A young child creates concepts through associating common features of objects and experiences into categories. For example, a child knows her family's toy poodle, Lulu, is an object called, "doggie" that walks on four feet, has fur, a tail, barks and fetches balls. When the child encounters a St. Bernard for the first time, the characteristics of that unknown object (four-footed, furry, tail) are compared with objects the child knows about, including Lulu. Because the St. Bernard has similar, although not identical, characteristics to a poodle, the child identifies the new object as a dog. While the child's concept of dog is developing, he may also call a lamb or a cat, "doggie." However, with increasing experience, dogs will become conceptually differentiated from cats and lambs.
Significance
Concepts are a way to organize information. Without the ability to categorize and store observations and facts into associated categories, the overwhelming amount of raw data collected by a child's senses would be incoherent and he would be unable to understand or act on it.
Types
Early childhood concepts include beliefs and understanding about how the world works. Core concepts include comparison of object characteristics such as size, shape, color, and function. Early childhood social concepts involve relationships, expectations, interactions with others of similar and different ages, communication, and moral behavior. Physical concepts involve understanding the effect of movement on objects and basic mechanical and physical laws that affect self and objects.
Time Frame
Early childhood concept development is tied to cognitive and maturational skills. In general, the first two years of concept development are driven by sensory-motor inputs as the child learns to hold objects, move through his environment, and label objects with names. The remainder of early childhood covers the ages of two through seven. Concepts developed during that period include simple morality such as rules, rewards, and punishment, and simple concepts about classification of objects and relationships. Truly abstract concepts are not developed until after early childhood.
Theories/Speculation
One of the most influential thinkers in the field of early childhood concept development was Jean Piaget. Working from years of direct observation of children at play, Piaget theorized that concept development in early childhood requires observation, interaction and cognitive maturation. In early childhood, the key concepts are differentiating self from objects, recognizing one's ability to act intentionally, object permanence, representation of objects using speech and the ability to classify objects based on a common characteristic such as color.
Other recognized theoreticians of early child concept development include Sigmund Freud, who focused on a sexual basis for concept development; Erik Erikson, who worked from a social perspective; and B. F. Skinner, who believed that concept development was a function of rewards and punishments; that is associations between objects and behavior are reinforced with rewards and eliminated through punishment.
Understanding how a child develops useful concepts has led to several educational approaches intended to facilitate concept development in early childhood including the work of Maria Montessori who applies Piaget's view of concept development to early childhood education.
Implications
Harvard University Center on the Developing Child sees many implications of our emerging knowledge on early childhood concept development in the areas of pre-kindergarten education, parent training, and creating a community of citizens involved in enriching the experiences of young children. Because poor nutrition and health hinder robust concept development in early childhood, the Center advocates joint private and government effort in disease prevention, prenatal care, supplemental food programs, and education.
