Week 5 Flashcards
Early childhood is a time when children develop
- A confident self-image
- More effective control over their emotions
- New social skills
- Foundations of morality
- Gender identity
Erikson: initiative V guilt -> initiative
Emphasized play: allows children to take initiative without fear of criticism or failure
Initiative -> core ego property of purpose
-> Able to:
broaden skills through play
cooperate to meet common goals
lead and follow
Built through:
-> warm-sensitive parenting
Erikson: initiative V guilt -> guilt
Guilt -> core pathology of inhibition If efforts are criticized, minimized, stifled - self-initiated efforts become source of embarrassment - fearful - hang on the fringes of groups - over-dependence on adults - restricted development of play
Development of self
- Self-concept (set of attitudes and attributes that define the self) emerges 3-5 yrs
- First based on observable characteristics .
- > 3.5 yrs: what they like doing, what they can do
- > By 5 yrs: favourable self-concept emerges
- Positive feedback from others helps to create positive self concept
- Increasing sensitivity to praise & blame – self-conscious emotions
Self concept
- Facilitated by language development
- Understanding of unique psychological characteristics
- Again, fostered by warm-supportive parenting
- Tied to long-term outcomes, including health and professional achievement
Emotional development: emergence of empathy
- Feeling with another
- Motivates altruism, prosocial behaviour
- Related to cognitive development – increases in perspective-taking & reliance on words
Emergence of empathy and emotional understanding - temperament and role of parenting
Temperament:
- Sociability, assertiveness, emotional regulation => empathy, altruism
- Poor emotion regulation => overwhelmed by own feelings, less altruistic or empathetic
Role of parenting
- Warmth & sensitivity, model empathy, teach importance of kindness, encourage emotional regulation, encourage emotion descriptions and discussion
Social development: play - psychoanalysts, Piaget and Vygotsky
Psychoanalysts: helps child master anxieties & conflicts
Piaget: aids cognitive development, independent discovery, perspective-taking through peer interaction, moral development through understanding rules
Vygotsky: development of social rules, self-regulation
Social development - effects of solitary play
- Solitary play: typical in 2-3 yrs
- As child develops, should be progressing through different types of play
- > Continued solitary play in pre-schoolers: associated with immaturity, impulsivity & poor emotional regulation, and inhibited temperament
- > Preschool boys risk negative evaluation (but girls less so)
Categories of play
Functional play
- Simple repetitive motor movements (up to @ 2 years)
Constructive play
- Creating or constructing something (@ ages 3-6)
Make-believe play
- Acting out everyday and imaginary roles (usually @ 2-6 years)
Social developments: friendships
Capacity to form first friendships relates to academic achievement, greater social competence, and more positive adjustment
Friendship skills shaped by family.
First Friendships
- lacks mutuality
- arbitrary
- fleeting
- mixed gender
Social development: development of friendships during childhood
- With development, preference for same-sex friends
- By 4 yrs: 3 x more time with same-sex peer
- By 6 yrs: 11 x more
- > BUT opposite-sexed friendships associated with a host of positive outcomes
Moral development
- Morality: principles concerning distinction between right & wrong behaviour, attitudes, beliefs; “good” vs “bad”
- Development from external regulation to internalised rules & standards
Components
-> Cognitive: increased knowledge & acceptance of rules, capacity for moral reasoning
-> Behavioural: increased prosocial behaviour (sharing toys)
-> Affective: increased empathy
Moral development - psychoanalytic perspective
- development of superego via identification with same-sex parent
- Children obey superego to avoid guilt
- Largely discredited, but guilt does play role in development of conscience:
- > Fear of punishment and loss of parental love does not necessarily increase moral behaviour
Moral development: social learning theories
- Focus is behavioural
- Operant conditioning: positively reinforce desired behaviour
- Punishment: effective for immediate obedience
- > BUT provides aggressive model
- > No feedback on appropriate behaviour
- > Punishment correlated with: avoidance of parent, increased reactive aggression, self-focus/lack of empathy, increased antisocial behaviour, weak moral development, poor academic achievement
- > Adolescence & beyond: mental health issues, delinquency, partner & child abuse
