PSYC1001 Developmental Psychology Lecture 4 PDF

PSYC1001: Developmental Psychology Lecture 4 Social Development Grace Sanders Consultation: By appointment [email protected] 1 Lecture Outline 1. Vygotsky’s socio-c...

PSYC1001: Developmental Psychology Lecture 4 Social Development Grace Sanders Consultation: By appointment [email protected] 1 Lecture Outline 1. Vygotsky’s socio-cultural theory 2. Bandura’s social learning theory 3. Early prosocial behavior and the development of Theory of Mind 4. Moral judgment 2 Vygotsky 3 Contextual theory Vygotsky (1896-1934) Sociocultural theory of cognitive development Piaget posited that children were the drivers of their own development. They constructed their understanding of the world around them. Social understanding takes a very long time in this view (it takes a complex mental operation to understand the perspective of others). Vygotsky took a very different view. The mental life of a child is co-developed with the people around them The object of development is the child’s culture. It’s what the child grows into. 4 Contextual theory Vygotsky (1896-1934) Sociocultural theory of cognitive development From Hudson (1990), an exchange of a mother and 2-year old child: memory as collaboration; the mind is “socially distributed” M: Did you like the apartment at the beach? C: Yeah, and I have fun in the, in the, in the water M: You had fun in the water? C: Yeah M: Did you play in the ocean? C: And my sandals off M: You took your sandals off? And you wore your bathing suit? C: Yeah, my bathing suit and cocoa shirt 5 Contextual theory “child-in-activity-in-context” To understand development : look at the child’s behaviour in the context in which it occurs Context: Contexts have many levels - ranging from the immediate face-to-face interaction with another person to general, all-encompassing cultural belief systems. 6 Contextual theory “zone of proximal development” "The distance between a child's actual developmental level as determined by independent problem solving and the higher level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers" 7 Contextual theory Vygotsky’s methodology Dynamic assessment of children's potential development levels rather than only a static assessment of their actual Levels (zone of proximal development). What can they do with assistance from others? 8 Contextual theory The sociocultural origins of mental functioning "Children grow into the intellectual life of those around them" (Vygotsky, 1978, p88). Predicts large cross-cultural differences in child development One focus of research on cultural variation is individualism vs. collectivism Industrial-Western cultures focus on the individual – Individual success, the “self-made man” Indigenous and Eastern cultures focus more on the collective 9 Contextual theory The sociocultural origins of mental functioning Parents have different views of child development in collectivist and individualist countries Caudill & Weinstein (1969) – In US: infants are seen as dependent, and must learn independence, and so the goal is to as early as possible have the baby in its own bed/room – In Japan: infants are born independent and must be taught feelings of interdependence with other people, and sleeping with parents is critical to that process Cole (1992) – In US: the fewer the children per teacher, the better because it means more individual attention – In Japan: Mothers shocked by small US pre-school class sizes. Wonder how children will learn the value of group membership 10 Contextual theory The sociocultural origins of mental functioning Correa-Chavez & Rogoff (2009) – 5-11 year-old children in different cultures were shown how to construct a new toy in front of siblings – In Gueatamalan Mayan children with little exposure to Western schooling, the children learned from simply observing siblings being taught – Much less observational learning with Mayan children going to more Western schools and same with American children Large adult differences: work of Richard Nisbett Attention to and memory for context in collectivist culture adults 11 Contextual theory The mediation of intellectual functioning by tools provided by culture Psychological tools: language systems, counting systems, writing, diagrams, maps, conventional signs, works of art, strategies for learning, attending or memorising etc. Focused on language which he referred to as the most important psychological tool. Vygotsky noted speech gets internalised over time. Language from adults acts as an external locus of control on the child’s behavior, and the child learns to use language and “inner-speech” to control their own behaviour With complex novel problems, children (and adults) more likely to vocalise thought process Cultural variation in problem-solving tools Michael Frank: Children in India have a motor-strategy for mental arithmetic because of abacus training, while US children have a verbal strategy 12 Contextual theory Vygotsky (1896-1934) Sociocultural theory of cognitive development Features of the approach: Study of the "child-in-activity-in-context” The “zone of proximal development” The sociocultural origins of mental functioning The mediation of intellectual functioning by tools provided by culture 13 Bandura’s social learning theory 14 Social learning theory Based on S-R theory (learning) but attempts to take into account social/cognitive variables operating in human development Albert Bandura S - O - R theory (O = organismic variables = cognition) Argues that most human learning results from experience on a vicarious basis Observational or vicarious learning: Learning by observation of consequences for others 15 Social learning (cognitive theory) Bandura Model of Reciprocal Determinism Behaviour Motor responses Verbal responses Social interactions Person Environment Cognitive abilities Physical surrounds Physical characteristics Family and friends Beliefs and attitudes Other social influences 16 Social learning (cognitive theory) Bandura Influence of models: ‘Bobo doll’ experiments - learned aggression. Drew attention to a possible influence of television on children’s development 17 Social learning (cognitive theory) Bandura Models that children are likely to imitate People they regard as prestigious Models of their own sex Models who receive rewards Models they perceive as being like themselves 18 Bandura Social cognitive theory Parents consciously teach moral standards when they ‘preach’ to their children but also teach by ‘practicing’ their moral actions With the developing ability of self-regulation, people learn to monitor and regulate their moral behaviour (Bandura, 1991) 19 The development of “Theory of Mind” 20 Social development: Theory of Mind Theory of mind (often abbreviated "ToM") is the ability to attribute mental states—beliefs, intents, desires, pretending, knowledge, etc.—to oneself and others and to understand that others have beliefs, desires, and intentions that are different from one's own. From very young age, infants track others’ behaviours and intentions Mike Tomasello did extensive work: For example, imagine a 12-month old watching an adult with full hands try to more widely open an ajar door with his head In experiments: Infant may spontaneously open the door for the adult If the task is to imitate, infant will use head, not hands That is, infant helps/imitates based on perceived intentions and goals, not specific actions 21 Some positive benefits of such intention understanding Prosocial behaviour Prosocial behaviour: A voluntary behaviour intended to benefit another 22 Proscocial behaviour Preschoolers’ sharing behaviour predict future prosocial behaviour (Eisenberg et al., 1999) There is a slight tendency for older children to behave more prosocially than younger children (Fabes & Eisenberg, 1998) Among adolescents, moral judgment is associated with prosocial behaviours (e.g., Carlo et al., 1995) Will explain shortly 23 Social development: Theory of Mind Despite seemingly understanding other’s minds and preferences, it is not until several years later that many theories say that children have a ToM Key test: false-belief task A child needs to show that they understand that other’s beliefs determine others’ behaviour, even if the child herself has a different (true) belief 3 year-olds almost all fail classic false-belief task 5 year-olds almost all pass classic false-belief task 24 Social development: Theory of Mind Watch False-Belief video 25 Piaget & Kohlberg on Moral Judgment 26 Piaget’s account of moral judgment Moral dilemmas A little boy called John was in his room. He was called to dinner and went into the dining room. Behind the door there was a chair and on the chair there was a tray with 15 cups on it. John couldn't have known that the chair was behind the door and as he entered the dining room, the door knocked against the tray and the tray fell on the floor, breaking all of the cups. One day, a little boy called Henry tried to get some jam out of a cupboard when his mother was out. He climbed onto a chair and stretched out his arm. The jam was too high up, and he couldn't reach it. But while he was trying to get it, he knocked over a cup. The cup fell down and broke. 27 Piaget’s account of moral judgment Who was naughtier and should be punished more? 15 broken accidentally vs. 1 broken while sneaking jam out of cupboard? → Older children take intention into account, younger children do not 28 Piaget’s account of moral judgment Two Types of Moral Judgment Externally regulated (from 5 years old): -“Rules from another”; an external morality - Superficial and absolute type of reasoning - Show little understanding of the intentions of others Self-regulated phase (emerging from 8 years old): -“Rules from self”; an internal morality - Intangible type of reasoning - Judge transgressions in light of intentions and mutual agreements of the individuals involved 29 Kohlberg’s account of moral judgment (1987) Continued Piaget’s stage approach Life-span theory of moral development that extended Piaget’s moral development theory into adolescence and adulthood o 3 levels, with 2 phases within each level, so 6 total Based on research interview method involving moral dilemmas 30 Kohlberg’s account of moral judgment (1987) Kohlberg’s Heinz Dilemma In Europe a women was near death from a special kind of cancer. There was one drug that the doctors thought might save her… The drug was expensive to make, but the druggist was charging ten times what the drug cost him to make… The sick woman’s husband, Heinz, went to everyone he knew to borrow the money, but he could only get together $1000 which is half of what it cost. He told the druggist that his wife was dying and asked him to sell it cheaper or let him pay later. But the druggist said, “No, I discovered the drug, and I am going to make money from it”. So Heinz got desperate and broke into the man’s store to steal the drug for his wife. Should Heinz steal the drug? Kohlberg (1969, p. 379) 31 Kohlberg’s account of moral judgment (1987) Kohlberg’s Heinz Dilemma How do children reason? Heinz dilemma 32 Kohlberg’s account of moral judgment (1987) 3 Broad Stages of Moral Judgment Pre-conventional (early childhood) - Focused on punishment and reward - What’s right is what is rewarded, what’s wrong is what is punished Conventional (starts to emerge around 8-10) - Broad social system based on fairness and empathy and helping each other defines what is right and wrong - Legal and moral often equated Post-conventional (adolescence, but many never get here) - Beyond necessary conforming to laws because the person realises there are universal principles of justice and human rights that may be more important than laws - Some laws are immoral, and those must be changed 33 Kohlberg’s account of moral judgment (1987) Final point, “moral reasoning” in real world Lee & Prentice (1988) – Juvenile delinquents are behind non-delinquents in Kohlberg’s framework – But delinquents show no deficits in empathy – Suggests delinquency has cognitive deficits independent of basic social-emotion skills 34 Piaget and Kohlberg’s moral judgment summarised There is a clear developmental sequence in the child’s capacity to reason about moral dilemmas: they go from being absolutist about rule-following to much more nuanced about understanding context and intentions. Stage accounts of moral development very closely resemble description of the development of reasoning/cognitive capacities more generally. However, Piaget was very cautious: He warned repeatedly in “The Moral Judgment of the Child (1932)” that individual differences in moral understanding are enormous and he was far less committed to formal stages than in his other work on cognitive development 35 Social Development Take home messages Vygotsky stressed the importance of context, culture and language. The child grows into the intellectual life of those around him/her. Since Vygotsky there has been extensive research on cultural differences in parenting attitudes, child behavior, and adult cognition. Bandura emphasised basic mechanisms of reinforcement learning to understand how children learn from observing models. Children from early on focus on intentions of others, but still don’t seem to show an explicit understanding of false-beliefs until 5 years old. At 5, according to Piaget and Kohlberg, real moral reasoning can begin, but not until years later that more nuanced contextual judgment is shown. 36