Socioemotional Development in Early Childhood

1. Chapter 6 Socioemotional Development in Early Childhood

2. Initiative Versus Guilt Erikson’s third stage: initiative versus guilt Examples: Breakfast, clothes, Christmas tree children use their perceptual, motor, cognitive, and language skills to make things happen on their own initiative, children exuberantly move out into a wider social world governor of initiative is conscience initiative leads not only to rewards but also guilt, which lowers self-esteem

3. Self-Understanding Self-understanding -- representation of self -- the substance and content of self-concept Early self-understanding involves self-recognition Young children think that the self can be described by many material characteristics, such as size, shape, and color About 4 to 5 years of age, they begin to include psychological trait and emotion terms in their own self-descriptions

4. Emotional Development Awareness of self is linked to the ability to feel an expanding range of emotions To experience self-conscious emotions, children must be able to refer to themselves and be aware of themselves as distinct from others Important changes in emotional development: increased ability to talk about one’s own and others’ emotions increase the number of terms they use to describe emotions

5. Emotional Development Self-conscious emotions Empathy Example: 3-year-old vs. 12-month old Sympathy Examples: Candy, pat Antipathy Example: Bully Prosocial/altruistic behavior Example: “Do you want to play…?” Antisocial behavior Example: Sand castle

6. Emotion-Coaching and Emotion-Dismissing Parents   Emotion-coaching parents monitor their children’s emotions, view their children’s negative emotions as opportunities for teaching, assist them in labeling emotions, and coach them in how to deal effectively with emotions Emotion-dismissing parents view their role as to deny, ignore, or change negative emotions

7. Regulation of Emotion and Peer Relations Emotional self-regulation Externalizing problems Example: Tantrum Internalizing problems Example: Stone-wall Emotional intelligence Delay of gratification Emotions play a strong role in determining the success of a child’s peer relationships Ability to modulate one’s emotions is an important skill that benefits relationships with peers moody and emotionally negative children experience rejection by their peers positive children are more popular 

8. Moral Development Moral development -- development of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors regarding rules and conventions about what people should do in their interactions with other people Freudian theory, superego = the moral element of personality Empathy -- responding to another person’s feelings with an emotion that echoes the other’s feelings (Eisenberg & others, 2009)

9. Moral Reasoning Piaget (1932) theorized how thinking about moral issues was stimulated Ages 4–7: heteronomous morality -- children think of justice and rules as unchangeable properties of the world, removed from the control of people 7–10 years of age, children are in a transition 10 years and older: autonomous morality -- aware that rules and laws are created by people

10. Moral Reasoning Because young children are heteronomous moralists, they judge the rightness or goodness of behavior by considering its consequences, not the intentions of the actor The heteronomous thinker also believes in immanent justice -- the concept that if a rule is broken, punishment will be meted out immediately Example: Compliance to rules

11. Moral Behavior Behavioral and social cognitive approach -- processes of reinforcement, punishment, and imitation explain the development of moral behavior When rewarded for behavior that is consistent with laws and social conventions, they are likely to repeat that behavior Actions of models who behave morally are likely to be adopted

12. Moral Behavior Behavioral and social cognitive researchers emphasize that what children do in one situation is often only weakly related to what they do in other situations The totally honest child was virtually nonexistent, as was the totally dishonest child Ability to resist temptation is closely tied to the development of self-control  (Hartshorne & May, 1928–1930; Mischel, 2004)

13. Gender Gender -- social and psychological dimensions of being male or female Gender identity -- sense of being male or female Gender roles --  sets of expectations that prescribe how females or males should think, act, and feel preschool children act in ways that match their culture's gender roles and exhibit a sense of gender identity

14. Social Theories of Gender    Social role theory -- contrasting roles of women and men Psychoanalytic theory of gender -- Freud’s view -- preschool child develops a sexual attraction to the opposite-sex parent Oedipus (for boys) or Electra (for girls) complex Social Cognitive Theory mechanisms by which gender develops observation imitation rewards and punishment Gender Schema Theory gender typing emerges as children gradually develop gender schemas of what is gender-appropriate and gender-inappropriate in their culture gender schema -- organizes the world in terms of female and male (Martin & Ruble, 2010)

15. Parental Influences on Gender Development By action and by example, parents influence their children’s gender development cultures around the world give mothers and fathers different roles Mothers’ Socialization Strategies -- mothers socialize their daughters to be more obedient and responsible than their sons Fathers’ Socialization Strategies -- fathers show more attention to sons than daughters, engage in more activities with sons, and put forth more effort to promote sons’ intellectual development (Grusec & Davidov, 2007)

16. Peer Influences Peers prompt the process of responding to and modeling masculine and feminine behavior playground has been called “gender school” Peers extensively reward and punish gender behavior peers often reject children who act in a manner that is characteristic of the other gender Gender molds important aspects of peer relations (Luria & Herzog, 1985; Leaper & Friedman, 2007; Matlin, 2008)

17. Baumrind’s Parenting Styles Diana Baumrind (1971) has described four types of parenting styles authoritarian parenting -- restrictive, punitive style demanding obedience and respect authoritative parenting -- encourages independence but still places limits and controls neglectful parenting -- parent is very uninvolved in the child's life indulgent parenting -- highly involved with but place few demands or controls

18. Punishment Corporal (physical) punishment historically has been considered a necessary and even desirable method of discipline Use of corporal punishment is legal in every state in America Individuals in the United States and Canada were among those with the most favorable attitudes toward corporal punishment and were the most likely to remember it being used by their parents (Curran & others, 2001)

19. Consequences of Corporal Punishment Corporal punishment is associated with Higher levels of immediate compliance, but also with increased aggression by the children Lower levels of moral internalization and mental health More adjustment problems Adolescent depression Juvenile delinquency (Gershoff, 2002; Bender & others, 2007)

20. Reasons to Avoid Physical Punishment Parents who spank present children with an out-of-control model which the children may then imitate Punishment can instill fear, rage, or avoidance in children Punishment tells the child what not to do rather than what to do Punishment can be abusive (Durrant, 2008)

21. Coparenting and Alternatives to Corporal Punishment Handling misbehavior by reasoning and especially explaining the consequences of the child’s actions Time out -- the child is briefly removed from the setting Coparenting -- the support that parents provide one another in jointly raising a child

22. Child Maltreatment Give your definition of child abuse. What differentiates abuse from discipline? What would you do if your child was playing with matches? What are some examples of nonphysical abuse? Would you send your child to bed without dinner? Would you send your child to his/her room for several hours? Would you tell your child he/she is selfish? Stubborn? Stupid?

23. Child Maltreatment Eighty-four percent of children, who were abused according to a 2008 report, were abused by a parent or parents In 2006, approximately 905,000 U.S. children were victims of child abuse (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2008)

24. Types of Child Maltreatment Physical abuse the infliction of physical injury Child neglect failure to provide for the child’s basic needs Sexual abuse fondling a child’s genitals, intercourse, incest, rape, sodomy, etc. Emotional abuse psychological/verbal abuse/mental injury acts/omissions that have caused, or could cause, serious behavioral, cognitive, or emotional problems

25. The Context of Abuse No single factor causes child maltreatment A combination of factors includes: The culture Family characteristics Developmental characteristics of the child About one-third of parents who were abused themselves go on to abuse their own children

26. Developmental Consequences of Abuse Poor emotion regulation, attachment problems, problems in peer relations, difficulty in adapting to school, and other psychological problems such as depression and delinquency Difficulty in establishing and maintaining healthy intimate relationships As adolescents and adults, they are at higher risk for violent romantic relationships, as well as for substance abuse, sexual risk taking, financial and employment-related difficulties

27. Sibling Relationships Approximately 80 percent of American children have one or more siblings Interactions with siblings include aggressive, hostile interchanges Conflict is only one of the many dimensions of sibling relations sibling relations include helping, sharing, teaching, fighting, and playing

28. Changing Family in a Changing Society The United States has one of the highest percentages of single-parent families in the world Among two-parent families, there are those in which both parents work, or have divorced parents who have remarried, or gay or lesbian parents Differences in culture and SES also influence families

29. Working Parents The nature of parents’ work rather than whether one parent works outside the home is significant Parents who have poor working conditions are likely to be more irritable at home and engage in less effective parenting A consistent finding is that children (especially girls) of working mothers engage in less gender stereotyping and have more egalitarian views of gender

30. Children in Divorced Families Children in divorced families are more likely to have academic problems show externalized problems (such as acting out and delinquency) and internalized problems (such as anxiety and depression) have less competent intimate relationships drop out of school become sexually active at an early age take drugs to become sexually active at an early age have low self-esteem A majority of children in divorced families do not have significant adjustment problems

31. Divorce Adjustment When a divorced parents’ relationship with each other is harmonious and when they use authoritative parenting, the adjustment of children improves Children who are socially mature and responsible, who show few behavioral problems, and who have an easy temperament are better able to cope Children with a difficult temperament often have problems in coping with their parents’ divorce 

32. Socioeconomic Issues of Divorce Custodial mothers experience the loss of about one-fourth to one-half of their pre-divorce income This income loss for divorced mothers is accompanied by increased workloads, high rates of job instability, and residential moves to less desirable neighborhoods with inferior schools Custodial fathers have a loss of only one-tenth of their pre-divorce income

33. Gay Male and Lesbian Parents Approximately 20 percent of lesbians and 10 percent of gay men are parents Many lesbian mothers and gay fathers are non-custodial parents because they lost custody of their children to heterosexual spouses after a divorce Most children of gay and lesbian parents were born in a heterosexual relationship that ended in a divorce Parenthood among lesbians and gay men is controversial

34. Cultural, Ethnic, and Socioeconomic Variations Families within different ethnic groups differ in their size, structure, composition, reliance on kinships networks, and levels of income and education When children spend time in a child-care center, school, church, or other community setting, they are likely to learn the values and behaviors of the dominant culture they may be expected to adapt to that culture’s norms -- acculturation

35. Cultural, Ethnic, and Socioeconomic Variations Lower-SES parents more concerned that children conform to society’s expectations create a home atmosphere where parents have authority use physical punishment more are more directive and less conversational with their children

36. Cultural, Ethnic, and Socioeconomic Variations Higher-SES parents are more concerned with developing children's initiative and delay of gratification create an atmosphere in which children are more nearly equal participants rules are discussed are less likely to use physical punishment are less directive and more conversational with their children

37. Peer Relations Peers -- children of about the same age or maturity level Functions of a child’s peer group receive feedback about their abilities can be necessary for normal socioemotional development negotiating roles and rules in play, arguing, and agreeing

38. Play Extensive amount of peer interaction during childhood involves play Play -- pleasurable activity that is engaged in for its own sake Its functions and forms vary Therapists use play therapy both to allow the child to work off frustrations and to analyze the child’s conflicts and ways of coping with them

39. Parten’s Classic Study of Play Parten’s proposed the following types of play: Unoccupied play Solitary play Onlooker play Parallel play Associative play Cooperative play

40. Types of Play Most widely studied types of children’s play sensorimotor and practice play pretense/symbolic play social play constructive play games 

41. Types of Play Sensorimotor play is behavior by infants intended to derive pleasure from exercising their sensorimotor schemes Practice play involves the 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

42. Types of Play Pretense/symbolic play occurs when the child transforms the physical environment into a symbol Social play involves interaction with peers Constructive play combines sensorimotor/practice play with symbolic representation Games are activities that are engaged in for pleasure and have rules Examples : 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

43. Television Television is the most influential of the many types of mass media that affect children’s behavior Many spend more time in front of the television set than they do with their parents average of 2 to 4 hours a day

44. Television Negative influence on children by making them passive learners distracting them from doing homework teaching them stereotypes providing them with violent models of aggression presenting them with unrealistic views of the world

45. Television Positive influence on children’s development by presenting motivating educational programs increasing their information about the world beyond their immediate environment providing models of prosocial behavior 

46. Effects of Television on Children’s Aggression Saturday morning cartoon shows average more than 25 violent acts per hour Increased concern about children who play violent video games, especially those that are highly realistic