Download Social and Personality Development in the Preschool Years

Social and Personality
Development in the Preschool
Years
Chapter 8
Robert S. Feldman
Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
Looking Ahead
How do preschool-age children develop a concept of
themselves?
How do children develop their sense of racial identity and
gender?
In what sorts of social relationships and play do preschoolage children engage?
What sorts of disciplinary styles do parents employ, and
what effects do they have?
Looking Ahead
What factors contribute to child abuse and neglect?
How do children develop a moral sense?
How does aggression develop in preschool-age children?
FORMING A SENSE OF SELF
Psychosocial Development:
Resolving the Conflicts
INITIATIVE = desire to act independently
from parents and becoming autonomous
GUILT = guilt of unintended consequences
resulting in shame and self-doubt
3 to 6 years
Self- Concept
Definition
- Identity
- Set of beliefs about
what we are like as
individuals
Preschooler Self-Concept
Not “accurate”
More optimistic
Overestimates of abilities
Cultural Influence
View of self culturally bound
Collectivist Orientation: Asian
Individualistic Orientation: Western
View of self family tied
View of self individually directed
Psychosocial Development
Becoming their own person
Making own decisions
Shaping kind of person they are becoming
Developing Racial and Ethnic
Awareness
Developmental Diversity
Racial and ethnic identity begins to
formalize
Differences in skin color noticed early in
life
Cultural meaning attached to differences
comes later
Developmental Diversity
By age 3-4 years many preschoolers:
Differentiate races
Mirror social attitudes
Race Dissonance
Minority children indicate preferences
for majority values or people
Result of powerful influence of dominant
white culture
NOT disparagement of own racial
characteristics
Ethnic Identity
Emerges somewhat later than racial
identity
Usually less conspicuous than race
Preschoolers who were bilingual, speaking
both Spanish and English, are more apt to
be aware of ethnic identity
Gender Identity
Sense of being male or female
Well established by preschool years
By age 2 years:
Consistently label themselves and others as
male and female
Gender Constancy
Kohlberg (1966)
By age 4-5, children develop understanding of gender
constancy
Belief that people are permanently males or
females because of fixed, unchangeable
biological factors
Gender schemas occur well before gender
constancy is understood
Gender and Play
Differences noted in play of male and
female preschoolers
Males:
More rough and tumble play
Same sex playmate preference around 3
Females:
Organized games and role playing
Same sex playmate preference around 2
Gender Expectations
Expectations about gender-appropriate
behavior more rigid and genderstereotyped than adults up to 5 years
Gender outweighs ethnic variables
Snips, and snails….
Preschoolers expect boys to
demonstrate:
– Competence
– Independence
– Forcefulness
– Competitiveness
Sugar and spice...
Preschoolers expect girls to demonstrate:
– Warmth
– Expressiveness
– Nurturance
– Submissiveness
Theoretical Perspectives on Gender
Biological
– Inborn, genetic
factors produce
gender differences
Psychoanalytic
– Gender differences
result of moving
through series of
stages related to
biological urges
Social learning
– Gender related
behavior learned
from observations of
others’ behaviors
Cognitive
– Gender schemes
form lens through
which world is
viewed
Psychoanalytic Perspective on
Gender
Males and females go through different
identification process
Identifying with same sex parents enables child to
adopt parents’ gender attitudes and values
Social Learning Perspective on
Gender
Gender related behaviors and expectations
learned from observing others
Books, media, television perpetuate gender
related behavior and expectations
Cognitive Perspective on Gender
Gender schema or cognitive framework organizes
relevant gender information
Preschoolers begin developing “rules” about what
is right and inappropriate for males and
females
Bem There…Done That
Sandra Bem and androgynous children
Encouraged to follow gender roles that encompass
characteristics thought typical of both sexes
Male-appropriate and female-appropriate traits
Review and Apply
REVIEW
According to Erikson’s ____ development theory,
preschool-age children move from the ____ -versusshame-and-doubt stage to the ____ -versus-guilt stage.
During the preschool years, children develop their ____
____, beliefs about themselves that they derive from
their own ____, their parents’ ____, and ____.
Racial and ethnic awareness begins to form in the ____
years.
Gender awareness also develops in the preschool years.
Explanations of this phenomenon include ____, ____,
____, and ____ approaches.
Review and Apply
APPLY
What sorts of activities might you encourage a
preschool boy to undertake to encourage him to
adopt a less stereotypical gender schema?
How would you relate Erikson’s stages of trust versus
mistrust, autonomy versus shame and doubt, and
initiative versus guilt to the issue of secure
attachment discussed in an earlier chapter?
FRIENDS AND FAMILY:
PRESCHOOLERS’ SOCIAL LIVES
Preschoolers’ Social Lives
• Increased interactions with the world at large
• Peers with special qualities
• Relationships based on companionship, play,
entertainment
• Friendship focused on completion of shared
activities
A Friend Indeed…
You Can’t Come to my Birthday Party!
View of friendship evolves with age and
older preschoolers
See friendship as continuing state and stable
relationship
Begin to understand concepts such as trust, support,
shared interest
Playing by the Rules: The Work of
Play
Children are interested in maintaining
smooth social relationships with friends
Children try to avoid and/or solve
disagreements
Learning to Play… Playing to Learn
Play is critical to the overall development
of young children
Changes over time
Becomes more sophisticated, interactive,
cooperative
Gradually more dependent on social and
cognitive skills
She loves me, he loves me not!
Some children are more readily liked by
peers than others
Popular children
Physical attractiveness, outgoing, social and
speaking more, smiling more, empathetic
Unpopular children
Aggressive, disruptive, imposing, less cooperative,
less turn-taking
How can adults help?
Categorizing Play
Functional play: simple, repetitive
activities typical of 3-year-olds that may
involve objects or repetitive muscular
movements
Constructive play: activities in which
children manipulate objects to produce
or build something
Building…inside and out!
By age four, children engage in
constructive play that:
Tests developing cognitive skills
Practices motor skills
Facilitates problem solving
Teaches cooperation
Social Aspects of Play
Parten (1932)
Parallel Play
Children play with similar toys, in a similar
manner, but do not interact with each other
Social Aspects of Play
Parten (1932)
Onlooker Play
Children simply watch each other play
Social Aspects of Play
Parten (1932)
Solitary Play
Children play by themselves
Social Aspects of Play
Parten (1932)
Associative Play
Children interact with one another in groups of
two or more
Children share or borrow toys or materials, but do
not do the same thing
Social Aspects of Play
Parten (1932)
Cooperative Play
Children play with one another, take turns, play
games, and devise contests
The Smallest Great Pretenders
Nature of pretend, or make-believe, play
changes during the preschool period:
Becomes increasingly unrealistic and more
imaginative
Change from using only realistic objects to
using less concrete ones
What are you thinking, anyway?
Preschoolers’ Theory of Mind
Related to:
Brain maturation
Hormonal changes
Developing language
Opportunities for social interaction and
pretend play
Cultural background
Preschoolers’ Family Lives
Increased number of single parent headed
families
Still most children do not experience upheaval
and turmoil
Strong, positive relationships within families
encourage relationships with other children
Effective Parenting:
Teaching Desired Behavior
AUTHORITARIAN
– Exhibit controlling,
rigid, cold style
– Value strict,
unquestioning
obedience
AUTHORITATIVE
– Set firm, clear,
consistent limits
– Allow disagreement
and use reasoning,
explanations,
consequences
– Supportive parenting
Types of Parenting and Discipline Patterns (Baumrind, 1980)
Effective Parenting:
Teaching Desired Behavior
PERMISSIVEINDIFFERENT
– Uninvolved in
children’s lives
– Set few limits
PERMISSIVEINDULGENT
– Involved with
children
– Place little or no
limits or control
on children’s
behavior
Types of Parenting and Discipline Patterns (Baumrind, 1980)
Does parental discipline style
result in differences in child
behavior?
See how they grow…
Authoritarian parents = withdrawn,
socially awkward children
Permissive parents = dependent, moody,
low social skilled children
Uninvolved parents = emotionally
detached, unloved, and insecure children
Authoritative parents = independent,
friendly, self-assertive, and cooperative.
Remember…
• Baumrind research findings chiefly apply to
Western societies
• Childrearing practices that parents are
urged to follow reflect cultural perspectives
• nature of children
• role of parents
• No single parenting pattern or style is likely
to be universally appropriate or likely
invariably to produce successful children
From Research to Practice:
Teaching Parents to Teach Their Children
Parent coaching
Offers specific child-rearing strategies
Provides basics of child development to help
put child’s behavior in perspective
Not validated by empirical research
Child Abuse and Psychological
Maltreatment
Five children are killed daily by caretakers
140,000 are physically injured
Three million are abused or neglected
annually in U.S.
Range of Abuse and Maltreatment of
Children in the US
True or False?
Child abuse can occur in any
home or child care setting!
Stressful environments increase
likelihood for abuse
Poverty
Single-parent homes
High levels of marital discord
Substance abuse
What else?
Vague demarcation between permissible
and impermissible forms of physical
violence
Line between “spanking” and “beating” is not
clear
Spankings begun in anger can escalate into
abuse
Privacy of child care setting
Unrealistic expectations
So why then does abuse occur?
Children are more likely to be victimized
when they are:
Fussy
Resistant to control
Slow to adapt to new situations
Overly anxious
Frequent bedwetters
Developmentally delayed
It is crucial to remember…
Labeling children as high risk for abuse
does not make them responsible for their
abuse
What do the experts tell us about
causality?
Making
Up
CYCLE-OFVIOLENCE
HYPOTHESIS
argues that
abused and
neglected
children suffer
predisposes
them to be
abusive adults
Tension
Building
Abusing
Incident
Psychological Maltreatment
Not all abuse is physical!
Psychological maltreatment
Occurs when parents or other caretakers harm
children’s behavioral, cognitive, emotional, or
physical functioning
May take form of neglect in which parents may ignore
or act emotionally unresponsive
Not as easily identified without outward physical signs
What are consequences of
psychological maltreatment?
Some children survive and grow into
psychologically healthy adults
Others suffer long-term damage
Low self-esteem, depression, suicide
Lying
Misbehavior
Underachievement in school
Criminal behavior
Abuse and Brain Development: A Tragic
Relationship
Brains of victims
undergo permanent
changes
– Reductions in size of
amygdala and
hippocampus in
adulthood
– Changes due to
overstimulation of the
limbic system
Warning Signs for Child Abuse
• Feelings of pain for
unexplained reasons
• Fear of adults or
care providers
• Inappropriate attire
in warm weather
• Extreme behavior
• Fear of physical
contact
• Visible, serious
injuries that have
no reasonable
explanation
• Bite or choke marks
• Burns from
cigarettes or
immersion in hot
water
Difference is the key...
Dramatic changes or shifts in
behavior without logical
explanation warrant inquiry
Three Cheers for the Survivors!
A Closer Look at Resilient Children
RESILIENCE
Ability to overcome circumstances that place child at
high risk for psychological and/or physical damage
RESILIENT CHILDREN
Exhibit ability to overcome circumstances that place
child at high risk for psychological and/or physical
functioning
Werner (1995)
Resilient infants
Temperaments that evoke responses from wide variety
of caregivers
Affectionate, easy going, good-natured
Easily soothed as infants
Able to evoke whatever support available in
environment
Resilient children
Socially pleasant, outgoing, good communication skills
Relatively intelligent, independent
Realistic
Becoming an Informed Consumer of
Development
Disciplining Children
For most children in Western cultures,
authoritative parenting works best
Spanking is never an appropriate discipline
technique
Tailor parental discipline to the characteristics
of the child and the situation
Use routines to avoid conflict
Review and Apply
REVIEW
In the preschool years, children develop their ____
true friendships on the basis of personal ____,
____, and shared ____.
The character of preschoolers’ ____ changes over
time, growing more ____, ____, and ____, and
relying increasingly on social skills.
Review and Apply
REVIEW
There are several distinct childrearing styles,
including ____, ____, ____, and ____.
Childrearing styles show strong ____ influences.
Some children suffer ____ from their own family
members.
Review and Apply
APPLY
What cultural and environmental factors in the
United States may have contributed to the shift
from an authoritarian parenting style to an
authoritative one since World War II? Is another
shift under way?
How might a nursery school teacher encourage a shy
child to join a group of preschoolers who are
playing?
MORAL DEVELOPMENT AND
AGGRESSION
Moral Development
Moral development = children’s reasoning
about morality, their attitudes toward
moral lapses, and their behavior when
faced with moral issues.
Several approaches have evolved
Moral Development…
The case for right and wrong
Changes in sense of justice and of right and
wrong
Changes in behavior related to moral issues
Theoretical Approaches
Piaget
HETERONOMOUS MORALITY
4 to 7 years
Initial stage of moral development
Rules seen as invariant, unchangeable, and beyond
child’s control and/or influence
Intentions not considered
Believe in immanent justice (immediate punishment for
infractions)
Theoretical Approaches
Piaget
INCIPIENT COOPERATION STAGE
7 to 10 years
Become more social and learn the rules
Play according to shared conception of the
rules
Theoretical Approaches
Piaget
AUTONOMOUS COOPERATION STAGE
Beginning at 10 years
Become fully aware that rules may and can be
modified if people playing agree
What do Piaget’s critics say?
Accurate descriptions of how moral
development proceeds
Underestimates of age at which children’s
moral skills develop
Social Learning Approaches to
Morality
Focus on how environment produces
prosocial behavior
Moral conduct learned through
reinforcement and modeling
Do as I say…or as I do?
Preschoolers more apt to model behavior of
warm, responsive, competent, high
prestige adults and peers
More than mimicking
Children do more than simply mimic
unthinkingly
By observing moral conduct, children are
reminded of:
Society’s norms about importance of moral
behavior as conveyed by significant others
Connections between particular situations and
certain kinds of behavior
Empathy and Moral Behavior
Empathy lies at heart of some kinds of
moral behavior
Roots of empathy grow early
Infants
Toddlers
Preschoolers
Emotional Self-Regulation
Preschool children improve in emotional control
Around age 2
Talk about feelings and engage in regulation strategies
Preschoolers
Develop more effective strategies and sophisticated
social skills, learn to better cope with negative
emotions
Learn to use language to express wishes
Become increasingly able to negotiate with others
Aggression
• Intentional injury or harm to another
person; relatively stable trait
• Early preschool years aggression
• Often addressed at attaining desired goal
• Declines through preschool years as does
frequency and average length of episodes
• Extreme and sustained aggression is
cause of concern
Kinds of Aggression
Instrumental aggression
Motivated by desire to obtain a concrete goal
Higher in boys than girls
Relational aggression
Intended to hurt another person’s feelings
through non-physical means
Higher in girls than boys
Explanations for Aggressive Behavior Among
Children
FREUD: death drive leads
aggressive actions and
behavior
SOCIAL-LEARNING:
prior learning shapes
aggression
LORENZ: fighting instinct
found in all humans
COGNITIVE:
interpretation of
others’ actions and
situations influences
aggression
SOCIOBIOLOGISTS:
strengthening species
drives aggression
The One-Eyed Monster?
Children’s programs contain more than twice as
many violent incidents than other types of programs.
Effects of Video Game or Internet
Playing on Children
Positive
Negative
Becoming an Informed Consumer
of Development
•
•
•
•
Increasing Moral Behavior and Reducing
Aggression
Provide opportunities to observe others acting
in a cooperative, helpful, prosocial manner
Do not ignore aggressive behavior
Help preschoolers devise alternative
explanations for others’ behavior
Monitor preschoolers’ television viewing,
particularly the violence that they view
Review and Apply
REVIEW
Piaget believed that preschoolers are in the ____
morality stage of moral development, in which
____ are seen as invariant and unchangeable.
____ ____ approaches to moral development
emphasize the importance of reinforcement for
moral actions and the ____ of models of moral
conduct.
____ and other theories focus on children’s empathy
with others and their wish to help others so they
can avoid unpleasant feelings of ____ themselves.
Review and Apply
REVIEW
Aggression typically declines in ____ and ____ as
children become more able to ____ their emotions
and to use language to ____ disputes.
____ and ____ regard aggression as an innate human
characteristic, while proponents of social learning
and cognitive approaches focus on ____ aspects of
aggression.
Review and Apply
APPLY
If high-prestige models of behavior are particularly
effective in influencing moral attitudes and
actions, are there implications for individuals in
such industries as sports, advertising, and
entertainment?
How might a preschool teacher or parent help
children notice the violence in the programs they
watch and protect them from its effects?
EPILOGUE
Before moving on to the next chapter, take a
moment to reread the prologue to this chapter,
about Usman Rabbani’s twin sons’ application
to preschool, and answer the following
questions:
How might the process of applying to preschool
itself influence the personality development of
the two boys?
If you were a parent of twins, would you want
them to attend the same preschool? How might
this shape their interactions and social
development?
EPILOGUE
Imagine you are running a preschool and only wanted to
admit children who had reached a particular stage of
moral development. How would you go about screening
potential students? What sorts of behaviors would you
look for?
Usman Rabbani ended up describing one of his sons as a
“jock.” Do you think he would have used this term in
describing a daughter? Why or why not? What might the
implications be of reserving particular words for children
of one gender or the other?