consumption of fruit juice, cheese, and eggs and increased consumption of whole fruits and vegetables. In a recent study, 2!-year-olds’ liking for fruits and vegetables was related to their eating more fruits and vegetables at 7 years of age (Fletcher & others, 2018). The risk that overweight children will continue to be overweight when they are older was underscored by a recent U.S. study of nearly 8,000 children (Cunningham, Kramer, & Narayan, 2014). In this study, overweight 5-year-olds were four times more likely to be obese at 14 years of age than their 5-year-old counterparts who began kindergarten at a normal weight. Also, in the study described earlier in which obesity rates were decreasing among preschool children, preschool children who were obese were five times more likely to be overweight or obese as adults (Ogden & others, 2014). One comparison of 34 countries revealed that the United States had the second highest rate of childhood obesity (Janssen & others, 2005). Obesity contributes to a number of health problems in young children (Walker & others, 2015). For example, physicians are now seeing type 2 (adult-onset) diabetes (a condition directly linked with obesity and a low level of fitness) and hypertension in children as young as 5 years of age (Chaturvedi & others, 2014). Many aspects of children’s lives can contribute to becoming overweight or obese (Labayen Goni & others, 2018; Sun & others, 2018). Recently, the following 5-2-1-0 obesity prevention guidelines have been issued for young children: 5 or more servings of fruits and vegetables, 2 hours or less of screen time, minimum of 1 hour of physical activity, and 0 sugar-sweetened beverages daily (Khalsa & others, 2017). Prevention of obesity in children includes helping children, parents, and teachers see food as a way to satisfy hunger and meet nutritional needs, not as proof of love or as a reward for good behavior (Roberts, Marx, & Musher-Eizenman, 2018; Smith & Collene, 2019). Snack foods should be low in fat, in simple sugars, and in salt, as well as high in fiber. Routine physical activity should be a daily occurrence (Lintu & others, 2016). A recent research study found that viewing as little as 1 hour of television daily was associated with an increase in body mass index (BMI) between kindergarten and the first grade SECTION 4 Early Childhood 203 How much physical activity should preschool children engage in per day? ©RubberBall Productions/Getty Images (Peck & others, 2015). A recent intervention study with children attending Head Start programs found that getting parents involved in such activities as nutrition counseling, becoming more aware of their child’s weight status, and developing healthy lifestyles was e"ective in lowering children’s rate of obesity, increasing children’s physical activity, reducing children’s TV viewing, and improving children’s eating habits (Davison & others, 2013). Other researchers also are finding that interventions with parents can reduce children’s likelihood of being overweight or obese (Byrne & others, 2018). A recent research review concluded that family-based interven- tions were often e"ective in helping obese children lose weight (Kothandan, 2014). Malnutrition in Young Children from Low-Income Families Malnutrition is a problem for many U.S. children, with approximately 11 million preschool children experienc- ing malnutrition that places their health at risk. Poverty is an especially strong risk factor for malnutrition in young children (Black & others, 2017; Blake, 2017; Schi", 2019). One of the most common nutritional problems in early childhood is iron deficiency anemia, which results in chronic fatigue. This problem results from the failure to eat adequate amounts of quality meats and dark green vegetables. Young children from low-income families are the most likely to develop iron deficiency anemia (Petry & others, 2017). Exercise Routine physical activity should be a daily occurrence for young children (Innella & others, 2016; Insel & Roth, 2018; Lintu & others, 2016). Too often children are not getting developmental connection adequate exercise (Dowda & others, 2017; Walton-Fisette & Wuest, 2018). Recently, four expert Health panels from Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States issued physical As boys and girls reach and progress activity guidelines for young children that were quite similar (Pate & others, 2015). The guide- through adolescence, they tend to lines recommend that young children get 15 or more minutes of physical activity per hour over get less exercise. Connect to a 12-hour period, or about 3 hours per day total. These guidelines reflect an increase from earlier “Physical and Cognitive Development guidelines (National Association for Sport and Physical Education, 2002). The child’s life in Adolescence.” should center around activities, not meals (Powers & Dodd, 2017; Powers & Howley, 2018). ILLNESS AND DEATH What are the greatest risks to the health of young children in the United States? How pervasive is death among young children around the world? The United States Young children’s active and exploratory nature, coupled with their unawareness of danger in many instances, often puts them in situations in which they are at risk for injuries. In 2015 in the United States, accidents (unintentional injuries) were the lead- ing cause of death in young children, followed by congenital malformations, deformations, and chromosomal abnormalities (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2017). Drowning was the most common cause of accidental death in young children, with other causes of acci- dental death in young children in order involving motor vehicles, homicide, and su"ocation. 204 CHAPTER 7 Physical and Cognitive Development in Early Childhood Children’s Safety Children’s safety is influenced not only by their own skills and safety behav- Individual iors but also by aspects of their family and home, school and peers, and community (Naranjo, 2017; Onders & others, 2018; Saunders & others, 2017; Simon-Tov, Peleg, & Baron-Epel, 2018). Figure 3 Development of social skills and ability to regulate emotions describes steps that can be taken in each of these contexts to enhance children’s safety and prevent Impulse control (such as not darting injury (Sleet & Mercy, 2003). Children in poverty have higher rates of accidents, death, and asthma out into a street to retrieve a ball) than do children from higher-income families (Hughes & others, 2017; Lin & Seo, 2017). Frequent use of personal protection (such as bike helmets and safety Environmental Tobacco Smoke Estimates indicate that approximately 22 percent of seats) children and adolescents in the United States are exposed to tobacco smoke in the home. An increasing number of studies reach the conclusion that children are at risk for health problems when they live in homes in which a parent smokes (Miyahara & others, 2017; Pugmire, Sweeting, Family/Home & Moore, 2017). Children exposed to tobacco smoke in the home are more likely to develop High awareness and knowledge of child management and parenting wheezing symptoms and asthma than are children in nonsmoking families (Hatoun & others, skills 2018; Merianos, Dixon, & Mahabee-Gittens, 2017; Rosen & others, 2018; Vo & others, 2017). Frequent parent protective behaviors One study found that parental smoking was a risk factor for higher blood pressure in children (such as use of child safety seats) (Simonetti & others, 2011). Also, a recent study revealed that maternal cigarette smoking and Presence of home safety equipment alcohol consumption when children were 5 years of age were linked to onset of smoking in (such as smoke alarms and cabinet locks) early adolescence (Hayatbakhsh & others, 2013). Further, a recent study revealed that children living in low-income families are more likely to be exposed to environmental tobacco smoke than their counterparts in middle-income families (Kit & others, 2013). And a recent study School/Peers found that young children who were exposed to environmental tobacco smoke were more likely Promotion of home/school to engage in antisocial behavior when they were 12 years old (Pagani & others, 2017). partnerships Absence of playground hazards The State of Illness and Health of the World’s Children Devastating e"ects Injury prevention and safety promotion policies and programs on the health of young children occur in countries where poverty rates are high (UNICEF, 2018). The poor are the majority in nearly one out of every five nations in the world. They often experience hunger, malnutrition, illness, inadequate access to health care, unsafe water, Community and a lack of protection from harm (Black & others, 2017). Availability of positive activities for In the last decade, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of young children children and their parents who have died because HIV/AIDS was transmitted to them by their parents (UNICEF, 2018). Active surveillance of environmental Deaths of young children due to HIV/AIDS especially occur in countries with high rates of hazards poverty and low levels of education (Tomlinson & others, 2016). Effective prevention policies in place Many of the deaths of young children around the world could be prevented by reductions (such as pool fencing) in poverty and improvements in nutrition, sanitation, education, and health services (Black & others, 2017; UNICEF, 2018). FIGURE 3 CHARACTERISTICS THAT ENHANCE YOUNG CHILDREN’S SAFETY. In each context of a child’s life, steps can be taken to create conditions that improve the child’s safety and reduce the likelihood of injury. How are the contexts listed in the figure related to Bronfenbrenner’s theory (described in the “Introduction” chapter)? Many children in impoverished countries die before reaching the age of 5 from dehydration and malnutrition brought about by diarrhea. What are some of the other main causes of death in young children around the world? ©Kent Page/AP Images SECTION 4 Early Childhood 205  Review Connect Reflect Review 11 to 13 hours of sleep per night during How does the body grow and change early childhood. How does that during early childhood? compare with what you learned earlier LG1 Identify physical changes What changes take place in motor about the sleep patterns of infants? in early childhood. and perceptual development during early childhood? Reflect Your Own Personal What are some problems associated Journey of Life What were your eating habits like with sleep in young children? when you were a young child? In what What roles do nutrition and exercise ways are they similar or di!erent from play in early childhood? your current eating habits? Did your What are some major causes of illness early eating habits predict whether or and death among young children in the not you have weight problems today? United States and around the world? Connect In this section you learned that experts recommend that children get 2 Cognitive Changes LG2 Describe three views of the cognitive changes that occur in early childhood. Piaget’s Preoperational Stage Vygotsky’s Theory Information Processing The cognitive world of the preschool child is creative, free, and fanciful. Preschool children’s imaginations work overtime, and their mental grasp of the world improves. Our coverage of developmental connection cognitive development in early childhood focuses on three theories: Piaget’s, Vygotsky’s, and Cognitive Theory information processing. Object permanence is an important accomplishment in the sensorimotor stage. Connect to “Cognitive Develop- PIAGET’S PREOPERATIONAL STAGE ment in Infancy.” Recall that during Piaget’s first stage of development, the sensorimotor stage, the infant pro- gresses in the ability to organize and coordinate sensations and perceptions with physical movements and actions. The preoperational stage, which lasts from approximately 2 to 7 years of age, is the second Piagetian stage. In this stage, children begin to represent the world with words, images, and drawings. They form stable concepts and begin to reason. At the same preoperational stage Piaget’s second stage, time, the young child’s cognitive world is dominated by egocentrism and magical beliefs. lasting from about 2 to 7 years of age, during Because Piaget called this stage “preoperational,” it might sound like an unimportant which children begin to represent the world waiting period. Not so. Instead, the label preoperational emphasizes that the child does not yet with words, images, and drawings, and symbolic thought goes beyond simple perform operations, which are reversible mental actions that allow children to do mentally connections of sensory information and what before they could do only physically. Adding and subtracting numbers mentally are physical action; stable concepts are formed, examples of operations. Preoperational thought is the beginning of the ability to reconstruct in mental reasoning emerges, egocentrism is thought what has been established in behavior. This developmental stage can be divided into present, and magical beliefs are constructed. two substages: the symbolic function substage and the intuitive thought substage. operations In Piaget’s theory, these are reversible mental actions that allow children The Symbolic Function Substage The symbolic function substage is the first sub- to do mentally what they formerly did stage of preoperational thought, occurring roughly between the ages of 2 and 4. During this physically. substage, the young child gains the ability to mentally represent an object that is not present. This ability vastly expands the child’s mental world (Callaghan & Corbit, 2015). Young children symbolic function substage Piaget’s first substage of preoperational thought, in which use scribble designs to represent people, houses, cars, clouds, and so on; they begin to use the child gains the ability to mentally language and engage in pretend play. However, although young children make distinct progress represent an object that is not present during this substage, their thought still has important limitations, two of which are egocentrism (between about 2 and 4 years of age). and animism. 206 CHAPTER 7 Physical and Cognitive Development in Early Childhood  Model of Mountains C D B Photo 1 Photo 2 Photo 3 Photo 4 A (View from A) (View from B) (View from C) (View from D) Child seated here FIGURE 4 THE THREE MOUNTAINS TASK. View 1 shows the child’s perspective from where he or she is sitting. View 2 is an example of one of the photographs the child would be shown, along with other photographs taken from di!erent perspectives. It shows what the mountains look like to a person sitting at spot B. When asked what a view of the mountains looks like from position B, the preoperational child selects a photograph taken from location A, the child’s view at the time. A child who thinks in a preoperational way cannot take the perspective of a person sitting at another spot. Egocentrism is the inability to distinguish between one’s own perspective and someone else’s perspective. Piaget and Barbel Inhelder (1969) initially studied young children’s egocentrism by devising the three mountains task (see Figure 4). The child walks around the model of the mountains and becomes familiar with what the mountains look like from di"erent perspectives, and she can see that there are di"erent objects on the mountains. The child is then seated on one side of the table on which the mountains are placed. The experimenter moves a doll to di"erent locations around the table, at each location asking the child to select from a series of photos the one photo that most accurately reflects the view that the doll is seeing. Children in the preoperational stage often pick their own view rather than the doll’s view. Preschool children frequently show the ability to take another’s perspective on some tasks but not others. Animism, another limitation of preoperational thought, is the belief that inanimate objects have lifelike qualities and are capable of action. A young child might show animism by saying, “That tree pushed the leaf o", and it fell down,” or “The sidewalk made me mad; it made me fall down.” A young child who uses animism fails to distinguish the appropriate occasions for using human and nonhuman perspectives (Opfer & Gelman, 2011). Possibly because young children are not very concerned about reality, their drawings are fanciful and inventive. Suns are blue, skies are yellow, and cars float on clouds in their sym- bolic, imaginative world. One 3!-year-old looked at a scribble he had just drawn and described it as a pelican kissing a seal (see Figure 5a). The symbolism is simple but strong, like !a" !b" FIGURE 5 egocentrism The inability to distinguish THE SYMBOLIC DRAWINGS OF YOUNG CHILDREN. (a) A 3"-year-old’s symbolic drawing. between one’s own perspective and Halfway into his drawing, the 3"-year-old artist said it was a “pelican kissing a seal.” (b) This 11-year- someone else’s (salient feature of the first old’s drawing is neater and more realistic but also less inventive. substage of preoperational thought). Wolf, D., and Nove, J. “The Symbolic Drawings of Young Children,” Courtesy of D. Wolf and J. Nove. Copyright Dennie Palmer Wolf, Annenberg Institute, Brown University. All rights reserved. Used with animism The belief that inanimate objects have permission. lifelike qualities and are capable of action. SECTION 4 Early Childhood 207  abstractions found in some modern art. Twentieth-century Spanish artist Pablo Picasso com- mented, “I used to draw like Raphael but it has taken me a lifetime to draw like young chil- dren.” During the elementary school years, a child’s drawings become more realistic, neat, and precise (see Figure 5b) (Winner, 1986). The Intuitive Thought Substage The intuitive thought substage is the second sub- stage of preoperational thought, occurring between approximately 4 and 7 years of age. In this substage, children begin to use primitive reasoning and want to know the answers to all sorts of questions. Consider 4-year-old Tommy, who is at the beginning of the intuitive thought substage. Although he is starting to develop his own ideas about the world he lives in, his ideas are still simple, and he is not very good at thinking things out. He has di#culty under- standing events that he knows are taking place but that he cannot see. His fantasized thoughts bear little resemblance to reality. He cannot yet answer the question “What if?” in any reliable way. For example, he has only a vague idea of what would happen if a car were to hit him. He also has di#culty negotiating tra#c because he cannot do the mental calculations neces- sary to estimate whether an approaching car will hit him when he crosses the road. By the age of 5, children have just about exhausted the adults around them with “why” questions. The child’s questions signal the emergence of interest in reasoning and in figuring out why things are the way they are. Following are some samples of the questions children ask during the questioning period of 4 to 6 years of age (Elkind, 1976): “What makes you grow up?” “Who was the mother when everybody was a baby?” “Why do leaves fall?” “Why does the sun shine?” Piaget called this substage intuitive because young children seem so sure about their knowledge and understanding yet are unaware of how they know what they know. That is, they know something but know it without the use of rational thinking. Centration and the Limits of Preoperational Thought One limitation of pre- operational thought is centration, a centering of attention on one characteristic to the exclusion intuitive thought substage Piaget’s second of all others. Centration is most clearly evidenced in young children’s lack of conservation, the substage of preoperational thought, in which awareness that altering an object’s or a substance’s appearance does not change its basic children begin to use primitive reasoning and properties. For example, to adults, it is obvious that a certain amount of liquid stays the same, want to know the answers to all sorts of questions (between 4 and 7 years of age). regardless of a container’s shape. But this is not at all obvious to young children. Instead, they are struck by the height of the liquid in the container; they focus on that characteristic to the centration Focusing attention on one exclusion of others. characteristic to the exclusion of all others. The situation that Piaget devised to study conservation is his most famous task. In the conservation In Piaget’s theory, awareness conservation task, children are presented with two identical beakers, each filled to the same that altering an object’s or a substance’s level with liquid (see Figure 6). They are asked if these beakers have the same amount of liquid, appearance does not change its basic and they usually say yes. Then the liquid from one beaker is poured into a third beaker, which properties. is taller and thinner than the first two. The children are then asked if the amount of liquid in FIGURE 6 PIAGET’S CONSERVATION TASK. The beaker test is a well-known Piagetian test to determine whether a child can think operationally—that is, can mentally reverse actions and show conservation of the substance. (a) Two identical beakers are presented to the child. Then the experimenter pours the liquid from B into C, which is taller A B C and thinner than A or B. (b) The child is asked (a) if these beakers (A and C) have the same amount of liquid. The preoperational child says “no.” When asked to point to the beaker that has more liquid, the preoperational child points to the tall, thin beaker. ©Tony Freeman/PhotoEdit A B C (b) 208 CHAPTER 7 Physical and Cognitive Development in Early Childhood  Type of Preoperational Conservation Initial Presentation Manipulation Child’s Answer Number Two identical rows of objects are shown to the One row is lengthened and the child is asked Yes, the longer row. child, who agrees they have the same number. whether one row now has more objects. Matter Two identical balls of clay are shown to the child. The experimenter changes the shape of one of the No, the longer one has The child agrees that they are equal. balls and asks the child whether they still contain more. equal amounts of clay. Length Two sticks are aligned in front of the child. The The experimenter moves one stick to the right, No, the one on the top child agrees that they are the same length. then asks the child if they are equal in length. is longer. FIGURE 7 SOME DIMENSIONS OF CONSERVATION: NUMBER, MATTER, AND LENGTH. What characteristics of preoperational thought do children demonstrate when they fail these conservation tasks? the tall, thin beaker is equal to that which remains in one of the original beakers. Children who are less than 7 or 8 years old usually say no and justify their answers in terms of the di"ering height or width of the beakers. Older children usually answer yes and justify their answers appropriately (“If you poured the water back, the amount would still be the same”). In Piaget’s theory, failing the conservation-of-liquid task is a sign that children are at the preoperational stage of cognitive development. The failure demonstrates not only centration but also an inability to mentally reverse actions. For example, in the conservation of matter example shown in Figure 7, preoperational children say that the longer shape has more clay because they assume that “longer is more.” Preoperational children cannot mentally reverse the clay-rolling process to see that the amount of clay is the same in both the shorter ball shape and the longer stick shape. In addition to failing to conserve volume, preoperational children also fail to conserve number, matter, length, and area. However, children often vary in their performance on di"er- ent conservation tasks. Thus, a child might be able to conserve volume but not number. A recent fMRI brain-imaging study of conservation of number revealed that advances in a net- work in the parietal and frontal lobes were linked to 9- and 10-year-olds’ conservation success in comparison with non-conserving 5- and 6-year-olds (Houde & others, 2011). Some developmentalists disagree with Piaget’s estimate of when children’s conservation skills emerge. For example, Rochel Gelman (1969) showed that when the child’s attention to relevant aspects of the conservation task is improved, the child is more likely to conserve. Gelman has also demonstrated that attentional training on one dimension, such as number, improves the preschool child’s performance on another dimension, such as mass. Thus, Gel- man argues that conservation appears earlier than Piaget thought and that attention is espe- cially important in explaining conservation. VYGOTSKY’S THEORY Piaget’s theory is a major developmental theory. Another developmental theory that focuses on children’s cognition is Vygotsky’s theory. Like Piaget, Vygotsky (1962) emphasized that children actively construct their knowledge and understanding. In Piaget’s theory, children develop ways of thinking and understanding by their actions and interactions with the physical world. In Vygotsky’s theory, children are more often described as social creatures than in Piaget’s theory (Moura da Costa & Tuleski, 2017; Yu & Hu, 2017). They develop their ways of thinking and understanding primarily through social interaction (Clara, 2017). Their cognitive development depends on the tools provided by society, and their minds are shaped by the cultural context in which they live (Daniels, 2017; Gauvain, 2016; Holzman, 2017; Yasnitsky & Van der Veer, 2016). SECTION 4 Early Childhood 209  The Zone of Proximal Development Vygotsky’s belief in the role of social influences, espe- Upper limit cially instruction, in children’s cognitive development is reflected in his concept of the zone of proximal Level of additional responsibility development. Zone of proximal development (ZPD) is child can accept with assistance Vygotsky’s term for the range of tasks that are too of an able instructor di#cult for the child to master alone but can be learned with guidance and assistance from adults or Zone of proximal more-skilled children. Thus, the lower limit of the development (ZPD) ZPD is the level of skill reached by the child working independently. The upper limit is the level of addi- tional responsibility the child can accept with the Lower limit assistance of an able instructor (see Figure 8). The Level of problem solving ZPD captures the child’s cognitive skills that are in reached on these tasks by the process of maturing and can be accomplished child working alone only with the assistance of a more-skilled person (Clara, 2017; Holzman, 2017). Vygotsky (1962) called these the “buds” or “flowers” of development, to dis- tinguish them from the “fruits” of development, which FIGURE 8 the child already can accomplish independently. VYGOTSKY’S ZONE OF PROXIMAL DEVELOPMENT. Vygotsky’s zone of proximal What are some factors that can influence the development has a lower limit and an upper limit. Tasks in the ZPD are too di#cult for e"ectiveness of the ZPD in children’s learning and the child to perform alone. They require assistance from an adult or a more-skilled child. As children experience the verbal instruction or demonstration, they organize the development? Researchers have found that the follow- information in their existing mental structures so that they can eventually perform the ing factors can enhance the ZPD’s e"ectiveness skill or task alone. (Gauvain & Perez, 2015): better emotion regulation, ©Ariel Skelley/Blend Images secure attachment, absence of maternal depression, and child compliance. Sca#olding Closely linked to the idea of the ZPD is the concept of sca"olding. Sca!olding means changing the level of support. Over the course of a teaching session, a more-skilled developmental connection person (a teacher or advanced peer) adjusts the amount of guidance to fit the child’s current Parenting performance (Daniels, 2017). When the student is learning a new task, the skilled person may Sca!olding also is an e!ective strategy use direct instruction. As the student’s competence increases, less guidance is given. A recent for parents to adopt in interacting with study found that sca"olding techniques that heighten engagement, direct exploration, and their infants. Connect to “Socioemo- facilitate “sense-making,” such as guided play, improved 4- to 5-year-old children’s acquisition tional Development in Infancy.” of geometric knowledge (Fisher & others, 2013). Language and Thought The use of dialogue as a tool for sca"olding is only one example of the important role of language in a child’s development. According to Lev Vygotsky, children use speech not only to communicate socially but also to help them solve tasks. Vygotsky (1962) further believed that young children use language to plan, guide, and monitor their behavior. This use of language for self-regulation is called private speech (Lantolf, 2017). For Piaget, private speech is egocentric and immature, but for Vygotsky it is an important tool of thought during the early childhood years. Vygotsky said that language and thought initially develop independently of each other and then merge. He emphasized that all mental functions have external, or social, origins. Children must use language to communicate with others before they can focus inward on their own thoughts. Children also must communicate externally and use language for a long period of time before they can make the transition from external to internal speech. This transition period occurs between 3 and 7 years of age and involves talking to oneself. After a while, the self-talk becomes second nature to children, and they can act without verbalizing. When they gain this skill, children have internalized their egocentric speech in the form of inner speech, which becomes their thoughts. Vygotsky reasoned that children who use a lot of private speech are more socially zone of proximal development (ZPD) Vygotsky’s term for tasks that are too di#cult competent than those who don’t. He argued that private speech represents an early transi- for children to master alone but can be tion in becoming more socially communicative. In Vygotsky’s view, when young children mastered with the assistance of adults or talk to themselves they are using language to govern their behavior and guide themselves. more-skilled children. For example, a child working on a puzzle might say to herself, “Which pieces should I put 210 CHAPTER 7 Physical and Cognitive Development in Early Childhood together first? I’ll try those green ones first. Now I need some blue ones. No, that blue one doesn’t fit there. I’ll try it over here.” Piaget maintained that self-talk is egocentric and reflects immaturity. However, researchers have found support for Vygotsky’s view that private speech plays a positive role in children’s development (Winsler, Carlton, & Barry, 2000). Teaching Strategies Vygotsky’s theory has been embraced by many teachers and has been successfully applied to education (Adams, 2015; Clara, 2017; Holzman, 2017). Here are some ways Vygotsky’s theory can be incor- porated in classrooms: 1. Assess the child’s ZPD. Like Piaget, Vygotsky did not recommend for- mal, standardized tests as the best way to assess children’s learning. Rather, Vygotsky argued that assessment should focus on determining the child’s zone of proximal development. The skilled helper presents the child with tasks of varying di#culty to determine the best level at which to begin instruction. 2. Use the child’s ZPD in teaching. Teaching should begin toward the zone’s upper limit, so that the child can reach the goal with help and Lev Vygotsky (1896–1934), shown here with his daughter, move to a higher level of skill and knowledge. O"er just enough assis- reasoned that children’s cognitive development is advanced tance. You might ask, “What can I do to help you?” Or simply observe through social interaction with more-skilled individuals the child’s intentions and attempts and provide support when it is embedded in a sociocultural backdrop. How is Vygotsky’s theory needed. When the child hesitates, o"er encouragement. And encourage di!erent from Piaget’s? Courtesy of James V. Wertsch, Washington University the child to practice the skill. You may watch and appreciate the child’s practice or o"er support when the child forgets what to do. 3. Use more-skilled peers as teachers. Remember that it is not just adults who are impor- tant in helping children learn. Children also benefit from the support and guidance of more-skilled children. 4. Place instruction in a meaningful context. Educators today are moving away from abstract presentations of material; instead, they provide students with opportunities to experience learning in real-world settings. For example, rather than just memorizing math formulas, students work on math problems with real-world implications. 5. Transform the classroom with Vygotskian ideas. What does a Vygotskian classroom look like? The Kamehameha Elementary Education Program (KEEP) in Hawaii is based on Vygotsky’s theory (Tharp, 1994). The ZPD is the key element of instruction in this pro- gram. Children might read a story and then interpret its meaning. Many of the learning activities take place in small groups. All children spend at least 20 minutes each morn- ing in a setting called “Center One.” In this context, sca"olding is used to improve chil- dren’s literacy skills. The instructor asks questions, responds to students’ queries, and builds on the ideas that students generate. Connecting Development to Life further explores the implications of Vygotsky’s theory for children’s education. Evaluating Vygotsky’s Theory Even though their theories were proposed at about the same time, most of the world learned about Vygotsky’s theory later than they learned about Piaget’s theory. Thus, Vygotsky’s theory has not yet been evaluated as thoroughly. However, Vygotsky’s view of the importance of sociocultural influences on children’s development fits with the current belief that it is important to evaluate the contextual factors in learning (Gauvain, 2016; Holzman, 2017). We already have compared several aspects of Vygotsky’s and Piaget’s theories, such as Vygotsky’s emphasis on the importance of inner speech in development and Piaget’s view that such speech is immature. Although both theories are constructivist, Vygotsky’s theory takes a social constructivist approach An approach social constructivist approach, which emphasizes the social contexts of learning and the construc- that emphasizes the social contexts of tion of knowledge through social interaction (Gauvain, 2016; Holzman, 2017; Yu & Hu, 2017). learning and asserts that knowledge is In moving from Piaget to Vygotsky, the conceptual shift is one from the individual to col- mutually built and constructed. Vygotsky’s laboration, social interaction, and sociocultural activity (Daniels, 2017). The endpoint of theory reflects this approach. SECTION 4 Early Childhood 211  connecting development to life Tools of the Mind Tools of the Mind is an early childhood education curriculum that by drawing a line to stand for each word the child says. Children then emphasizes children’s development of self-regulation and the cogni- repeat the message, pointing to each line as they say the word. Then, tive foundations of literacy. The curriculum was created by Elena the child writes on the lines, trying to represent each word with some Bodrova and Deborah Leong (2007, 2015a, b) and has been imple- letters or symbols. Figure 9 shows how the sca"olding writing process mented in more than 200 classrooms. Most of the children in the Tools improved a 5-year-old child’s writing over the course of two months. of the Mind programs are at risk because of their living circumstances, Research assessments of children’s writing in Tools of the Mind which in many instances involve poverty and other di!cult conditions classrooms revealed that they have more advanced writing skills than such as being homeless and having parents with drug problems. children in other early childhood programs (Bodrova & Leong, 2007) Tools of the Mind is grounded in Vygotsky’s (1962) theory with (see Figure 9). For example, they write more complex messages, use special attention given to cultural tools, development of self-regulation, more words, spell more accurately, show better letter recognition, use of the zone of proximal development, sca"olding, private speech, and have a better understanding of the concept of a sentence. shared activity, and play as important activity. In a Tools of the Mind Also, the e"ectiveness of the Tools of the Mind approach was classroom, dramatic play has a central role. Teachers guide children examined in 29 schools, 79 classrooms, and 759 schools (Blair & Raver, in creating themes that are based on the children’s interests, such as 2014). Positive e"ects of the Tools of the Mind program were found for treasure hunt, store, hospital, and restaurant. Teachers also incorpo- the cognitive processes of executive function (improved self-regulation, rate field trips, visitor presentations, videos, and books in the develop- for example) and attention control. Further, the Tools of the Mind pro- ment of children’s play. They help children develop a play plan, which gram improved children’s reading, vocabulary, and mathematics per- increases the maturity of their play. Play plans describe what the formance at the end of kindergarten and into the first grade. The most children expect to do in the play period, including the imaginary con- significant improvements occurred in high-poverty schools. text, roles, and props to be used. The play plans increase the quality of their play and self-regulation. How does the Reggio Emilia approach to education that you read Sca"olding writing is another important theme in the Tools of the about in the story that opened this chapter compare with the Tools of Mind classroom. Teachers guide children in planning their own message the Mind approach described here? (a) Five-year-old Aaron’s independent (b) Aaron’s journal two months after beginning to use the sca!olded writing technique. journal writing prior to using the sca!olded writing technique. FIGURE 9 WRITING PROGRESS OF A 5!YEAR!OLD BOY OVER TWO MONTHS USING THE SCAFFOLDING WRITING PROCESS IN"TOOLS OF THE MIND Leong, Deborah J., & Bodrova, Elena. “Tools of the Mind.” Copyright ©2007 by Deborah J. Leong and Elena Bodrova. All rights reserved. Used with permission. 212 CHAPTER 7 Physical and Cognitive Development in Early Childhood  Vygotsky Piaget Sociocultural Context Strong emphasis Little emphasis Constructivism Social constructivist Cognitive constructivist Stages No general stages of development Strong emphasis on stages (sensorimotor, proposed preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational) Key Processes Zone of proximal development, language, dialogue, tools of Schema, assimilation, accommodation, operations, the culture conservation, classification Role of Language A major role; language plays a powerful role in shaping Language has a minimal role; cognition primarily directs thought language View on Education Education plays a central role, helping children learn the Education merely refines the child’s cognitive skills that tools of the culture have already emerged Teaching Implications Teacher is a facilitator and guide, not a director; establish Also views teacher as a facilitator and guide, not a director; many opportunities for children to learn with the teacher provide support for children to explore their world and and more-skilled peers discover knowledge FIGURE 10 COMPARISON OF VYGOTSKY’S AND PIAGET’S THEORIES (Left) ©A.R. Lauria/Dr. Michael Cole, Laboratory of Human Cognition, University of California, San Diego; (right) ©Bettmann/Getty Images cognitive development for Piaget is formal operational thought. For Vygotsky, the endpoint can di"er depending on which skills are considered to be the most important in a particular culture. In Piaget’s theory, children construct knowledge by transform- ing, organizing, and reorganizing previous knowledge. From Vygotsky’s perspective, children construct knowledge through social interaction. The implication of Piaget’s theory for teaching is that children need support to explore their world and discover knowledge. The main implication of Vygotsky’s theory for teaching is that students need many opportunities to learn with the teacher and more-skilled peers. In both Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s theories, teachers serve as facilitators and guides, rather than as directors and molders of learning. Figure 10 compares Vygotsky’s and Piaget’s theories. As indicated in Figure 10, among the factors that Vygotsky emphasized more than Piaget are the sociocultural context, education, and language. Criticisms of Vygotsky’s theory also have surfaced. Some critics point out that Vygotsky was not specific enough about age-related changes. Another criticism is that Vygotsky did not adequately describe how changes in socioemotional capabili- ties contribute to cognitive development (Goncu & Gauvain, 2012). Yet another criticism is that he overemphasized the role of language in thinking. Also, his emphasis on collaboration and guidance has potential pitfalls. Might facilitators be too helpful in some cases, as when a parent becomes overbearing and controlling? Further, some children might become lazy and expect help when they could have done something on their own. INFORMATION PROCESSING Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s theories provided important ideas about how young children think and how their thinking changes. More recently, the information-processing approach has generated research that illuminates how children process information during the preschool years (Siegler & Braithwaite, 2017). What are the limitations and advances in young children’s ability to pay attention to the environment, to What are some advances in children’s attention in early remember, to develop strategies and solve problems, and to understand their own childhood? mental processes and those of others? ©kiankhoon/Getty Images SECTION 4 Early Childhood 213  Attention Recall that attention is defined as the focusing of mental resources on select information. The child’s ability to pay attention improves significantly during the preschool years (Rothbart & Posner, 2015; Wu & Scerif, 2018). Toddlers wander around, shift attention from one activity to another, and seem to spend little time focusing on any one object or event. By comparison, the preschool child might be observed watching television for a half hour or longer. Young children especially make advances in two aspects of attention—executive attention and sustained attention (Rothbart & Posner, 2015). Executive attention involves action plan- ning, allocating attention to goals, error detection and compensation, monitoring progress on (a) tasks, and dealing with novel or di#cult circumstances (McClelland & others, 2017; Schmitt & others, 2017). Sustained attention is focused and extended engagement with an object, task, event, or other aspect of the environment. Sustained attention also is called vigilance (Benitez & others, 2017). Research indicates that although older children and adolescents show increases in vigilance, it is during the preschool years that individuals show the greatest increase in vigilance (Rothbart & Posner, 2015). Mary Rothbart and Maria Gartstein (2008, p. 332) explained why advances in executive and sustained attention are so important in early childhood: The development of the... executive attention system supports the rapid increases in e"ortful control in the toddler and preschool years. Increases in attention are due, in part, to advances in comprehension and language development. As children are better able to understand their (b) environment, this increased appreciation of their surroundings helps them to sustain attention for longer periods of time. FIGURE 11 In at least two ways, however, the preschool child’s control of attention is still deficient: THE PLANFULNESS OF ATTENTION. In one study, children were given pairs of houses Salient versus relevant dimensions. Preschool children are likely to pay attention to stim- to examine, like the ones shown here uli that stand out, or are salient, even when those stimuli are not relevant to solving a (Vurpillot, 1968). For three pairs of houses, what was in the windows was identical (a). For problem or performing a task. For example, if a flashy, attractive clown presents the the other three pairs, the windows had directions for solving a problem, preschool children are likely to pay more attention to di!erent items in them (b). By filming the the clown than to the directions. After the age of 6 o