Toddler Cognitive Skills

Important Toddler Cognitive Skills:

• Categorization - Sorting according to certain qualities. Categories are initially perceptual (like color or size), but during toddlerhood, sorting becomes more and more conceptual (like things for playing with vs. things for eating with). Sorting objects into sets is now possible because of toddlers’ new understanding of similarities and differences as well as the function of familiar objects.
• Deferred imitation - The ability to imitate the previously observed actions of others. Piaget thought children’s growing capacity to form mental representations of behaviors allowed them to repeat actions long after the event (which is not possible until the concept of object permanence is established). Toddlers, unlike infants, are capable of imitating novel sounds and gestures. This allows them to acquire new words and skills at an astounding rate.
• Cause and effect - At the end of the first year, infants are starting to problem solve and associate various events that occur together. In the second and third years, children start to differentiate between mere associations and causality. This understanding allows toddlers to make great advances in their problem-solving abilities. For example, a baby trying to get a doll to make a sound begins with random hits and progresses to pushing the tummy only. More negative connections may also occur, such as realizing that biting the other toddler makes her drop the toy I wanted.
• Problem solving - Now children can use their understanding of causality to become better problem solvers. Toddlers move from action-oriented solutions to using thought-based problem solving. This allows them to try multiple and complex solutions to problems that arise (such as, how can I open the door when both my hands are full?). Adults can help cognitive development by providing a rich and safe environment. “By not rushing in and rescuing young children who are facing minor everyday problems, adults can help infants and toddlers develop confidence and increase their thinking abilities” (Brown-DuPaul & Keyes, 2008).
• Spatial relations - Young children learn the properties of objects, and their own bodies, through hands-on experimenting. Much exploration is needed to learn about size, shape, amount, dimensions, and location. Toddlers spend much of their time stacking, filling, lining up, dumping, etc. to understand the world. One- and two-year-olds are capable of completing simple puzzles, putting pegs in a pegboard, and building a two- to five-block tower.
• Tool usage - Toddlers learn how to use specific means to achieve their ends. They have discovered that using objects and people as tools can solve problems. Utensils, crayons, and other functional objects are tools, too. A good example of tool use can be seen when toddlers want to get an object out of reach. Different tools can be employed to help--objects can be used to extend reach, pull things, climb on, etc. Or the caregiver can be used as a tool--toddlers can use gestures, words, and more to indicate their desire so that the adult can get the object for them.
• Early representational/symbolic understanding - By two years of age, many toddlers are starting to think in a non-concrete fashion. Toddlers start to pretend, beginning with something simple like wrapping and holding a doll. The new understanding of symbolism enables the toddler to begin complex pretending, such as being a doctor to give someone a “shot” with an object that resembles a hypodermic needle. The more cognitively advanced children are, the less they need realistic-looking toys to pretend. Toddlers can also now turn a book’s pages and match familiar objects or people to pictures.
• Other conceptual understandings - One and two-year-olds are able to understand many simple concepts and definitions now. By age two most toddlers know the meaning of simple opposites like up/down, in/out, open/close, on/off, push/pull, little/big, short/long, tall/short, empty/full, and wet/dry. They are also beginning to understand the concept of time, such as yesterday/tomorrow, later/sooner, and before/after.