Child Development:

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Child Development

• Theories from Piaget Vygotsky
• Autism

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Jean Piaget (1896-1980)

• Trained as a biologist
• Came to view development as adaptation
• Argued that the child actively constructs
  knowledge

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How is knowledge constructed?

• Piaget theorized that as children interact with
  their physical and social environments, they
  organize information into groups of interrelated
  ideas called schemas or schemes.
• Knowledge is constructed by 2 complimentary
  processes of assimilation accommodation.

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• Assimilation is the process by which new
  experiences are incorporated into existing
  schemes.
• Accommodation is the process by which existing
  schemes expand or change to incorporate new
  experiences of an event or object.

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Piaget 4 Stages of Development

• Sensorimotor (birth-2yrs)
• Preoperational (2-7yrs)
• Operational (7-11yrs)
• Formal Operational (11-adult)

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Sensorimotor Stage (birth-2yrs)

• Differentiates self from objects, begins to act
  as an agent of action.
• Achieves object permanence realizes that things
  continue to exist even when no longer in view.

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Preoperational Stage (2-7yrs)

• Learns to use language and to represent objects
  by images and words.
• Thinking is still egocentric has difficulty
  taking the viewpoint of others.
• Classifies objects by a single feature (example
  in video). 

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Concrete Operational Stage (7-11yrs)

• Can think logically about objects and events.
• Achieves conservation of number, mass, and
  weight.
• Classifies objects according to several features. 

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Formal-Operational Stage (11yrs-adult)

• Can think logically about abstract propositions
  and test hypotheses systematically. 
• Becomes concerned with the hypothetical, the
  future, and ideological problems 

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Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934)

• Development understood via child-insocial
  context model. Different cultures value different
  cognitive skills.
• Metaphor of child as apprentice
• Children learn by doing things with adults or
  more advanced peers.

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Vygotskys Important Ideas

• The zone of proximal development is the area
  between where the child is cognitively when
  working independently and where the child could
  be with help.
• 2) Language is a tool for structured thought.

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People with Autism may

• have impaired social understanding
• not make eye contact with others
• have trouble communicating with others
• exhibit rigid, obsessive behavior
• feel overwhelmed by sensory stimuli
• have stronger spatial and mathematical skills
  than verbal skills
• be impaired at recognizing faces

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Autism Myths

• People with Autism do have affection and love.
• Beware of Rain Man image. This is only what
  the media presents and is not the true picture.

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Jack Video case-study of a 5 yr old child with
autism

• Started reading at 2 yrs old (hyperlexia) and
  writing at 3 yrs old. Yet he still has trouble
  speaking in complete sentences at 5 yrs old.
• Obsesses about licenses plates and will
• bolt into streets after cars to read them. He
  does not understand concept of danger.

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Dr. Temple Grandin A person with
high-functioning Autism

• People with Autism think in pictures instead of
  words.
• Often have superior spatial abilities (she
  designs slaughterhouses).

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Special Thanks to

• Donnie Carlson for Video Production
• Jack Family for School Videos
• Questions?
• Want to learn more about working with children
  with autism? E-MAIL ME
• jennifer_kuhn2000_at_yahoo.com