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DR 2: Children are effective learners
⇣ Indicator: COG—Children show cognitive competence and problem-solving skills through play and daily activities
⇣ Measure 23: Cause and Effect—
Child shows understanding of the connection between cause and effect
	Descriptors	Examples
8	Makes a prediction on own about what will happen in a new situation (The prediction might not always be accurate, but is based on what he/she knows at the time)	Predicts when a tower will fall over when someone is stacking blocks. Predicts what will happen to the ice cube if put in the sun. Sees a dark cloud in a picture book and predicts that it will rain. Says, “If you have your shoe laces untied, you will trip.”
7	Shows understanding of familiar cause and effect through language or action	Says, “I figured out how to get pink—mix red and white.” Sees a balloon getting blown up and covers his ears in anticipation of a pop. Says, “If I spin around, I get dizzy.”
6	Anticipates that a routine action will have a specific result	Knows to turn the handle on the water fountain to get a drink. Flips the light switch on when adult says the room seems dark. Walks slowly to the sandbox with a cup of water to avoid spilling.
5	Experiments with objects or actions in novel ways to find out what will happen	Puts a toy car in a tube and watches it roll out the other end when the tube is tilted. Pours sand into a funnel and tries to catch it as it drains into the sandbox. Spins a jar lid to see what will happen. Tries to run before jumping to find out if it makes him jump farther.
4	Searches for possible causes of actions, events, or behaviors (physical searching not mental)	Tries to figure out how to open things. Pushes on different parts of toy to make music turn on again. Explores what made a wind-up toy move.
3	Tries out behaviors in own repertoire to cause things to happen	When playing Peek-a-Boo, pulls adult’s hand to face to continue game or action. Pushes things off table and watches or listens as they fall. Vocalizes to adult to engage in play.
2	Repeats actions that have an effect	Shakes rattle over and over to make sound. Continues to bat or kick mobile. Smiles each time adult claps.
1	Shows anticipatory excitement	Moves arms or legs when adult approaches. Startles at loud noises. Looks or turns when he or she hears adult’s voice from a distance.

Measure 23 — COG 2

Cause and Effect

Child shows understanding of the connection between cause and effect

Identifying cause-and-effect relationships (relating events to what made them happen) is one of the primary ways that young children make sense of the world. From very early on, reasoning about what makes things happen is central to how young children interpret and remember events. Infants and young children begin to learn about cause and effect by noticing the outcomes of their own actions and the actions of others. This knowledge continues to develop as children explore ways to make something happen or to find out how something works.

Infants’ earliest activities, such as moving their limbs, sucking, and looking, bring them in contact with their surroundings and with their own bodies. These contacts produce simple cause-and-effect relationships that are, at first, accidental—such as the pleasurable effect of sucking on a hand that comes in contact with the mouth. Infants rapidly begin to notice the relationships between specific actions and subsequent experiences and will make efforts to repeat actions that have an interesting effect. For example, as an infant grasps a toy bell, she may shake it a bit, causing an interesting sound. Noticing the connection between her movement and the sound, she will shake the bell repeatedly, apparently for the pleasure of making it ring. As infants grow and develop, they will use their growing repertoire of behaviors deliberately and specifically to cause something to happen.

Toddlers demonstrate an active interest in cause-and-effect relationships by exploring them in their play and in everyday activities. They experiment in limited ways to discover causes of the events they observe. For example, if a toddler is shown a toy with flashing lights, she might try out various buttons or switches on the toy to determine how to make the lights flash again. Older toddlers will experiment by acting on objects in different ways to find out what will happen. A toddler might vary the force she uses to roll a ball, for example, pushing it gently at first and then hard to see how fast or how far it will go.

Children’s understanding of causal relationships develops significantly during the preschool years. Young preschoolers notice the regularity of cause-and-effect relationships in events they experience repeatedly and can anticipate and predict the consequences of familiar actions. Furthermore, they can begin to use what they have learned from familiar situations to reason about causes and effects in similar but less common situations. If they know how to flip a switch on a wall in order to turn on the overhead lights, for example, they may figure out that turning a switch on a lamp will turn that light on or off, as well.

Older preschoolers continue to build their knowledge about cause and effect in events they directly experience or observe. They are also increasingly able to reason about how events are related and to think about things without actually doing them. These developments enable them to infer causes and make predictions, based on what they know, with greater accuracy and sophistication. Eventually, older preschoolers will be able to make predictions about what might happen in a new situation based on what they have experienced or been told in the past (these predictions may or may not be accurate). For example, a child who has been bitten by a pet might warn another child not to touch the hamster because it will bite.

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