journal

Chapter 10

Emotional and Social Development

in Early Childhood

Social Development ERICKSON’S THEORY

(2-6 yrs)

1. Trust –Mistrust

2. Autonomy-Shame (2 years)

3. Initiative–Guilt(2-6 years)

Autonomy & Initiative:

“I do it MINE self!!!!” “No! I won’t!”

Erikson’s theory

• The basic conflict of early childhood: initiative versus guilt is resolved

positively through play experiences that:

– fosters a healthy sense of initiative and develops a conscience that is not overly strict.

– develops new skills.

• Play permits preschoolers to try new skills and cooperate with other children to achieve common goals.

Cooperation vs. Isolation

“a firmer sense of self also permits children to cooperate for the first time in playing games,… and resolving disputes over objects” (Berk, 2016, p. 249)

Chapter 8 in outline Preschoolers

• Self-Development

– self-concept and self-esteem

• Emotional development

• Peer relations

• Foundations of morality

• Gender typing

• Child rearing – parenting styles

SELF-DEVELOPMENT

Foundations of Self-concept a few definitions

• Self-concept is the sum total of attributes, abilities, attitudes, and values that an individual believes defines who he or she

• Your answer to the “Who am I?” question

– What is your sense of self based upon? (friends, work/school, weight & shape, activities, work, morality, personality, etc.)

• Preschoolers usually describe themselves with concrete terms such as their name, physical appearance, possessions and everyday behaviors.

Foundations of Self-concept

• By age 3 ½ children can also describe themselves in terms of typical beliefs, emotions and attitudes. – “I’m 4. I’m a boy. Got this new T-shirt. I can brush my teeth. I

have a new doll.”

• Children’s struggle over objects seems to be positive efforts at forming boundaries between the self and others – mine

• A firmer sense of self also permits children to cooperate with others for the first time

Foundations of Self-concept

• Self-esteem is an aspect of self-concept that involves judgments about one’s own worth and the feelings associated with those judgments.

• Evaluations about our own competence is affected by emotional experiences - future behavior and long-term psychological adjustment.

• Preschoolers usually relate their own ability as extremely high and underestimate the difficulty of a task.

Emergence of Self-Esteem

• Self-esteem – Sense of self-worth

– Competencies affect emotions, behavior, and adjustment.

– Preschoolers usually rate own ability high.

– High self-esteem initiative

– Criticism undermines self-esteem.

– “I can’t do it!! I can’t do anything!!”

Suggestions Descriptions

Build a Positive

Relationship

Indicate that you want to be with the child by arranging times to be

fully available. Listen without being judgmental, and express some

of your own thoughts and feelings. Mutual sharing helps children

feel valued.

Nurture Success Adjust expectations appropriately, and provide assistance when asking the child to do something beyond his or her current limits. Focus on the positive in the child’s work or behavior. Promote self-motivation by emphasizing praise over concrete rewards. Instead of simple saying, “That’s good.” Mentioned effort and specific accomplishments. Display the child’s artwork and other products, pointing out increasing skill.

Foster the Freedom to

Choose

Choosing gives children a sense of responsibility and control over their own lives. Where children are not yet capable of deciding on their own, involve them in some aspect of the choice, such as when and in what order a task will be done.

Acknowledge the Child’s

Emotions

Accept the child’s strong feelings and suggest constructive ways to handle them. When a child’s negative emotions result from an affront to his or her self-esteem, offer sympathy and comfort along with realistic appraisal of the situation so that the child feels supported and secure.

Use a Warm Rational

Approach to Child-rearing

These authoritative child-rearing or parenting strategies promote self- confidence and self-control.

If you think you “are worth it” you will avoid disrespectful relationships.

Fostering a healthy self-image

Berk, 2010

EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Understanding Emotion

• Gains in representation, language, and self- concept support emotional development.

• By 4-5 years children correctly judge the causes of many basic emotions (“sad because he misses his mommy”), yet stress external factors. Since the preschooler has experienced emotions and the external factors causing the emotion.

• Language contributes to preschoolers’ improved emotional self-regulation, or the ability to control the expression of emotion.

Understanding Emotions

• Preschoolers know that emotions can be blunted by restricting sensory input, talking to yourself, or changing the goals.

• Because of the increased use to these self- regulating strategies, intense emotional outbursts become less frequent over the preschool years.

Emotional self-regulation

• intense emotional outbursts decrease

• parents can:

– model strategies used to cope with stress

– use adult-child coping conversations - internalized

– prepare children for difficult experiences

– children’s vivid imaginations in addition to difficulty in separating appearance from reality makes fears common among preschoolers

• e.g., going into hospital for some surgery

Helping children manage common childhood fears

• Be creative: flashlights that melt monsters.

phobias

Empathy

• altruism: actions that benefit another without any expected reward for self

• In the preschool years, empathy becomes an important motivator of prosocial or altruistic behavior.

• Empathy does not always yield to acts of kindness and helpfulness.

• In some children, empathizing with an upset peer or adult can escalate into distress. – Focuses on self rather than on person in need

– Likely to react to the suffering of others in the same way that their parents and caregivers respond to the suffering of others – modeling.

PEER RELATIONS

parallel play

Peer Sociability Parten’s Stage of Social Interaction

• Advances in Peer Sociability: Mildred Parten, 1932, observing 2 to 5 year olds, concluded that social development proceeds in a three step sequence

– 1 - Nonsocial activity - unoccupied, onlooker behavior and solitary play

– 2 - Parallel play – is a form of limited social participation in which the child plays near other children with similar materials but does not interact with them.

– 3 - Highest level = Social Interaction

• Associative play

– Engaged in separate activities, but interact

• Cooperative play

– Actions are directed toward a common goal

Peer Sociability Parten’s Stage sequence?

• Preschoolers engage in two forms of true social interaction

– Associative play – children engage in separate activities, but they interact by exchanging toys and commenting on one another’s behavior

– Cooperative play – children’s actions are directed toward a common goal

Peer Sociability Parten’s Stage sequence?

• Play emerges in Parten’s order.

– Layer-cake model of development vs. stages.

• Type, not just amount, of social activity changes.

• Most play is positive and constructive - teachers foster by setting out puzzles, art supplies, etc.

• Sociodramatic play is common.

– Supporting cognitive and social development

• act out and respond to one another’s pretend feelings

• exploring fear-arousing experiences when pretend to search for monsters

Berk, Laura E., (2010). Infants, Children, and Adolescents. Boston, MA: Pearson. EIGHTH EDITION Berk, Laura E., (2016). Infants, Children, and Adolescents. Boston, MA: Pearson. EIGHTH EDITION