Vygotsky proposed specific stages of cognitive development from birth to age 7. Each stage represents a
step towards the child’s internalization of the ways of thinking used by adults in her society:
▪ In the first period, called the primitive stage, the infant possesses mental processes that are similar to
Discussion Launcher (Learning Objective 7.8, pp. 165-166)
Give examples of each of Vygotsky’s stages.
There is insufficient evidence to either support or contradict most of Vygotsky’s ideas. Studies have
shown, however, that young children whose parents provide them with more cognitive scaffolding during
the preschool years exhibit higher levels of achievement in the early elementary grades than peers whose
Discussion Launcher (Learning Objective 7.8, pp. 165-166)
What do you think? How important are social factors in cognitive development?
Critical Thinking Question (Learning Objectives 7.5-7.8, pp. 158-166)
Overcoming the egocentrism of early childhood is the foundation of many cognitive tasks later in life.
For example, students who are writing research papers have to be able to look at their work from their
professor’s point of view in order to determine whether what they have written is understandable and in
line with the requirements of the assignment. What other situations or tasks that require taking another
person’s perspective can you think of?
CHANGES IN LANGUAGE (pp. 166-169)
Piaget recognized that the overriding theme of cognitive development in the early childhood years is
language acquisition.
Fast-Mapping
LO 7.9 How does fast-mapping help children learn new words?
By age 2½, most children have a vocabulary of about 600 words, and by age 5 or 6, that number has risen
to roughly 15,000 words—an astonishing increase of ten words per day. These utterances lack
inflections. A momentous shift in the way children approach new words happens around age 3. Children
begin to pay attention to words in whole groups. Understanding of the categorical nature of words helps
Discussion Launcher (Learning Objective 7.9, pp. 166-167)
Speculate as to what would happen if preschoolers did not receive feedback about their newly found
words. What conclusion should be drawn about adults’ interaction with preschoolers?
The Grammar Explosion
LO 7.10 What happens during the grammar explosion?
Just as a vocabulary explosion follows an early, slow beginning, so a grammar explosion follows several
months of simple sentences.
Inflections are additions that change the meaning of a word, such as –s or –ed. The pattern of inflections
that a child adds to his vocabulary is fairly predictable. One of the earliest inflections is adding the ing to
a verb, followed (in order) by prepositions, the plural s on nouns, irregular past tenses, possessives,
articles, adding the s to third-person verbs, regular past tenses, and the various forms of the auxiliary verb.
Discussion Launcher (Learning Objective 7.10, pp. 167-168)
Phonological Awareness
LO 7.11 What is phonological awareness, and why is it important?
Phonological awareness is a child’s sensitivity to the sound patterns that are specific to her own
language, and it includes the child’s knowledge of a particular language’s system for representing sounds
with letters. Numerous studies have shown that the greater a child’s phonological awareness before she
enters school, the faster she learns to read. In addition, phonological awareness in the early childhood
years is related to the rate of literacy learning in languages as varied as English, Punjabi, and Chinese. It
Discussion Launcher (Learning Objective 7.11, p. 168)
Give examples of activities that encourage word play and invented spelling.
Critical Thinking Question (Learning Objective 7.9-7.11, pp. 166-169)
Suppose you knew a parent who was thrilled that her 5-year-old was beginning to write words, but was
concerned about the little girl’s spelling errors. How would you explain the errors to the mother, and
what would you advise her to do about them?
DIFFERENCES IN INTELLIGENCE (pp. 169-175)
MyPsychLab Connections
Watch: Robert Sternberg on Intelligence, 169
Watch: Demographics and Intelligence Testing, p. 171
Because of their advances in language skills, intelligence testing is far more reliable among preschoolers
Measuring Intelligence
LO 7.12 What are the strengths and weaknesses of IQ tests?
An important assumption in studying the differences in intelligence is that these differences can be
measured. Thus, it is important to understand something about the tests psychologists use to measure
intelligence, as well as the meaning and stability of the scores generated by them.
The First Tests
The first modern intelligence test was published in 1905 by two Frenchmen, Alfred Binet and Theodore
Simon. The test’s purpose was to identify children who might have difficulty in school, and it included
measures of vocabulary, comprehension of facts and relationships, and mathematical and verbal
reasoning.
Modern Intelligence Tests
The tests most frequently used by psychologists today are those developed by David Wechsler. Children
are tested with several different types of problems, each ranging from very easy to very hard, that are
divided into subgroups:
▪ Verbal scales include tasks measuring vocabulary, understanding of similarities between objects, and
general knowledge about the world.
Discussion Launcher (Learning Objective 7.12, p. 170)
Why might the differences in scores across scales indicate particular kinds of learning problems?
Stability and Predicting Value of IQ Tests
IQ tests do a fairly good job of predicting success in school, but other factors such as motivation, interest,
and persistence are also involved. Since this evidence holds within each social class and racial group in
Discussion Launcher (Learning Objective 7.12, pp. 170-171)
What direction would you predict a child’s scores would move if there was a major stress in her life, up or
down? Why?
Limitations of IQ Tests
Originally, IQ tests were designed to measure only the specific range of skills that are needed for success
in school; they do this quite well. There are, however, a few key limitations of IQ tests and the scores
derived from them:
▪ IQ tests do not measure underlying competence. An IQ score cannot tell us if a child has some
specific, fixed, underlying capacity.
Discussion Launcher (Learning Objective 7.12, p. 171)
Given the information mentioned so far, do you think it would be worthwhile to have every preschool
child tested? How would you use such scores? What would be the drawbacks of such universal testing?
Origins of Individual Differences in Intelligence
LO 7.13 What kind of evidence support the nature and nurture explanations for individual
differences in IQ?
Evidence for Heredity
Both twin studies and studies of adopted children show strong heredity influences on IQ. This is
precisely the finding we would expect if a strong genetic element were at work.
Evidence for Family Influences
Adopting studies also provide some strong support for an environmental influence on IQ scores because
the actual level of the IQ scores of adopted children is clearly affected by the environment in which they
have grown up. At least five dimensions of family interaction or stimulation seem to make a difference in
a child’s IQ. Families with higher-IQ children tend to do the following:
▪ They provide an interesting and complex physical environment for the child.
Discussion Launcher (Learning Objective 7.13, pp. 171-172)
What do you suppose is the relationship between the development of a child’s self-esteem and the
behavior of the parents listed above? Why might the relationship exist?
Evidence for Preschool Influence
Home environments and family interactions are not the only sources of environmental influence.
Programs like Head Start are based squarely on the assumption that a family’s economic resources can
limit their ability to provide their children with such experiences, and that such experiences are vital to
Discussion Launcher (Learning Objective 7.13, p. 172)
Why might the gain in IQ scores fade over time? List as many factors as possible that could contribute to
the decline.
On other kinds of measures, a clear residual effect of enriched preschool experiences can still be seen
some years later.
▪ Children with Head Start or other quality preschool experiences are less likely to be placed in special
education classes.
Discussion Launcher (Learning Objective 7.13, p. 172)
List reasons why beginning the program in infancy, rather than in preschool, increases the likelihood of
long-term effects on IQ. What would have to happen to make this program available to all infants who
need it?
Combining the Information
A reaction range presents the notion that genes establish some range of possible reactions, some upper
and lower boundary of functioning. Exactly where a child will fall within those boundaries will be
Discussion Launcher (Learning Objective 7.13, p. 173)
Give examples of reaction range.
Group Differences in Intelligence Test Scores
LO 7.14 What theories and evidences have been offered in support of genetic and cultural
explanations of group differences in IQ scores?
Research indicates a number of group differences in intellectual performance, including consistently
higher performance on achievement tests, particularly math and science tests, by Chinese and Japanese
children. The finding that has been most troublesome for researchers and theorists is that in the United
States, African American children consistently score lower than do White children on measures of IQ.
This difference is not found on infant tests of intelligence or on measures of infant habituation rate, but it
becomes apparent by the time children are 2 or 3 years old, and persists through adolescence and
adulthood.
Another recent finding is that, across the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, average IQ scores increased
in every group throughout the industrialized world. This phenomenon is known as the Flynn effect
because it was discovered by psychologist James Flynn. Flynn’s analysis of IQ data across several
Feature Box Activity (Learning Objective 7.14, p. 175)
No Easy Answers: To Test or Not to Test?
Conduct a class debate about the pros and cons of intelligence testing.
Critical Thinking Question (Learning Objectives 7.12-7.14, pp. 169-175)
In which of Bronfenbrenner’s contexts (see Chapter 2) would you find cultural beliefs about inborn
ability? How might these beliefs be manifested in each of the other contexts, and how might they
influence an individual child’s development?
LECTURE ENHANCERS
Why Do Children Play?
Certainly something that is so common in childhood as play occurs for reasons other than simple
pleasure. Children’s play seems to be associated with their development in other areas. As the child’s
imagination becomes more complex, so, too, does her play. As the child is attempting to develop a sense
of self, clearly play has a role in that process. She might role-play the roles that she sees in her
Language Development
One significant area of development in early childhood that is important for school is language. Children
progress rapidly from their first vocal utterances to conversing in complete sentences. Most children will
speak their first complete word somewhere between 11 to 13 months of age. This age range is
approximate; some children will begin to speak sooner while others later. Children are making progress
toward their first words much earlier than this. Usually around 6 months of age the child will begin to
Within the span of about 4 months, the child has gone from being able to babble all possible human
sounds to utilizing only those that are required for the native language he or she will develop. All that
remains, then, is for the child to learn how to put those basic sounds together to form a word. The child
progresses quickly from single word utterances (often referred to as holophrases because they are meant
to convey a whole sentence of meaning even though they are one-word utterances) to first sentences.
Even the 18-month-old child seems to understand some basic grammatical rules, such as the adjective
always precedes the noun it is describing. This can easily be heard in such simple sentences as “white
sock” instead of “sock white.” Although the child’s sentences are not very complex at this point, he or
she is able to communicate a lot of information by using them. Caregivers sometimes have to pay very
close attention to what is being said and how it is being said, however, to understand what the toddler is
articulating. A 20-month-old, for example, might say, “Mommy Cookie” when she sees her mother
eating a cookie. An hour later, however, this same child may say, “Mommy, Cookie” and be frustrated
when Mommy responds with, “No thanks, honey, I do not want another cookie.” Why might the child be
frustrated? Because it is entirely possible that what she meant to express with her second use of
“Mommy, Cookie” was, “Mommy, could I please have a cookie?”
The Role of Culture in the Perception of Meaning
Culture might have an impact on the perception of meaning and word usage. Certainly cultures differ on
the perception of meaning or even on what words might get used. Some Eskimo tribes were discovered
to have seven or more words for snow (to describe its various states, etc.) while some desert cultures do
not have any words for snow. The point is that language does not develop within a vacuum. Words have
INSTRUCTOR RESOURCES
Media
▪ MyPsychLab—MyPsychLab contains a variety of engaging activities and assessments that aid in
teaching and learning, including the following tools:
o Writing Space. A single place to create, track, and grade writing assignments, provide writing
resources, and exchange meaningful, personalized feedback with students quickly and easily. For
Fall 2014 courses, Writing Space for the 7th edition will contain new auto-graded writing
▪ MyPsychLab Connections
o Watch: Early Childhood, The Growing Child, p. 152
o Watch: Child Abuse: Mandatory Reporting, p. 158
o Watch: The Preschool Years: Egocentrism, p. 160