Theory of mind
amydangg
belsky5e_lectureslides_ch05.pptxEarly Childhood
Chapter 5
EXPERIENCING THE LIFESPAN
Janet Belsky | Fifth Edition
Setting the Context (part 1)
Stages
Early childhood: age 3 through kindergarten
Middle childhood: elementary school years
Uniquely human social cognitive skills
Complex ability to reflect on own actions
Ability to read mind of others
Setting the Context (part 2)
Age of exploration: Erikson
Early childhood
3 to 6 years
Initiative versus guilt
Involves skill testing
Middle childhood
7 to 12 years
Industry versus inferiority
Following adult reality and working toward desired wants
Setting the Context (part 3)
Principles of physical growth
Cephalocaudal principle
Mass-to-specific principle
Physical Development (part 1)
Two types of physical skills
Fine motor skills
Gross motor skills
Physical Development (part 2)
| At age 2 | At age 4 |
| Picks up small objects with thumb and forefinger, feeds self with spoon | Cuts paper, approximates circle |
| Walks unassisted, usually by 12 months | Walks down stairs, alternating feet |
| Rolls a ball or flings it awkwardly | Catches and controls a large bounced ball across the body |
| At age 5 | At age 6 |
| Prints name | Copies two short words |
| Walks without holding onto railing | Hops on each foot for 1 meter but still holds railing |
| Tosses ball overhand with bent elbows | Catches and controls a 10-inch ball in both hands with arms in front of body |
Physical Development (part 3)
Threats to preschool physical skills
Lack of outdoor play
Internet access
High-tech educational toys
Lack of food; undernutrition
Stunting
Impairment of fine and gross motor skills
Fatigue that limits engagement
Cognitive Development: Piaget
Preoperational thinking
3 to 7 years
Locked into immediate appearances and inability to step back and think conceptually
Concrete operational thinking
8 to 11 years
Marked by ability to logically reason
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Cognitive Development (part 1)
Strange ideas about substances
Conservation tasks
Changing shape of substances to determine if children believe substance shape changes cause amount changes
Conservation types
Number
Mass
Volume or liquid
Matter
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Four Piagetian Conservation Tasks
Cognitive Development (part 2)
Why can’t young children conserve?
Inability to understand reversibility
Using centering to interpret things
Impairs class inclusion
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Cognitive Development (part 3)
How are their perceptions about people different?
Lack of identity constancy
Animistic thinking
Use of artificialism in conceptualization nature
Egocentrism
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Cognitive Development (part 4)
Evaluating Piaget
Minimization of what young children know
Overstatement of their egocentrism
Presence of early mindreading abilities and longer animism
Lack of attention to culture variations in conservation task performance
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Cognitive Development (part 5)
Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development
Child learning occurs best when adult creates instruction that matches child’s capacities
Scaffolding
Adult uses scaffolding to promote independent performance
Education
Education viewed as collaborative, bidirectional learning experience
Interventions: Cognitive Development
Vygotsky
Language scaffolds all learning
Everything learned using inner speech
Becoming an effective scaffolder
Fostering a secure attachment
Breaking a larger cognitive challenge into manageable steps
Continuing support until concept mastered before moving on
See Table 5.5 for a comparison of the Vygotskian and Piagetian perspectives.
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Cognitive Development (part 6)
Language
Developing speech
Phonemes
Morphemes
Syntax (grammar)
Semantics
Overregulation
Over-/underextension
Emotional Development (part 1)
Constructing a personal past
Autobiographical memories involve reflection on life history.
Past-talk conversations are used to scaffold personal child autobiography.
Toddler: parents do remembering
Preschooler: parent–child partnership in mutual stories
Adolescent: memories linked together and construction of life timeline
Emotional Development (part 2)
Making sense of other people’s minds
Theory of mind
Understanding that other people have different perspectives from their own
Typically achieved around age 4 or 5 years (universally)
Measured by false-belief task
In this classic test for theory of mind, children under age 4 are likely to say that Ms. X will look for the toy under the bed, even though Ms. X could not possibly know the toy was moved
to this new location.
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Brain-Imaging Theory-of-Mind and Autobiographical Memory
Thinking about ourselves and decoding other people’s emotions involves distinctive (but closely aligned) brain areas.
This thinking is also influence by worldview.
Separate brain areas light up when reflecting on self, liked or disliked others.
Attitudes about self in relationship to others are mirrors in the brain’s physical architecture.
Theory of mind may be strengthened through specific strategies.
Social Development (part 1)
Play: the work of early childhood
Exercise play
Running and chasing behavior
Exercises physical skills
Rough-and-tumble play
Excited shoving and wrestling
Biologically built into being male
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Social Development (part 2)
Pretending (fantasy play)
Beginning pretending
Emerges in later infancy
Facilitated by mothers
Collaborative pretend play
Starts around age 4
Involves fantasizing together with other child
Can continue until early adolescence
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Social Development (part 3)
Purposes of pretending
Allows adult role practice
Allows sense of control
Furthers social norm understanding
Social Development (part 4)
Girls’ and boys’ play worlds
Gender-segregated play development
Toddlers: limited
Preschoolers: beginning sex-segregated groups
Age 5 or 6: entrenched gender-segregated play and friendships
Gender-segregated play differences
Boys compete in groups and live in more exclusionary, separate, and more rigid world.
Girls play collaboratively in smaller, more intimate groups.
Social Development (part 5)
Causes of gender-stereotyped play
Biology
In utero testosterone levels epigenetically affect DNA to program brain
Socialization
Gender-role displays, social sanctions, and attitudes in wider world
Peer play
Cognitions
Gender schema theory
Social Development: Hot in Developmental Science
Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs)
Impairment in theory of mind
Persistent, severe, widespread social and conversational deficits
Lack of interest in people and their feelings
Repetitive, restricted behavior patterns
Ritualized behavior
Hypersensitivity to sensory input
Fixation on inanimate objects
True or False … What Do You Think?
Vaccinations cause autism spectrum disorders.
