must find unique ways of determining when young children are capable of lying. In one study (Saarni, 1984), children were given a desirable toy and promised that they would receive another. Instead, they received an undesirable gift that was not a toy. The child’s facial expressions, nonverbal behavior, and emotional displays were recorded. The researchers were interested in when children would begin to mask their feelings and lie about the desirability of the gift. In another study (Lewis, Stanger, & Sullivan, 1989), young children were left alone in a laboratory environment, told by the researcher not to peek at a toy in the researcher’s absence, and later questioned about whether they had peeked at the toy. Other studies (Polak & Harris, 1999) entailed the researcher telling children not to touch the toy and later questioning them about whether they had touched the toy in the researcher’s absence.
1 How does cognitive development influence children’s ability to deceive?
2 What emotional capacities does lying require?
3 When would you expect young children to become capable of lying? Why?
4 Do you think moral reasoning is related to lying?
5 What are ethical issues entailed in research on deception in children? How might considerations of children’s feelings of guilt, shame, or frustration and their developing capacities for self-regulation inform this question?
Descriptions of Images and Figures
Back to Figure
For each task, an original presentation of the task is presented, and then a transformation of the task is given.
Task 1: Number
Original presentation:
The question reads, Are there the same number of pennies in each row?
Accompanying the question is an image of two rows of pennies. Each row contains six pennies that are evenly spaced.
Transformation:
The new question reads, Now are there the same number of pennies in each row, or does one row have more?
Accompanying the question is an image of two rows of pennies. Row 1 contains six pennies that are spaced the same as in the original image. Row 2 contains six pennies that are spaced much closer to one another.
Task 2: Mass
Original presentation:
The question reads, Is there the same amount of clay in each ball?
Accompanying the question is an image of two identical balls of clay.
Transformation:
The new question reads, Now does each piece have the same amount of clay, or does one have more?
Accompanying the question is an image that shows one ball of clay from the original presentation and one thinner, longer roll of clay.
Task 3: Liquid
Original presentation:
The question reads, Is there the same amount of water in each glass?
Accompanying the question is an image of two identical glasses filled with equal amounts of water.
Transformation:
The new question reads, Now does each glass have the same amount of water, or does one have more?
Accompanying the question is an image. Shown first is one of the glasses from the original presentation. Next to it is the same glass shown pouring its water into a bowl.
Back to Figure
The zone of proximal development as shown on an x-y graph. The x-axis is labeled level of competence. The y-axis is labeled level of challenge. Competence is defined as what the learning can achieve independently. Challenge is defined as what the learner will be able to achieve independently. The zone of proximal development is defined as what the learner can achieve with assistance.
If level of competence increases but the level of challenge does not, boredom occurs. Conversely, if the challenge level increases but competency does not, anxiety occurs. Increasing both competence and level of challenge together keeps the learner in the zone of proximal development. In this zone, it is noted that scaffolding occurs through the support of the “more knowing other.”
Back to Figure
Data for Head Start:
Enrollment decreased from 975,000 (42%) in 2006 to 916,000 (34.3%) in 2013.
Data for each year are as follows:
2006: 975,000, 42%
2007: 976,000, 39.5%
2008: 964,000, 38.1%
2009: 984,000, 33.3%
2010: 993,000, 32.9%
2011: 979,000, 32.2%
2012: approximately 977,000, 32.5%
2013: 916,000, 34.3%
Data for Early Head Start:
Enrollment decreased from 85,000 (2.5%) in 2006 to 145,000 (4.1%) in 2013.
Data for each year are as follows:
2006: 85,000, 2.5%
2007: approximately 85,000, 2.5%
2008: 84,000, 2.3%
2009: 120,000, 3.0%
2010: 149,000, 3.6%
2011: 151,000, 3.8%
2012: approximately 151,000, 3.9%
2013: 145,000, 4.1%
8 Socioemotional Development in Early Childhood
Tara L. Kuther
iStock/Dushyant Kumar Thakur
“I’m not a baby anymore. I use my words to do things,” 4-year-old Daniel explained to his grandmother. His mother agreed. “Daniel is good at expressing his wants and needs. He doesn’t cry as easily as he did when he was younger. My baby is quickly growing into a big boy.” Early childhood is a time of transition from the dependence of infancy and toddlerhood to the increasing capacities for
