Cognitive abilities

Young children have a limited ability to recognise hazards due to their developing cognitive skills. In the first stages of life, a child's cognitive development relies on direct sensory stimulation and perceptions of the world. Cognition, also known as thinking, is the ability to respond to sensory perceptions of the world, process them and choose responses. The ability to communicate is also covered under cognition and the ability to understand or express simple sentences in speech or text for a summary of the language development in young children (Brown & Beran, 2008). As a result, children do not consistently and reliably anticipate or respond to harmful consequences of hazardous conditions (ISO/IEC Guide 50). Aspects of cognitive, social, emotional and language development for children aged 4-11 years are collated in the following table. A summary of the language development in young children is presented in Table 4.8.

Table 4.8 A summary of the language development in young children (Brown & Beran, 2008)

Age Cognitive Social/Emotional Language

4-5 years

Recognises and knows primary colours Can categorise information

Often believe in fantasy Can only focus on one aspect of a situation

Can understand and obey simple rules

Curious nature Tend to be more

interested in children than adults

Has a basic understanding of what is right and what is wrong

Can recognise some letters

Can recognise familiar words in books and signs Understands before and after

Can follow three-step commands

6-7 years

Find it difficult to understand things from other people’s point of view

Cannot consistently understand the consequences of their actions

Desire to do things right and show the right behaviour

Interested in rules

May have an interest in reading

7-8 years

Longer attention span They may still not be able to consider all the outcomes of their actions Understands concrete concepts

Views things as right/wrong

Can see things from the point of view of someone else

Can communicate ideas and thoughts

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Age Cognitive Social/Emotional Language

9-11 years

May still have difficulty considering all the consequences of their action.

Plans for future action.

Begins to see parents and authority figures as imperfect human beings. Can understand other perspectives more.

Often has rules and rituals

Likes to read fictional stories and visual information

Much information within found resources describes aspects that designers would need to base a risk communication around if it were to be effective in targeting the audience of young children. In relevance to cognitive abilities, the table describes the limited knowledge and attention span of a 4–5-years old, which improves at the age of 7–8 years when a child begins to understand more concrete concepts. Younger children’s social and emotional development varies greatly. A young child aged 5 years, for example, is curious in nature; however, as children become older, they begin to develop rules and understand differences between right and wrong. By the age of 9 years, children can better understand other people’s perspectives. In language development, recognition of some letters begins at the age of 4–5 years, and by 7–8 years, children can communicate ideas and thoughts more accurately. At 9–11 years, children’s reading is much more advanced, and they also enjoy more visual information.

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Table 4.9 Cognitive, communication and language development according to age 5–7 years. From Meggitt (2012); Minett et al., 1992 & (Dempster, 1981)

SOURCE AGE 5 AGE 6 Age 7

Cognitive Development (Ma et al., 2013:) (Meggitt,

2012:104

Are well-practiced pretenders, nearing the end of the “high season” of pretend play, but they are still developing their ability to judge pretence.C12

Begin to think in a more coordinated way, and can hold more than one point of view at a time.

Express themselves in speech and writing Enjoy the challenge of experimenting with new materials

Perform simple calculations in their head (Meggitt,2012:95;

Minett et al., 1992:159)

Can produce drawings with good detail e.g. a house with a chimney and windows Draws people and houses. (Meggitt,2012:9)

Knows most colour.

Begin to develop concepts of quantity: length, measurement, distance, area, time, volume, capacity and weight.

(Meggitt, 2012:104)

Begin to understand how to tell the time

May be interested in design and working models Can arrive at logical conclusions and to understand cause and effect

Are now as proficient at judging pretense as adults (Meggitt, 2012:111)

(Minett et al.,

1992) Able to ask about abstract words (for instance “what does “beyond” mean?’) Can give their full name, age and address and often their birthday

Are interested in reading and writing. Recognise their name and attempt to write it

Can pronounce most sounds in their own of time.

Talk fluently and with confidence

Begin to understand book language and that stories have the narrative.

Communicate their thought about a book they have read or a TV programme they have seen.

Enjoy word games and riddles. Communication

and Language Development (Meggitt, 2012)

Understands the needs for rules and fair play. Talk about the past, present and future, with a good sense of language

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SOURCE AGE 5 AGE 6 Age 7

Love to be read stories and acting them out

Age differences in the capacity of the short-term- store. (STS) (Dempster, 1981)

Love to be read stories and acting them out Can remember and repeat nursery rhymes Enjoy jokes and riddles

Able to remember about 4 items

(refers to the amount of information that people can attend to at a single time or the number of items that people can keep in mind at any one time

(Schneider 202:240)

Able to remember

about 4 items Able to remember about 6 items

Table 4.10 Examples of the effectiveness of prevention strategies: The provision of information. From (Hayes, 2012)

AGE 3-4 YEARS AGE 7-8 YEARS

AGE 8-9 YEARS TO 11-12 YEARS

Information to carers

Verbal keyword

Child not able to read information on their own

Understand danger words e.g. “hot”, sharp

Child unable to read and/ or understand information

Understand some abstract concepts, e.g. “dangerous”, “careful”, but can only act appropriately in familiar situations

Child unable to read and/ or understand information

Unlikely to recognize more technical words describing hazards

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Table 4.11 Cognitive, Communication & Language Development Age 8 -11 years. From Meggitt (2012). SOURCE AGE 8 & 9 YEARS AGE 10 & 11 Years Cognition (Meggitt, 2012) Have an increased ability to

remember and pay attention, and to speak and express their ideas

Are learning to plan and evaluate what they do Have an increased ability to think and reason

Can deal with abstract ideas

Begin to understand motives behind the actions of another Can concentrate on tasks for increasing periods

Can write fairly lengthy essays Begin to devise memory strategies

Communication and Language Development

(Meggitt, 2012)

Use and understand complex sentences

Are highly verbal and enjoy making up and telling jokes Like to express and communicate their thoughts Can read stories with increasing fluency