ADDIS ABABA UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF EDUCATIONAL AND BEHAVORIAL STUDIES

SCHOOL OF PSYCHOLOGY
Understanding Early Childhood Cognitive Development
Group Members‟ ID No
1. Abenezer Shimeles EBE/9186/13
2. Abib Muluwengel EBE/1902/13
3. Rediet Berhan EBE/7473/13
4. Robel Kibrom EBE/0506/13
5. Saron Ashenafi EBE/2491/13
6. Wintana Asaminew EBE/7964/13

Submitted to: Mr. Solomon

Submitted on: MAY, 11/2024

 TABLE OF CONTENT

CONTENTS PAGE

Introduction 2

- Importance of Understanding Early Childhood Cognition

Part 1: Theories of Early Childhood Cognitive Development 3

- Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development

- Vygotsky's Sociocultural Theory
- Information Processing Theory

Part 2: Information Processing in early childhood 5

- Attention
- Memory

Part 3: Major Cognitive Achievements in Early Childhood 6

- Language Development
- Symbolic Play
- Theory of Mind
- Mathematical Thinking

Part 4: Limitations and Challenges in Early Childhood Cognitive Development 7

- Egocentrism and Centration

- Cognitive Developmental Disorders
- Socioeconomic and Cultural Influences
- Strategies for Addressing Cognitive Challenges in Early Childhood

Part 5: Researches on cognitive development in early childhood 10

References 12

Page | 1
INTRODUCTION
„Cognitive functioning changes rapidly during early childhood as a result of brain development
and environmental input. Substantial research supports the idea that brain development is a
prolonged process, with major changes taking place during the preschool years and continuing
into childhood, adolescence and early adulthood (Mungas et al., 2013).‟

The period early childhood is found between year 2 and 5. Also we call it preschool age. This
age is generally characterized by a period of building up interaction and excelled strength. One
of those developmental domains consisted in early childhood is cognitive development./

Understanding this domain and also this period means understanding the key point/ pivotal point
for shaping our children. Or simply it gives as the great opportunity to work on their future. As
we become aware and work on it we are also fixing future problems that a child may feat in
future. So we got this period necessary to be known.

The classifications below are aimed to understand the cognitive development of children in early
childhood in different and necessary aspects. Also on the last chapter we referred some relevant
and useful researches which influence the cognitive development of a child/ children.

Page | 2
 Part 1: Theories of Early Childhood Cognitive Development
Jean Piagets early childhood cognitive development theory
Basic concepts of Piagets Theory

1. Schema: Is structure in our mind that helps us to make sense of environments around us.
Piaget (1970, as cited in Woolfolk, Winne and Perry 2003) as persons thinking processes
become more organized and sophisticated, new schemes develop and behaviour also
become more sophisticated and better suited in the environment.
2. Adaptation: its a process of adjusting a new environment in order to fit in to the
environment. “Changing one‟s cognitive structure or one‟s environment (or both to some
degree)in order to better understand the environment”(Cook&Cook, 2005, p.5-7). It
involve two processes:-
a. Assimilation: incorporating new experiences in to existing schema. „‟Pritchard and
Wollard (2010) assimilation is the collecting and classifying of new information.‟‟
b. Accommodation: changing the existing schemata with new assimilated experience.
“Accommodation refers to the process of changing internal structures of knowledge
in order to have consistency with external reality” (Yang, 2010, p. 203).
3. Equilibration: a process of balancing between assimilation and accommodation to
achieve state of cognitive balance.‟‟ Piaget (1977 as cited in Fajemidagra) contends that
equilibration should be regarded as a process, the search for a better state of
equilibrium.‟‟

Jean Piagets early childhood refers to the period of human cognitive development from birth to
around the age of eight years old. This phase is characterized by rapid growth and development
across various domains, including physical, cognitive, social, and emotional areas. „‟Piaget's
(1936) theory of cognitive development explains how a child constructs a mental model of the
world.‟‟ Piaget proposed four cognitive developmental stages for children: sensorimotor,
preoperational, concrete operational, and the formal operational stage. Our focus will be on
sensorimotor and preoperational stages of development.

Sensorimotor (0 – 2age): According to Piaget children understand their world largely through
their senses for their first 2 years. This stage is characterized by the lack of language and internal
representation. It focuses on the reflexes that the child is born with such as sucking, reaching and
grasping.

Preoperational (2-7age): This stage is characterized by the inability to understand all the
properties of classes, Transductive reasoning, Egocentrism and conservation are characteristics
of this stage.

Limitation: - - Underestimates the Competence of Children

Page | 3
 - Establishes Age Norms Discontinued by the Data
- Characterizes Development Negatively
- Neglects the Role of Social Factors in Development

Vygotskys sociocultural theory

Core principles of socio cultural theory: Children acquire knowledge, skills, and ways of
thinking through social interactions with more knowledgeable others and through the cultural
context in which they live. „‟No human, for instance, born a culturally proficient member it is
necessary to be taught the appropriate cultural practices within the interactions in a society
(Rogoff, 2003).Veresov(2017)‟‟.The fundamental concept of the theory that social relations is
the source of development and development is the process of how the social becomes an
individual.

Zone of proximal development: it‟s a range of task between what a child can do alone and do
with assistant. „‟Means the child began performing the task and can do it with assistance. the
difference between actual level of development as determined by independent problem solving
and the higher level of potential development as determined through problem solving under
guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers (Vygotsky, 1978)‟‟

Scaffolding: is a support provided by parent for the child to accomplish a task.‟‟That is, to
provide learning opportunities, materials, hints, and clues when the child gets stuck (Bruner,
Jolly, & Sylva, 1976)‟‟

Limitation: 1. The ZPD also does not explain the process of development or how development
actually Occurs.

2. The theory does not recognize that individuals can rise above social norms based on their
ability to bring about personal understanding.

3. Mitchell & Myles (2004) claim that most socio-cultural studies of language development
within the ZPD have focused on individual lexical items or morpho syntactic features as found in
traditional grammar.

Information processing theory

How young children absorb, analyse, and store information, similar to how a computer processes
data. „‟The information-processing approach to cognitive development deals with basic questions about
how people acquire, encode, store, and use information (Munakat, 2006).‟‟

Key components of the theory: Encode, Storage and Retrieval

In early childhood: Attention, Memory and Decision Making

Page | 4
Attention: Intentionally attending to a specific stimulus. ‟‟ Improvements in attention are linked to
the maturation of the brain‟s prefrontal cortex and basal ganglia (Nelson, Thomas, & deHaan, 2006).‟‟

Memory: a cognitive function which helps us to retain information.

„‟There is far more to memory than pushing a save button in our minds. The informationprocessing model
identifies three steps in memory processing: sensory memory, working memory, and long-term memory
(Martinez, in press; Pressley & Hilden, 2006‟‟

Limitation: 1. Lack of contextual consideration

2. Not including non - cognitive factors

Part 2: Information processing in early childhood

In a research project by Rose et al., 2001 The battery of tasks was given to each age group during
two visits, the second of which was scheduled two weeks after the first. It was rare that a third
visit was required. The tasks have a preset structure. To increase interest, changes were made to
the surroundings and stimuli. As an illustration, certain duties were given at a table, while others
were given in a booth with three sides. In certain tasks, the stimuli were photographs; in others,
they were computer-generated images or tiny three-dimensional objects. All four age groups
used the same assessments, but the tasks were modified to take age differences into
consideration, avoid floor and ceiling effects, and improve inter-individual variability. The test
and presentation durations were shortened, the learning standards were made more rigorous, and
in certain cases, the stimulus complexity was increased. Based on extensive piloting, changes
were made.

Memory (Recognition and Recall)

Immediate Recognition We assessed infants' ability to recognize faces and colored patterns using
a 10-problem battery developed by Fagan (Fagan & Shepherd, 1989) and a 9-problem battery
developed in our lab (Rose et al., 2001). In these tasks, a stimulus was presented to the newborns
and their recognition of it was assessed by comparing a familiar target with an unfamiliar one.
The objectives of five of the Rose battery's tasks were black-and-white images of faces, while
four of the challenges were colorful abstract patterns. Age-appropriate tasks were given, with test
times decreasing from 10 to 4 seconds and familiarization and task times decreasing from 20 to 5
seconds at 7 months to 5 to 3 seconds at 36 months for Faces and Patterns, respectively.

Delayed Recognition For this task, infants were habituated to three objects sequentially using a
modified infant-controlled technique (Diamond, 1990). The babies were then given a series of
test trials where each habituation object was paired with a fresh one after a brief break. This
habituation-test method was used three times, with one, three, and five-minute breaks between
the test and the habituation, for a total of nine tasks. Babies were exposed to items until they
developed a few blinks (three 3s blinks, or at least 10s of cumulative staring at 7 months, to two

Page | 5
1s blinks, or at least 2s of cumulative staring at 36 months). The infant was in charge of the
habituation process. The novelty scores for each of the nine problems were calculated and
averaged.

Recall Memory; The baby recall was evaluated using elicited imitation (Bauer, 2002). Here, the
child watches the experimenter model three or four event sequences one by one. You "make a
rattle" by setting a small block on a paddle, covering it, and then shaking the paddle to generate
sound. Next, the child receives the props for every event sequence one by one and has fifteen
minutes to mimic the events.

Attention

Look duration, a gauge of attentional efficiency (short looks being related with better attention),
was measured using data from a variety of tasks. The trials from the continuous familiarization
task, the cross-modal transfer test phase, and the familiarization and test phases of the "Fagan"
and "Rose" visual recognition memory tests were among these tasks. Following normalization,
the results of each task were averaged (Rose et al., 2004a; Rose, Feldman, & Jankowski, 2005b).

Shift rate, a measure that takes into consideration both comparison behavior and attentional
efficiency (higher shift rates implying better attention), was computed as the number of changes
between stimuli per second. These measurements were available for all but one of the tasks used
to estimate look length; the outcomes on each task were normalized prior to averaging (Rose et
al., 2004a; Rose, Feldman, & Jankowski, 2005b).

Part 3: Major cognitive achievements in early childhood

1. Language development
- Language development is directly related to According to behaviourist psychology,
language is behaviour. Language development is a gradual process in understanding and
communicating with language through the development of comprehension, grammar, and
vocabulary.
- Understanding Phonology and morphology

Phonology - Phonology refers to the study of the sound system of a language, including the
rules and patterns governing the sounds that make up words. During the preschool years,
most children gradually become more sensitive to the sounds of spoken words and become
increasingly capable of producing all the sounds of their language (Vihman, 2014).

Morphology - The acquisition of morphological rules and patterns, such as adding prefixes
or suffixes to change the meaning or grammatical function of a word. By the time children
move beyond two-word utterances, they demonstrate a knowledge of morphology rules (Park &
others, 2012).

-
Page | 6
 - Changes in Syntax and Semantics

Syntax - refers to the rules governing the structure of sentences and the arrangement of
words to convey meaning in a language. They show a growing mastery of complex rules for how
words should be ordered (O‟Grady, 2013).

Semantics - Semantics refers to the meaning of words and sentences and how they relate to
the real world. One possibility is fast mapping, which involves children‟s ability to make an initial
connection between a word and its referent after only limited exposure to the word (Brady &
Goodman, 2014; Kan, 2014; Trueswell & others, 2013; Woodward, Markman, & Fitzsimmons,
1994).

2. Symbolic play
- It refers to using symbols to stand for something else such as object representation, Role
playing, imaginary friends. Lev Vygotsky (1962) also considered symbolic play to be an
excellent setting for cognitive development.
3. Theory of mind
- Even young children are curious about the nature of the human mind (Buttelmann &
others, 2014; Ronfard & Harris, 2014; Mahy, Moses, & Pfeifer, 2014; Wellman, 2011).
The theory of mind refers to the ability to be aware of own mind process. And also
involves the ability to attribute mental states to oneself and others and to understand that
these mental states influence behaviour. Like understading of desires, false beliefs and
also perspectives. “It is the ability to understand and explain human behavior and social
situations, taking into account people‟s underlying mental states, such as knowledge,
thoughts, beliefs, emotions, desires and intentions (Wellman & Liu, 2004)‟‟
- Although some experts question whether infants have a theory of mind (Rakoczy, 2012)
4. Mathematical thinking
- It refers to the ability to reason, problem-solve, and make sense of mathematical ideas in
everyday experiences. This assumption may apply to academic math, such as long division or
adding fractions, but not to everyday mathematical knowledge, such as ideas about more and less,
taking away or adding to, size, shape, and location (Ginsburg et al., 2006).

Part 4: Limitations and Challenges in Early Childhood Cognitive

Development
Egocentrism and Centration
Early childhood egocentrism is the inclination of young children to believe that their perspective
is the only one that matters. In Piaget's well-
known egocentrism experiment, kids were shown a three
dimensional model of a mountain and asked to describe what they thought a doll might perceive i
f it were viewed from a different [Link] than selecting the doll's perspective, childre
n typically select a picture that reflects their [Link] when kids talk to other people, they usually

Page | 7
 employ different language and sentence patterns depending on whether they are speaking to an o
lder adult or a younger youngster.

Centration is the process of paying complete attention to one aspect of a situation and ignoring
all others. A young toddler concentrating on how many pieces of cake each individual has,
regardless of how big the portions are, is an example of centration. One of the reasons why
young children find it difficult to grasp the notion of conservation is centering.

Ryan Newton(2022). Human Growth and Development.(p.390-393 )

Cognitive Developmental Disorders

Mental and developmental issues during childhood have detrimental effects on children's and
families' social and psychological health. Children's mental health is closely linked to the health
and happiness of those who care for them. Even though mental health issues are a burden on kids
and teenagers, most nations do not offer those in need of care that meets their needs. To
significantly lower the prevalence and burden of kids and developmental problems worldwide, it
is advised that maternal mental health therapies and parenting skills training be widely
implemented, evaluated, and implemented in all nations.

Childhood anxiety disorders, autism, conduct disorder, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder

(ADHD), and intellectual disability (also known as intellectual developmental disorder).

Excessive or inappropriate dread, together with related behavioral problems that limit
performance, are the hallmarks of anxiety disorders (APA 2013). According to Beesdo, Knappe,
and Pine (2009), children with anxiety disorders exhibit clinical symptoms such excessive
anxiety, significant physiological anxiety symptoms, behavioral abnormalities like avoiding
fearful items, and related suffering or impairment.
ADHD is a neurodevelopmental condition that impairs functioning and is characterized by
inattention, disorganization, and hyperactivity or impulsivity (APA 2013). About 20% of people
with ADHD continue to have symptoms into adulthood (Polanczyk and Rohde 2007).

Socioeconomic Status
Socio-economic status refers to the relative position an individual, a family or a group holds
within a societal hierarchy according to its access to or power over valued goods such as wealth
or social recognition and privileges (McLoyd, 1998).

Children from low-income families often have limited access to healthy nutrition, quality
healthcare, and stimulating environments. This can lead to delays in language, problem-solving,
and memory development. Children of families with a low socio-economic status are frequently
at risk of not successfully developing the skills they need to achieve at school (Duncan, Brooks-
Gunn,& Klebanov, 1994; McLoyd, 1998).

Page | 8
A growing body of research on the neuroscience of SES disparities has revealed consistent
associations between SES and cognitive performance, with some neurocognitive systems being
especially sensitive to environmental context related to SES (Farah, 2017; Noble, Norman, &
Farah, 2005). Variability along the socioeconomic status (SES) spectrum is associated broadly
with developmental and cognitive indices, academic achievement and educational outcomes, and
physical and mental health, across the lifespan (Adler & Newman, 2002; Farah, 2017).

Environmental Factors
Exposure to lead, neglect, or abuse can negatively impact cognitive development. Brain
development is rapid in the first years of life, and environmental factors can alter brain
architecture and biological function. As early asgestation and through the first years of life, the
environment (including nutrition, drug ingestion, infection, pollutants and levels of stress)
influences how genes are expressed,and how the brain's architecture and function.

Strategies for Addressing Cognitive Challenges in Early Childhood:

Early Childhood Education: High-quality preschool programs can provide a stimulating

environment with opportunities for social interaction, language development, and cognitive skill
building. e, children who get the access to quality early learning opportunities, have enhanced
cognitive, verbal, and social development, which is maintained into the first few years of school
and enter school better prepared (Barnett, 1995; Entwisle, 1995). ne”. Early childhood education
should have received the similar focus as primary education over the past twenty years because it
lays the foundation for learning and development (UNESCO, 2006).

Nutrition and Healthcare: Ensuring proper nutrition and access to healthcare can address
deficiencies that might hinder development.

Parent training: Programs that equip parents with strategies for promoting cognitive
development at home can be highly beneficial. Parental stimulation involves providing children
with opportunities to develop cognitive skills through enriched interactions including reading to
children (Bradley, McKelvey, & Whiteside-Mansell, 2011).

Social and Emotional Support: Creating a supportive and nurturing environment that addresses
a child's social and emotional needs can indirectly benefit cognitive development.

Part 5: Researches on cognitive development in early childhood

Page | 9
Parenting and psychosocial factors influencing cognitive development of children on early
childhood period.

1. School environment
 The impact of preschool enrolment on cognitive skills.
The study conducted by Ágnes S. Morval and his colleagues, in 2023 they tried examine either
the positive or negative impact of preschool educational programs on cognitive skills of students.
They took 6th, 8th and 10th grade students who had a preschool enrollment, and tried to compare
them with student did not enroll before from same classes. finally they got preschool educational
enrollment will have a significant positive impact on test scores, specifically students having
disadvantaged background had lower results(Ágnes Szabó-Morvai, Daniel Horn, Anna Lovász,
Kristof De Witte, 2023). So they found that cognitive skills in early childhood period are directly
and significantly affected by universal preschool programs.
 Influence of teacher absenteeism and school distance on cognitive skills
This study is conducted in Ghana, by Jacob Nunoo and his colleagues in 2023. They analyzed
cohort group which are aged form 5 to 15 years. The main focuses of this study were the school
distance students travel to come to school and teachers absenteeism as influencing the future
cognitive skills of students. Finally they got both variables, the distance of the school and teacher
absenteeism are determinants of cognitive skill. They stated that teacher absenteeism contributes
to reduced cognitive skill and also the longer distance a student travel to come to school
contributes to reduced cognitive skills. In addition, the got that availability of book access for
students improves their cognitive skill.
2. Parenting
A study conducted to examine the interaction between children‟s sensitivity on executive
functions and parenting in 2014, has showed that executive functioning performance becomes
higher for sensitive children whose parents practice more involved parenting and in opposite side
parents who use corporal punishment, the children‟s sensitivity on executive functioning
becomes lower (Niamh Oeri, Nora Tilda Kunz, Michael Pluess, 2014). No such effects emerged
for less sensitive children. As a result they suggested parenting quality may be strongly related to
executive functioning performance in more sensitive children compared to less sensitive children
(Niamh Oeri, Nora Tilda Kunz, Michael Pluess, 2014).

The influence of technologies on cognitive development

Studies according to technologies (specifically exposure to screen and TV) with relation
to executive functioning, language development and sleep will be discussed in this section. The
executive functioning encompasses the cognitive skills/ abilities such as: adaptable thinking,
planning, self-monitoring, self-control, working memory, time management, and organization.
So we try to identify whether the cognitive development of pre-school children are exposed to
such influences:

Page | 10
 The first study is aimed to investigate the impact of the time preschoolers’ spent with
screen of the day, the type of content and if someone else with them on their sleep, language and
cognition. Finally they got the major findings listed below:
- Longer time spent engaged with entertainment content was associated with
shorter sleep duration and poorer sleep quality,
- Greater screen time also predicted lower communication and problem solving
scores, and more attention difficulties, and
- Engaging in screen content with someone else was associated with poorer
problem solving skills, whereas engaging alone was associated with better
problem solving.
As a conclusion, the findings here indicate that preschoolers largely engage in entertainment
content and this has implications for their sleep even when screen engagement predominantly
occurs during the day. Greater screen time also has implications for cognitive and language
development raising questions about the time children spend on screens that could be spent on
activities that better support development (Emma L. Axelssona, 2022).
The second research was a meta-analysis of relation between executive functioning and screen
time. They synthetically analyzed eligible studies published until January 2023.
Three-level models were carried out, and the following study characteristics were tested as
potential moderators: mean age, percentage of females, EF type, and whether exposure was
active or passive. There was no statistically significant association in the relation between overall
time use and EF or in the chosen moderators (Juan Carlos Bustamante, Bel´ en Fern´ andez-
Castilla, Manuel Alcaraz-Iborra, 2023).

Page | 11
 Reference
- Ágnes Szabó-Morvai, Daniel Horn, Anna Lovász, Kristof De Witte, Universal preschool
and cognitive skills – the role of school starting age as a moderating factor, Early
Childhood Research Quarterly, Volume 64, 2023, Pages 278-289, ISSN 0885-2006,
[Link]
- Niamh Oeri, Nora Tilda Kunz, Michael Pluess, Variability in the relationship between
parenting and executive functions: The role of environmental sensitivity, Cognitive
Development, Volume 70, 2024, 101418, ISSN 0885-2014,
[Link]
- Juan Carlos Bustamante, Belén Fernández-Castilla, Manuel Alcaraz-Iborra, Relation
between executive functions and screen time exposure in under 6 year-olds: A meta-
analysis, Computers in Human Behavior, Volume 145, 2023.
- Ryan Newton(2022). Human Growth and Development.(p.390-393 )
- Bormanaki, H. B., & Khoshhal, Y. (2017). The Role of Equilibration in Piaget's Theory
of Cognitive Development and Its Implication for Receptive Skills: A Theoretical
Study. Journal of Language Teaching & Research, 8(5).
- McLeod, S. (2018). Jean Piaget‟s theory of cognitive development. Simply
psychology, 18(3), 1-9.
- Daneshfar, S., & Moharami, M. (2018). Dynamic assessment in Vygotsky's sociocultural
theory: Origins and main concepts. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 9(3),
600-607.
- Steinberg, L. D. (2011). Lifespan development: Infancy through adulthood. (No Title).
- Zinkovsky, S. B. (2021). Methodological limitations of sociocultural studies of law.
In SHS Web of Conferences (Vol. 118, p. 01008). EDP Sciences.
- Kanai, K., Ikeda, K., & Tayama, T. (2007). The effect of exogenous spatial attention on
auditory information processing. Psychological research, 71(4), 418-426.
- Huesmann, L. R. (1998). The role of social information processing and cognitive schema
in the acquisition and maintenance of habitual aggressive behavior. In Human
aggression (pp. 73-109). Academic Press.
- Lourenço, O., & Machado, A. (1996). In defense of Piaget's theory: A reply to 10
common criticisms. Psychological review, 103(1), 143.
- Ziv, M., Solomon, A., Strauss, S., & Frye, D. (2016). Relations between the development
of teaching and theory of mind in early childhood. Journal of Cognition and
Development, 17(2), 264-284.
- Aran-Filippetti, V., & Richaud de Minzi, M. C. (2012). A structural analysis of executive
functions and socioeconomic status in school-age children: Cognitive factors as effect
mediators. The Journal of genetic psychology, 173(4), 393-416.

Page | 12
- López Boo, F. (2016). Socio-economic status and early childhood cognitive skills: A
mediation analysis using the Young Lives panel. International Journal of Behavioral
Development, 40(6), 500-508.
- Rao, N., Sun, J., Chen, E. E., & Ip, P. (2017). Effectiveness of early childhood
interventions in promoting cognitive development in developing countries: A systematic
review and meta-analysis. Hong Kong Journal of Paediatrics, 22(1), 14-25.
- Burger, K. (2010). How does early childhood care and education affect cognitive
development? An international review of the effects of early interventions for children
from different social backgrounds. Early childhood research quarterly, 25(2), 140-165.
- Furlong, M., McGilloway, S., Bywater, T., Hutchings, J., Smith, S. M., & Donnelly, M.
(2012). Behavioural and cognitive‐behavioural group‐based parenting programmes for
early‐onset conduct problems in children aged 3 to 12 years. Campbell Systematic
Reviews, 8(1), 1-239.
- James G Scott, Cathrine Mihalopoulos, Holly E Erskine, Jacqueline Roberts, and Atif
Rahman.(2015).Mental, Neurological, and Substance Use Disorders: Disease Control
Priorities, Third Edition (Volume 4),
- [Link]

Page | 13