Guidepost 1 What are the typical cognitive advances and immature aspects of preschool children's thinking?

• Children in the preoperational stage show several important advances, as well as some immature aspects of thought.
• The symbolic function enables children to reflect upon people, objects, and events that are not physically present. It is shown in deferred imitation, pretend play, and language.
• Early symbolic development helps preoperational children make more accurate judgments of spatial relationships. They can understand the concept of identity, link cause and effect, categorize living and nonliving things, and understand principles of counting.
• Centration keeps preoperational children from understanding principles of conservation. Their logic also is limited by irreversibility and a focus on states rather than transformations.
• Preoperational children appear to be less egocentric than Piaget thought; they (and even younger children) are capable of empathy.
• Theory of mind, which develops markedly between the ages of 3 and 5, includes awareness of a child's own thought processes, social cognition, understanding that people can hold false beliefs, ability to deceive, ability to distinguish appearances from reality, and the ability to distinguish fantasy from reality. Hereditary and environmental influences affect individual differences in theory-of-mind development.

Guidepost 2 How does language improve, and what happens when its development is delayed?

• During early childhood, vocabulary increases greatly, and grammar and syntax become fairly sophisticated. Children become more competent in pragmatics.
• Private speech is normal and common: it may aid in the shift to self-regulation and usually disappears by age 10.
• Causes of delayed language development are unclear. If untreated, in may have serious cognitive, social, and emotional consequences.
• Interaction with adults can promote emergent literacy.

Guidepost 3 What memory abilities expand in early childhood?

• At all ages, recognition is better than recall, but both increase during early childhood. Prospective memory is fairly good.
• Early episodic memory is only temporary: it fades or is transferred to generic memory. Autobiographical memory begins at about age 3 or 4 and may be related to early self-recognition ability and language development. According to the social interactions model, children and adults co-construct autobiographical memories by talking about shared experiences.
• Children are more likely to remember unusual activities that they actively participate in. The way adults talk with children about events influences memory formation.
• Implicit memories may unconsciously affect behavior.

Guidepost 4 How is preschoolers' intelligence measured, and what are some influences on it?

• The two most commonly used psychometric intelligence tests for young children are the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale and the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence, Revised (WPPSI-R).
• Intelligence test scores may be influenced by social and emotional functioning, as well as by parent-child interaction and socioeconomic factors.
• Newer tests based on Vygotsky's concept of the zone of proximal development (ZPD) indicate immediate potential for achievement. Such tests, when combined with scaffolding, can help parents and teachers guide children's progress.

Guidepost 5 What purposes does early childhood education serve, and how do children make the transition to kindergarten?

• Goals of preschool education vary in different cultures. Since the 1970s the academic content of early childhood education programs in the United States has increased. A similar trend has occurred in some Japanese preschools. For low-income children in the United States, academically oriented programs seem less effective than child-centered ones.
• Compensatory preschool programs have had the positive outcomes, but participants generally have not equaled the performances of middle-class children. Compensatory programs that extend into the primary grades have better long-term results.
• Adjustment to kindergarten may depend on interaction among the child's characteristics and those of the home, school, and neighborhood environments.