The Theory of Mind Watch the following short film, Theory of Mind.mov, demonstrating the theory of mind using a juice box experiment. At around four years of age, a fundamental change occurs in children's understanding of others' behaviors or what is also called theory of mind. Using your knowledge from our readings, watch the video to determine which stage both Jacob and Patrick are currently in respectively. Discuss both Jacob's and Patrick's reaction to the "mean monkey." What stage would Erickson say each child is in? How do these different stages influence their values and attitudes? Do you think it is possible for a child over the age of three to have trouble understanding that his or her beliefs can be false? Explain your reasoning.
Guided Response:
Review all of your classmates' posts and respond to at least two classmates. Include how you would explain to a child how their beliefs could be incorrect. Give specific examples that would be appropriate for a three- to five-year-old child. Self-Regulation Regardless of a child's unique qualities, one thing remains the same; to improve learning and behavior, children must develop strong self-regulation skills.
Read the following article from the National Association for the Education of Young Children NAEYC, "Developing Young Children's Self-Regulation Through Everyday Experiences." The marshmallow experiment is a famous test conducted by Walter Mischel at Stanford University and discussed by Daniel Goleman in his popular work.
In the 1960's, a group of four-year-olds were given a marshmallow and promised another, only if they could wait 20 minutes before eating the first one. Some children could wait and others could not. The researchers then followed the progress of each child into adolescence, and demonstrated that those with the ability to wait were better adjusted and more dependable determined via surveys of their parents and teachers, and scored an average of 210 points higher on the Scholastic Aptitude Test.
Watch the video, Kids Marshmallow Experiment. Reflect on the information in the NAEYC article, the video, and your text and explain how toddlers with better self-regulation skills are less likely to demonstrate behavior problems in preschool. Explain why these self-regulation skills are so important and how you will promote the learning of self-regulation.
How will you deliberately teach self-regulation as part of everyday experience? Share an example of your own self-regulation skills that you can model for others. Guided Response: Review all of your classmates' posts and respond to at least two classmates. Suggest additional ways self-regulation skills are important. Reflect on the instructional strategies your classmates will use to teach self-regulation and offer additional strategies that you believe will work well.