Preschool Milestones
A type of play observed in 3-year-olds
What is symbolic/pretend/imitative?
A milestone typically seen between 5-9 years of age
What is increased length/complexity of narratives/language as a means of solidifying social status/improved conversational skills, etc.
2 cognitive skills that develop alongside social communication in the preschool years
What are abstraction/symbolism/ToM/interpretation/organization, etc.
Age at which Theory of Mind has typically developed
What is 4-years-old?
Age at which narrative skills are "mastered"
What is 4-years-old?
Age(s) at which the gender divide in use of language begins to form and grow
What is 9-14 years old
Commonly used phrases/structures of language that a 12-year-old will understand, but a 6-year-old probably will not
What are idioms/proverbs?
A type of task used to assess development of ToM
What is false-belief task?
The term given to terms whose use and interpretation depends on the speaker and listener; use requires ability to represent partner's perspective
What is deictic?
"Just chatting" on extended phone/video calls is an example of language being used for...
What is social engagement?
Case Study: Charlotte is 9 years old and wants to convince her mom to let him have ice cream for dinner. Jose is 15 years old and also wants to convince his mom to let him have ice cream for dinner. Who is more likely to be successful and why (based on their cognition specifically)?
Who is Jose?
Because his ability to take his mother's mental state, beliefs, knowledge, and perspective into account and formulate an argument in favor of ice cream for dinner is more developed. His cognitive skills are more advanced than Charlie's; i.e., his executive functioning skills are better.
The most common false-belief task used to assess ToM
What is the Sally-Ann Task?
The important shift in language understanding and use that takes place in preschool years
What is contextualized to decontextualized?
The pragmatic skill of changing your language style based on situation and/or relationship to communicative partner
What is "code switching"?
Case Study: Cady is a 16 year old female. She is seated behind her crush, Aaron, in math class and desperately wants to run her hand through his hair, however, she resists this urge and daydreams instead. What are 2 cognitive skills that she has used in this scenario?
What are impulse control/understanding consequences/planning/perspective-taking, etc.
Case Study: Johnny primarily uses hints to make requests, does not understand that closing his eyes does NOT make him invisible, and is just starting to understand relational terms. How old (roughly) might Johnny be?
What is between 3-4 years old?
Describe why the shift from contextualized language to decontextualized language is important for social communicative development?
Example: Building rapport with peers tends to involve joking, playing and this shift must take place in order to take part
Example: The ability to understand the changing nature of language is essential for future success in interpreting the mental states of others, a vital function for building and maintaining relationships.
An increase in this leads to stronger persuasion skills
What is perspective-taking (or Theory of Mind)?
Explain how/why cognition is related to language and how/why early stages of cognitive development can influence/predict later social communication success
Example: Cognition and language develop simultaneously, with each one supporting growth of the other. If early cognitive milestones are not met, it is safe to predict that social communication will be impacted, as one's ability to determine mental states of others, read a situation appropriately, code-switch appropriately, build and maintain relationships, etc. all rely on a combination of linguistic and cognitive skills.
Explain why Theory of Mind development is vital for successful social communication in adolescence
Example: Theory of Mind is the ability to understand than other people's experiences, thoughts, beliefs, knowledge, etc. are different than your own. Developing this understanding is essential for appropriate communication when telling stories (providing background), when supporting friends in emotional turmoil, when learning to speak for appropriate lengths of time, etc.