ABSTRACT
Educators concerned with preschool children in these last days of the 20th century are dealing with the effects of more than 30 years of societal change, which has influenced the environment for thinking, the tools of thinking, and the nature of thinkers themselves. This chapter presents a perspective on how these changes affect thinking skill development for preschool children. Our perspective is that new psychological constructs are in place in our society. These constructs address different aspects of thinking ability, processes, and motivation to think. The effects of computers on the development of emergent thinking skills in young children are discussed, and multimedia technology is proposed as a tool for helping teachers mediate and enhance this development.
