Week 5 Early Childhood Psychosocial Development PDF

WEEK 5 Early Childhood: Psychosocial development Learning Objectives To understand: • The developing self • Impact of different styles of parenting • Influence of peer relationships • Importance of play • Development of prosocial and antisocial behaviours • Gender role development The...

WEEK 5 Early Childhood: Psychosocial development Learning Objectives To understand: • The developing self • Impact of different styles of parenting • Influence of peer relationships • Importance of play • Development of prosocial and antisocial behaviours • Gender role development The Developing Self Sense of self: structured way individuals think about themselves, helps to organise and understand who they are based on the views of others, own experiences and cultural categories e.g. gender. • Result of social interaction and experiences • Self-concept: complex theory of self, dynamic • Development begins in infancy; early ideas based on social categories; gender • Up until approx. age five: describe self using concrete and observable terms. Lacks permanency –self-constancy not developed until after age 6 Self Esteem …evaluative aspect of self, the individual’s feeling of self-worth. • Early childhood: global (all or nothing), accept judgements of adults. • Interrelated development; trust, autonomy, competence and ultimately selfesteem. Tied to achievement of Erikson’s tasks positive ratio of autonomy vs. shame and doubt and initiative vs. guilt. Erikson Stage 2 Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt (toddler-preschool years, 1-3 years) • Child needs to balance own demands for self-control with demands for control from their parents and others. Purpose: ‘Will’. Capacity to freely make choices based on realistic knowledge of what is expected and what is possible. Stage 3 Initiative vs. Guilt (preschool years) (3-6 years). • Conflict arises between sense of purpose and growing conscience (guilt). Desire to do vs. desire for approval. Purpose: Courage to envision and pursue goals without inhibition of guilt or fear of punishment. Parenting • Individualistic cultures -Parents left to their own devices -Lack of guidelines can lead to stress, loneliness, self-doubt, problems • Collectivist cultures -More community and family support -Parents have less autonomy Parenting Styles Parenting Styles Control Communication Maturity Demands Nurturance Authoritative High High High High Authoritarian High Low High Low Permissive Low Mixed Low High Uninvolved Low Low Low Low Table 7.1 in text –page 346 (South Australia Department for Education, 2016) Parenting Style Outcomes Parenting Styles Outcome Authoritative High self-esteem, moral standards, maturity. Academic success Authoritarian Anxiety, withdrawal, low self-esteem Permissive Impulsivity, disobedience, rebelliousness Uninvolved Poor social-emotional development and self control, low self-esteem Variations of parenting styles Parenting style varies according to: • Specific circumstances • Duration of parenting • Birth order • Number of children • Changes and stresses in family • Temperament of child • Extreme inconsistencies between parents can lead to confusion or child ‘playing one parent against the other’ Cultural Variations • Different parenting styles shown to have more positive outcomes in some cultures • Parenting in remote Aboriginal communities • Therefore must be flexible and respectful in our discussion of parenting with parents of differing cultures (Buyers, Kulitja, Lowell, & Kruske, 2012) Accessed from: https://doi-org.elibrary.jcu.edu.au/10.1111/j.1440-1584.2012.01317.x Peer Relationships • Similar age and developmental level = equality in competence and power distribution in contrast to family relationships • Learn sharing, compromise, understanding others’ emotions, mental states • Development social competence relies significantly on frequency of peer activities • By age 3; show preferences for playing with some children rather than others • By age 4 interacting in groups rather than one on one • As they age, young children prefer interacting with a same sex peer Friendships • Friends spend more time playing together and feature relatively greater emotional expressiveness, greater reciprocity and interdependence. Try to avoid disagreements. • By age of 3-4 years majority of children have one or two friendships –evolve through physical proximity • Friendships based on momentary shared activities rather than loyalty (seen later in childhood). Can be ended or reinstated relatively easily. Reciprocity emerges later (middle childhood). Play • Universal –across cultures • Time spent playing dominates the preschool years • Vital contribution to development in all domains, in particular: o Psychosocial development: empathy, emotional regulation, conflict management, perspective taking Play • Sarachoand Spodek(1998) define play as: • • • • • • Intrinsically, not extrinsically motivated Process –not product -oriented Creative and non-literal Has implicit rules Spontaneous and self-initiated Free from major emotional distress Parten’s Types of Play Type Description and examples Unoccupied play The child wanders about, watching whatever is of momentary interest, but does not become involved in any activity. Solitary play The child plays alone with different toys or other objects and with no direct or indirect awareness of or involvement with other children, even if nearby. Onlooker play The child watches others play without actually entering into the activities; is clearly involved with what is happening and usually is within speaking distance of the participants. Parallel play Involves two or more children playing side by side in close proximity and with an awareness of each other’s presence often with the same toys or enjoying a similar activity; but do not share toys, talk or interact except in very minimal ways. Associative play Children engage in a common activity and talk about it with each other, but do not assign tasks or roles to particular individuals and are not very clear about their goals. Cooperative play Children consciously form into group to make something, attain a goal or dramatise a situation; one or two members organise and direct the activity, with children assuming different roles and responsibilities. Grusec and Lytton’s Types of Play Type Description and examples Functional play Simple, repetitive movements, sometimes with objects or own body. For example, shoveling sand, pushing a toy, jumping up and down. Constructive play Manipulation of objects in order to construct something. For example, building with blocks. Pretend play Substitutes make-believe, imaginary and dramatic situations for real ones. For example, playing ‘house’ or ‘Superman’. Games with rules Play is more formal and is governed by fixed rules. For example, hopscotch, hideand-seek. Theories of play Psychoanalytic (Erikson): • Importance of fantasy, pretend play. Opportunity to gain mastery over anxiety and conflicts • Release of upsetting feelings • Gain satisfaction in fantasy world Social learning theory (Pavlov, Skinner and Bandura): • Roles learned through direct, vicarious or self-reinforcement Ethological theory: • Similar to animal behaviour • Physical activity play • Rhythmic stereotypes • Exercise play • Rough-and-tumble play Theories of play cont. Cognitive • Piaget –importance of object oriented play and of symbolic play, fantasy extends possibilities Influences on play • Parental influences; opportunities for structured vs. unstructured play • Childcare centre; positive effects of high quality day care • Very restricted environment negatively affects play • Culture, socioeconomic status effects on development of play Prosocial behaviour Prosocial behaviours include: selflessness, helpfulness (more common than other prosocial behaviours in 4 year olds), sharing, sympathy = positive effects on others • Altruism Features of prosocial behaviours: • Emerges during early childhood, increase with age due to gains in cognitive functioning, social skills Prosocial behaviour cont. • Empathy plays key role in development of prosocial behaviour. 3 aspects of empathy: ◦Emotional ◦Behavioural ◦Cognitive (theory of mind) empathy ◦Sympathy, involving feelings of concern for other person, more likely to lead to prosocial behaviour. • Crossing emotional bridge between empathy and sympathy -key to helpful actions (altruistic acts). • Individual differences in: ◦empathy and sympathy –day-care study, degree of familiarity; altruistic behaviour -genetic influence –cognitive empathy. • Wide individual differences in general prosocial behaviour o Child factors: e.g. temperament (predictive of later prosocial behaviour), gender, birth order o Environmental factors including parenting -provide appropriate behavioural model, parenting styles and providing opportunities for practicing prosocial behaviour. Anti-social behaviour • Antisocial behaviour: Aggression –wide range of behaviours that produce harm or negative outcomes for others. ◦Instrumental aggression ◦Hostile aggression Physical Verbal Relational ◦Reactive aggression –physical harm; spontaneous, loss of control, frustration. ◦Proactive aggression –premeditated acts of meanness Antisocial behaviour cont. • Early pre-schoolers fairly high instrumental aggression –declines with age while hostile aggression increases • Hostile aggression: first dominated by physical aggression, then towards end of childhood declines and verbal aggression increases • Towards end early childhood, boys demonstrate more physical aggression relative to girls Development of Aggression • Wide individual differences • Temperament •Especially ‘difficult’ babies experience more conflict • Parenting style •Permissive, uninvolved and authoritarian parenting associated with higher aggression •Authoritative parenting associated with prosocial behaviours Development of Aggression cont. • Social cognitive learning theory, Bandura. •Modelling environmental factors-interaction with child factors • Media •Viewing violence removes inhibitions •Early exposure (under 6 years) strongest correlations exposure media violence & aggression Controlling aggression •Early intervention •Work with family •Teach authoritative parenting style •Teach prosocial behaviours •Establish structure and consistency •Provide social-problem-solving and assertiveness training •Address relationship problems Gender-role development • Gender roles •Societal expectations of males and females •Different from each other •Conform to stereotypes •Gender typing •Process of acquiring gender-consistent behaviours 1. Biological 2. Learning 3. Cognitive Biological theory of gender-role development • Based on natural selection •Female nurturance associated with childbearing role •Male aggression and dominance associated with hunter/provider role •Parental investment theory •Passing on genetic material • Parental investment theory •Hormonal influences •Fails to acknowledge current social environment Learning theories of gender-role development • Bussey& Bandura (1999) –Social cognitive theory • • • Role appropriate behaviour is reinforced Role inappropriate behaviour is not Boys more likely to be negatively reinforced for gender inappropriate behaviour than girls -Skinner Learning theories of gender-role development cont. Parents influence environment • Clothes, toys, décor Same-sex peer reinforcement •Negative reinforcement by peers of gender-inappropriate play can be more influential than that of adults. Modelling • Adults, siblings, peers, society, media Fails to consider cognitive and social maturation Cognitive theories of gender-role development • Kohlberg (1966) •Gender labelling •Gender stability •Gender constancy References Buyers, L., Kulitja, S., Lowell, A., & Kruske, S. (2012). ‘Hear our stories’: Child-rearing practices of a remote Australian Aboriginal community. Australian Journal of Rural Health, 20, 293-297. Retrieved from https://doiorg.elibrary.jcu.edu.au/10.1111/j.1440-1584.2012.01317.x Hoffnung, M., Hoffnung, R. J., Seifert, K. L., Hine, A., Ward, L., Signal, T., Swabey, K., Yates, K., & Burton Smith, R. (2019). Lifespan development (4th ed.). Milton, Qld: John Wiley & Sons Australia Ltd. South Australia Department for Education. (2016). Parenting style -Parent easy guide. Retrieved from Department for Education: https://www.education.sa.gov.au/parenting-and-childcare/parenting/parenting-sa/parent-easy-guides/parenting-style-parenteasy-guide