Early Childhood Developement

Learning Objectives

By the end of the chapter, you will be able to:

• Name the critical milestones related to self-regulation in early childhood.

• Describe current research on moral development in early childhood and social- ization of values.

• Describe milestones in gender role development that are observed in early childhood and how gender awareness impacts the socialization process.

• Explain peer interactions in early childhood especially as they relate to Bron- fenbrenner’s ecological model.

6

Social and Behavioral Outcomes: Early Childhood

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CHAPTER 6Pre-Test

Introduction

Self-regulation is important because it helps children solve problems and get along with others. Children with strong self-regulation skills are able to adapt to changes in their environment. Self-regulation also ties into the concept of moral development. Milestones in moral development emerge during the preschool years, and parents and others play a vital role in promoting children’s consciences. Adults commonly tell white lies to spare the feelings of others. Preschoolers also commonly tell lies, but are these lies only for self-serving purposes such as getting out of trouble, or do young children some- times lie to spare the feelings of others? We will explore this question in this chapter.

It is also important to understand the shaping of gender development, and we will inves- tigate how Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model applies to the development of gender role as well as try to understand the advances in children’s social interactions as they prog- ress from toddlerhood to preschool. Features of friendships in the preschool years show advancements over those in the toddler years, and these relationships show differences between well-liked and rejected children. Why are some children more likely to be rejected by their peers? How early does bullying behavior begin? These questions are important to explore because children’s early friendships are related to outcomes later in development.

Pre-Test

1. Coparenting includes positive and negative dimensions of parenting behavior. True False

2. Preschool children do not appear to be capable of telling prosocial lies. True False

3. Once a gender schema is formed, children are expected to act in ways that con- form to traditional gender roles.

True False

4. Preschool children are more likely to select friends who have different interests than they do.

True False

Answers 1. True The answer can be found in Section 6.1. 2. False The answer can be found in Section 6.2. 3. True The answer can be found in Section 6.3. 4. False The answer can be found in Section 6.4.

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CHAPTER 6Section 6.1 Self-Regulation in Early Childhood

6.1 Self-Regulation in Early Childhood

The processes involved in self-regulation have been divided into two major catego-ries: social-emotional and cognitive self-regulation. Social-emotional regulation enables children to follow social rules and to interact in diverse settings, whereas cognitive self-regulation enables children to use the thinking processes needed to solve problems and to make other kinds of decisions (Bodrova & Leong, 2006). In other words, self-regulation plays a key role in helping children interact and get along with others by following social standards of conduct and in making decisions and solving problems when issues arise.

Two key components of self-regulation are executive function and effortful control (Raver, Li-Grining, Bub, Jones, Zhai, & Pressler, 2011). Executive function is defined as the ability to remember a rule and follow through to complete an action even when something in the environment is saying something contradictory to the rule. In contrast to executive func- tion is effortful control, the ability to hold back on the natural impulse to respond in order to fulfill a request from someone else. When measuring executive function, one method used is a card sorting task. First, children are asked to sort by color, and then the rules change and they have to sort by shape. A child with strong executive function skills would be able to ignore the old rule of sorting by color and switch to the rule of sorting by shape.

Have you ever noticed that some children will keep trying and trying until they succeed whereas other children get frustrated easily and give up, even if others provide strong encouragement? Part of self-regulation also is influenced by a larger component inside the person called volition, which is the freedom to make choices on how to act and think. This aspect of personality also gives a person the drive to follow through and finish an activity (Eccles & Wigfield, 2002). Volition helps to explain persistence and why children ultimately make their own decisions on how to act even though their parents, peers, and teachers can give a nudge in the right direction by modeling behavior that is appropriate for the social situation.

The Role of Parents, Teachers, and Other Adults

Parents play a critical role in helping children develop self-regulation by providing social structure, teaching children manners and social etiquette, modeling appropriate behavior in different social situations and when handling disagreements and other problems, and providing guidance for children when they misbehave (Karreman, van Tuijl, van Aken, & Dekovic’ , 2008). This demonstrates the importance of the child’s microsystem as outlined in Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model, namely, the child’s home environment, in shaping the development of effortful control. Most studies on parenting still focus primarily on mothers, but fathers and mothers work together to parent a child (Karreman, van Tuijl, van Aken, & Dekovic’ , 2008).

Increasing evidence suggests that the way in which parents work together and provide instrumental and emotional support for each other when raising their child, or coparent- ing, contributes to children’s developmental outcomes (McHale, 1997). For example, if one parent has to travel for work and that is the person who typically takes the child to

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CHAPTER 6Section 6.1 Self-Regulation in Early Childhood

preschool, the other parent makes provisions to make sure the child gets to school and has other needs met in the other parent’s absence. Addi- tionally, coparenting differs in the instance of separation or divorce. Parents not residing in the same household together make unique contribu- tions in providing emotional and instrumental support and must coordinate their efforts. Chil- dren not residing in the same household as one parent may turn to the nonresidential parent to ask for approval for something if the residential parent says no, so it is important for the parents to be in communication about disciplinary and other matters to avoid confusion. Coparenting includes positive dimensions such as warmth and negative dimensions such as hostility (Schoppe, Mangelsdorf, & Frosch, 2001). Sometimes parents have different viewpoints about how to handle preschool children’s misbehavior, which can lead to conflicts about discipline (see Voices: Coparent- ing). The child may become confused when par- ents argue and contradict one another, and this impacts the child’s self-regulation skills in a nega- tive way (Karreman et al., 2008).

imagebroker.net/SuperStock

Parental conflict induces negative emotional arousal, which may cause confusion and interfere with preschool children’s ability to regulate their emotions.

Voices: Coparenting

Derek, age 35, stay-at-home dad: I am a proud stay-at-home father who is currently taking care of two children, ages 3 and 5. After my wife finished graduate school, I quit my job as a pilot so that I could spend more time with my children and support my wife’s career. My own mother stayed home with me and my three siblings until we started elementary school, and I thought it was important for me to follow her model. However, my mother was a harsh disciplinarian, and I wanted to change that aspect of parenting in my own family. Although I think rules and structure are very important, I believe that being warm and responsive to kids’ needs is the keystone to promoting positive emo- tional development in young children.

Sometimes my wife and I disagree about the best methods of disciplining our two children. My strate- gies are all about promoting positive control while teaching responsibility. When my children disobey, I put them in time out, and also I have discovered that taking away privileges is effective in deterring misbehavior. For example, my 5-year-old daughter loves to play games on the computer, but when she misbehaves, I explain that she won’t be able to play games that evening. My wife, on the other hand, thinks I remove their privileges too often. She believes that children should be indulged in the preschool years because they are young and naïve, and once they start kindergarten, they will be faced with more responsibility and strong pressures to succeed. Sometimes we argue about whether or not to remove privileges while the children can hear us, and that worries me.

Monica, age 33, environmental scientist: I am a scientist currently employed by a large government health agency. I am grateful to have a spouse who supports my career choice, especially with the long hours I work. Although my mom stayed at home when I was young, she went back to school later in life and always encouraged us to pursue our education and to find a job that enabled (continued)

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CHAPTER 6Section 6.1 Self-Regulation in Early Childhood

Parents are not the only ones who shape the preschool child’s self-regulation. Teachers and the experiences they provide for children in child care settings, like preschool, influ- ence the development of self-regulation skills. Preschool environments provide an oppor- tunity for children to improve their self-regulation skills like executive function. Teachers structure learning activities like completing puzzles and problem-solving activities that require children to learn rules. Interacting with peers also requires a different kind of emo- tional regulation called effortful control, which is useful in helping children get along with others and share toys instead of grabbing everything away from other children.

Preschool environments also help provide effortful control opportunities. For example, Johnny wants to grab his favorite airplane toy away from his classmate, but the teacher reminds him to share. Holding back on the tendency to yank the toy away from his peer because his teacher asked him to do it requires effortful control.

Delay of Gratification

Delay of gratification is one component of effortful control that is demonstrated when the individual can give up smaller, immediate rewards in exchange for a more valuable reward after a period of waiting. This concept has been widely studied in preschoolers for over 40 years and is important because 4-year-old children’s performance on this task is predictive of consequential long-term outcomes such as adaptive social, cognitive, and emotional functioning in adolescence and adulthood (Eigsti et al., 2006). Performance on the delay of gratification task at age 4 was predictive of attentional abilities, self-control, and how well frustration was handled in adolescence (Mischel, Shoda, & Peake, 1988). Further, preschoolers who are successful at delaying gratification are more likely to achieve higher scores on the SAT and are viewed by parents and peers as more skilled in their social interactions with others (Mischel, Shoda, & Rodriguez, 1989).

Voices: Coparenting (continued)

us to balance family life and work. I think it’s great that my children are getting a great role model on women’s involvement in science and hope my children will follow my example.

Although my husband is very responsive to the children’s needs and nurturing when they are sick or injured, sometimes he is too harsh on them when they break the rules. After all, they are only age 3 and 5, so they are not really capable of higher-order reasoning in my opinion. He takes away things that are important to them, and I don’t think that type of punishment is necessary until they are older and understand the consequences of their actions. One day after work we got into an argument when I told my daughter she could play a game on the Wii even though my husband had taken away that privilege earlier in the day. I guess I should have checked with him first to see what happened during the day. Sometimes I am just so happy to see the kids after work that I give in to what they want because they are so young.

Reflection Questions

1. Compare and contrast how Derek and Monica are socializing their children’s self-regulation skills. 2. What themes did you notice that are similar to the research described on coparenting behavior? 3. How would you react if you were in Derek’s or Monica’s shoes?

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CHAPTER 6Section 6.2 Moral Development in Early Childhood

The typical delay of gratification paradigm involves a laboratory situation in which the researcher presents both smaller and larger rewards, or two alternatives for the child to choose from. The child is then told that the researcher has to leave the room for a while to prepare to the next activity. The child is instructed to ring the bell to direct the researcher back to the room if he or she does not want to wait. Children’s behavior during the waiting period is videotaped unobtrusively through a one-way mirror. Measures include temp- tation focus, which is the proportion of time the child spends attending to the consum- matory aspects of the task, such as looking at or touching the bell or rewards, and delay time, which is the number of seconds that the child is able to wait before ringing the bell or eating the rewards.

Did You Know?

Did you know that children with exuberant or boisterous temperaments may be at greater risk for emotion regulation problems including greater impulsivity and lack of regulation when they are disappointed or their goals are blocked (Putnam & Stifter, 2005)? Children’s risk for emotional and behavioral problems also depends on their developmental capacities that help to regulate effortful control, so not all exuberant children are at risk for behavioral problems.

6.2 Moral Development in Early Childhood

Self-regulation is important because it relates to children’s moral development. Early childhood experiences in self-control help in developing a conscience. Children’s conscience, or internalized values and codes of conduct, introduced during the early years of socialization in the child’s microsystem of the family are believed to be the key origins of children’s future moral character and internal moral guidelines (Kochanska, Koenig, Barry, Kim & Yoon, 2010).

By definition, the collection of the child’s microsystems, the mesosystem, is the context of moral development. Moral development does not occur unless the child is faced with conflicting choices and must resolve these differences into new sets of rules for behaviors and values.

Parents play a critical role in promoting children’s consciences especially in the preschool years. When parents promote their children’s feeling of empathy for others when they are upset or in need, it sets the stage for building a framework of morality and conscience (Eisenberg, Fabes, & Spinrad, 2006). It is also critical that children learn to do the right thing even when no one is there to enforce the rules. Children with a strong conscience are able to demonstrate prosocial behavior even when others cannot see their behavior. Aksan and Kochanska (2005) demonstrated that children’s rule-compatible, internalized conduct, which is their behavioral compliance with rules even without supervision, is a major component of early conscience. Research findings suggest that children who fol- low rules even when no one is watching, who feel empathetic concern toward others’ discomfort, and who feel uneasy when they do something wrong typically show broadly ranging aspects of positive developmental adaptation (Kochanska et al., 2010). In contrast, children who ignore parents’ standards of conduct and fail to feel empathy when others are upset or in need often display a range of behavioral problems (Eisenberg et al., 2006).

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CHAPTER 6Section 6.2 Moral Development in Early Childhood

Another concept that relates to rules of conduct is lying. What kinds of lies do preschool children tell, and what is the motivation behind these lies? Examination of lying in early childhood provides insights into children’s developing moral codes of conduct.

Prosocial Lie-Telling in Early Childhood

From a young age, most children are socialized to tell the truth in most situations because many parents place a strong value on honesty and moral integrity. However, there are some contexts in which children are taught either outwardly or indirectly to hold back the truth in social situations where being honest would hurt the feelings the recipient (Sweetser, 1987). These prosocial lies, or “white lies,” which are told for the good of oth- ers to be polite or to avoid hurt feelings, are important in terms of social perception; they help people to be perceived by others as well-mannered (Popliger, Talwar, & Crossman,

2011). Linking back to Bronfenbrenner’s (1979, 1989, 2005) ecological model and the role of the macrosystem, there is a strong cultural value placed on gratitude and showing thankfulness to the thoughtfulness for others in many cul- tures throughout the world, including the United States. Our society expects children to be polite and well-mannered. Therefore, parents and care- givers socialize their children to be appreciative of gifts given to them by friends and relatives even if the child is disappointed by the gift. For example, picture a 4-year old who was expecting to open a toy and instead finds a pair of pajamas. Instead of groaning, “Oh no, not clothes again!” the parent expects the child to say, “Thank you, this is won- derful.” Thus, prosocial lies are motivated by the goal of promoting peace and harmony in relation- ships with family, friends, and peers.

Unlike antisocial lies, which are told exclusively for personal benefit such as to avoid punish- ment, prosocial lies aren’t meant to hurt anyone and actually have some benefit for the recipient such as making the person feel better. Prosocial lies, therefore, are considered socially acceptable (Bussey, 1999).

There are a few studies on prosocial lie-telling in young children. Talwar, Murphy, & Lee (2007) used an undesirable gift paradigm to study whether children of various ages would tell prosocial lies to a gift-giver after receiving a disappointing gift. Children were given a gift such as a bar of soap after playing a game with the researcher and were left alone in the room to open it. When the examiner returned, children were asked whether they liked the gift. Overall, the majority of children told the examiner that they liked the gift although they admitted to their parents that they did not really like it. Preschool children ages 3 to 5, however, were less likely than older children ages 9 to 11 years to tell a prosocial lie. The authors reported that 72% of preschool children told a prosocial

Ryan McVay/Thinkstock

Although this little girl is disappointed with her surprise and would have preferred a toy, she has been socialized to withhold her true feelings and express gratitude for the gift.

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CHAPTER 6Section 6.3 Gender Role Development in Early Childhood

lie compared to 84% of older children (Talwar et al., 2007). This study demonstrates the power of social norms in shaping children’s behavior and the role of the macrosystem in Bronfenbrenner’s (1986, 2005) ecological model.

Think About It

Stop and think about your recent encounters with others, and identify an example of a prosocial lie you told recently. What context prompted the lie? What was the perceived benefit of this prosocial lie for the recipient? How did you feel afterward?

Role of Mesosystem in Influencing Moral Development

The topic of moral development also relates to the mesosystem in Bronfenbrenner’s (1979, 1989, 2005) ecological model. As discussed in Chapter 1, a mesosystem is a collection of two or more microsystems. Each microsystem may be associated with a different code of moral conduct. For example, different moral codes may be in place at home compared to at school or at a friend’s house. What is permissible in one microsystem may not be viewed as appropriate in another one. Therefore, the child may experience a conflict in making choices on how to act in certain situations. Moral development occurs when the child must evaluate the different beliefs and values and choose which set of rules he or she will follow. Sometimes parents may try to present their child with the “correct” choice rather than having the child learn the consequences of his or her own choices, and this may impact the child’s ability to make decisions when the parent is not around to provide guidance. In contrast, other parents may let their children make their own decisions but then remove negative consequences rather than following through with punishments. Thus, this demonstrates how children are presented with opportunities to resolve moral conflicts and learn appropriate moral responses through experiences in their mesosystems.

Additionally, the child’s mesosystems are contexts for the development of gender roles. Through their interactions with their peers, children are able to try out social roles and develop their gender schema. Several milestones in gender role development emerge in early childhood.

6.3 Gender Role Development in Early Childhood

As children enter the preschool years, “their knowledge about gender becomes more explicit, verbal, and extensive” (Powlishta, Sen, Serbin, Poulin-Dubois, & Eichstedt, 2001, p. 118). Preschoolers are well informed about real-world gender stereotypes and are able to accurately label whether certain objects, activities, or jobs are associated with males or females (Helwig, 1998). Preschoolers also are knowledgeable about the gender typing of toys and clothing (Ruble & Martin, 1998), such as baseballs and hats are for boys and princesses and jewelry are for girls. For example, when told about a person who likes a particular stereotyped toy, such as a doll, 4- to 6-year-olds expected that the person would like toys from the same gender category, such as a purse. Gender stereotypes even include symbolic associations such as bears are for boys and butterflies are for girls (Leinbach, Hort, & Fagot, 1997).

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CHAPTER 6Section 6.3 Gender Role Development in Early Childhood

It is widely reported in developmental literature that preschool boys have a greater ten- dency to think and act in more strongly sex-typed ways than girls (O’Brien et al., 2000). This means that boys are more likely to think and act in ways typically associated with boys, such as liking sports and participating in physical activities, compared to girls. Beginning as early as in the second year of life, boys demonstrate solid preferences for same-gender-typed toys than girls do (Caldera, Huston, & O’Brien, 1989). For example, boys are likely to choose trucks, sports toys, and tools as play objects. From the preschool years through middle childhood, boys are also more rigid in their gender stereotypes than girls are, meaning that girls are more flexible in their thinking and acting whereas boys’ behavior is more clearly defined in masculine terms (Lobel & Menashri, 1993).

O’Brien et al. (2000) examined how male and female gender roles in our culture may con- tribute to differential acquisition of each of these roles for males and females. This research illustrates the role of the Bronfenbrenner’s macrosystem, including cultural beliefs and values, in gender role development. They found that 3-year-old boys were less knowl- edgeable about female roles than girls. Girls and boys were equally knowledgeable about the male role. They also measured parental attitudes about child rearing. They found that boys are encouraged to make male sex-typed choices, whereas girls are more likely to explore the properties of both male and female roles in order to resolve discrepancies in social messages about femininity. These findings support the notion of the bidirectional nature of the influence of cultural beliefs and values on gender role development. Girls are more likely to seek out additional information about gender behavior, and boys are more likely to be reinforced by parents for demonstrating sex- typed behavior.

Once a gender schema is formed (see Chapter 4), children are expected to act in ways that are con- sistent with traditional gender roles. The schema is influenced by children’s interactions with their environment (microsystems, mesosystems, macro- systems, and exosystems). Gender schema theory emphasizes how individuals develop a schema based on unique experiences, and sometimes these schemas conform to stereotypes while and others are more gender neutral. Let’s look at an example of schema theory in the preschool years.

Katrina is a 5-year-old girl enrolled in a child center in her neighborhood. The program enrolls about 20 children, including boys and girls 3 to 5 years old. Katrina’s dad is an engineer, and he often plays with her and Ivan, her older brother, with construction sets and building blocks. Katrina also loves to watch her dad fix things around the house and ask him questions about how things work. Katrina’s dad encourages her interest in construc- tion at home.

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Parents are influential in shaping their children’s gender schema. This father is embracing his daughter’s interest in building things.

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CHAPTER 6Section 6.4 Peer Interaction in Early Childhood

Despite Katrina’s interest in building that is fostered by her father, her mother has conflict- ing ideas about what is appropriate gender behavior. Katrina’s mother recently bought her a kitchen set and encourages her to play house with her younger sister, Natalia. Her mom also plays with the girls with tea sets and dolls to encourage nurturing behavior. This example illustrates conflicts in Katrina’s microsystem on what constitutes gender- appropriate behavior. Depending on what gender schema Katrina’s teacher promotes at preschool, she will be exposed to gender roles that either mirror or conflict with those encouraged at home.

Think About It

Stop and think back to your early childhood. What type of toys did you like when you were in preschool, around age 3 to 5? Were they consistent with gender stereotypes? Why or why not?

Children learn gender roles not only from teachers. Their peers also provide models of behavior that children may imitate. Peers become even more influential in shaping the socialization process as children enter school and begin to interact with same-age peers on a regular basis.

6.4 Peer Interaction in Early Childhood

Whenever a child moves into a new setting, the potential for developing new peer relationships exists. During the early childhood years, peer relationships often form between the child and a person outside the immediate or extended fam- ily. Several factors provide a foundation for children’s interpersonal exchanges or social contacts in early childhood. Children often play near others, literally close by their peers, which provides the opportunity for children to move to the next level in the structure of interpersonal exchanges (Vandell, Nenide, & Van Winkle, 2006). Children’s early friend- ships in preschool set the stage for later developmental changes. Peer interactions become more complex in the preschool years and serve a vital function in promoting prosocial skills. Bronfenbrenner’s (1979, 1989, 2005) ecological model provides insights into the roles of the macrosystem, mesosystem, and chronosystem in shaping peer relationships in early childhood.

Table 6.1: Summary of influences on the peer group

Macrosystem Influences Parent-chosen child care environments or activities, playgroups, community programs

Mesosystem Influences Contact with familiar peers and adults (nonfamilial) via child care/ preschool environments

Chronosystem Influences Normative (expected) and non-normative (unexpected) life events

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CHAPTER 6Section 6.4 Peer Interaction in Early Childhood

Macrosystem Influences on the Peer Group

Peer relations undergo substantial developmental changes during early childhood; the interactions within the macrosystem affect these changes significantly. During the pre- school years children’s play becomes more advanced as children interact with each other more often, and their play exchanges take on new levels of complexity like acting out social scripts and taking on roles that require mutual cooperation (Rubin, Bukowski, & Parker, 1998). Without the opportunity for routine contact with peers in formal and informal settings, the formation of early friendships is not possible (Vandell et al., 2006). Thus, child care environments, playgroups, and community programs provide vehicles for promoting children’s peer interactions and socialization skills. Children have the opportunity to take on different roles and interact with one another with facilitation from adults like teachers and parents. In fact, parents have many choices in how they would like to structure their child’s free time.

The attitudes and beliefs of a child’s parents play an important role in managing children’s experiences. Parents initiate developmental pathways by selecting particular environ- ments for children in the early childhood period. Cultural context strongly influences parents’ choices. Thus, certain environments, such as particular child care programs or activities, are greatly influential. In other words, depending on the types of environ- ments parents choose for their preschool children and what resources are actually avail- able in the community, the opportunities for social interaction and peer relationships may differ for children depending on geographic region. Some parents choose path- ways that begin as a strategy for protecting the child from negative influences (Holden, 2010). Further, some parents may not agree with the educational philosophy of available preschool programs or may not be able to afford programs that reflect their beliefs and values, so they find alternatives such as family child care providers instead of center-

based care. Some parents may also choose home schooling to provide educational experiences in order to network with other parents who home school and who share similar beliefs and values about socialization.

Mesosystem Influences on the Peer Group

As children get older, they are exposed to new contexts. Mesosystem contexts introduce new opportunities for interactions and forming rela- tionships. As children spend more time outside the household in contexts such as child care and preschool classrooms, their social networks grow. School contexts provide learning opportunities for educational and social skills. For example, child care settings provide young children with two types of social experiences that parent- child interactions cannot provide: regular con- tact with other adults and regular contact with familiar peers (Vandell et al., 2006). Early child

Juan Silva/Getty Images

These girls are working cooperatively to achieve a common goal. The pre-school classroom provides a context for building peer relationships.

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CHAPTER 6Section 6.4 Peer Interaction in Early Childhood

care experiences provide social opportunities in which social skills and friendships are nurtured by repeated interactions that are co-constructed by familiar children over time (Howes, 2000). In other words, over time children have the opportunity to establish a his- tory of social exchange and build social friendships. In contrast, caregivers and teachers serve as attachment figures and sources of emotional security in addition to promoters of language and cognitive skills (Pianta, 1994). Teachers structure activities in such a way to encourage children to work together cooperatively. The daily schedule includes time for free play where the children can choose from a variety of activities. Children who choose the same activity learn how to work together and share the space.

In early childhood classrooms children participate in dramatic play activities, such as role plays that entail playing house, doctor’s office, and having a picnic. Children take turns with each other as they participate in these play episodes. Communication is also more successful for preschoolers than toddlers. Analysis of children’s language samples has revealed that approximately 60% of preschoolers’ communications are driven by social interaction, understandable, and resulted in appropriate responses from the intended recipient (Levin & Rubin, 1983). Additionally, children’s interactions involve more posi- tive social behaviors like sharing and turn-taking and fewer instances of fighting and other negative behaviors compared to toddlers’ play exchanges (Vaughn, Vollenweider, Bost, Azria-Evans, & Snider, 2003). Friendships take on new levels of complexity in early childhood as well.

In a seminal study on play interactions, Parten (1932) described different types of play categories including unoccupied, solitary, parallel, onlooker, associative, and coopera- tive. Parallel play involves playing in close proximity, such as alongside other children but not directly interacting with them. For example, Sami is playing with pots and pans in the kitchen area of her preschool classroom while Kelly is feeding a baby in a high chair nearby, but the two girls do not communicate with each other. Onlooker play involves watching peers play, such as one child sitting on a bench on the playground while other children are playing on a teeter-totter. Onlooker play and parallel play function as a gateway to more complex forms of play such as associative and cooperative play (Rubin et al., 1998). Associative play involves playing with other children with no type of for- mal structure or roles, whereas cooperative play involves peers directly interacting with one another and taking turns as they play together in harmony as a group (Rubin, Watson, & Jambor, 1978). An example of associative

Corbis/SuperStock

Dramatic play activities that routinely occur in preschool classrooms, such as doctor’s office, allow children to act out social roles and to practice taking turns.

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CHAPTER 6Section 6.4 Peer Interaction in Early Childhood

play is a group of children playing in the dramatic play area of the classroom and talking to one another while they play but not taking on any formal roles like doctor, nurse, or patient, whereas cooperative play is a group of children playing “doctor’s office” in the dramatic play area with formal roles and turn-taking (one child is the patient but then later gets to play the role of the doctor or nurse).

These types of advanced play demonstrate how the social interactions of older preschool- ers involve longer sequences or turns. As they get older, children are better play part- ners in that they are more capable of agreeing with each other about the roles, rules, and themes in their pretend play, such as who gets to play the part of the doctor first and who is going to be the patient. Several studies have focused on individual differences in interaction among peers differentiated by age level. Although conflicts are still likely to occur with older children, there are developmental changes in the issues causing conflict and the way conflicts are handled. For example, 3- and 4-year-old children are less likely to quarrel over the distribution of resources compared to 2-year-olds (Chen, Fein, & Tam, 2001). Additionally, older preschool children are more likely to generate their own solu- tions to conflicts than are toddlers and younger preschoolers.

Given how much time children spend with caregivers in other settings, it is important for parents to pay attention to quality indicators. Clarke-Stewart (1989) suggested that being exposed to more prosocial and antisocial behavior by peers in child care may help explain why children who spend more hours in child care are more likely to demonstrate external- izing behaviors. For example, children may be more likely to observe antisocial behavior among peers, especially when children are asked to follow teachers’ expectations about classroom rules such as sharing toys. For many children, experiences in child care are the first formal educational setting and are viewed as a rite of passage to set the stage for kin- dergarten. Such normative life events are part of the chronosystem.

Chronosystem Influences on the Peer Group

The simplest form of a chronosystem focuses around a life transition, namely, normative and non-normative life events (Bronfenbrenner, 1986). Normative life events are com- monly expected events that occur through the natural course of development such as birth and school entrance. In contrast, non-normative life events are unexpected, and families are usually not prepared when they happen.

The timing of normative events is often a unifying one, and while events sometimes include challenges, they are generally viewed positively. Families often spend time preparing for normative events and have expectations about roles, responsibilities, and duties relevant to timing. For example, a common normative event for preschoolers is starting school for the first time. Although the child might be anxious, the parent takes time to prepare the child for the event, such as buying new clothes, taking a tour of the school and meeting the teacher, and discussing all of the activities that the child will do at school and new opportunities to meet friends. Peer relationships can help children feel more at ease dur- ing the transition to school and provide emotional support during stressful times (Ladd & Kochenderfer, 1996). If the child knows some of the other children at the school from community or social groups, those networks provide a constant for the child even though the environment is new.

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CHAPTER 6Section 6.4 Peer Interaction in Early Childhood

Non-normative life events are sometimes viewed as a crisis, such as the birth of a child with a genetic disorder, losing a job, pre- mature death, or chronic illness. Unpredictable life events occur within historical contexts such as economic instability and often are interpreted based on the type and duration of the experience. An example of a non-normative life event for a preschooler is having a chronic illness such as asthma that results in recurring hospitalization. The child must cope not only with starting school and forming new friendships but with an illness that may limit physical capacities, such as run- ning around on the playground.

Just as friends provide emotional support to children during normative life events such as the transition to school, peers provide support during stressful times such as hospital- ization. Besides providing tangible support such as a card or a present, they can provide emotional support and keep the child informed about what is happening at school.

Development of Friendship

The macrosystem, mesosystem, and chronosystem influence early childhood peer rela- tionships, as we have just discussed. But how do these relationships turn into friend- ships? Preschool friendships have been examined in multiple ways, including by asking children and parents to report on friendships and observing children in their interactions with peers (Vandell et al., 2006). For example, preschool friendships have been identified from children’s reciprocated nominations of liked playmates. In this type of study, the researcher asks children individually to list the names of all the people who are consid- ered friends. Then the researcher compares the children’s lists to identify overlap to see if the nominations are reciprocal, meaning that both the child and the peer consider each other to be friends as opposed to a child naming that person as a friend but that child not including him or her in the list of friends. In a longitudinal study of preschoolers, 75% of children had at least one reciprocated friendship nomination in the fall and 85% of the children had at least one in the spring (Walden, Lemerise, & Smith, 1999). They also demonstrated stability in friendship choices, and the friendships were typically between same-age, same-sex peers. Children’s early friendships demonstrate the principle “birds of a feather flock together,” meaning that children seek out others who share common attributes and social interests.

During the preschool period, children interact differently with friends compared to non- friends (Hinde, Titmus, Easton, & Tamplin, 1985). Children are more likely to initiate play with other peers who are considered to be friends, and the types of play they engage in are more complicated, such as involving more complex social roles. Preschool friends also are more likely to have conflicts than nonfriends, and conflicts with friends are resolved

Jose Luis Pelaez Inc/Getty Images

Friends can help preschool children cope with non-normative life events such as hospitalization. This girl looks at a card sent to her by her best friend to provide comfort.

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CHAPTER 6Conclusion

Some children experience rejection in preschool. Bullying and teasing begin at young ages, and it is important for teachers and parents to be aware of their children’s behavior in order to notice changes that may emerge in their behavior patterns that indicate rejec- tion. Not all children are accepted by their peers, but there are some characteristics that are more common in children who are well liked by their peers.

Due to their expanding language and communication skills during the early childhood period, children become more aware about the underlying meanings of emotional signals given off by themselves and others, such as feelings of embarrassment, guilt, and pride (Saarni, 1999). Preschool children who demonstrate more positive expressions of emotion when they experience disagreements with their peers are better liked by their peers and are more likely to use productive coping techniques during conflicts. In contrast, children who express negative emotion are more likely to be aggressive during peer exchanges and less likely to be accepted by their peers (Laursen & Hartup, 1989). To summarize, preschool children who demonstrate more joyful emotions than angry emotions are lower in aggressiveness, respond more prosocially to peers, and are more liked by peers in the classroom compared to preschool children who demonstrate more angry flare-ups than joyful emotions.

Conclusion

Early childhood is a period of tremendous growth in terms of emotional and social skills. For example, by age 3 most preschoolers have developed the capacity to overcome reactive responses, thereby showing increases in their effortful control. Parents, family members, peers, and teachers provide support for children as they experi- ence life transitions including normative events such as starting school for the first time and non-normative events including chronic illness. These normative and non-normative events reflect the role of the chronosystem in Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model.

Children’s expanding emotional regulation skills set the stage for advances in moral development as children become more aware of other people’s feelings. The mesosys- tem in Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model provides the context for moral development as children resolve conflicts in values promoted by parents at home and values promoted by

in a different manner. For example, preschool friends are more likely to work out a solu- tion, to stay in close contact after the conflict, and to continue to interact on a routine basis (Vandell et al., 2006), meaning that children are able to resolve their differences rather than hold a grudge and cut off social contact after a disagreement. However, not all peer inter- actions in early childhood are harmonious, and young children are capable of aggressive and hostile behaviors.

Did You Know?

Did you know that children as young as 4 years old give in to peer pressure? Preschool children often made their evaluations conform to their peers’, even when the group of peers made obviously erroneous evaluations in public (Haun & Tamasello, 2011). However, the children didn’t change their actual judgment of the situation, only the way they expressed it in front of others.

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CHAPTER 6Post-Test

teachers, peers, and others. Children’s environments shape their gender roles and expose them to new people and new ideas as their social networks expand. Preschoolers develop gender schemas about the kinds of behaviors and toys that are appropriate for their gen- der. Peers and teachers also model gender roles in classroom settings. Friendships take on new characteristics during the preschool years as children learn how to participate in cooperative play and share common goals.

Despite the advances in peer relationships in early childhood, not all preschool experi- ences are positive. Some children are more likely than others to become the victims of bullies or to become bullies themselves. Parents’ disciplinary practices provide models to children on how to handle conflict, which reflects the role of the microsystem in Bronfen- brenner’s model. Parents and teachers should be aware of the early predictors of bullying and intervene when aggressive behavior is observed to prevent repeated patterns of vic- timization. Classroom and school policies reflect the role of the macrosystem in Bronfen- brenner’s ecological model. Teachers have the opportunity to interface with students and parents to reduce the likelihood that bullying occurs at preschool.

Post-Test

1. Which of the following statements is true about coparenting? a. Divorced or separated parents do not coparent. b. Coparenting is another term for cognitive self-regulation. c. Parents residing in the same household share identical roles in promoting

self-regulation. d. Children may become confused when parents contradict one another when it

comes to discipline.

2. Which of the following is an example of a prosocial lie? a. lie told to avoid getting in trouble b. lie told to cover up for someone else c. lie told to avoid hurting someone’s feelings d. lie told for personal benefit

3. Children’s knowledge of gender becomes more ________________ in early childhood.

a. implicit b. nonverbal c. explicit d. limited

4. Hospitalization is an example of a __________________ life event that occurs in early childhood.

a. non-normative b. normative c. prosocial behavior d. antisocial behavior

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CHAPTER 6Key Ideas

Answers 1. d. Children may become confused when parents contradict one another when it comes to discipline. The answer can be found in Section 6.1. 2. c. lie told to avoid hurting someone’s feelings The answer can be found in Section 6.2. 3. c. explicit The answer can be found in Section 6.3. 4. a. non-normative The answer can be found in Section 6.4.

Key Ideas

• The processes involved in self-regulation have been divided into two major cat- egories: social-emotional and cognitive self-regulation.

• Parents may differ in their viewpoints about setting rules and showing affection, and these disagreements can be confusing to children.

• Self-regulation is influenced by volition. • Young children who perform better on delay of gratification tasks are more likely

to achieve positive outcomes in adolescence. • Preschoolers with strong consciences are able to demonstrate prosocial behavior

even when others cannot see their behaviors. • Preschool children who ignore parental codes of conduct and fail to feel empathy

at others’ discomfort often display a variety of behavioral problems. • Prosocial lies are different from antisocial lies in that they often have a benefit to

the recipient such as avoiding hurt feelings. • Children’s microsystems may be associated with different codes of moral con-

duct, and often preschoolers must make a choice on which code they will follow, which promotes moral development.

• Preschoolers are very knowledgeable about gender stereotypes. • Preschool children’s environments are important in shaping their gender schemas. • Child care environment, playgroups, and community programs provide avenues

for promoting children’s peer interactions and socialization skills. • Preschoolers interact with friends more often than toddlers, and the types of play

they experience are more complex and more cooperative. • Communication is more successful for preschoolers than toddlers. • Parents play an important role in managing preschool children’s experiences. • School contexts provide learning opportunities for educational and social skills

for preschoolers. • The quality of child care that children receive in early childhood is associated

with developmental outcomes such as aggression; spending more time in low- quality settings is associated with more antisocial behavior.

• Peers provide valuable emotional support to preschoolers during normative and non-normative life events.

• Preschool children’s friends are likely to be children of the same age and same gender.

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CHAPTER 6Key Terms

Critical Thinking Questions

1. We discussed the role of the microsystem in shaping children’s effortful control. What would you recommend to a parent who asks you what he or she can do to promote his or her preschool child’s self-regulation skills? Now turning to the mesosystem, identify some examples of potential sources of influences on children’s effortful control that you have observed in your family and other families who are close to you.

2. Think back to your preschool years and provide an example of how you believe your family, your peers, and your school system may have influenced your atti- tudes toward sports, reading, and music.

3. Think back to your childhood and try to recall a prosocial lie that you told to spare someone’s feelings. What was the context that prompted the lie? What was the recipient’s reaction to the lie? How did your parents or teacher react when you told the lie or when they heard about the lie (if applicable)?

4. Have you ever been in a situation where you witnessed gender schema theory in action? What gender-typed behaviors were being modeled?

5. Think back to your early childhood and recall an example of a normative and a non-normative life event. How did you adjust to these life events? How did friends help you through these life transitions?

6. Think back to your own childhood and recall your friendships in the preschool years. What was your best friend like? How did you meet your best friend? What characteristics did you have in common?

Key Terms

antisocial lies Lies told exclusively for personal benefit, such as to avoid punish- ment or for material gain.

associative play Playing with other chil- dren with no type of formal structure or roles.

cognitive self-regulation Type of self- regulation that enables children to use the thinking processes necessary for problem solving and related abilities.

conscience Internalized values and stan- dards of behavior.

cooperative play Type of play interaction that entails peers directly interacting with one another and taking turns as they play together in harmony as a group.

coparenting The way in which parents work together and provide instrumen- tal and emotional support for each other when raising their child.

delay of gratification Component of effortful control that is demonstrated when the individual can give up smaller, imme- diate rewards in exchange for a more valu- able reward after a period of waiting.

effortful control The ability to hold back on the natural impulse to respond in order to fulfill a request from someone else.

executive function The ability to remem- ber a rule and follow through to complete an action even when something in the environment is saying something contra- dictory to the rule.

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CHAPTER 6Web Resources

Web Resources

A description of classical research studies on delay of gratification conducted by Walter Mischel as outlined in an article authored by Jonah Lehrer and published in the New Yorker on May 18, 2009: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/05/18/090518fa_fact_lehrer

A video that demonstrates how children handle the temptation in the marshmallow test: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lgCL3GnmIfY&feature=related

A social policy report that discusses strategies for promoting social and emotional development in early childhood. The report includes a list of social-emotional skills that promote school readiness (see page 4) and list of preschoolers’ behaviors that warrant concern (see page 5): http://main.zerotothree.org/site/DocServer/help_yng_child_succeed.pdf?docID=621

A video discussing gender identity and how children learn how to act in gender- typed ways: http://www.thepsychfiles.com/2009/05/episode-94-how-do-you-learn-to-act-like-a-man- woman-gender-identity-and-gender-scripts

Tips on how to help children cope with hospitalization: http://www.cedars-sinai.edu/Patients/Programs-and-Services/Pediatrics/Helping- Children-Cope.aspx

Research about a multimethod intervention program for socially reticent, inhibited preschoolers: http://www.rubin-lab.umd.edu/research_intervention.html

non-normative life events Unexpected events for which families are usually not prepared, such as losing a job, premature death, or chronic illness.

normative life events Commonly expected events that occur through the natural course of development, such as birth and school entrance.

onlooker play Type of play interaction that entails watching a peer or group of peers play.

parallel play Type of play interaction that entails playing alongside another child or group of children but not directly interact- ing with the peers.

prosocial lies ”White lies,” or lies that are told for the benefit of others to make them feel good or to avoid hurt feelings.

rule-compatible, internalized con- duct Behavioral compliance with rules even when one is unsupervised.

social-emotional regulation Type of self- regulation that enables children to obey social rules and to benefit in diverse social contexts.

volition Freedom to make choices on how to act and think.

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