Understanding and supporting block play: video observation research on preschoolers’ block play to identify features associated with the development of abstract thinking

This article reports on a study conducted to investigate the development of abstract thinking in preschool children (ages from 3 years to 4 years old) in a nursery school in England. Adopting a social influence approach, the researcher engaged in 'close listening' to document children's ideas expressed in various representations through video observation. The aim was to identify behaviours connected with features of the functional dependency relationship – a cognitive function that connects symbolic representations with abstract thinking. The article presents three episodes to demonstrate three dominating features, which are i) child/child sharing of thinking and adult and child sharing of thinking; ii) pause for reflection; and iii) satisfaction as a result of self-directed play. These features were identified as signs of learning, and were highlighted as phenomena that can help practitioners to understand the value of quality play and so provide adequate time and space for young children and plan for a meaningful learning environment. The study has also revealed the importance of block play in promoting abstract thinking. Keywords: abstract thinking; functional dependency relationship; social influence approach; block play; preschool; video observation; qualitative researc

Child categorization

Categorization is a process that spans all of development, beginning in earliest infancy yet changing as children's knowledge and cognitive skills develop. In this review article, we address three core issues regarding childhood categorization. First, we discuss the extent to which early categories are rooted in perceptual similarity versus knowledge-enriched theories. We argue for a composite perspective in which categories are steeped in commonsense theories from a young age but also are informed by low-level similarity and associative learning cues. Second, we examine the role of language in early categorization. We review evidence to suggest that language is a powerful means of expressing, communicating, shaping, and supporting category knowledge. Finally, we consider categories in context. We discuss sources of variability and flexibility in children's categories, as well as the ways in which children's categories are used within larger knowledge systems (e.g., to form analogies, make inferences, or construct theories). Categorization is a process that is intrinsically tied to nearly all aspects of cognition, and its study provides insight into cognitive development, broadly construed. WIREs Cogn Sci 2011 2 95–105 DOI: 10.1002/wcs.96 For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs websitePeer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78491/1/96_ftp.pd

Children's performance on and understanding of the Balance Scale problem: the effects of parental support

Efforts to integrate accounts of scaffolding with Karmiloff-Smith?s (1992) RR model have produced renewed interest in the language that tutors use to guide activity, since this provides a mechanism by which redescription of learners? representations might be achieved. The present research examined the impact of two forms of parental input, explicit operationalisations of strategies and explanations of principles, on changes in children?s performance and understanding across a series of Balance Scale problems. Children aged 6 to 8 years worked on these at three time-points, receiving assistance at the first. Relative to controls who received no assistance on these problems, these children showed more rapid gains in the accuracy of attempted solutions, and were unique in exhibiting improvement in explicit understanding. Gains of both types were most pronounced amongst children whose parents focused on verbalising the weight x distance computations necessary to solve the problems, and on providing explanations of the underlying principle at work. These children showed earlier integration between performance and understanding, and made earlier use of such explanations themselves, the frequency with which they did so being directly related to parental use. The study provides clear evidence that appropriation of tutors? language may be a significant mechanism in representational change, but it also indicates that initial representational level may constrain children?s capacity to benefit from this