Developmental Psychology

the child was not able to demonstrate conservation, the child believed that the tall glass had more liquid than the small glass just because the tall glass was…taller. • Irreversibility : This is where a child has the inability to understand that actions can be undone and returned to the state it was to begin with. o Classic Irreversibility Experiment : In this experiment, a favorite toy belonging to a child was covered with a blanket. A child may not come to an understanding that the toy is just under the blanket that it had not gone anywhere. This thought is due to the inability to process irreversibility. 5.3 Language and Grammar Psychologist Lev Vygotsky is credited with refining the work of Jean Piaget, in reference to his cognitive development. Vygotsky focused more on a child’s language development and believed that individuals in a child’s life were influential in the development of a child’s language. He also believed that there were very few components that were vital for the development of a child’s language. Below are a couple of examples of Vygotsky’s refining work of Piaget’s works. • Private Speech : The belief that someone talks to themselves and represents externalized thoughts. It was believed that private speech, and the ability to represent externalized thoughts would lead to communication. This eventually became the belief of being inaudible and turned into verbal thoughts. • Zone of Proximal Development : The ZPD showed the difference between what a child can do and what the child needs, on an independent basis. Children tend to learn a bit faster when pushing the boundaries of the ZPD. Children exposed to wider zones have a better ability to learn. It was Vygotsky who proposed that children began to utilize their grammar and language rules in early childhood. Overgeneralization of these rules is often committed by children which in turns into the use of overextension. An example would be pluralizing nouns by adding ‘s’ to the end of all nouns used. Dog becomes dogs and tooth becomes tooths and not teeth. Below is a short list of 5 language components that are of psychological importance. Language Components of Psychological Importance • Semantics: The study of word choices • Phonemes: Sounds/noise • Pragmatics: The language variations in societal contexts • Morphemes: These are basic units of the meaning of words • Syntax: The grammar of language Learning in school, children gain influences that help them learn about language. Education has become vitally important for children during the early years of life. Studies say that the earlier a child starts school or an education elsewhere, they will have better chances at achieving things in life. There are significant components of the quality of preschool education. Some of these things are low student to teacher ratios, staff that goes through regular training and curriculums that tend to focus on using imaginative play to help promote cognitive development.

©2018

Achieve

Page 50

of 128