How does the thinking of a one-year-old child work?

 

Just up to the age of 3-4 years, the world of the child himself and the world around him are united and not separated from each other. Parents or educators are only part of this world, they are not recognized as having their own feelings, any interests, or their own life in general. If an adult has disappeared somewhere for a while, he is temporarily “crossed out” to some strange place “work”, or “business”.

  His whole Universe is so far what he himself sees, feels, and fantasizes. The range of his interests is outlined only by what is connected with him personally. Even spatial orientation for him is applicable only in relation to himself. That is, all these “above”, “under” and other “from above - from below” are perceived by the child only in relation to himself, otherwise the baby simply will not learn the meaning of these words. Otherwise, he is not yet able to understand.

Any means of “intrusion” into the reality of the child by adults with the aim of “doing good” will be perceived by him as one of the “events of his world”, and not as a dialogue with a “different mind”. Until he conceives it as a dialogue with some separate entities, this is still ahead.

At this age, the child's world is similar to a kind of closed, transparent sphere, all knowledge about what is happening outside this sphere is limited to the information that the baby receives when the child "rolls" this sphere with him in space, colliding with some objects or obstacles. . Out there, some people are doing something, trying to talk about something, but it's certainly entertaining and nothing more. In the world of a child, as you understand, at this moment there is only one person - this is himself. Of course, if the action "outside" was strong enough, it is certainly taken into account, but taking into account only that separate reality in which the baby now lives.

Another important feature of the child, unlike an adult, he does not know how to distinguish reality from fiction. He does not separate objective reality from dreams, imagination, or fantasies. The real and the unreal will be intertwined in the mind of the child inseparably. There are no clear boundaries between what is fantasy or imagination and what is or can be reality. This is all the same reality for him. This period of fairy tale and reality, two in one, lasts up to 6 years. Only after six will he be able to distinguish between this and that.

You can read about the features of children's thinking from Professor Vygotsky L.S.

Source: https://expertology.ru/chemu-mozhno-nauchit-rebenka-v-1-god/