Throughout early childhood, children's preoperational cognitive development is observed. Egocentrism -- being unaware of any perspectives other then their own -- is often seen is children ranging from two to six or seven years. Piaget's three mountain problem illustrates thi

Children, in their play, develop animistic thinking: assigning inanimate objects lifelike qualities. Cardinality is another important development from play. Children begin to associate the last number in a counting sequence with the quantity of items in front of them.

Vygotsky's Sociocultural Theory stresses the social context of cognitive development during early childhood. Much of Vygotsky's theory is based around the development of language and the social impacts that result. During early childhood, "young children frequently talk aloud to themselves as they go about their activities at play and at school" (Berk 1986). Piaget referred to this speech as egocentric speech, in reference to his belief that children cannot take any perspective except that of their own. On the other hand, Vygotsky objected this point of view and believed that private speech, as Vygotsky preferred to call it, was for self-guidance and self-direction. He also believe that it is also a foundation for higher cognitive processes (such as sustained attention, deliberate memory, planning, problem solving, and self-reflection). One pos

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Sociocultural Theory, Preoperational Stage, Joe Judy, , Piaget Vygotsky, private speech, cognitive development, memory strategies, berk 1986, throughout childhood, preoperational stage,
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