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Learning from their mistakes: glimpses of symbolic functioning in two-and-a-half to three-year-old children.

Introduction

Authors

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The current development of provision for under fives and childcare initiatives in the UK, and the intention to provide good quality learning experiences for young children means that there is an increased demand for information about the way young children learn. This cross-sectional study of 36 children aimed to investigate the period of development in children's problem-solving skills between the ages of 30 and 36 months. The children in the study were all North American Caucasians from middle class backgrounds, and attended the same preschool part-time. The children who took part were selected opportunistically, based on parents' permission.

Two search and retrieval tests were used: the "Teddy Bear Token Test" and the "Four Door Test", to find the responses of children to different, but related problems. The researchers found that there were significant and consistent differences between the youngest and oldest children in their approach to problem-solving tasks. They also found a "middle-aged" stage of problem-solving approach, indicating a transitional phase in learning. Knowledge of these three different stages of thinking could have implications for the ways early years carers and educators interact with children in order to encourage the process of acquiring higher order thinking skills.

Keywords:
USA; Cognitive development; Foundation; Reception; Early years; Teaching methods; Thinking skills; Transition

How do children's problem-solving skills develop between the ages of 2½ and 3?

Research literature states that the methods young children employ in solving problems are indicative of the stage of learning development they have reached (see for example Mandler, 1983; Chen & Siegler, 2000). In this study, children between 2½ and 3 years old (30 & 36 months) were studied for their performance on two problem-solving tests. From the sample, the researchers identified three different stages of development, including a middle transitional stage between the other two. The evidence provides clues to the way in which young children's thinking skills develop. The results are supported by previous empirical research about this stage in children's development.

Ideas about young children's thinking are discussed later.

• find if there were clear differences between 2½ and 3-year-old's problem-solving behaviours; and
• discover what could be learnt from the observed problem-solving behaviours which could help characterise this period of cognitive development.

Details of the tests are presented later.

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What do we know about young children's thinking?

The research looks at the strategies employed by children in solving problems. "Search and retrieval" tests have shown that younger children's problem solving is sensorimotor, in that they think and act/do simultaneously, and therefore non-symbolically. In effect, their thinking can be "seen". They do not use their prior knowledge, or do not have the prior knowledge to employ in new situations.

By the age of three, however, children can solve problems by internalising symbols from the outside world, and therefore demonstrate symbolic functioning. This means that solutions to problems can be, "invented mentally rather than being tried out in a groping way in the environment". (Mandler, 1983)

This study attempts to explore the transition stage between these two problem-solving behaviours, and in doing so, highlights aspects of both sensorimotor and symbolic functioning. The children successfully demonstrated symbolic functioning in the first trial of each test, but then relied on the solution that had worked for them the first time in the second trial. This non-random, non-symbolic reliance by children on a solution that had worked for them before, even though they seemed to have the necessary knowledge and skill to solve the new problem using the more advanced process of symbolic functioning, is described as perseveration.

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What did the research show?

The research confirmed that there are clear differences between 2½ year olds' and 3 year-olds' use of symbols in problem solving. It also identified an intermediate level of problem-solving, indicating a transitional period of learning where old behaviours persist alongside new skills. Overall, three stages were identified:

• Youngest children - mean age 31.2 months Unstructured, random, trial-and-error behaviour – these children did not use the information they had been given to make the correct choice to succeed in any of the tests;
  
• "Middle-aged" children – mean age 32.5 months Non-random errors made – an identifiable pattern in problem-solving, although not as sophisticated as the oldest children. The children failed on the first test, they consistently succeeded on the second attempt; and
  
• Eldest children – 35.2 months Employed correct and appropriate reasoning to succeed in the tests – these children immediately found the hidden object with no hesitation and no errors in all tests.

The non-random errors in the middle age group could be characterised as a developmental step, as it shows the "perseveration" of older "trial-and-error" skills, which, when they do not work, are replaced with the more advanced problem-solving skills that the child has acquired.

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How were the tests performed?

The researchers employed commonly used "search and retrieval" tests such as those used by Deloache (1987, 1989) and Zelazo & Resnick (1991):

• Test 1: Teddy Bear Token Test - two identical teddy bears, wearing aprons with 5 coloured pockets, differing only in that one was three times the size of the other.
• Test 2: The Four Door Test - two identical boards bearing four doors with TV characters behind them. Again the only difference between them was that one board was three times the size of the other.

The tests were carried out twice each following a six-phase sequence:

1. Orientation: The similarities of the two bears and two boards are pointed out and explained to the child, so that it is clear the only difference is in the size of the bears and boards
2. Hiding: Tester hides token in a pocket on the small bear in test one, and shows a character behind a door on the small board in test two.
3. Problem solving: The child is asked to find the hidden object on the large bear or board, with the reminder, "Remember, the big bear is just like the small bear." And that the token or character would be in the same place on the larger bear or board as on the small.
4. Recall: The child is asked to retrieve the original hidden token or character on the small bear/board in order to validate the test.
5. Repetition: The test is repeated, with the object hidden in a different pocket/behind a different door.
6. Scoring: The two extremes of outcomes are:
   a. Non-symbolic problem-solving behaviour category: the failure to immediately find the object, indicated by searching the wrong pocket(s) or opening the incorrect door(s), or failing to recall the original hidden token/character on any of the four tests
   b. Symbolic problem-solving behaviour category: Success on all trials, through immediate retrieval of second and first hidden objects.

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How can teachers and other adults help improve children's thinking?

The research gives insight into how children learn to use symbols effectively and efficiently, on which effective strategies can be built. This and other related research highlights in particular that the more experience children have with symbols in their daily lives, the more capable they become of recognising symbols and understanding their significance. The authors therefore suggest that this knowledge could be used actively by carers and educators of young children. Activities could be planned which are be appropriate to the child's stage of development to encourage the development of symbol use in problem solving, including:

• talking with children to help them think through and plan their problem-solving strategies, drawing them or writing them down;
• encouraging children to talk about or demonstrate their ideas in solving a problem, and to listen to others ideas, since verbal and nonverbal social interaction plays an important role in the developing understanding of symbols;
• providing opportunities for success without causing too much frustration for younger children who have not yet developed the ability to effectively use symbols;
• providing encouragement without telling children what to do, for example, "Have you considered..." rather than "Try this..."

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  Implications

  While writing the digest the writers began to ask the following questions about implications for practitioners:

  • would it be possible in pre-school settings to plan activities for children which include more problem-solving features?
  • can more opportunities be provided for adults and children to talk through problem solving activities before and whilst they take place?
  and
  • can more opportunities be selected for children to work collaboratively with each other by asking them to explain their reasoning and allowing the others the opportunity to observe or to comment?

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  Where can I find out more?

  The following web sites may be helpful. There are many others:

  The British Association for Early Childhood Education

  Zero to Three

  Learning and Teaching Scotland – Early Years

  Under Fives – Early Years Education Website

  Early Years Educator

  Effective Provision of Pre-school education (EPPE)

  The following references are selected from the study:

  Chen, Z. & Siegler, R. S. (2000) Across the great divide: bridging the gap between understanding of toddlers' and older children's thinking. Monograph of the Society for Research in Child Development, 65(2) serial no. 261.

  DeLoache, J. S. (1987) Rapid change in the symbolic functioning of very young children. Science, 238 pp.1556-1557.

  DeLoache, J. S. (1989) Young children's understanding of the correspondence between a scale model and a larger space. Cognitive Development, 4(2) pp.121-139.

  Mandler, J. M. (1983) Representation. In: Mussen, P. H. (ed) Handbook of child psychology vol. III Cognitive development. New York: John Wiley & Sons.

  Zelazo, P. D. & Resnick, J. S. (1991) Age-related asynchrony of knowledge and action. Child Development, 62(4) pp.719-735.

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