Chapter 3: ThePreschool Years

Module 3.3

Social and Personality Developmentin the Preschool Years

Erikson - Psychosocial Development: Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt

Initiative vs. Guilt• 18 months to 3 years • Autonomy = children become more independent

and autonomous if their parents encourage exploration and freedom

• Shame-and-Doubt = experience of shame and self-doubt if they are restricted and overprotected.

• 3 to 6 years• Initiative = desire to act independently from

parents and become autonomous• Guilt = guilt of unintended consequences resulting

in shame and self-doubt

Self- Concept

- Set of beliefs about what we are like as individuals

- During this period, children wonder about the nature of the self, and the way they answer the “Who am I?” question may affect them for the rest of their lives.

- Preschooler Self-Concept:– Not “accurate”– More optimistic– Overestimates of abilities

Cultural Influence of Self - Concept

• View of self culturally bound• Collectivist Orientation: (ex: Eastern) - promoting the notion of

interdependence. – They tend to regard themselves as parts of a larger social

network in which they are interconnected with, and responsible to others.

• Individualistic Orientation: (ex: Western)- emphasizes personal identity and the uniqueness of the individual. – They are more apt to see themselves as self-contained and

autonomous, in competition with others for scarce resources.

• View of self family tied

• View of self individually directed

Psychosocial Development (cont.)

• Becoming their own person

• Making own decisions

• Shaping kind of person they are becoming

Racial and Ethnic Awareness• By the time they are 3 or 4 years of age,

preschool-age children notice differences among people based on skin color, and they begin to identify themselves as a member of a particular group such as “Hispanic” or “black.”

• Although early in the preschool years they do not realize that ethnicity and race are enduring features of who they are, later they begin to develop an understanding of the significance that society places on ethnic and racial membership.

Race Dissonance• The phenomenon in which minority children indicate

preferences for majority values or people.

• Some studies find that as many as 90 percent of African American children, when asked about their reactions to drawings of black and white children, react more negatively to the drawings of black children than to those of white children.

• However, these negative reactions did not translate into lower self-esteem for the African American subjects.

• Instead, their preferences appear to be a result of the

powerful influence of the dominant white culture, rather than a disparagement of their own racial characteristics.

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 Constancy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZb2len6f18

(Click on the link or copy and paste the URL)

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 gender-stereotyped than adults up to 5 years

• Gender outweighs ethnic variables

Gender Stereotyping

• Preschoolers expect boys to demonstrate:– Competence– Independence – Forcefulness– Competitiveness

Gender Stereotyping

• Preschoolers expect girls to demonstrate:– Warmth– Expressiveness– Nurturance– Submissiveness

Theoretical Perspectives on Gender

• Biological – Inborn, genetic

factors produce gender differences

• Social learning– Gender related

behavior learned from observations of others’ behaviors

• Cognitive– Gender schemes

form lens through which world is viewed

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

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

Friendships

• 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

Friendships and Play

• Children are interested in maintaining smooth social relationships with friends

• Children try to avoid and/or solve disagreements

Play

• 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

How can adults help?

• Social skills associated with popularity can be encouraged and taught by parents, teachers, and caregivers.

• Social skills are enhanced through warm, supportive home and school environments.

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

Constructive Play

• By age four, children engage in constructive play that:

– Tests developing cognitive skills

– Practices motor skills

– Facilitates problem solving

– Teaches cooperation

Social Aspects of PlayParten (1932)

Parallel Play: • Children play with similar toys, in a similar manner, but do not

interact with each otherOnlooker Play • Children simply watch each other playSolitary Play • Children play by themselvesAssociative 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

thingCooperative Play • Children play with one another, take turns, play games, and devise

contests

Sociodramatic Play

• 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– At the start of the preschool period, children may

pretend to listen to a radio only if they actually have a plastic radio that looks realistic. Later, however, they are more likely to use an entirely different object, such as a large cardboard box, as a pretend radio.

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

• UNINVOLVED– Uninvolved in

children’s lives– Set few limits

• PERMISSIVE– Involved with

children– Place little or no

limits or control on children’s behavior

Types of Parenting and Discipline Patterns (Baumrind, 1980)

Outcomes for Children

• 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.

Outcomes for Children• Children of authoritarian parents tend to be withdrawn, showing relatively

little sociability. They are not very friendly, often behaving uneasily around their peers. Girls who are raised by authoritarian parents are especially dependent on their parents, whereas boys are unusually hostile.

• Permissive parents have children who, in many ways, share the undesirable characteristics of children of authoritarian parents. Children with permissive parents tend to be dependent and moody, and they are low in social skills and self-control.

• Children whose parents show uninvolved parenting styles are the worst off. Their parents’ lack of involvement disrupts their emotional development considerably, leading them to feel unloved and emotionally detached, and impedes their physical and cognitive development as well.

• Children of authoritative parents fare best. They generally are independent, friendly with their peers, self-assertive, and cooperative. They have strong motivation to achieve, and they are typically successful and likable. They regulate their own behavior effectively, both in terms of their relationships with others and emotional self-regulation.

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

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

Stressful environments increase likelihood for abuse

• Poverty

• Single-parent homes

• High levels of marital discord

• Substance abuse

Spanking and Child Abuse

• 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

Spanking and Child Abuse• Almost half of mothers with children less than 4 years of age

have spanked their child in the previous week, and close to 20 percent of mothers believe it is appropriate to spank a child less than 1 year of age. In some other cultures, physical discipline is even more common.

• Spanking is associated with lower quality of parent-child relationships, poorer mental health for both child and parent, higher levels of delinquency, and more antisocial behavior. Spanking also teaches children that violence is an acceptable solution to problems by serving as a model of violent, aggressive behavior. Consequently, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics, the use of physical punishment of any sort is not recommended.

Cycle of Violence Hypothesis• CYCLE-OF-VIOLENCE HYPOTHESIS - argues

that the abuse and neglect children suffer predisposes them as adults to be abusive

• Victims of abuse have learned from their childhood experiences that violence is an appropriate and acceptable form of discipline. Violence may be perpetuated from one generation to another, as each generation learns to behave abusively (and fails to learn the skills needed to solve problems and instill discipline without resorting to physical violence) through its participation in an abusive, violent family.

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

Psychological Maltreatment• Abusive parents may frighten, belittle, or humiliate their

children, thereby intimidating and harassing them.

• Children may be made to feel like disappointments or failures, or they may be constantly reminded that they are a burden to their parents.

• Parents may tell their children that they wish they had never had children and specifically that they wish that their children had never been born.

• • Children may be threatened with abandonment or even death.

In other instances, older children may be exploited. They may be forced to seek employment and then to give their earnings to their parents.

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 – The stress, fear, and terror

produced by abuse may also produce permanent changes in the brain due to overstimulation of the limbic system. Because the limbic system is involved in the regulation of memory and emotion, the result can be antisocial behavior during adulthood.

Warning Signs for Child Abuse

• Visible, serious injuries that have no reasonable explanation

• Bite or choke marks• Burns from

cigarettes or immersion in hot water

• Feelings of pain for unexplained reasons

• Fear of adults or care providers

• Inappropriate attire in warm weather

• Extreme behavior• Fear of physical

contact

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

Resilient ChildrenWerner (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 – Characteristics of resilient children suggest ways to

improve the prospects of children who are at risk from a variety of developmental threats.

Successfully 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

Modeling

• Not all models are equally effective in producing prosocial responses.

• Preschoolers are more apt to model the

behavior of warm, responsive adults than of adults who appear colder.

• Models viewed as highly competent or high in prestige are more effective than others.

Modeling (cont.)

• Modeling paves the way for development of more general rules and principles in a process called abstract modeling.

• 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—the understanding of what another individual feels.

• Empathy lies at heart of some kinds of moral behavior • Roots of empathy grow early

– Infants - One-year-old infants cry when they hear other infants crying.

– Toddlers - By 2 and 3, toddlers will offer gifts and spontaneously share toys with other children and adults, even if they are strangers.

– Preschoolers - During the preschool years, empathy continues to grow as children’s ability to monitor and regulate their emotional and cognitive responses increases.

Emotional Self-Regulation

• Emotional self-regulation is the capability to adjust emotions to a desired state and level of intensity.

• 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

• Aggression - Intentional injury or harm to another person; relatively stable trait

• Early preschool years and 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

• Aggression among preschoolers is quite common, though violent attacks are not. The potential for verbal hostility, shoving matches, kicking, and other forms of aggression is present throughout the preschool period, although the degree to which aggression is acted out changes as children become older.

Kinds of Aggression

• Instrumental aggression - is aggression motivated by the desire to obtain a concrete goal, such as playing with a desirable toy that another child is playing with.– Motivated by desire to obtain a concrete goal– Higher in boys than girls

• Relational aggression - which is non-physical aggression that is intended to hurt another person’s feelings. – 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

• LORENZ: fighting instinct found in all humans

• SOCIOBIOLOGISTS: strengthening species drives aggression

• SOCIAL-LEARNING: prior learning shapes aggression

• COGNITIVE: interpretation of others’ actions and situations influences aggression

Albert Bandura Social Learning Theory and Aggression

• Bobo doll studies:

(click on the link below or cut and paste the URL)

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdh7MngntnI

Albert Bandura Social Learning Theory and Aggression

• As predicted by social learning approaches, the preschool-age children modeled the behavior of the adult. Those who had seen the aggressive model playing with the Bobo doll were considerably more aggressive than those who had watched the calm, non-aggressive model playing with the Tinkertoys.

• Findings have profound consequences, particularly for children who live in communities in which violence is prevalent.• One survey conducted in a city public hospital found that 1 in 10

children under the age of 6 said they had witnessed a shooting or stabbing. Other research indicates that one-third of the children in some urban neighborhoods have seen a homicide and that two-thirds have seen a serious assault. Such frequent exposure to violence certainly increases the probability that observers will behave aggressively themselves.

Television and Aggression• Children’s television programs actually contain higher levels of

violence (69 %) than other types of programs (57%)

• Results are primarily correlational, the overwhelming weight of research evidence is clear in suggesting that observation of televised aggression does lead to subsequent aggression. Longitudinal studies have found that children’s preferences for violent television shows at age 8 are related to the seriousness of criminal convictions by age 30.

• Observation of media violence can lead to a greater readiness to act aggressively, bullying, and to an insensitivity to the suffering of victims of violence.

• See APA Online study: http://www.apa.org/releases/media_violence.html

The One-Eyed Monster?

Children’s programs contain more than twice as many violent incidents than other types of programs.

How to Increasing Moral Behavior and Reduce Aggression

• Provide opportunities for preschool-age children to observe others acting in a cooperative, helpful, prosocial manner. Encourage them to interact with peers in joint activities in which they share a common goal. Such cooperative activities can teach the importance and desirability of working with—and helping—others.

• Do not ignore aggressive behavior. Parents and teachers should intervene when they see aggression in preschoolers, and send a clear message that aggression is an unacceptable means to resolve conflicts.

• Help preschoolers devise alternative explanations for others’ behavior. This is particularly important for children who are prone to aggression and who may be apt to view others’ conduct as more hostile than it actually is. Parents and teachers should help such children see that the behavior of their peers has several possible interpretations.

• Monitor preschoolers’ television viewing, particularly the violence that they view. There is good evidence that observation of televised aggression results in subsequent increases in children’s levels of aggression. At the same time, encourage preschoolers to watch particular shows that are designed, in part, to increase the level of moral conduct, such as Sesame Street, Dora the Explorer, Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood, and Barney.