Development of the self - SED1 Flashcards
Why is a sense of self important? (3)
- Need a sense of what we are capable of to interact with the environment
- some misunderstand the limits of their own bodies
- allows us to function in the world
What does James (1890) suggest about how infants experience the world?
one great blooming, buzzing confusion
What does Piaget (1953) suggest about how the self develops?
stimulation of the senses allows children to distinguish their own bodies from the surrounding world and to have a sense of agency
At what age can infants wiggle their foot to move a mobile? What does this suggest?
- 2 months
- developing an understanding that their body is different from the external world
When does repeating behaviour start to happen? (copy others to make something happen)
8 months
What type of stimuli do even newborns show a preference for?
social stimuli (e.g. a face)
What does the still face paradigm suggest infants have an awareness of?
their behaviour has effects on other people
At what age do infants typically pass the rouge test? (red dot)
15-18 months
What can only infants who have passed the rouge test do?
display empathy
What emotion are infants more likely to experience if they have passed the rouge test? Which emotion happens anyway?
- embarrassment
- fear happens always
When do children start to refer to themselves and when do they use comparisons (compare themselves to others)?
- age 2
- age 4
What is theory of mind?
recognising that other people are separate from the self and may have different preferences, thoughts and desires
What was found in the broccoli and cracker study when comparing 14 and 18 month olds? What does this demonstrate?
- 14 month olds give the crackers, regardless of the experimenter’s preference
- 18 month olds give the thing the experimenter prefers
- demonstrates a developing theory of mind
What category can children put themselves in when as young as 2 years old?
gender
What is the self other confusion paradigm?
people are more likely to confuse 2 things in the same category than 2 things in different categories
What was found when 5-10 year olds rated adjectives as applying to the ingroup, outgroup or self and were later asked which category they had applied each to?
traits for the self were confused with traits from the ingroup more than the outgroup
How do independent and interdependent cultures differ in their children’s drawings?
- interdependent = draw themselves smaller than other people and draw themselves standing closer to their peers
- independent = draw themselves larger
According to Keller (2016), how does parenting differ in interdependent and independent cultures?
- independent = intensive and exclusive attention from parents, infants spend a lot of time alone
- interdependent = embedded in a dense social network, in constant proximity to caregiver but not the centre of attention
At what age do children complete a manakin puzzle but still struggle with the trunk and get legs and arms confused?
27 months
What are children of all ages good at when completing the manakin puzzle?
Placing faces, especially eyes and mouths
What is the tadpole stage in children’s drawings and when does it happen?
- do not differentiate between heads and bodies
- between ages 3 and 4
What body part are children first able to draw accurately?
faces
what was found in the study measuring children’s understanding of their own and others’ body size? (3)
- more errors for own body size than others’ body sizes
- number of errors decreased with age
- all children at all ages (17-30 months) made at least one error in body size representation
What was found about 9 year old children in relation to what size they wanted to be?
almost all of the children wanted to be slimmer than they were
Who do children attribute positive and negative attributes to?
- positive = underweight people
- negative = overweight people
What is found when looking at parental influence on body satisfaction?
- positive correlation between parent’s and children’s views of the child’s body
- more likely to develop a positive evaluation of chape and attractiveness if parents talked about physical health rather than weight control
What is self-esteem?
a person’s evaluation of their own worth
What does sociometer theory suggest?
self-esteem allows people to determine how successfully they are navigating their personal relationships
what is a strong and stable self-esteem associated with?
wellbeing
What are Harter’s (1993) 5 domains of self-esteem?
- scholastic competence
- social acceptance
- athletic competence
- physical appearance
- behavioural conduct
Who are children with a high self-esteem more likely to relate to in the puzzle study?
the more competent-looking person
What do children with low self-esteem tend to attribute positive and negative events to?
- positive = external causes
- negative = internal causes
What do children with high self-esteem tend to attribute positive and negative events to?
- positive = internal causes
- negative = external causes
What is self-efficacy?
a person’s evaluation of their ability to achieve a goal in a particular domain
What are the 2 mindsets identified by Dweck?
- fixed mindset
- growth mindset
What mindset does praising children for their abilities vs their effort lead to?
- abilities = fixed
- effort = growth
What do children with a growth mindset tend to do? (2)
- persevere longer on challenging tasks
- be more willing to tackle difficult tasks
What is self-presentation? (3)
- we have a public and a private self
- individuals try to influence how others think of them
- maintaining a reputation allows for cooperation
What happened to children when they could steal stickers from another child or help them when being watched vs not being watched? (2)
- somewhat more likely to help if being watched
- more likely to steal when alone
