Developmental Psychology: Early Childhood Understandings

Social Cognition

• "Social" refers to people and their behaviors.
• "Cognition" refers to thinking or understanding.
• Social cognition is how we think about people's behaviors, feelings, intentions, and how we react to them.

Theory of Mind (ToM)

• ToM is the ability to understand that others have their own thoughts, beliefs, intentions, and perspectives, potentially different from our own.

Stages of ToM

Desire Psychology (Infants)

• Before fully developing ToM, infants understand others' actions based on their desires.
• Example: If someone reaches for a cookie, the baby understands "they want the cookie."

Belief-Desire Psychology (Older Toddlers)

• Around ages 3-4, toddlers understand that people's actions are influenced by their beliefs, not just desires.
• Example: If someone looks for a cookie in an empty jar, the toddler understands "they believe the cookie is in the jar, even if it's not."

False Belief Task

• False belief tasks assess a child's understanding that other people might hold beliefs different from reality.
• It gauges a child's understanding that others can have incorrect beliefs about the world.

Autism and ToM

• Individuals with autism often face difficulties with ToM, finding it hard to understand others' thoughts and intentions.
• This can impact social communication, relationship-building, and comprehending social norms.

Joint Attention, Intentions of Others, Pretend Play, and Imitation

• Joint attention: Infants point to an object to direct the caregiver's attention to it.
• Intentions of others: Infants start to understand others' goals and intentions.
• Pretend play: Toddlers engage in pretend play, demonstrating their ability to imagine and understand different perspectives.
• Imitation: Infant's ability to mentally represent others' actions, demonstrating understanding.

Perspective Taking and Trait Perception

• Egocentrism: Children in the preoperational stage (ages 2-7) assume everyone shares their perspective.
• Decentration: Children in the concrete operational stage (ages 7-11) develop the ability to consider multiple perspectives.
• Trait perception: Children gradually move from basic descriptions to understanding consistent characteristics (personality traits) of others.

Shared Cognitive Processes and Complex Social Reasoning

• Shared cognitive processes are crucial for sophisticated social understanding, encompassing ToM, perspective-taking, and trait perception.
• Complex social reasoning involves understanding multiple perspectives, for example, recognizing someone kind may act mean due to stress.

Morality

• Distinguishing right from wrong and acting accordingly.
• Experiencing emotions like guilt/shame or pride in relation to actions.

Three Components of Morality

• Emotional: Feelings (e.g., guilt, empathy) motivating moral actions.
• Cognitive: Moral Reasoning.
• Behavioral: Actions in moral situations (e.g., resisting temptation).

Theoretical Perspectives on Moral Development

• Psychoanalytic Theory: Focuses on moral emotions (e.g., guilt).
• Cognitive-Developmental Theory: Focuses on moral reasoning.
• Social Learning Theory: Focuses on moral behavior (learning through observation).
• Evolutionary Perspective: Considers how morality evolved to promote survival and social cohesion.

The Superego

• The superego is a part of our mind that helps us decide what's right and wrong.
• It acts as a moral compass, guided by what we've learned from others (mostly parents).
• When we act well, we feel pride; when we act badly, we feel guilt.
• The superego develops in childhood, during the phallic stage (ages 3-6), as children become aware of their bodies and those of their parents.

The Oedipus/Electra Complexes

• Oedipus (boys): Boys secretly want their mother and fear punishment (castration anxiety) from their father. Resolution comes from identifying with their father.
• Electra (girls): Girls develop feelings for their father, jealousy of their mother. Eventually identify with their mother.
• Resolution: Identifying with same-sex parent, internalizing their values, forming a superego.

Empathy in Moral Development

• Empathy is feeling someone else's pain or emotions, frequently encouraging prosocial behavior (helping others).

Moral Behavior and Social Learning Theory

• Moral behavior is learned through observation, consequences, and modeling.
• Situational influences on behavior can affect whether individuals act morally.
• Self-regulation helps us monitor actions and evaluate them against internal moral standards.

Justification of Immoral Behavior

• Justifying immoral actions involves rationalizing the behavior to reduce feelings of guilt or blame.

Moral Disengagement

• Individuals who frequently disengage, morally are more prone to antisocial behavior.

Cognitive (Moral) Stages

• Kohlberg's theory outlines stages of moral reasoning: Preconventional, Conventional, and Postconventional.
• Moral reasoning changes as children mature.

Environmental influences on aggression

• Genetic predispositions for aggression: Gene-environment interactions contribute to aggression.
• Aggressive children may evoke harsher parenting, exacerbating aggression over time.
• Lower SES neighborhoods and unstable environments can correlate with higher levels of aggression.
• Cultural norms and expectations can influence rates of aggression.
• Cultural differences in aggression are observed.

Parental influences on moral development

• Secure attachment creates a basis for positive moral development.
• Moral reasoning is developed through interactions with caregivers and family dynamics.
• Parenting styles like "love withdrawal", "power assertion", and "induction" influence a child's moral understanding and behavior.

Prevention and Treatment of Aggression

• Prevention programs are crucial and challenging but may incorporate training in social skills, improve moral reasoning, and enhance self-control.

Religiousness, Spirituality, and Development Across the Lifespan

• Religiousness and Spirituality are often intertwined but distinct.
• Religious beliefs and spirituality impact perspectives on morality, identity, and well-being across the lifespan.
• Both religious and spiritual practices may encourage positive social behavior and well-being.

Cognitive Development and Moral Development

• Cognitive development influences moral progress, allowing for more complex reasoning.
• Intuition and emotion also play crucial roles in shaping moral decisions and actions.
• Both intuition and reasoning influence moral choices over time.

Social Learning Perspective on Morality

• Social context, culture, and teachings impact moral development and judgments about right and wrong.
• Moral development is not linear, instead, a combination of cognitive, social, and cultural factors constantly interacts to shape moral identity.

Greene's Dual-Process Model

• Moral judgments are often influenced by both emotional intuition and deliberative reasoning.

Explore the fascinating realm of desire psychology and how it shapes a child's perspective from birth to age 8. This quiz delves into significant theories, including Piaget's, and examines the evolution of how children perceive themselves and others. Test your knowledge on emotional understanding, trait perception, and the progression of cognitive development.