UNIT III.

EARLY CHILDHOOD: THE

PRESCHOOL YEARS

Lesson 1 - Characteristics, developmental tasks of

early childhood, and physical & motor development

Lesson 2 -Cognitive Development in Early

Childhood

Lesson 3 - Language Development in Early

Childhood

Source:
Lesson 4 - Socio-emotional & Moral Development
https://www.123rf.com/stock-photo/asian_children_playgrou
ml?sti=o8yye78r02h9vzc60b|

UNIT 3. https://www.azquotes.com

EARLY CHILDHOOD: THE PRESCHOOL

YEARS
Lesson 1. Characteristics, developmental tasks of
early childhood, and physical & motor development
0.5 week - 1.5 hours

INTRODUCTI
ON 1
E arly childhood, from two to six years old, is a time of remarkable growth with
brain development at its peak. During this stage, children are highly influenced
by the environment and the people that surround them.
Early childhood is a time of tremendous growth across all areas of
development. The dependent newborn grows into a young person who can take care
of his or her own body and interacts effectively with others. For these reasons, the
primary developmental task of this stage is skills development for early foundations
are laid down during this period.
This lesson focuses on the characteristics of early childhood, the
developmental tasks to be mastered, physical and motor development and skills of
preschoolers.

LEARNING
OUTCOMES

At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:

 describe early childhood physical growth and development
 summarize the developmental tasks of early childhood.
 explain the nature and rate of physical growth.
 analyze the different factors that contribute to physical growth and
development.
 Compare the categories of motor skills during the early childhood.

ACTIVI
TY PICTURE WITH A #HASHTAG

Look for a picture of yourself

when you were 2-6 years old
or a picture of a 2-6 year-old
child. Look at the picture
carefully
2 and think of the
physical characteristics that
unfolded during this time.
 ANALY
SIS
From the #hash-tag you wrote about the picture, what physical characteristics of
early childhood came out?

#PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________

ABSTRACTI
ON

F rom the activity you were able to see a glimpse of the early childhood physical
development. They are very active and dynamic.
Read on and learn more about the nature of the preschool years.

Characteristics of Early Childhood

Different names are used to characterize the preschool years.

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 Parents call these years as the troublesome or
problem age as well as the toy age. There is the tendency for
the child to try out a lot of things and may show negativistic
behavior when told not to pursue what is being done. If the
child is not properly guided his/her explorations sometimes
create trouble for the self and family. Their newfound freedom or autonomy pushes
them to do things and discover the world around them. It is also called the toy age
because children spend a good amount of their time playing with their toys. The
child engages in different kinds of play activities. Toys appeal to them and may
demand to buy a new one especially when seeing other kids possess a different one
which isn’t owned. It is also regarded as the play age.
Educators call this stage as the preschool age and activity age. This is the
time when children are exposed to a new social context, which is the classroom.
They enroll in kindergarten classes, a prelude to formal education. They learn basic
skills which will be of major help when they move up to the elementary years.
Psychologists have various names to call early childhood. One is the pregang
age. Children learn social skills when playing with one another. The child begins to
meet people in one’s neighborhood and community and starts building friendships.
It is also the questioning age. The preschool always asks about the varied
things in his/her environment. They are curious and would like to understand their
environment. It is likewise considered as an exploratory age. The child
manipulates his body and his environment because s/he attempts to construct
meaning of the world. Preschoolers are also famous for their imitation, thus the
imitative age. There is the tendency for the child to copy just any model who gets
his/her attention. Its is important that children are exposed to correct models for
they are great imitators. The preschool age is called the creative age as expressed
in their play.

The Major Developmental Tasks of Early Childhood

Developmental tasks are guidelines that enable individuals to know what

society expects of them at given ages. Robert Havighurst’s theorized that
development is continuous throughout the entire lifespan where the individual moves
from one stage to the next by means of successful resolution of problems or
performance of developmental tasks.

The following are the developmental tasks which ought to be mastered from
babyhood until early childhood.

a. Learning to walk.
b. Learning to take solid foods.
c. Learning to talk.
d. Learning to control the elimination of body wastes.
e. Learning sex differences and sexual modesty.
f. Achieving physiological stability.
g. Acquiring concepts and language to describe social and physical reality.
h. Readiness for reading.

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i. Learning to relate oneself emotionally to parents, siblings, and other
people.
j. Learning to distinguish right and wrong and developing a conscience.

Physical and Motor Development

Big ldeas about the Physical Development of Preschoolers

1. There are significant changes in physical growth of preschoolers.

2. The preschoolers' physical development is marked by the acquisition of gross and
fine motor skills.
3. Preschoolers can express themselves artistically at a very early age.
4. Proper nutrition and the right amount of sleep are very important for the
preschoolers.
5. Caregivers and teachers can do a lot in maximizing the growth and development
of preschoolers.
6. Preschoolers with special needs in inclusive classrooms can thrive well with the
appropriate adaptations made in the classroom, materials, and activities.

Significant Changes in Physical Growth

Physical growth increases in the preschool years, although it is much slower
in pace than in infancy and toddlerhood. At around 3 years of age, preschoolers
move, from the remaining baby-like features of the toddler, toward a more slender
appearance of a child. The trunk, arms, and legs become longer.

Increases in weight and height go with chronological age with males having
larger measurements than girls. All parts of the body grow at different rates. Bones
are soft and pliable, thus making this age as the best time to introduce the child to
learning of skills. Many famous gymnasts and ballet dancers started training during
their preschool years. Adipose or fatty tissues develop faster than muscles and so
people comment that they have baby fats.
Children’s illnesses are common which may disrupt the normalcy of their
lives. Some children have the predisposition to asthma and seasonal changes can
bring about certain ailments such dengue fever, and the like.
Some children may be born with physical defects or defects due to accidents.
These children with physical defects must be taught to accept their conditions.
The center of gravity refers to the point at which body-weight is evenly
distributed. Toddlers have their center of gravity at a high level, about the chest
level. This is why they have difficulty doing sudden movements without falling down.
Preschoolers on the other hand, have their center of gravity at a lower level, right
about near the belly button. This gives them more ability to be stable and balanced
than the toddler. The preschooler moves from the unsteady stance of toddlerhood to
a more steady bearing. They no longer toddle, that wobbly way that toddlers walk.
This also allows the preschooler to move more "successfully than the toddler. Some

5
say that the later part of the preschooler years at around 5 or 6 is the best time to
begin learning skills that require balance like riding a bike or skating.
By the time the child reaches three years old, all primary or deciduous, or
what are also called “baby or milk" teeth are already in place. The permanent teeth
which will begin to come out by age six are also developing . The preschooler years
are therefore a time to instill habits of good dental hygiene.
If you want to have fun with a child at the beginning of the period, ask them
to take their left hand and use it to go over their head to touch their right ear. They
cannot do it. Their body proportions are such that they are still built very much like
an infant with a very large head and short appendages. By the time the child is five
years old though, their arms will have stretched, and the head is becoming smaller in
proportion to the rest of their growing bodies. They can accomplish the task easily
because of these physical changes.

Factors Affecting Growth

There are a number of factors which may account for the child’s growth.
These include heredity, body build, sex, nutrition, health, emotional state, teething,
and physical and play activities.
The kind of nutrition a preschooler gets has far-reaching effect on his
physical growth and development . The preschooler’s nutritional status is the result
of what nutrients he or she actually takes in checked against the nutritional status is
the result of what nutrients he or she takes in checked against the nutritional
requirement of his /her age. Obviously, having too much or too little both have their
negative effects. Here in our country, we can see the extreme of preschoolers not
having enough food and those on the other end of the extreme where we find
preschoolers who are not just over weight but obese. The celebration of the
Nutrition month every July is aimed at advocating for proper nutrition. Each year a
theme is put forth to advocate good nutritional habits while government programs
give out fortified bread, milk and even noodles aim in order to address malnutrition
among children.
It is important for preschoolers to get sufficient amount or rest and sleep.
Preschoolers benefit from about l0-12 hours or sleep each day . It is when they are
asleep that vital biological processes that affect physical and cognitive development
take place. During sleep, especially in the dream state (rapid eye movement stage),
growth hormones are released. Blood supply to the muscles are likewise increased
helping preschoolers regain energy. At this state while dreaming, increased brain
activity is also attained.
The development of primary teeth begins while the baby is in the womb. At
about five weeks' gestation, the first buds of primary teeth appear in the baby's
jaws. At birth, the baby has a full set of 20 primary teeth (10 in the upper jaw, 10 in
the lower jaw) hidden within the gums. Primary teeth are also known as baby teeth,
milk teeth, or deciduous teeth.

Motor Development in Early Childhood

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 Gross motor development refers to acquiring skills that involve the large
muscles. These gross motor skills are categorized into three: locomotor, non-
locomotor and manipulative skills. Locomotor skills are those that involve going
from one place to another, like walking, running, climbing, skipping, hopping,
creeping, galloping, and dodging. Non-locomotor ones are those where the child
stays in place, like bending, stretching, turning and swaying. Manipulative skills
are those that involve projecting and receiving objects, like throwing, striking,
bouncing, catching, and dribbling.
Preschoolers are generally physically active. Level of activity is highest around
three and becomes a little less as the preschooler gets older. Preschoolers should be
provided with a variety of appropriate activities which will allow them to use their
large muscles. Regular physical activity helps preschoolers build and maintain
healthy bones, muscles, and joints, control weight and build lean muscles, prevent or
delay hypertension, reduce feelings of depression and anxiety and increase capacity
for learning.
Fine motor development refers to acquiring the ability to use the smaller
muscles in the arm, hands and fingers purposefully. Some of the skills included here
are picking, squeezing. pounding. and opening things, holding and using a writing
implement. It also involves self-help skills like using the spoon and fork when
eating, buttoning, zipping, combing, and brushing.
Different environments provide different experiences with fine motor skills.
For example the availability of information and communications technology in largely
urban areas makes younger and younger children proficient in keyboarding and
manipulation of the mouse and the use of smart phones and tablets. While other
children use their fine motor skills in digging soil, making toys out of sticks, cans
and bottle caps. Still others enjoy clay, play dough, and finger paint.
By the end of the preschool years most children manage to hold a pencil
with their thumb and fingers, draw pictures ,write letters,use scissors, do stringing
and threading activities. They can also do self-help skills like eating and dressing up
independently. Significant progress in fine motor skills can be expected of
preschoolers especially if they are aptly supported and appropriate activities are
provided for them.
Handedness, or the preference of the use of one hand over the other is
usually established by age 4. Earlier than this, preschoolers can be observed to do
tasks using their hands interchangeably. We can observe a preschooler shifting the
crayon from left to right and back again while working on a coloring activity. This
tendency is known as ambidexterity.

Some Common Skills in the Early Childhood Stage

Early childhood is one of the ideal stages to learn new skills for a number of
reasons:
1. Their bodies are soft and pliable.
2. They are adventuresome.
3. They enjoy repetition.

7
 Generally, children possess common skills classified as hand skills and leg
skills. Below is a description of skills which the different body parts can perform
during the early childhood stage.

Hand Skills

Children are able to perform hand skills which are of self-help nature. These
include self-feeding, bathing, brushing the teeth, buttoning the shirt, and combing
the hair.
They can also exhibit skills such as throwing and catching balls, coloring,
using the scissors, scribbling, molding clay, and drawing, among others.

Leg Skills
Children learn to jump from an elevated position usually by movements
resembling walking. They learn to climb stairs first by crawling and creeping. After
they can walk alone, they go up and down steps in an upright position, placing one
foot on a step and then drawing the other foot up after it.
The child can demonstrate hopping, skipping, running, galloping, and
jumping. As the child’s age advances, s/he can learn riding the bicycle, balancing on
a rail, jumping rope, skating, and dancing.
Both the hand and leg skills can be used by the child for play and school
activities.

Preschoolers' Artistic
Development

8
 At the heart of the preschooler years is their interest to draw and make other
forms of artistic expressions. This form of fine motor activity is relevant to
preschoolers. Viktor Lowenfeld studied this and came up with the stages of
drawing in early childhood:

Stage 1. Scribbling stage. This stage begins with large zig-zag lines which later
become circular markings. Soon, discrete shapes are drawn. The child may start to
name his/her drawing towards the end or this stage.

Stage 2. Preschematic stage. May already include early representations. At this

point adults may be able to recognize the drawings. Children at this stage tend to
give the same names to their drawings several times. Drawings usually comprise of a
prominent head with basic elements. Later, arms, legs, hands and even facial
features are included.

Stage 3. Schematic stage. More elaborate scenes are depicted. Children usually
draw from experience and exposure. Drawings may include houses, trees, the sun
and sky and people. Initially, they may appear floating in air but eventually drawings
appear to follow a ground line.
Everyone who observes a preschooler go through these stages or drawing
would surely say one thing; that the preschooler drew the same drawing maybe a
hundred times! Repetition is the hallmark of early drawing a hundred times.

Summary of What Preschoolers Can Do

This bulleted list of preschoolers physical skills is lifted from the Physical
Domain component of the Philippine Early Learning and Development Standards
(ELDS). This set of standards was based on a study commissioned by UNICEF and
the Child Welfare Council (CWC). This is now adopted for use by the Early Childhood
Care and Development Council.

Physical Skills
Gross Motor: 36-48 months (3-4 years)
 Hops 1 to 3 steps on preferred foot
 Skips (with alternating feet)
 Jumps and turns
 Stands on one leg without falling for at least 5 seconds
 Throws a ball overhead with control of direction
 Throws a ball overhead with control of speed
 Kicks a ball with control of speed

Fine-motor Skills:
36-48 Months (3-4 years)
 Consistently turns pages of a picture or story book one page at a time looking
at pictures with interest
 Purposefully copies diagonal lines

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 Purposefully bisects a cross
 Purposefully copies a square
 Purposefully copies a triangle
 Cuts with scissors following a line

49-60 months (4-6 years old)

 Copies a simple pattern of different basic shapes
 Draws a human figure (head, eyes, mouth, trunk, arms, legs, etc.)
without prompts
 Draws a house without prompts using geometric forms
 Colors with strokes staying within the lines

Source:
Personal Carehttps://www.google.com
and Hygiene (Self-Help Skills)
36-48 months (3 - 4 years old)
 Pours from pitcher without spillage
 Feeds self using spoon without spillage
 Dresses without assistance except for buttons and tying laces
 Puts on socks independently

49-60 months (4 - 6 years old)

 Feeds self using fingers without spillage
 Prepares own food
 Dresses without assistance, including buttoning and tying
 Wipes/cleans him/herself after a bowel movement
 Brushes teeth after meals without having to be told
 Washes and dries face independently without having to be told
 Takes a bath independently without having to be told

APPLICATION & ASSESSMENT

Shadow a child who’s from 2-6 years old either in your family or
neighborhood for about 3 days. Make a bulleted report of his/her:
 Physical characteristics
 Eating habits and preferences

10
  Motor skills demonstrated

List them down on the template provided below. You can have several rows
depending on the report you will make.
(You can be guided by the bulleted summary of what preschoolers can do in terms of physical skills.)

“SHADOW REPORT”

Physical characteristics Eating habits Motor skills

Answer the following questions to check your understanding. Write your answers on
a separate piece of paper.

1. On the average, boys are slightly better than girls at

A. Throwing and hitting.
B. Skipping.
C. Scribbling and fine motor skills.
D. Cooperative games.
2. Which of the following statements is true?
A. Fine motor control precedes gross motor control.
B. Physical development is generally slow during the preschool years.
C. Gross motor control precedes fine motor development.
D. Fine motor and gross motor skills develop simultaneously.
3. Which of these are not gross motor skills?
A. Running B. Jumping C. Drawing D. Throwing a ball
4. Which of these are not fine motor skills?
A. Riding a bike B. Writing
C. Buttoning a shirt D. Cutting with scissors
5. The following are developmental tasks of early childhood EXCEPT
A. Learning to walk B. adjusting to aging parents
C. Learning to talk D. Getting ready to read
6. What factor can hamper the mastery of developmental tasks?
A. Creativity B. Absence of physical defects
C. Lack of motivation D. High level of intelligence

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 REFEREN
CES

Corpuz, Brenda B et al. (2010) Child and Adolescent Development: Looking at

Learners at Different Life Stages. Quezon City: Lorimar Publishing, Inc.
Corpuz, Brenda B et al. (2018) The Child and Adolescent and Learning Principles.
Quezon City: Lorimar Publishing, Inc.
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/wmopen-
lifespandevelopment/chapter/physical-development-in-early-childhood/
https://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/1826/Child-Development-Stages-
Growth.htmlhttps://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics-
objectives/topic/early-and-middle-childhood#1
https://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/topics-objectives/topic/early-and-middle-
childhood#1
http://www.kkhsou.in/main/education/childhood.html
https://www.psychologynoteshq.com/development-tasks/

UNIT III. EARLY CHILDHOOD: THE

PRESCHOOL YEARS
Lesson 2: Cognitive development in early childhood
(1.5 weeks or 4.5 hours)

INTRODUCTI
ON

Y oung children or preschoolers are not only growing physically during early
childhood, but they are also growing mentally. Children of this age continue to
advance their skills in observing and interacting with the world around them. They
also make tremendous leaps in how they process, store, and use information.
Quantifying cognitive change is a bit tricky. We do not count the number of new
neurons or measure the amount of connections between synapses and come up with
averages for different ages. Rather, we rely on theories, such as Piaget's stages of
cognitive development, Bruner’s Discovery Learning, Information Processing Theory
and many other cognitive theories to give us a way to understand and to measure
children's mental development and progression.

LEARNING
OUTCOMES

12
At the end of the lesson, you should be able:

1. describe the cognitive development as well limitations that takes place among
preschoolers.
2. explain the different cognitive theories and discussed their implications to
developing age-appropriate activities and conducive learning environment.
3. apply the concepts on preschoolers’ cognitive development in preschool
teaching and in child care.

ACTIVIT
Y
Below are behaviors or remarks from children. Your early childhood experiences may
help you arrive at the correct answer. Put a check ( ) on the item that is TRUE of
preschoolers and an ( X ) on the item that does NOT apply to preschoolers.

____1. "Someone switched on the thunder," a child remarked.

____2. Child silently nods on the telephone to answer his father who is on the other
side of the phone inquiring if Mom is around.
____3. "That tree pushed the leaf off and it fell down," says a child.
____4. A child is presented with two identical beakers each filled to the same level
with liquid. The child is asked if these beakers have the same amount and
she says YES. The liquid from one beaker is poured into a third beaker, which
is taller and thinner than the first two. The child is then asked if the amount
of liquid in the tall, thin beaker is equal to that which remains in one of the
original beakers. The child says YES.
____5. Child asks a series of "why" questions.
____6. Child is strongly influenced by the features that stand out, such as the flashy,
attractive clown.
____7. Child pays attention to the more relevant dimensions of the task such as
directions for solving a problem and not on the prominent clown, for
instance.
____8. Jun does not realize that the juice in each glass can be poured back into the
juice box from which it came.
____9. Mike did not like to share a piece of cake with his younger sister. Mike's
younger sister got sick. Mike concludes that he made his younger sister get
sick.

ANALY
SIS
Bring in your childhood memories and experiences as you answer the questions
below. Give reasons for your answers.

13
1. Which item/s is/are TRUE of preschool children?

_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

2. Which item/s is/are NOT TRUE of preschool children?

_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

Answering the items above made you think about your own views or assumptions
about the preschoolers’ cognitive development. You were also once in that world of
bursting curiosity wanting to know the world around you. Read through the module
and you will surely understand the way preschoolers think and learn. You will also
learn about how as a future teacher or parent, you can best contribute to the
preschoolers’ cognitive development.

ABSTRACTI
ON

A ll the behaviors and the remarks above except Items #4 and #7 are true of
preschool children. They are considered immature aspects or limitation of
preschool children’s preoperational thought according to Piaget. We will further
learn all these as we discussed all about preoperational stage.

Remember that Piaget believed that we are continuously

trying to maintain balance in how we understand the world.
With rapid increases in motor skill and language development,
young children are constantly encountering new experiences,
objects, and words. In the previous unit on cognitive
development, you learned that when faced with something
new, a child may either assimilate it into an existing schema by
matching it with something they already know or expand their
knowledge structure to accommodate the new situation. During
the preoperational stage, many of the child’s existing schemas will be challenged,
expanded, and rearranged. Their whole view of the world may shift. Let’s us now
examine some of Piaget’s assertions about children’s cognitive abilities at this age.

Piaget’s second stage of cognitive development is called the preoperational

stage and coincides with ages 2-7 (following the sensorimotor stage). The word
operation refers to the use of logical rules, so sometimes this stage is misinterpreted

14
as implying that children are illogical. While it is true that children at the beginning of
the preoperational stage tend to answer questions intuitively as opposed to logically,
children in this stage are learning to use language and how to think about the world
symbolically. These skills help children develop the foundations they will need to
consistently use operations in the next stage.

There are two substages of Piaget’s

preoperational thought, namely, symbolic substage
and intuitive substage. In the symbolic substage,
preschool children show progress in their cognitive
abilities by being able to draw objects that are not
present, by their dramatic increase in their language
and make-believe play.

Symbolic function or use of symbols. This is

the ability to represent objects and events use
mental representations to which a child has
attached meaning. A symbol is a thing that represents something else. (A
drawing, a written word, or a spoken word, numbers, or images) A key part of
this stage is the child’s developing capacity to employ symbols, particularly
language. Words become symbols for objects, labels are learned for objects;
hence, thinking becomes more symbolic in nature. Ex. Kerstin, age 4, remembers
ice cream, its coldness and taste, even she has not seen anything that triggered
this like open freezer door, or television commercial.
In the intuitive substage, preschool children begin to use primitive reasoning and ask
a litany of questions. The development in their language ability facilitates their
endless asking of questions. While preschool children exhibit considerable cognitive
development, their improved cognitive processes still show some aspects of
immaturity or limitations.

Animism. The belief that inanimate objects are

capable of actions and have lifelike qualities.
Preoperational children tends to attribute life to
objects that are not alive.
Items # 1 (Someone switched on the
thunder.) and # 3 (That tree pushed the leaf
off and it fell down.), for example, indicate
cognitive limitation referred to as animism. The
remarks indicate that preschool children believe
that inanimate objects have 'lifelike' qualities
and are capable of action. (Santrock, 2002)
Preschool children who use animism fail to distinguish the appropriate
occasions for using human and nonhuman perspectives. However, the fact
that they attribute the falling of the leaf and the thunder to a "cause" proves
that preschool children realize that events
have causes, although the perceived causes
are not correct.
More examples:
 It could be a child believing that the
sidewalk was mad and made them fall down,

15
 or that the stars twinkle in the sky because they
are happy.
 To an imaginative child, the cup may be alive, the
chair that falls down and hits the
child’s ankle is mean, and the toys need to
stay home because they are tired.
 When at night, the child is as asked, where
the sun is, she will reply, “ Mr. Sun is asleep.”
 Amanda says that spring is trying to come
but winter is saying, “I won’t go! I won’t go!”

Egocentricism. This is the tendency of the child to only see

his point of view and to assume that everyone also has his same
point of view. (The term egocentric does not mean the child is
selfish but he meant that he sees the world as centered around
himself or herself. They only consider their own point of view
and they are not capable of putting themselves in another's
place. They have difficulty understanding another person’s
point of view or they are unaware that the other person has a
point of view.)
Item # 2, "Child silently nods on the telephone as to answer his father who is on the
other side of phone inquiring if Mom is around," is another limitation in preschool
children's symbolic thought. Piaget calls this egocentrism, the inability to distinguish
between one's own perspective and someone else's perspective (Santrock, 2002).
The child thinks that his father can see him just as he can see himself.
More examples:
 A 5 yr. old boy who buys a toy truck for his mother’s birthday.
 A 3yr. old girl who cannot understand why her cousins call her daddy,
uncle and not daddy.
 Kara doesn’t realize that she needs to turn a book around so that her
father can see the picture she is asking him to explain to her. Instead
she holds the book directly in front of her, where only she can see it.

Centration. The tendency of the child to only focus on one aspect of a thing, event
situation and neglects other aspects thus often leads to illogical conclusions.

Item # 4, should apply to preschool children had

the child answered NO when asked if the amount of liquid
in the tall, thin beaker was equal to that which remained
in the original beakers. Preschool children are quite limited
in their intuitive thought process. The amount of liquid
that was transferred to the third beaker which was taller
but thinner than the original beaker remains unchanged.
However, preschool children are drawn to only to the height of the liquid when seen
in the thinner and taller beaker and fail to consider the width of the beaker. This is a
clear evidence of centration, one limitation of the preschool child's preoperational
thought, which is the focusing or on centering of one's attention on one
characteristic to the exclusion of others (Santrock, 2002). In this case, the focus is
only on the height of the beaker to the exclusion of the width of the beaker which is
clearly another factor that should be taken into consideration. This is also referred to

16
as unidimensional thought. This is also an evidence of preschool children's lack of
conservation, the awareness that the basic property of an object or a substance is
conserved (is not changed or altered) even if its appearance is changed. (Santrock,
2002)

Child asks a series of "why" questions Item # 5. Preschool children ask a

barrage of questions. These signal the emergence of the preschool children's interest
in reasoning and in figuring out why things are the way they are. Their asking
questions is a function of their insatiable curiosity coupled with the dramatic increase
in language:

Items # 6 and 7 have something to do with preschool children's attention.

Between items # 6 and #7, item # 6 (... strongly influenced by the features of the
task that stand out, such as the flashy, attractive clown) applies to preschool
children. Because the preschool child pays more attention to the strikingly
conspicuous peripherals, they miss the more relevant and more important features
needed in problem solving or in task performance. This is obviously manifested when
between two wrapped gifts, one with a big, colorful ribbon and the other without, a
preschool child chooses the one with a prominent ribbon.

Irreversibility. An inability to reverse their thinking or a limitation consisting of

failure to understand that an operation can go in two or more directions. Children
fail to understand that some operations or actions can be reserved, restoring the
original situation. Ex. 2+3 is 5, but cannot understand that 5-3 is 2.

Item # 8 (Child does not realize that the juice in each glass can be poured
back into the juice box from which it came.) indicates irreversibility, Piaget's term for
a preoperational child's failure to understand that an operation can go in two or
more directions. Once Jun can imagine restoring the original state of the water by
pouring it back into the other glass, he will realize that the amount of water in both
glasses must be the same. Unfortunately, however, in his developmental stage he is
not yet capable of reversible thinking. He is not yet capable of working backwards.

Transduction or transductive reasoning. A tendency to mentally link particular

experiences, whether or not there is logically a causal relationship. Children do not
use deductive or inductive reasoning; instead they jump from one particular to
another and see cause where none exists.

Item # 9 (Mike did not like to share a piece of cake with his younger sister.
Mike's younger sister was sick. Mike concludes that he made his younger sister sick.)
shows that preschool children do not use deductive or inductive reasoning; instead
they jump from one particular to another and see cause where none exists. This is
transductive reasoning.
While preschoolers still may be limited to preoperational thinking as you have
seen in the Activity, they are making significant advancements in their cognitive
abilities like the acquisition of symbolic thought. Symbolic thought is shown in
preschool children's ability to mentally represent an object that is not present. They
do not need to be in sensorimotor contact with an object, person, or event in order
to think about it. Johann asks his Mom about the giraffe they saw in the zoo five

17
months ago. Moreover, preschool children can imagine that objects or people have
properties other than those they actually have.

Preschoolers use symbolic thought in play, reading, and writing when, for
instance, children pretend that one thing represents another such as a wooden block
used as a microphone in a magic sing and when they pretend to be dog Bantay while
in a sociodramatic play. In reading and writing they realize that pictures stand for
events in a story and that letters represent sounds used in language.

Lev Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory

Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory analyzes how

specific cultural practices, particularly social interaction
with adults, affect children’s development. His central
focus is the social, cultural and historical complex of which
a child is a part. To understand cognitive development,
one must look to the social processes from which a child’s
thinking is derived.

Vygotsky saw cognitive growth as a collaborative process and children learn

through social interaction. They acquire cognitive skills as part of their induction into
a way of life.

Language and Social Interaction

Vygotsky believed that young children use

language both to communicate socially and to
plan, guide, and monitor their behavior in a self-
regulatory fashion called inner speech or private
speech (Santrock, 2002).
For Piaget, private speech is egocentric and
immature, but for Vygotsky it is an important tool of
thought during early childhood. Full cognitive
development requires social interaction and language. Children must use language to
communicate with others before they can focus on their own thoughts (Santrock,
2002). This implies the importance of interaction of preschoolers with caregivers for
language development.

He introduced the term Zone of

Proximal Development (ZPD) to refer
to tasks too difficult for a child to master
alone but can be mastered with the
guidance and assistance of adults or more
skilled children (Santrock, 2002). In short,
the ZPD captures the preschool children's'
cognitive skills that are in the process of
maturing. The ZPD has a lower limit and an
upper limit. The lower limit of the ZPD is
the level of cognitive development reached

18
by the preschool child independently. The upper limit is the level of additional
responsibility the child can accept with assistance of an able instructor." (Santrock,
2002)

Zone of proximal development (ZPD) – difference between what a child can

do alone and what the child can do with help. Proximal means “nearby”.

Children in the ZPD for a particular task can almost, but not quite, perform
the task on their own. With the right kind of guidance, however, they can do it
successfully. In the course of the collaboration, responsibility for directing and
monitoring learning gradually shifts to the child.

Vygotsky asserted that preschool children are

unable to achieve their highest cognitive
development (language development included)
on their own and that they can improve their
cognitive development through use of scaffolding
from more-skilled children and adults. Closely
linked to the idea of ZPD in cognitive and
language development is the concept of
scaffolding, a term that refers to the "changing support over the course of a
teaching session, with the more skilled person adjusting guidance to fit the child's
current performance level” (Santrock, 2002). The more skilled person is also called
More Knowledgeable Other (MKO). Ex. When teaching a child to float, the
mentor first supports the child in the water and gradually letting go as the child’s
body relaxes into a horizontal position. When the child seems ready, the mentor
withdraws all but one finger and finally lets the child float freely.
Can you think of other ways of scaffolding preschoolers to help them reach
optimum cognitive and language development?

Jerome Bruner’s Discovery Learning

Bruner's constructivist theory suggests it is

effective when faced with new material to follow a
progression from enactive to iconic to symbolic
representation; this holds true even for adult learners.
Bruner's work also suggests that a learner even of a
very young age is capable of learning any material so
long as the instruction is organized appropriately, in
sharp contrast to the beliefs of Piaget and other stage
theorists.

Bruner's Three Modes of Representation

In his research on the cognitive development of children (1966), Jerome

Bruner proposed three

 Enactive representation (action-

based)

19
  Iconic representation (image-based)
 Symbolic representation (language-based)

Modes of representation are the way in which information or knowledge are

stored and encoded in memory. Rather than neat age-related stages (like Piaget),
the modes of representation are integrated and only loosely sequential as they
"translate" into each other.

Enactive (0 - 1 years)

This appears first. It involves encoding action based information

and storing it in our memory. For example, in the form of movement as a
muscle memory, a baby might remember the action of shaking a rattle.

The child represents past events through motor responses, i.e., an

infant will “shake a rattle” which has just been removed or dropped, as if the
movements themselves are expected to produce the accustomed sound. And
this is not just limited to children.

Many adults can perform a variety of motor tasks (typing, sewing a

shirt, operating a lawn mower) that they would find difficult to describe in
iconic (picture) or symbolic (word) form.

Iconic (1 - 6 years)

This is where information is stored visually in the form of images (a

mental picture in the mind’s eye). For some, this is conscious; others say they
don’t experience it. This may explain why, when we are learning a new
subject, it is often helpful to have diagrams or illustrations to accompany the
verbal information.

Symbolic (7 years onwards)

This develops last. This is where information is stored in the form of a

code or symbol, such as language. This is the most adaptable form of
representation, for actions & images have a fixed relation to that which they
represent. Dog is a symbolic representation of a single class.

Symbols are flexible in that they can be manipulated, ordered,

classified etc., so the user isn’t constrained by actions or images. In the
symbolic stage, knowledge is stored primarily as words, mathematical
symbols, or in other symbol systems.

The Importance of Language

Language is important for the increased ability to deal with abstract concepts.
Bruner argues that language can code stimuli and free an individual from the
constraints of dealing only with appearances, to provide a more complex yet flexible
cognition.

20
 The
use of
words
can
aid
the

development of the concepts they represent and can remove the constraints of the
“here & now” concept. Bruner views the infant as an intelligent & active problem
solver from birth, with intellectual abilities basically similar to those of the mature
adult.

Educational Implications

For Bruner (1961), the purpose of education is not to impart knowledge, but
instead to facilitate a child's thinking and problem-solving skills which can then be
transferred to a range of situations. Specifically, education should also develop
symbolic thinking in children.

In 1960, Bruner's text, The Process of Education was published. The main
premise of Bruner's text was that students are active learners who construct their
own knowledge.

Bruner (1960) opposed Piaget's notion of readiness. He argued that schools

waste time trying to match the complexity of subject material to a child's cognitive
stage of development. This means students are held back by teachers as certain
topics are deemed too difficult to understand and must be taught when the teacher
believes the child has reached the appropriate state of cognitive maturity.

Bruner (1960) adopts a different view and believes a child (of any age) is
capable of understanding complex information: 'We begin with the hypothesis that
any subject can be taught effectively in some intellectually honest form to any child
at any stage of development.' (p. 33)

Bruner (1960) explained how this was possible through the concept of the
spiral curriculum. This involved information being structured so that complex ideas
can be taught at a simplified level first, and then re-visited at more complex levels
later on.

Therefore, subjects would be taught at levels of gradually increasing

difficultly (hence the spiral analogy). Ideally, teaching his way should lead to children
being able to solve problems by themselves.

21
 Bruner (1961) proposes that learners’ construct their own knowledge and do
this by organizing and categorizing information using a coding system. Bruner
believed that the most effective way to develop a coding system is to discover it
rather than being told it by the teacher. The concept of discovery learning implies
that students construct their own knowledge for themselves (also known as a
constructivist approach).

The role of the teacher should not be to teach information by rote learning,
but instead to facilitate the learning process. This means that a good teacher will
design lessons that help students discover the relationship between bits of
information. To do this a teacher must give students the information they need, but
without organizing for them. The use of the spiral curriculum can aid the process of
discovery learning.
The Information-Processing Theory (IPT)

Cognitive psychology sees the individual as a processor of information, in

much the same way that a computer takes in information and follows a program to
produce an output. Sensory impressions go in; behavior comes out.

Information Processing
Theory is an approach to the
study of cognitive development
by observing and analyzing the
mental processes involved in
perceiving and handling
information. Cognitive
psychologists who take this
approach study how people acquire remember, and use information through
manipulation of symbols or mental images.

Computer - Mind Analogy

The development of the computer in the 1950s and 1960s had an important
influence on psychology and was, in part, responsible for the cognitive approach
becoming the dominant approach in modern psychology (taking over from
behaviorism).

The computer gave cognitive psychologists a metaphor, or analogy, to which

they could compare human mental processing. The use of the computer as a tool for
thinking how the human mind handles information is known as the computer
analogy.

Essentially, a computer codes (i.e., changes) information, stores information,

uses information, and produces an output (retrieves info). The idea of information
processing was adopted by cognitive psychologists as a model of how human
thought works.

For example, the eye receives visual information and codes information into
electric neural activity which is fed back to the brain where it is “stored” and
“coded”. This information can be used by other parts of the brain relating to mental

22
activities such as memory, perception, and attention. The output (i.e. behavior)
might be, for example, to read what you can see on a printed page.

Hence the information processing approach characterizes thinking as the

environment providing input of data, which is then transformed by our senses. The
information can be stored, retrieved and transformed using “mental programs”, with
the results being behavioral responses.

The Memory Process

1. Encoding (or registration): the process of receiving, processing, and

combining information. Encoding allows information from the outside world to
reach our senses in the forms of chemical and physical stimuli. In this first
stage we must change the information so that we may put the memory into
the encoding process.
2. Storage: the creation of a permanent record of the encoded information.
Storage is the second memory stage or process in which we maintain
information over periods of time.
3. Retrieval (or recall, or recognition): the calling back of stored
information in response to some cue for use in a process or activity. The third
process is the retrieval of information that we have stored. We must locate it
and return it to our consciousness. Some retrieval attempts may be effortless
due to the type of information.

Problems can occur at any stage of the process, leading to anything from
forgetfulness to amnesia. Distraction can prevent us from encoding information
initially; information might not be stored properly, or might not move from short-
term to long-term storage; and/or we might not be able to retrieve the information
once it’s stored.

Types of Memory
1. Sensory Memory. It allows individuals to retain impressions of sensory
information after the original stimulus has ceased. One of the most common
examples of sensory memory is fast-moving lights in darkness: if you’ve ever
lit a sparkler on New Year’s eve or watched traffic rush by at night, the light
appears to leave a trail. This is because of “iconic memory,” the visual
sensory store. Two other types of sensory memory have been extensively
studied: echoic memory (the auditory sensory store) and haptic memory (the
tactile sensory store). Sensory memory is not involved in higher cognitive
functions like short- and long-term memory; it is not consciously controlled.
The role of sensory memory is to provide a detailed representation of our
entire sensory experience for which relevant pieces of information are
extracted by short-term memory and processed by working memory.

2. Short-Term Memory. It is also known as working memory. It holds only a

few items (research shows a range of 7 +/- 2 items) and only lasts for about
20 seconds. However, items can be moved from short-term memory to long-
term memory via processes like rehearsal. An example of rehearsal is when
someone gives you a phone number verbally and you say it to yourself

23
 repeatedly until you can write it down. If someone interrupts your rehearsal
by asking a question, you can easily forget the number, since it is only being
held in your short-term memory.
3. Long-Term Memory. Long-term memories are all the memories we hold
for periods of time longer than a few seconds; long-term memory
encompasses everything from what we learned in first grade to our old
addresses to what we wore to work yesterday. Long-term memory has an
incredibly vast storage capacity, and some memories can last from the time
they are created until we die.

Information Processing Theory: Implication in Early Childhood Cognitive

Development

The Information Processing model is another way of examining and

understanding how children develop cognitively. This model, developed in the 1960's
and 1970's, conceptualizes children's mental processes through the metaphor of a
computer processing, encoding, storing, and decoding data.

By ages 2 to 5 years, most children have developed the skills to focus

attention for extended periods, recognize previously encountered information, recall
old information, and reconstruct it in the present. For example, a 4-year-old can
remember what she did at Christmas and tell her friend about it when she returns to
preschool after the holiday. Between the ages of 2 and 5, long-term memory also
begins to form, which is why most people cannot remember anything in their
childhood prior to age 2 or 3.

Part of long-term memory involves storing information about the sequence of

events during familiar situations as "scripts". Scripts help children understand,
interpret, and predict what will happen in future scenarios. For example, children
understand that a visit to the grocery store involves a specific sequences of steps:
Dad walks into the store, gets a grocery cart, selects items from the shelves, waits in
the check-out line, pays for the groceries, and then loads them into the car. Children
ages 2 through 5 also start to recognize that there are often multiple ways to solve a
problem and can brainstorm different (though sometimes primitive) solutions.

Between the ages of 5 and 7, children learn how to focus and use their
cognitive abilities for specific purposes. For example, children can learn to pay
attention to and memorize lists of words or facts. This skill is obviously crucial for
children starting school who need to learn new information, retain it and produce it
for tests and other academic activities. Children this age have also developed a
larger overall capacity to process information. This expanding information processing
capacity allows young children to make connections between old and new
information. For example, children can use their knowledge of the alphabet and
letter sounds (phonics) to start sounding out and reading words. During this age,
children's knowledge base also continues to grow and become better organized.

Metacognition, "the ability to think about thinking", is another important

cognitive skill that develops during early childhood. Between ages 2 and 5 years,
young children realize that they use their brains to think. However, their
understanding of how a brain works is rather simplistic; a brain is a simply a
container (much like a toy box) where thoughts and memories are stored. By ages 5

24
to 7 years, children realize they can actively control their brains, and influence their
ability to process and to accomplish mental tasks. As a result, school-age children
start to develop and choose specific strategies for approaching a given learning task,
monitor their comprehension of information, and evaluate their progress toward
completing a learning task. For example, first graders learn to use a number line (or
counting on their fingers) when they realize that they forgot the answer to an
addition or subtraction problem. Similarly, children who are learning to read can start
to identify words (i.e., "sight words") that cannot be sounded out using phonics (e.g,
connecting sounds with letters), and must be memorized.

Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences

The theory of multiple intelligences

was first proposed by Howard Gardner
in his 1983 book “Frames of Mind”,
where he broadens the definition of
intelligence and outlines several
distinct types of intellectual
competencies. He proposed that
people are not born with all of the
intelligence they will ever have.

This theory challenged the

traditional notion that there is one single type of intelligence, sometimes known as
“g” for general intelligence, that only focuses on cognitive abilities. To broaden this
notion of intelligence, Gardner introduced eight different types of intelligences
consisting of: Logical/Mathematical, Linguistic, Musical, Spatial, Bodily-Kinesthetic,
Naturalist, Interpersonal, and Intrapersonal. Gardner notes that the linguistic and
logical-mathematical modalities are most valued in school and society.

These intelligences are further discussed in the matrix below.

Intelligence Characteristics Adult Roles

1. Verbal-linguistic  Involves sensitivity to spoken and Novelist, lecturer, lawyer,

written language, the ability to use lyricist
language in a number of ways

2. Logical-  Consists of the capacity to analyze Mathematician, physicist

mathematical problems logically, carry out
mathematical operations, and
investigate issues scientifically

 The ability to reason and recognize

patterns

3. Visual-spatial  Involves the potential to recognize Architect, engineer,

and use the patterns of wide space mechanic, navigator,
and more confined areas. sculptor, chess player

25
 Intelligence Characteristics Adult Roles

 The ability to see the world and re-

create it

4. Bodily-kinesthetic  Entails the potential of using one’s Dancer, athlete, mime,

whole body or parts of the body surgeon

 The ability to coordinate bodily

movements

 The ability to use the body and

hands skillfully

5. Musical-rhythmic  Involves skill in the performance, Musician, composer, singer

composition, and appreciation of
musical patterns. It encompasses
the capacity to recognize and
compose musical pitches, tones,
and rhythms.

 The ability to perceive the world

through its rhythm

6. Interpersonal  Capacity to understand the Teacher, counselor,

intentions, motivations and desires therapist, clergy, political
of other people leaders,salesperson

 The ability to notice and respond to

other people’s needs

7. Intrapersonal  Entails the capacity to understand Mystics, entrepreneurs,

oneself, to appreciate one’s feelings, therapists
fears, and motivations

 The ability to understand one’s own

feelings

8. Naturalist  The ability to understand the natural Environmentalists,

world including plants, animals, and ecologists, agriculturists,
scientific studies farmers

Robert Sternberg’s Triarchic Model of Intelligence

Sternberg has formulated a triarchic theory of

intelligence, which, as the term triarchic implies proposes that
intelligence consists of three main parts:

1. Componential – It is the analytical aspect of intelligence.

It determines how efficiently people process information. It refers to the
mental abilities most closely related to success on conventional IQ and
achievement tests.

26
 2. Experiential – It is the insightful aspect of intelligence.
It encompasses creativity and insight. Our experiences
increase our ability to deal with novel tasks and to
make information processing more automatic. In other
words, there are times when our intelligence must deal
with novelty, with new conceptual systems—times
when our traditional mode of intellectual functioning is
inadequate. For example, reading about an electric
motor doesn’t mean you can repair it. You must
experience the novelty of actually taking it apart and putting it together
again. These situations demand creative responses.

3. Contextual – It is also called practical

intelligence, which some might equate
with common sense or “street smarts”.
People with high contextual intelligence
are survivors who capitalize on their
strengths and compensate for their
weaknesses. They either adapt well to
their environment, change the
environment to help them succeed, or if
necessary, find a new environment. People who have succeeded in spite of
hardships and adverse circumstances probably have a great deal of
contextual intelligence.

Learning and the Brain

From birth to age 5, a child’s brain develops more than at any other time in life. And
early brain development has a lasting impact on a child’s ability to learn and succeed
in school and life. The quality of a child’s experiences in the first few years of life –
positive or negative – helps shape how their brain develops.

90% of Brain Growth Happens Before Kindergarten

At birth, the average baby’s brain is about

a quarter of the size of the average adult brain.
Incredibly, it doubles in size in the first year. It
keeps growing to about 80% of adult size by age
3 and 90% – nearly full grown – by age 5.
The brain is the command center of the
human body. A newborn baby has all of the brain
cells (neurons) they’ll have for the rest of their
life, but it’s the connections between these cells
that really make the brain work. Brain connections enable us to move, think,
communicate and do just about everything. The early childhood years are crucial for
making these connections. At least one million new neural connections (synapses)
are made every second, more than at any other time in life.
Different areas of the brain are responsible for different abilities, like
movement, language and emotion, and develop at different rates. Brain development

27
builds on itself, as connections eventually link with each other in more complex
ways. This enables the child to move and speak and think in more complex ways.
The early years are the best opportunity for a child’s brain to develop the
connections they need to be healthy, capable, successful adults. The connections
needed for many important, higher-level abilities like motivation, self-regulation,
problem solving and communication are formed in these early years – or not formed.
It’s much harder for these essential brain connections to be formed later in life.

How Brain Connections Are Built

Starting from birth, children develop brain
connections through their everyday experiences. They’re
built through positive interactions with their parents and
caregivers and by using their senses to interact with the
world. A young child’s daily experiences determine which
brain connections develop and which will last for a
lifetime. The amount and quality of care, stimulation and interaction they receive in
their early years makes all the difference.

Caring, Responsive Relationships

A child’s relationships with the adults in their life are the most important
influences on their brain development. Loving relationships with responsive,
dependable adults are essential to a child’s healthy development. These relationships
begin at home, with parents and family, but also include child care providers,
teachers and other members of the community.
From birth, young children serve up invitations to engage with their parents
and other adult caregivers. Babies do it by cooing and smiling and crying. Toddlers
communicate their needs and interests more directly. Each of these little invitations
is an opportunity for the caregiver to be responsive to the child’s needs. This “serve
and return” process is fundamental to the wiring of the brain. Parents and caregivers
who give attention, respond and interact with their child are literally building the
child’s brain. That’s why it’s so important to talk, sing, read, and play with young
children from the day they’re born, to give them opportunities to explore their
physical world, and to provide safe, stable, and nurturing environments.

APPLICATION & ASSESSMENT

1. Describe the preschoolers’ behaviors reflecting the following preoperational
cognitive limitation:
a. Animism
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

b. Egocentrism

28
 ____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

c. Centration
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

d. Irreversibility
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

e. transductive reasoning
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________

2. Fill in the matrix and identify developmental practices that can either enhance
or hamper early childhood cognitive development.

Cognitive Development Developmentally Developmentally

appropriate practices inappropriate practices
symbolic thinking

language

attention

29
 memory function

metacognition

Multiple Choice: Choose the letter of the correct answer. Write your answers
before the number of the test item.

_____1. Temporary support that is tailored to a learner's needs and abilities and
aimed at helping the learner master the next task in a given learning
process.
A. mentoring B. tutoring C. scaffolding D. coaching

_____2. Piaget's term for children's tendency to think about the world entirely from
their own personal perspective.
A. egocentrism B. animism
C. centration D. transductive reasoning

_____3. Frank doesn’t have a high IQ as required on standardized intelligence tests,

but he is well aware of his strengths and weaknesses. He chooses jobs that
suit his strengths and is particularly skilled at adapting to any changes in his
environment. Frank likely has high ___ intelligence as defined in the
triarchic theory.
A. componential B. analytical
C. experiential D. contextual

_____4. Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of preoperational thinking?

A. It is irreversible B. It is egocentric
C. It involves abstract reasoning D. It involves transductive reasoning

_____5. Which of the following definitions falls within the category of interpersonal
intelligence?
A. Sensitivity to the sounds, rhythms and meanings of words and different
functions of language
B. The ability to control body movements and to handle objects skillfully
C. Access to one’s own feelings and the ability to discriminate among them
and draw on them to guide behaviour; knowledge of strengths and
weaknesses
D. The capacity to discern and respond appropriately to the moods,
temperament, motivations and desires of other people

30
 REFERENC
ES
Corpus, Brenda B., et. al. (2018). The Child and Adolescent Learners and Learning
Principles. Lorimar Publishing, Inc.: Cubao, Quezon City, Metro Manila

Marenus, M. (2020, June 09). Gardner's theory of multiple intelligencesy. Simply

Psychology. https://www.simplypsychology.org/multiple-intelligences.html

McLeod, S. A. (2019, July 11). Bruner - learning theory in education. Simply

Psychology. https://www.simplypsychology.org/bruner.html

McLeod, S. A. (2008, October 24). Information processing. Simply Psychology.

https://www.simplypsychology.org/information-processing.html

Papalia, Diane E., et. al. (2001). Human Development, 8th edition. McGraw-Hill
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article/12757-early-childhood-cognitive-development-introduction

https://www.gracepointwellness.org/462-child-development-parenting-early-3-7/
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 UNIT III. EARLY CHILDHOOD: THE
PRESCHOOL YEARS
Lesson 3. Language development
0.5 week - 1.5 hours

INTRODUCTI
ON

O ver the first three years of life, children develop a spoken vocabulary of
between 300 and 1,000 words, and they are able to use language to learn
about and describe the world around them. By age five, a child's vocabulary will
grow to approximately 1,500 words. Five-year-olds are also able to produce five-to

32
seven-word sentences, learn to use the past tense, and tell familiar stories using
pictures as cues. Language is a powerful tool to enhance cognitive development.
Using language allows the child to communicate with others and solve problems. By
age eight, children are able to demonstrate some basic understanding of less
concrete concepts, including time and money.
Language refers to all forms of communication. This includes auditory
language, such as speaking and listening, as well as written language, which involves
writing and reading. Language can also include body language like facial expressions
and other non-verbal movements that express meaning.

LEARNING
OUTCOMES

At the end of this module, you should be able to:

 describe the unfolding of language among preschoolers.
 discuss the factors contributing to language development.
 determine ways of enhancing language development in early childhood.

ACTIVIT LET’S LEARN FROM THE “EXPERT”

Y

Look for a mother of a preschooler who is hands-on in

taking care of her child. She may be a member of your
family or someone in the neighborhood. Make sure that
she is a willing informant to answer the following
questions:
1. What were the first one-word utterances of the child and
when did this happen?

2. When did the child begin to communicate in more or less

complete sentences?

3. What factors would you consider as having contributed to the

child’s language development? Briefly describe how.

PLEASE WRITE YOUR ANSWERS ON A SEPARATE PAPER..

33
 ANALY
SIS

Based on your interview responses, what’s your takeaway lessons regarding

language development during the preschool years?
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________.

ABSTRACTI
ON
Stages of Language Development from 2-7 years old

Preschoolers are full of questions and language

development is a critical part of their development.

It supports the child’s ability to communicate, and

express and understand feelings. It also supports
thinking and problem-solving, and developing and
maintaining relationships. Learning to understand,
use and enjoy language is the critical first step in
literacy, and the basis for learning to read and write.

34
At 2-3 years old, the child can speak in longer, more complex sentences now, and is
getting better at saying words correctly. The child might play and talk at the same
time. Strangers can probably understand most of what the child says by the time the
child is three.

By the time the child reaches 3-5 years old, you can expect longer, more abstract
and more complex conversations now. For example, the child might say things like,
‘Will I grow into a watermelon because I swallowed the watermelon seed?’
The child will probably also want to talk about a wide range of topics, and vocabulary
will keep growing. The child might show understanding of basic grammar, as they
experiment with more complex sentences that have words like ‘because’, ‘if’, ‘so’ or
‘when’. And you can look forward to some entertaining stories too.

During the early school years (5-8 years old), the child will learn more words and
start to understand how the sounds within language work together. The child will
also become a better storyteller, as they learn to put words together in different
ways and build different types of sentences. These skills also let the child share ideas
and opinions. By eight years, the child will be able to have adult-like conversations.

Vocabulary
At 3,the average child knows and can use 900 to 1,000 words. By age 6, a
child typically has an expressive (speaking) vocabulary of about 2,600 words and
understands more than 20,000. With the help of formal schooling, a child’s passive
or receptive vocabulary (words the child well understands) will quadruple .
The rapid expansion of vocabulary may occur through fast mapping. Fast
mapping is process by which a child absorbs the meaning of a new word after
hearing it once or twice in conversation. From the context, children seem to form a
quick hypothesis about the meaning of the word, which is then refined with further
exposure and usage.

Grammar and Syntax

The ways children combine syllables into words and words into sentences
grow increasingly sophisticated during this stage. This can be attributed to their
understanding of grammar and syntax. Grammar refers to the deep understanding
of a language that allows us both to produce and understand utterances. Syntax is
a related concept and involves the rules for putting together sentences in a particular
language.
At age 3, children begin to use plurals, possessives , and past tense and
know the difference between I, you, and we. They can ask and answer what and
where questions. However, their responses are usually short, simple, and
declarative.
Between ages 4 and 5, sentences average four to five words and may be
declarative, negative, interrogative or imperative. Children in this age may tend to
string sentences together in long run-on stories.

35
 By age 5-7, children’s speech has become quite adultlike. They speak in
longer and complicated sentences. They use more conjunctions, prepositions, and
articles. They use compound and complex sentences and can handle all parts of
speech.
Still, although children this age can speak fluently, comprehensibly, and fairly
grammatically they still need to master many fine points of the language.

Pragmatics and Social Speech

Language is a social process. As children learn grammar, syntax and
vocabulary, they also become more competent in pragmatics. Pragmatics involves
the practical knowledge of how to use language to communicate.
Pragmatics is related to the theory of mind because to understand how to use
language socially, you have to be able to put yourself in another person’s shoes. This
includes knowing to ask for things, how to story tell or make a joke, how to initiate
and end a conversation, and how to adjust comments to the listener’s perspective.
These are all aspects of the social speech, speech which is intended to be
understood by the listener.
With marked improvement in pronunciation and grammar, it becomes easier
for others to understand the child. The child desires to be understood and to
understand what others are saying.
There is also private speech or talking to oneself with no intent of
communicating with others. It is normal and common among children. Vygotsky
considered it as a special form of communication.

Theories of Language Development

In the preceding unit on the prenatal period, infancy, and toddlerhood, a

discussion of the different theories was put forward. It highlighted the learning
theory, the social learning theory, and the nativist theory.
In addition to these, there is the so-called
critical period in language development. Children
who are not exposed to language early in their lives
will likely never learn one. Case studies, including
Victor the “Wild Child,” who was abandoned as a
baby in France and not discovered until he was 12,
and Genie, a child whose parents kept her locked in
a closet from 18 months until 13 years of age, are
(fortunately) two of the only known examples of
these deprived children. Both of these children
made some progress in socialization after they were
rescued, but neither of them ever developed language. It is for this reason to
determine quickly if a child has hearing impairment. The delay in exposing the child
to sign language during their early years will likely never learn it. The concept of
Victor, the Wild Child
Victor the Wild Child
36
critical periods highlights the importance of both nature and nurture for language
development.

Another view , the social pragmatics emphasizes the very social nature of
human language. Language from this view is not only a cognitive skill, but also a
social one. Language is a tool humans use to communicate, connect to, influence,
and inform others. Most of all, language comes out of a need to cooperate. The
social nature of language has been demonstrated by a number of studies that have
shown that children use several pre-linguistic skills (such as pointing and other
gestures) to communicate not only their own needs, but what others may need. So a
child watching her mother search for an object may point to the object to help her
mother find it.

Factors Affecting Development

As young children are forming their own grasp on language, there are
several factors that might influence development. Children between the ages of two
and five are especially vulnerable to these influences, so it's important for parents
and caregivers to be aware of them.
These factor include:

1. Health and physical development. Illness can affect hearing which, in turn,
will cause problems with understanding spoken language or other auditory
cues. Hearing problems can, in turn, affect speech development. Children
who are ill also lack enthusiasm to speak and communicate non-verbally. This
can hinder development of language and communication.

2. Environment. It's important that developing children be immersed in a

language rich environment. Children who are spoken to and read to are more
likely to want to speak and learn to read. Social environment can be a
hindrance to language development when there is a lack of example on
which children can base their understanding of language and all that it
entails.

3. Cognitive ability. It has been suggested that there's a correlation between

intelligence and early speech. Children who pick up on the language early
show an increased level of cognitive development. They tend to develop early
use of proper sentence structure and strong vocabulary

4. Learning & maturation. Language development depends a great deal on

learning and maturation. With the increase in age the vocal cord of the child
matures and learning also increases. By the interaction of these two factors
language develops.

37
 5. Shyness. Temperament differs. Shy children have significantly slower
development of expressive and receptive language.Shyness limits vocabulary
and other language skills development. The reticent nature of shy children
also limits their participation in social interactions and practices of the
acquired skills.

6. Socio-economic status. Socio-emotional problems and lower quality of life can

lead to receptive and expressive language delays and disorders. The number
of family members can also be a factor to consider. If the child is an only
child, undivided attention may be directed to him or her. The more members
there are can also reduce the amount of interaction with the children.

7. Sex. During the first year of life, the effect of sex is not observed in language
development. But from the second year, girls show better speech
development than boys. Girls likewise show greater mastery of speech
sounds and talk fluently than boys.

8. Relationship with family members. The relationship of the child with his
family members has lasting and enduring effect on his speech development.
Excessive love and over protection of parents on the one hand and faulty
child rearing practices, careless handling of the child, lack of proper
parenting, continued and constant tension between parents and children,
particularly mother and children lead to tension, anxiety and emotional
problems.

9. Mass media /social media. Many parents now use the television, gadgets, and
various social applications as substitute caregivers. Children learn from what
they see and hear and it is no surprise that a Filipino child might be mistaken
as native English speaker because of YouTube and the like.

It is best remembered that early verbal language competence is known to be

strongly linked to the development of the child’s literary skills and reading abilities.

APPLICATION & ASSESSMENT

DYADIC ENCOUNTER

At the start of the lesson you interviewed the mother of a preschooler.

This time you will involve the child in a dyadic encounter through
storytelling.

38
Choose a Hiligaynon short story or make your own story. Arrange for a
time that would allow you to tell this to the child. You can be as animated
as you like assuming the role of a storyteller. At the end of the narration,
ask the child to give the following:
1. Favorite character in the story and why.
2. Short summary of the story.
3. Lesson learned from the story.

Make a two-paragraph report of this encounter.

______________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

What’s your answer? Please write your answers on your notebook.

1. The vocabulary of preschool children consists primarily of
A. metaphors. B. self-created words.
C. abstract nouns. D. verbs and concrete nouns.
2. Private speech can be described as
A. a way of formulating ideas to oneself.
B. fantasy.
C. an early learning difficulty.
D. the beginnings of deception.
3. Compared to their rate of speech development, children’s understanding of
language develops
A. more slowly. B. at about the same pace.
C. more rapidly. D. more rapidly in some cultures.

4. Through this process called fast mapping, children

A. Immediately assimilate new words by connecting them through their
assumed meaning to categories of words already mastered.
B. Acquire the concept of conservation at an earlier age than Piaget believed.
C. Are able to move beyond egocentric thinking.
D. Become skilled in the pragmatics of language.
5. During the preschool years, the learning of new words tends to follow the
sequence:
A. Verbs, followed by nouns, then adjectives, adverbs, and interrogatives.
B. Nouns, followed by verbs, then adjectives, adverbs, and interrogatives.
C. Adjectives, followed by verbs, then nouns, adverbs, and interrogatives.

39
 D. Interrogatives, followed by nouns, then verbs, adjectives, and adverbs.

6. Discuss possible explanations for differences in the language development of

children during the preschool years.
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

REFEREN
CES
Corpuz, Brenda B et al. (2010) Child and Adolescent Development: Looking at
Learners at Different Life Stages. Quezon City: Lorimar Publishing, Inc.
Corpuz, Brenda B et al. (2018) The Child and Adolescent and Learning Principles .
Quezon City: Lorimar Publishing, Inc.
Martorell, Gabriela. (2018). A child’s world: Infancy through adolescence. U.S.A:
McGraw-Hill Education.
Obiweluozzo, Enuma & Melefa, Omotosho Moses. (2014). Strategies for Enhancing
Language Development as a Necessary Foundation for Early Childhood
Education. Journal of Education and Practice. 5.
https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionsandtreatments/teeth-
development-in children#:~:text=first%20molars
%20%E2%80%93%20between%20six%20 and,between%20nine%20and
%2013%20years
https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-lifespandevelopment/chapter/theories-of-
language-development/
https://raisingchildren.net.au/babies/development/language-development/language-
3-12-months
https://raisingchildren.net.au/babies/development/language-development/language-
development-0-8
https://study.com/academy/lesson/factors-influencing-language-literacy-
development-in-early-childhood.html
https://www.worksafe.vic.gov.au/early-childhood-education-and-care-safety-basics

UNIT III. EARLY CHILDHOOD: THE

PRESCHOOL YEARS
Lesson 4: Socio-emotional and moral development
(1.5 weeks or 4.5 hours)

INTRODUCTI
ON
40
A tremendous amount of social, emotional and moral development takes place
during early childhood. As kids experience temper tantrums, mood swings, and
an expanding social world, they must learn more about their emotions as well as
those of other people. Children also grow in their ability to tell the difference
between moral rules, social norms, and personal choices.

Emotional development and social skills are essential for school readiness.
Examples of such abilities include paying attention to adult figures, transitioning
easily from one activity to the next, and cooperating with other kids. Children at this
age can also be very possessive and have difficulty sharing. Learning to get along
with other children is an essential skill, however. In just a few short years, these
children will go from spending most of their time with family and close friends to
spending a large chunk of the day interacting, learning, and playing with other kids
at school.

During the preoperational stage, young

children also start to understand that they have
a choice between "right" and "wrong". Children's
ability to understand that they can make right or
wrong choices leads to more self-control. Most
children will be able to start delaying self-
gratification (i.e. hold off doing things that will
feel good in the moment) in order to make good
choices. This new moral ability can be cultivated
through positive discipline. Parents can be sure to highlight children's "good choices"
and "bad choices" without labeling the children themselves as "bad" or "good." Thus,
parenting practices and daily discipline have a huge effect on a child's developing
sense of morality.

LEARNING
OUTCOMES

At the end of the lesson, you should be able to:

4. explain the different socio-emotional and moral development theories in early
childhood and their implications to developing age-appropriate activities and
conducive learning environment.

41
 5. compare the different types of play and their value to learning to be able to
provide safe and secure learning environments.
6. discuss the different types of parenting styles and how they affect the
development of children’s emotional and social behavior.

ACTIVI
TY
Observe children in their early childhood years playing in your neighborhood and
note the following:

1. Is there a conversation going on? Describe the conversation that takes place
among and between the children. What are they talking about?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

2. Describe what they are playing/what the play is about

__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

3. Describe the children's interaction. Indicate if they are on their own, working
together or if there is conflict.
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

ANALY
SIS
Answer the following questions:
1. Were the children playing on their own or alone even when they were with
others? Describe.

42
 __________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

2. Were there some children playing together with agreed upon rules and roles?
Describe.
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

3. If you observed conflicts between or among children, how were they resolved?
Did an adult intervene? Or did they manage to resolve it by themselves?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

4. Were the children polite? What polite words (Thank you, sorry, etc.) or gestures
did you observe?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

ABSTRACTI
ON
The observation you did provided you a glimpse of the world of preschoolers.
Read through this lesson and you will surely understand more why they manifested
the social behaviors that you have observed.

Sigmund Freud’s Third Stage of Psychosexual Development

If you recall, we already discussed the 1st and 2nd stages of psychosexual
development which were the oral stage and anal stage. In the oral stage, we learned
that the source of pleasure or gratification was the mouth with activities such as
sucking and swallowing among others. In the anal stage, the child begins to toilet
train, which brings about the child's fascination in the erogenous zone of the anus.
The erogenous zone is focused on the bowel and bladder control. The 3 rd stage
known as the phallic stage will be discussed below.

PHALLIC STAGE (4 to 6 yrs.) – children derive pleasure from

activities associated with stroking and manipulating their sex
organs or genitals. Children at this stage gratify their sex
instinct by fondling their genitals and developing an incestuous
desire for the opposite sex parent.

43
 According to Freud, a 4 year old boy develops an intense sexual longing for
his mother. At the same time, he becomes jealous. If he could have his way, he
would destroy his rival for his maternal affection – his father. Freud called this the
Oedipus Complex. The boy’s incestuous craving for the mother and his growing
resentment toward the father bring him into conflict with his parents, especially the
father. He imagines that his dominant rival is going to harm him, and his fears
concerning what the father may do to him center around harm to genital organs
because they are the source of his lustful feelings. He is afraid that his jealous father
will remove the offending organs. The boys also learns that a girl does not have a
penis, assumes that it was cut off, and worries that his father will castrate him too
and this is called fear of castration or castration anxiety. This conflict is resolved by
the boy’s repression of his sexual desire for the mother and hostility toward the
father. He then fully identifies with his father resulting in his adoption not only of the
appropriate male sex role but also of the father’s moral system.

The female counterpart of

Oedipus Complex is termed as
Electra Complex. This time a
girl is attracted towards her father
and hates her mother. However,
Freud contends that before age 4,
a girl prefers her mother to her
father. Later she exchanges her
original love object, the mother,
for a new object, the father. This
occurs because the girl is disappointed to discover that a boy possesses a protruding
sex organ, the penis. In addition, she blames her mother for her castrated condition
and transfers her love to the father because he possesses the valued organ she
aspires to have. The girls experience what Freud called penis envy- the female
counterpart of castration anxiety in the boy. She imagines that she has lost
something valuable, while the boy is afraid he is going to lose it. This conflict is also
resolved by identifying with the same sex-parent and move calmly to the next stage.

Erik Erikson’s Third Stage of Psychosocial Theory

In our previous unit, we looked into Trust vs. Mistrust,

st
the 1 psychosocial crisis encountered by children from birth to
18 months. During this stage, infants learn to trust that their
caregivers will meet their basic needs. If these needs are not
consistently met, mistrust, suspicion, and anxiety may develop.
We also talked about Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt which
covers 18 months to 3 years. Children at this stage are focused
on developing a sense of personal control over physical skills
and a sense of independence. If children in this stage are encouraged and supported
they are more likely to develop autonomy and if children are criticized, overly
controlled, or not given the opportunity to assert themselves, they begin to feel

44
inadequate in their ability to survive, and may then feel a sense of shame or doubt in
their abilities. This time we move on to Initiative vs. Guilt the 3rd stage of
Psychosocial Development.

INITIATIVE VS. GUILT (3 to 6

years). During this stage, the repertoire
of motor and mental abilities that are
open to children greatly expands.
Children attempt to act grown up and
will try to accept responsibilities that are
beyond their capacity to handle. They
sometimes undertake goals or activities
that conflict with those of their parents
and other family members, and these
conflicts may make them feel guilty. Parents
who give their children freedom in running,
sliding, bike riding, skating, and
roughhousing are allowing them to develop initiative. Parents who curtail his/her
freedom are giving children a sense of themselves as nuisances and inept intruders
in an adult world. Rather than actively and confidently shaping their own behaviors,
such children become passive recipients of whatever the environment brings.

(Basic Virtue: PURPOSE) This is equal to Freud’s phallic stage.

Lawrence Kohlberg’s Moral Development Theory

Kohlberg used the Heinz dilemma, an ethical dilemma

faced by a character named Heinz that was used to assess the
moral reasoning skills of those he asked to respond to it. Having
exhausted every other possibility, Heinz must decide whether to
steal an expensive drug that offers the only hope of saving his
dying wife. The responses became the bases for the formulation
of the theory.

This theory discusses the development of a conscience or acquisition of

values in a particular society. It is also about how children develop a set of values or
principles regarding correct, appropriate or good behavior. Kohlberg believes that
individuals are able to solve more complex problems as their cognitive development
occurs. It means that our ability to choose right from wrong is tied with our ability to
understand and reason logically.

Level One – PRECONVENTIONAL

MORALITY. This is typical of children
up to age nine. It is called

45
preconventional because young children do not understand the conventions or rules
of a society.
 During the preconventional level, a child’s sense of morality is externally
controlled. Children accept and believe the rules of authority figures, such as
parents and teachers, and they judge an action based on its consequences.
Stage One – Punishment-Obedience Orientation
 The physical consequence of an action determines goodness or
badness. Those in authority have superior power and should be
obeyed. One is motivated because of fear of punishment. Punishment
should be avoided by staying out of trouble.
 Judgment about what is right or wrong is based on consequences to
him. If an act incurs punishment, then it is wrong.
Stage Two – Instrumental Relativist/ Mutual Benefit Orientation
 An action is judged to be right if it is instrumental or satisfying one’s
own needs or involve an even exchange. Obeying rules should bring
some sort of benefit in return. “You scratch my back, I’ll scratch
yours.”

BEHAVIORISM OF WATSON AND SKINNER

John B. Watson’s Behaviorism

Watson’s theoretical model was based on Ivan Pavlov's
studies of conditioned reflex: every conduct is a response to a stimulus or to a
complex set of stimulus situations. From birth, a few stimuli elicit definite reactions.
But most behaviors are conditioned; they result from the association of
unconditioned stimuli to other stimuli. According to Watson, unhealthy adult
personalities resulted from habit systems carried over from infancy. Early childhood
was key, and a detailed knowledge of child development was indispensable for
designing a behavioral social technology.
The significance of childhood and child-study for behaviorism is summed up
in Watson's most famous
statement: "Give me a
dozen healthy infants …
and my own specified
world to bring them up in
and I'll guarantee to take
any one at random and
train him to become any
type of specialist I might
select … regardless of his
talents, penchants,
tendencies, abilities,
vocations, and the race of
his ancestors."

Much of Watson’s
research was directed at
distinguishing unlearned
from learned behavior.
Observations of hundreds

46
of babies revealed that sneezing, hiccoughing, crying, erection of penis, voiding of
urine, defecation, smiling, certain eye movements and motor reactions, feeding
responses, grasping, and blinking were unlearned, but that they began to become
conditioned a few hours after birth. Crawling, swimming, and handedness appeared
to be learned. Watson believed that all human emotion was rooted in three reactions
—fear, rage, and love—that were not innate but rather conditioned.

Through a now infamous experiment with a white rat and an 11-month-old

boy named “Little Albert,” Watson conditioned the boy to be afraid of a white rat by
banging on a metal bar loudly with a hammer and frightening him each time he
reached for the animal. Albert quickly became fearful at the sight of the rat alone.
Later, he discovered that Albert subsequently transferred this fear-response reaction
to another stimulus, also becoming afraid of a white rabbit with which he had
previously played. This phenomenon of developing a conditioned emotional response
to a stimulus that is different from but similar to the original stimulus used in
conditioning came to be known as generalization.

It is to be remembered that whenever we take the behaviorist perspective,

the focus is always on the OVERT or OBSERVABLE BEHAVIOR.

Burrhus Frederic Skinner’s Operant Conditioning

According to Skinner, life is a

product of reinforcements. His
entire theoretical system is based on
what he called operant conditioning.
Operant conditioning states that learning
occurs as a result of voluntary responses
that are operating on the environment.
These behavioral responses are either
strengthened (more likely to recur) or
weakened (less likely to recur) depending on
whether the consequences of the
response are favorable (usually as a result of
rewards) or unfavorable (usually as a result of punishment). Unlike classical
conditioning, which depends on the biological responses to some stimulus such as
food (Ivan Pavlov’s dogs salivating at the sight of meat powder), operant
conditioning applies to voluntary responses, which an organism deliberately performs
in order to achieve a desired outcome.
Skinner’s behaviorism assumes that humans are controlled and influenced by
forces in the environment and the external world, not by forces from within. For
example, shy people learned to be shy as a result of experiences they had while
growing up. It follows that modifications in an environment can help a shy person
become more socially oriented.
Skinner used pigeons or rats placed inside a Skinner’s box as part of his
experiments on operant conditioning.

There are key terms to be remembered in line with operant conditioning.

These are:

47
A. Reinforcement - encourages a
desired behavior or response. It may
either be positive or negative.
The intention of using
reinforcement is to INCREASE or
MAINTAIN desirable behavior.
i. Positive reinforcement is
when a pleasant stimulus is
ADDED to increase or
maintain behavior. Example:
Teacher saying Very Good or
praising children’s work in
the classroom may
encourage them to do well
always.
ii.
Negative reinforcement is when an aversive stimulus is REMOVED to
increase or maintain behavior. Example: Teacher refraining from using labels
can encourage participation in the classroom.
B. Punishment - decreases a behavior or response. It can be done by either adding
an aversive stimulus or removing a pleasant stimulus. Both ways can
decrease the chance of a particular behavior. Example: A student who’s
grounded by the parents for coming home very late may not repeat it again.

Reminder: NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT IS NOT PUNISHMENT.

Reinforcement whether positive or negative will increase the behavior or
response in contrast to punishment which will decrease the behavior or
response.
Another enduring and very important theory is the Social Cognitive Theory of
Albert Bandura. We can find this most useful in understanding how behaviors are
developed through the powers of observational learning and imitation.

Albert Bandura’s Social Cognitive/Social Learning

Theory

The social learning theory proposed by Albert

Bandura has become perhaps the most influential theory of
learning and development. While rooted in many of the basic
concepts of traditional learning theory, Bandura believed that
direct reinforcement could not account for all types of
learning.
His theory added a social element, arguing that
people can learn new information and behaviors by watching other people known as
observational learning (or modeling). This type of learning can be used to explain a
wide variety of behaviors.
In observational learning, the consequence of a particular response is
conveyed through physical demonstration, words, or pictures. Bandura emphasized
modeling (the imitation of others’ behavior – and vicarious experience – learning

48
from other’s successes or failures. Imitation involves copying the behavior of the
model one is exposed to.

In Bandura’s classical experiment, children were exposed to models in films.

In one film, the model is rewarded; in another the model is punished; and in the
third; nothing is done with the model. The result showed that children first choose
to imitate the model who was rewarded, the no-consequence model was next, and
the model who was punished was the last choice. People do not just mindlessly
mimic whatever they see. Instead, although people may learn a multitude of
behaviors by observation, they consciously decide which ones to actually copy.

Bandura believed that the imitation of

someone else’s behavior is not a passive process.
Instead, it was an active choice involving four
different mental functions:

1. Attention. This factor was affected mainly

by characteristics of the person being
observed and the situation.
2. Retention. This factor was affected mainly
by the observer’s ability to mentally process
the observed behavior and store it in
memory.
3. Motor reproduction. This factor referred to the observer’s ability to turn
the stored memory into physical action. It also included the person’s capacity
for mentally rehearsing the behavior.
4. Motivation. This factor referred to the observer’s desire or drive to copy the
behavior. Of all the factors, this one had the greatest influence on whether
an observed behavior was actually imitated.

Bandura believed that people are capable of self-reinforcement - they can

teach themselves to act in a certain way by thinking about the potential
consequences of the action. He emphasized the power of self-regulation - people
could control their own behavior by setting personal standards and rewarding
themselves for meeting these self-imposed goals. The centerpiece of social-cognitive
theory is self-efficacy - people’s beliefs about their capability to produce desired
results through their own actions. People with a high sense of self-efficacy approach
difficult tasks as challenges to be met, rather than threats to be avoided. They also
set challenging goals for themselves, and they maintain a strong commitment to
achieving them. When faced with a setback, they quickly recover their confidence
and simply redouble their efforts. This type of outlook leads to personal successes
while reducing stress and decreasing the risk of depression.

By now, you might have realized your role as a teacher and how your
actions/behaviors are carefully watched by the learners and likely copied. You are
models to them who can either directly or indirectly influence their thoughts,
feelings, and actions.

Urie Bronfenbrenner’s Bioecological Theory

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 The final theory for reading and learning is
Bronfenbrenner’s theory. Have you ever seen a Russian
doll? Imagine using this as an analogy. The Russian doll or
babushka is a doll within a doll. It has several layers and
that’s how Urie theorizes our development. We are encased
in different layers or systems that can create an impact on
us. Here’s the theory.

This theory looks at a child’s development within the context of the system of
relationships that form his or her environment. Bronfenbrenner’s theory defines
complex “layers” of environment, each having an effect on a child’s development.
This theory has recently been renamed “bioecological systems theory” to emphasize
that a child’s own biology is a primary environment fueling his/her development. The
interaction between factors in the child’s maturing biology, his/her immediate
family/community environment, and the societal landscape fuels and steers his/her
development. Changes or conflict in any one layer will ripple throughout other layers.
To study a child’s development then, we must look not only at the child and his/her
immediate environment, but also at the interaction of the larger environment as well.
The Bioecological Theory describes the range of interacting influences that
affect a developing person. Every biological organism develops within the context of
ecological systems that support or stifle its growth.

Five Contextual Systems:

1. Microsystem – is a pattern of activities, roles and relationships within a setting,
such as the home, school, workplace, or neighborhood, in which a person
functions on a firsthand, day-to-day basis. Ex. How does a new baby affect the
parents’ lives? How do their feelings and attitudes affect the baby?

2. Mesosystem – is the
interaction of two or
more microsystems that
contain the developing
person. It may include
linkages between home
and school (such as
parent-teacher
conferences), or between
home and workplace
(such as conflicts
between parental and job
responsibilities, or
between the family and
the peer group). Ex. A
child who can
satisfactorily complete a school assignment at home may become tongue-tied
when asked a question about the assignment in class.

50
3. Exosystem – like a mesosystem, consists of linkages between two or more
settings; but in an exosystem, unlike a mesosytem, at least one of these settings
does not contain the developing person and thus affects him or her only
indirectly. Ex. A man who is frustrated on the job may mistreat his child.

4. Macrosystem – consists of overall cultural patterns that embrace all of a

society’s microsystems, mesosystems and exosystems. Ex. Whether a person
lives in a nuclear or extended family household is strongly influenced by a
culture’s macrosytem.

5. Chronosystem – a system that shows effects of time on the microsystem,

exosystem, and macrosystem. Ex. Changes in family patterns (such as the
increase in working mothers in western industrial societies and the decline of the
extended family household in some developing countries are chronosystem
factors.

PLAY IN EARLY CHILDHOOD

Play is the work of the young, and it

contributes to all domains of development;
cognitive, social, motor, and language. Through
play, children stimulate the senses, learn how to
use their muscles, coordinate sight with
movement, gain mastery over their bodies and
acquire new skills. Through pretending, they try
out new roles, cope with uncomfortable
emotions, gain understanding of other people’s
viewpoints, and construct an image of the social
world. They develop problem-solving skills, experience the joy of creativity, and
become more proficient with language.

Play is children’s work. Through play, children learn academic skills like math,
science, reading, language, and literacy. They learn social skills like effective
communication, conflict resolution, and cooperation. Maybe most importantly, they
learn about themselves – they get to know their personalities including their likes
and dislikes, strengths and interests.

Types of Play:
1. Functional Play, the lowest level of play, involving repetitive muscular
movements as such rolling or bouncing a ball.

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2. Constructive Play, involving use of objects or materials to make something
such as a house of blocks or crayon drawing.
3. Pretend Play, also called fantasy play, dramatic play or imaginative play.

Parten’s Development of Play

Researcher Mildred Parten identified these six stages of play that children
progress through. It’s important to note that each child develops at his or her own
pace, so children of the same age may not show exactly the same types of play.

1. Unoccupied – the child appears not to be playing but directs his attention on
anything that interests him.

 Children are relatively still and their play appears scattered. This type of play
builds the foundation for the other five stages of
play. Unoccupied play looks like babies or young
children exploring materials around them without
any sort of organization. This stage allows children to
practice manipulating materials, mastering their self-
control and learning about how the world works.

2. Onlooker – the child spends time watching others

play; may talk to other children but does not play with
them.

 Children who sit back and engagingly watch

other children playing, but do not join in are
onlookers. The active part of their play is watching others. Sometimes it’s easy to
think children engaged in onlooker play might be lonely or scared to engage with
other children, when in fact it is a very normal part of play development. Just as
adults “people watch” at the coffee shop, children learn a lot by watching others.
They learn about the social rules of play and relationships, they explore different
ways of playing or using materials and they learn about the world in general.

3. Solitary Play – The child is completely engrossed in playing and does not seem
to notice other children.

 This type of play occurs when children entertain themselves without any
other social involvement. Children in solitary play may not notice or acknowledge
other children. Adults might worry about children playing alone, but actually
solitary play is very normal. When children engage in solitary play, they are able
to explore freely, master new personal skills like new motor or cognitive skills,
and prepare themselves to play with others.

4. Parallel Play – The child plays with toys similar to those near him, but only plays
beside and not with them.

 This occurs when children play next to each other, but are not really
interacting together. For example, two children may drive cars on the carpet next
to each other, but their play does not actually overlap. In this stage, children are
not really engaging in a social exchange. Think of this stage like a warm up

52
 exercise – children work side by side on the same activity, practicing skills and
learning new methods to engage together.

5. Associative Play – the child plays with others. There is interaction but no task
assignments.

 This type of play signifies a shift in the child. Instead of being more focused
on the activity or object involved in play, children begin to be more interested in
the other players. Associative play allows children to begin practicing what they
have observed through onlooker and parallel play. They can start to use their
newfound social skills to engage with other children or adults during an activity
or exploration.

6. Cooperative Play – the child

plays with others bound by some
agreed rules and roles.

 This is play categorized

by cooperative efforts between
players. Children might adopt
group goals, establish rules for
play. It’s important to remember
cooperation is an advanced skill
and can be very difficult for
young children. Ironically,
cooperative play often involves a
lot of conflict. This is normal. It
is sometimes difficult for young children to share, take turns and negotiate
control in these types of play scenarios. You can support children engaged in
cooperative play by staying close and helping them learn healthy expression of
emotions and teach them problem-solving skills.

Parten found that solitary and parallel play declined with age, whereas
associative and cooperative play became more common. However, all five kinds of
play were observed among children of all ages. Even a nonsocial activity like solitary
play need not be considered “immature” if the child is doing something constructive
such as drawing pictures or completing a puzzle.

PARENTING STYLES

The American psychologist Diana Baumrind produced some of the most well-
known research on parenting styles. Baumrind and many subsequent researchers
focused on two important parts of parenting: responsiveness and demandingness.
According to their work, parents high in responsiveness are attuned and sensitive
to their children’s cues. Responsiveness also includes warmth, reciprocity, clear
communication, and attachment. Parents high in demandingness monitor their
children, set limits, enforce rules, use consistent and contingent discipline, and make
maturity demands. Taken together, these two dimensions create four parenting
styles:

53
 1 authoritative (high demandingness, high responsiveness)

2 authoritarian(high demandingness, low responsiveness)

3 rejecting or neglecting(low demandingness, low responsiveness)

4 permissive or indulgent(low demandingness, high responsiveness).

1) Authoritative or democratic parents value a child’s individuality but also

stress social constraints. They have confidence in their ability to guide children, but
they also respect children’s independent decisions, interests, opinions, and
personalities. They are loving and accepting but also demand good behavior, are
firm in maintaining standards and are willing to impose limited judicious punishment-
even occasional mild spanking when necessary, within the context of a warm,
supportive relationship. Their children apparently feel secure in knowing both that
they are loved and what is expected of them.

2) Authoritarian parents value control and unquestioning obedience. They try to

make children conform to a set of standards of conduct and punish them arbitrarily
and forcefully for violating it. They are more detached and less warm than other
parents. Their children tend to be more discontented, withdrawn and distrustful.

3) Rejecting or neglecting parents rarely set limits or shows positive affection.

Typically, the rejecting/neglecting parent is frequently absent or preoccupied with
social and environmental disruptions (work, divorce, illness, alcoholism, etc.).
Children of
rejecting/neglecting parents
may lack the ability to form
close relationships, feel
unloved, helpless and
isolated. Children may even
develop bitter, hostile and
anxious feelings.

4) Permissive parents
value self-expression and
self-regulation. They consider
themselves resources not
models. They make few

54
 demands and allow children to monitor their own activities as much as possible. They
consult with children about policy decisions and rarely punish. They are warm, non-
controlling and understanding.

APPLICATION &
ASSESSMENT

Discuss and describe the different types of parenting styles and how they affect the
development of children’s emotional and social behavior.

Effect on children’s emotional

Parenting Style Description and social behavior
Authoritarian parenting

Authoritative parenting

55
Permissive parenting

Rejecting or Neglectful
parenting

Multiple Choice: Choose the letter of the correct answer. Write your answers
before the number of the test item or on your notebook.

_____6. Which of the following theories uses terms such as "modelling" and
"imitation" to explain the effects of social media exposure on a person's
behaviour?
A. Psychosexual Development Theory B. Moral Development Theory
C. Theory of Operant Conditioning D. Social Learning Theory

_____7. The ________ complex is to girls as the ________ complex is to boys.

A. Oedipus, Electra B. Electra, Oedipus
C. oral, phallic D. phallic, oral

_____8. Which is true of parallel play?

A. Children sometimes stay in this stage well into the middle school.
B. Even when children advance to associative play they may still engage in
parallel play at times.
C. Children continue parallel play until an adult shows them how to play
with others.
D. Some children never participate in parallel play.

_____9. According to research, the most advantageous parenting style for children’s
development is

56
 A. authoritarian, because children learn boundaries quickly and appreciate
consistency.
B. permissive, because young children need to explore the environment.
C. authoritarian, because it combines the best elements of the permissive
and authoritarian styles.
D. authoritative, because children have boundaries that are reasonable and
justified.

_____10. Bronfenbrenner's ecological theory:

A. states that human beings must respect the environment and cut
pollution.
B. argues that the broad influences of society are more important than
family influence.
C. is a form of psychoanalytic theory.
D. argues that the individual and their environment form integrated
systems which develop together.

REFEREN
CES
Corpus, Brenda B., et. al. (2018). The Child and Adolescent Learners and Learning
Principles. Lorimar Publishing, Inc.: Cubao, Quezon City, Metro Manila

Gines, Adelaida C., et. al. (1998). Developmental Psychology. Rex Book Store, Inc.:
Manila

Hurlock, Elizabeth, B. (1982). Developmental Psychology: A Life-Span Approach,

5th edition. McGraw-Hill: NY

Kail, Robert V., et. al. (2016). Human Development: A Life Span View, 7th edition.
Cengage Learning Asia Pte Ltd: Singapore

Papalia, Diane E., et. al. (2001). Human Development, 8th edition. McGraw-Hill
Companies Inc.: NY

Rathus, Spencer A. (2014). HDEV 3, Student Edition. Wadsworth, Cengage Learning:

USA

Sigelman, Carol K. (1999). Life-Span Human Development, 3rd edition. Brooks/Cole

Publishing Company: USA

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https://www.britannica.com/topic/parenting/Parenting-styles-and-child-outcomes

https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/the_power_of_play_part_1_stages_of_play

https://www.gracepointwellness.org/462-child-development-parenting-early-3-7/
article/12770-early-childhood-moral-development-continued

https://www.verywellmind.com/social-and-emotional-development-in-early-
childhood-2795106

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