PSYC 307 1st Edition Lecture 19 Overview of Previous Lecture Attachment o Causes of secure and insecure attachment o Factors affecting secure attachment o Other Issues o Quality of attachment in later development o Basis of long term effects Self and Social Understanding o The Concept of Self o Theories of Development of Self Concept o Development of Self Concept Overview of Current Lecture Theory of Mind Autism and False Belief Imaginary Companions Self Esteem Identity in Adolescence Issues a Psychological self how people conceptualize themselves i Developmental changes 1 Middle childhood describing self interests in concrete ways 2 Late childhood inner characteristics inner workings of self mind 3 Adolescence think about self in qualifying terms November 18 I Theory of Mind a Well organized understanding of how the mind works and how it influences behavior i Intentions beliefs and desires of others may be different than your own b People have minds have own understanding of how world should operate own motivations for behavior i Two years old false belief problems fail miserable ii Three year old have difficulty with false belief problems iii Five years do relatively well with false believe tasks c Testing Children s Theory of Mind i The Smarties Task box says smarties they think there are smarties inside actually pencils 1 Passing the task requires understanding that people will not think there are pencils in the box they will also think that there are smarties in the box d Factors contributing to theory of mind i Language and verbal reasoning 1 Children who can articulate what has happened do better with theory of mind ii Executive function iii Security of attachment do better with theory of mind tasks iv Maternal mind mindedness mom s that frequently discuss how other s think feel v Make believe play abstract thinking vi Social interaction social competence e Explanations for Development of Theory of Mind all three have merit i TOMM hypothesized brain mechanism devoted to understanding other human beings 1 Core knowledge theory mind organized to process certain types of information 2 Behavior of other people is not random driven by motivations desires etc ii Interactions with other people are crucial for developing theory of mind 1 Ability to remember attention to relevant details ability to track change iii General information processing skills are necessary for children to understand people s minds II Autism and False Belief Tasks a Children with autism continue to find false belief tasks very hard to solve even as teens i Trouble establishing joint attention poor language skills limit opportunities to learn about other s thoughts and feelings understanding that beliefs affect behavior eludes them ii Pattern of findings suggests that children with autism have impaired mind reading mechanisms 1 Deficit interferes with many aspects of their social functioning III Imaginary Companions a Taylor 1999 found that as many as 63 of children she interviewed at ages 3 4 and again at 7 8 have imaginary companions at one or both ages i Included ordinary but invisible children as well as fanciful creatures b Characteristics of children with imaginary friends i Typically only children or first born without siblings ii Verbally advanced good verbal skills iii Spend less time watching tv engaging with video than children without imaginary friends IV Self Esteem a Definition how you evaluate yourself judgments about yourself and your selfworth b High self esteem realistic appraisal acceptance and respect for self i Don t think that everything that they do is great they have strengths and weaknesses c How does it develop i Related to how other people view you ii Correlates of high self esteem 1 Parenting styles warm democratic interactions realistic yet high standards 2 How others view us viewed positively by peers teachers parents etc 3 Achievement related attributions how you perceive your successes and failures a Mastery oriented more likely to have high self esteem i Do well because they are talented in what they are do ii Incremental view of ability do not expect to be perfect at first iii Focus on learning goals b Learned helplessness low s e i Attribute failure to ability success due to luck ii Entity view of ability do not think that they can get better iii Focus on performance goals d Developmental Changes i Early childhood 4 6 begin to evaluate themselves no strong indicators of self esteem ii Middle childhood 6 12 changes in self esteem comparisons between themselves and their peers on a daily basis in school begin to recognize differences between individuals iii Adolescence self esteem does not always plummet during adolescence depends on how you do in school and how your peers view you low selfesteem often occurs in children that stand out in some way overweight look different not involved V Identity in Adolescence a As they approach adulthood adolescents must begin to develop a sense of personal identity that incorporates numerous aspects of the self i Religion political views interests sexuality etc b Erikson s Views i Crisis of identity versus identity confusion 15 18 years of age ii Either develop an identity or experience one of the following negative outcomes 1 Identity confusion no clear sense of self 2 Identity foreclosure commit to an identity too early without considering other options 3 Negative identity others have negative views of you you adopt those as your identity c Marcia s Categories more well accepted than Erikson i Identity status categories level of commitment level of exploration high or low 1 2x2 table a Identity diffusion no exploration no commitment b Foreclosure c Moratorium lots of exploration has not yet committed d Identity achievement 2 Happens in adulthood not adolescence VI Issues a Is identitiy crisis a stressful experience i Can be does not have to be 1 Typically it is only stressful when you can never come to a conclusion a Remain diffused or in moratorium b Social influences of identify formation i Dominating parents identity foreclosure ii Uninvolved parents identity diffusion c Cultural influences i Minority adolescents more likely to be foreclosed 1 Stereotyping and prejudice might be expected to go in a certain direction 2 Lack of opportunity ii Does not have to be the case iii Bicultural identity lifestyle values expectations of your family are different than the society in which you live 1 Easier to take on identity of subculture
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