Psychosocial Development In Early Childhood

Easy temperament
Difficult temperament- disruptive babies
Slow to warm up- delayed reactions

DEVELOPING THE SELF

The Self-Concept and Cognitive Development

The self-concept is our total picture of our abilities and traits.

Changes in Self-Definition: The 5 to 7 Shift

Children's self-definition —the way they describe themselves-typically changes between about
ages 5 and 7, reflecting self-concept development and advances in cognitive abilities.
Real self - the person he actually is
Ideal self - the person he would like to be

Self-esteem is the self evaluative part of the self-concept, the judgment children make about
their overall worth. Self-esteem, in part, is based on children's growing cognitive ability to
describe and define themselves

Developmental Changes in Self-Esteem

Although there are individual differences in self-esteem, most young children wildly overestimate
their abilities. Their self-esteem is not based on reality but based on what they think of
themselves

Erikson: Initiative versus Guilt

The need to deal with conflicting feelings about the self is at the heart of the third stage of
psychosocial development identified by Erik Erikson: initiative versus guilt.
The need to deal with conflicting feelings about the self is at the heart of the third stage of
psychosocial development identified by Erik Erikson: initiative versus guilt.
This conflict marks a split between two parts of the personality: the part that remains a child, full
of exuberance and a desire to try new things and test new powers, and the part that is
becoming an adult, constantly
examining the propriety of motives and actions.

Gender
Perspectives on Gender Development
Gender roles are the behaviors, interests, attitudes, skills, and personality traits that a culture
considers appropriate for males or females
Gender-typing is the acquisition of a gender role, takes place early in childhood
Gender stereotypes are preconceived generalizations about male or female behavior.
Biological Approach
Analysis of fetal testosterone levels has shown a link between higher testosterone levels in
utero and male-typical play in boys.

Additional clues may be found in research focused on girls with a disorder called Congenital
Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH)— affects metabolism
Evolutionary Approach
According to Darwin's (1871) theory of sexual selection, the selection of sexual partners is a
response to the differing reproductive pressures early men and women confronted in the
struggle for survival.
According to evolutionary theory, male competitiveness and aggressiveness and female
nurturance develop during childhood as preparation for these adult roles.

Psychoanalytic Approach
Identification - the adoption of characteristics, beliefs, attitudes, values, and behaviors of the
parent of the same sex.
Kohlberg's Cognitive-Developmental Theory
Gender knowledge ("I am a boy") precedes gendered behavior ("so I like to do boy things").
Children actively search for cues about gender in their social world. As they realize which
gender they belong to, they adopt behaviors they perceive as consistent with being male or
female.

The acquisition of gender roles, said Kohlberg, hinges on gender constancy, a child's
realization that his or her gender will always be the same.
Gender Identity: awareness of one's own gender and that of others typically occurs between
ages 2 and 3.
Gender Stability: awareness that gender does not change.
However, children at this stage base judgments about gender on superficial appearances
(clothing or hairstyle) and stereotyped behaviors.
Gender Consistency: the realization that a girl remains a girl even if she has a short haircut
and plays with trucks, and a boy remains a boy even if he has long hair and earrings, typically
occurs between ages 3 and 7.

Gender-Schema Theory
It views children as actively extracting knowledge about gender from their environment before
engaging in gender-typed behavior.
Gender-schema theory places more emphasis on the influence of culture.
Social Learning Approach
Children acquire gender roles by imitating models and being rewarded for gender-appropriate
behavior.
Social Cognitive Theory holds that children learn gender roles through socialization.

Importance of Play
Play is vitally important to development and has significant current and long-term functions.
Play is not what children do to burn off energy so they can get to the real business of learning.
Play is the context in which much of the most important learning occurs.

Cognitive Complexity
Functional Play or Locomotor Play - begins during infancy; consisting of repeated practice in
large muscular movements such as rolling a ball.

Dramatic Play or Pretend Play - the use of objects or materials to make something, such as a
house of blocks or a crayon drawing.
Formal Games with Rules - organized games with known procedures and penalties.

The Social Dimension of Play

Mildred B. Parten (1932) identified six types of play
She found that as children get older, their play tends to become more social—that is, more
interactive and more cooperative.
Role of Parenting
Discipline
In casual speech, we tend to think of discipline as involving only punishment, but the
psychological definition of the word also includes techniques such as rewarding desired
behaviors and drawing attention to how actions affect others.
Reinforcement and Punishment
External reinforcements may be tangible (treats, more playtime) or intangible a smile, a word
of praise, or a special privilege).
Internal reinforcement is the sense of pleasure or accomplishment.

There are occasions, however, when punishment, such as isolation or denial of privileges, is
necessary.
Children who are punished harshly and frequently may have trouble interpreting other people's
actions and words and may attribute hostile intentions where none exists.

Corporal Punishment - the use of physical force with the intention of causing a child to
experience pain, but not injury, for the purpose of correction or control of the child's behavior.

Power Assertion is intended to stop or discourage undesirable behavior through physical or

verbal enforcement of parental control.
Withdrawal of Love may include ignoring, isolating, or showing dislike for a child.

Baumrind's Model of Parenting Styles

Authoritarian Parenting emphasizes control and unquestioning obedience.
Permissive Parenting emphasizes self-expression and self-regulation.
Authoritative Parenting emphasizes a child's individuality but also stresses limits.
Neglectful or Uninvolved are parents who, sometimes because of stress or depression, focus
on their needs rather than on those of the child.

Cognitive Development In Middle Childhood

Piagetian Approach: The Concrete Operational Child
Spatial Relationships
Eight-year-old Ella stares intently at the map. "The star means we are here," she points, "so that
must mean the store is there!" Ella turns to her mother with a smile and they both begin walking.
Causality
Another key development during middle childhood involves the ability to make judgments about
cause and effect.
Categorization
Seriation - ability to arrange objects in a series according to one or more dimensions.
Class Inclusions- the ability to see the relationship between a whole and its parts and to
understand the category within a whole.

Inductive and Deductive Reasoning

Inductive reasoning involves making observations about particular members of a class of
people, animals, objects, or events, and then drawing conclusions about the class as a whole.—
first to develop according to Piaget
Deductive reasoning, by contrast, starts with a general statement—a premise —about a class
and applies it to particular members of the class.
Conservation
Three primary achievements required in conservation:
• Principle of Identity
• Principle of Reversibility
• Decentration

Information-Processing Approach:
Planning, Attention, and Memory
Selective Attention
• the ability to deliberately direct one's attention and shut out distractions
• may hinge on the executive skill of inhibitory control, the voluntary suppression of unwanted
responses
Working Memory
Working memory involves the short-term storage of information that is being actively processed,
like a mental workspace.
The Development of Memory Strategies Mnemonic Device - strategy to aid in memory.
External Memory Aids - prompts by something outside the person
Rehearsal - conscious repetition
Organization - mentally placing information into categories
Elaboration - associate items with something else, such as an imagined scene or story
Metamemory can be described as the knowledge of and reflection about memory processes.
Psychometric Approach: Assessment of Intelligence
Linguistic - Ability to use and understand words and nuances of meaning.
Logical Mathematical - Ability to manipulate numbers and solve logical problems.
Spatial - Ability to find one's way around in an environment and judge relationships between
objects in space
Musical - Ability to perceive and create patterns of pitch and rhythm
Bodily-Kinesthetic - Ability to move with precision.
Interpersonal - Ability to understand and communicate with others.
Intrapersonal - Ability to understand the self
Naturalistic - Ability to distinguish species and their characteristics

Sternberg's Triarchic Theory of Intelligence

The experiential element is insightful or creative; it determines how people approach novel or
familiar tasks.
It enables people to compare new information with what they already know and to come up with
new ways of putting facts together —in other words, to think originally

The contextual element is practical; it helps people deal with their environment. It is the ability
to size up a situation and decide what to do. What actions are most appropriate for a given
situation depend on the context.

The componential element is the analytic aspect of intelligence; it determines how efficiently
people process information. It helps people solve problems, monitor
solutions, and evaluate the results. Some people are more effective information processors than
others.

by Sofia Allysandra D.G