Chapter 6: Socioemotional Development in Early Childhood

Question 1

initiative versus guilt

Answer 1

Erikson’s 3rd stage (preschool years 3-5 years) children use their own initiative to move out into a wider social world. The great governor or initiative is conscience. Children’s initiative and enthusiasm may bring them not only rewards but also guilt, which lowers self-esteem

Question 2

self-understanding

Answer 2

the child’s cognitive representation of self, the substance and content of the child’s self-conceptions

Question 3

moral development

Answer 3

development that involves thoughts, feelings, and actions regarding rules and conventions about what people do in their interactions with other people

Question 4

heteronomous morality

Answer 4

first stage of moral development in Piaget’s theory (4-7 years). Justice and rules are conceived of as unchangeable properties of the world, removed from the control of people

Question 5

Autonomous morality

Answer 5

second stage of moral development in Piaget’s theory (about 10 years and older). The child becomes aware that rules and laws are created by people and, in judging an action, one should consider the actor’s intentions as well as the consequences

Question 6

immanent justice

Answer 6

the concept that, if a rule is broken, punishment will be meted out immediately

Question 7

gender identity

Answer 7

sense of being male or female, which most children acquire by the time they are 3 years old

Question 8

gender roles

Answer 8

sets of expectations that prescribe how females or males should think, act, and feel

Question 9

social role theory

Answer 9

theory that gender differences result from the contrasting roles of men and women

Question 10

psychoanalytic theory of gender

Answer 10

theory deriving from Freud’s view that the preschool child develops a sexual attraction to the opposite-sex parent, by approximately 5 or 6 years of age renounces this attraction because of anxious feelings and subsequently identifies with the same-sex parent, unconsciously adopting the same-sex parent’s characteristics

Question 11

social cognitive theory of gender

Answer 11

theory emphasizing that children’s gender development occurs through the observation and imitation of gender behavior and through the rewards and punishments children experience for gender-appropriate and gender-inappropriate behavior

Question 12

gender schema theory

Answer 12

theory that gender typing emerges as children gradually develop gender schemas of what is gender-appropriate and gender-inappropriate in their culture

Question 13

authoritarian parenting

Answer 13

a restrictive punitive style in which parents exhort the child to follow their directions and to respect work and effort. The authoritarian parent places firm limits and controls on the child and allows little verbal exchange. Authoritarian parenting is associated with children’s social incompetence

Question 14

authoritative parenting

Answer 14

a parenting style in which parents encourage their children to be independent but still place limits and controls on their actions. extensive verbal give-and-take is allowed, and parents are warm and nurturant toward the child. Authoritative parenting is associated with children’s social competence

Question 15

neglectful parenting

Answer 15

a style of parenting in which the parent is very uninvolved in the child’s life; it is associated with children’s social incompetence, especially a lack of self-control

Question 16

indulgent parenting

Answer 16

style of parenting in which parents are highly involved with their children but place few demands or controls on them. Indulgent parenting is associated with children’s social incompetence, especially a lack of self-control

Question 17

sensorimotor play

Answer 17

behavior engaged in by infants to derive pleasure from exercising their existing sensorimotor schemes

Question 18

practice play

Answer 18

play that involves repetition of behavior when new skills are being learned or when physical or mental mastery and coordination of skills are required for games or sports

Question 19

pretense/symbolic play

Answer 19

play in which the child transforms the physical environment into a symbol

Question 20

social play

Answer 20

play that involves social interactions with peers

Question 21

constructive play

Answer 21

play that combines sensorimotor and repetitive activity with symbolic representation of ideas. Constructive play occurs when children engage in self-regulated creation of construction of a product or a problem solution

Question 22

games

Answer 22

activities engaged in for pleasure that include rules and often involve competition between two or more individuals