Study Guide Exam 3 ALL NOTES FROM READING Chapters 10 11 12 13 Ch 10 Emotional and Social Development in Early Childhood Erikson s Theory Initiative versus Guilt Self Understanding Erikson described early childhood as a period of vigorous unfolding Initiative versus guilt the psychological conflict of the preschool years o Initiative young children have a new sense of purposefulness They are eager to tackle new tasks join activities with peers and discover what they can do with some help Erikson regarded play as means through which young children learn about themselves and the social world For Erikson the negative outcome of early childhood is an overly strict superego that causes children to feel to much guilt because they have been threatened criticized and punished excessively by adults Self concept the set of attributes abilities attitudes and values that an individual believes defines who he or she is Foundations of Self Concept o Preschooler s self concepts largely consist of observable characteristics such as their name physical appearance possessions and everyday behaviors o By age 3 1 2 children describe themselves in terms of typical emotions and attitudes I am happy when I play with my friends o By age 5 children s degree of agreement with battery of such statements coincides with maternal reports of their personality trait is indicating that older preschoolers have a sense of their own timidity agreeableness and positive or negative effect o A warm sensitive parent child relationship seems to foster a more positive coherent early self concept 4 year olds with a secure attachment to their mothers were more likely than their insecurely attached age mates to described themselves in favorable terms at age 5 with statements reflecting agreeableness and positive affect o Elaborate reminiscing that focuses on young children s internal states their thoughts feelings and subjective experiences plays an especially important role in early self concept development o Self esteem the judgments we make about our own worth and the feelings associated with those judgments Among the most important aspects of self development because they effect our emotional experiences future behavior and long term physical adjustment By age 4 children have several self judgments About learning things well in school making friends getting along with parents and treating others kindly Emergence of Self Esteem Emotional Development Emotional competence between ages 2 and 6 children make strides in emotional abilities that researchers collectively refer to as parenting strongly influences this and it is vital for successful peer relationships and overall mental health o They first gain understanding becoming better able to talk about feeling and to respond appropriately to others emotional signals o They second become better at emotional self regulation in particular coping with intense negative emotion o Then they more often experience self conscious emotions and empathy which contribute to developing their sense of morality Cognitive Development and Emotional Understanding o Preschoolers are good at inferring how others are feeling based on their behavior Ex They can tell that a child who jumps up and down and claps his hands is probably happy and one that is tearful and withdrawn is sad o They come up with ways to relieve others negative emotions like hugging to reduce sadness o As in their approach to Piagetian tasks young children focus on the most obvious aspect of a complex emotional stimulation to the neglect of other relevant information Social Experience and Emotional Understanding o The more parents label emotions explain them and express warmth and enthusiasm when conversing with preschoolers the more emotion words children use and the between developed their emotional understanding is o As children learn about emotion from interacting with adults they engage in more emotion talk with siblings and friends o Preschoolers who refer to feelings when interacting with playmates are better liked by their peers Emotional Self Regulation o Language also contributes to preschoolers improved emotional self regulation or ability to manage the experience and expression of emotion o Temperament affects the development of emotional self regulation children who experience negative emotion intensely find it harder to inhibit feelings and shift attention away from disturbing events More anxious fearful and get along poorly with teachers and peers o To avoid social difficulties emotionally reactive children must develop effective emotion regulation strategies o Parents who are in tune with their own emotional experiences tend to be supportive and patient with their preschoolers offering suggesting s and explanations of emotion regulation strategies that strengthen children s capacity to handle stress o Adult child conversations that prepare children for difficult experiences also fosters emotional self regulation Self Conscious Emotions o Preschoolers become increasingly sensitive to praise and blame self conscious emotions feelings that involve injury to or enhancement of their sense of self Empathy and Sympathy o Prosocial or altruistic behavior actions that benefit another person without any expected reward for the self o Preschoolers rely more on words to communicate empathetic feelings o Empathy does not lead to sympathy Sympathy feelings of concern or sorrow for another s plight o Poor emotional regulators less often display sympathetic concern and prosocial behavior o When parents are warm encourage emotional expressive ness and show sensitive empathetic concern for their preschoolers feelings children react with concern to others distress a response that persists into adolescence and young adulthood Peer Relations Peers provide young children with learning experiences they cadn get in no other way Friendships special relationships marked by attachment and common interests Advances in Peer Socialibity o Mildred Parten one of the first to study peer sociability among 2 5 year olds noticed a dramatic rise with age in joint interactive play o She concluded social development proceeds in a 3 step sequence Nonsocial activity unoccupied onlooker behavior and solitary play Parallel play a limited form of social participation in which a child plays near other children with similar materials but does not try to influence their behavior Highest level has two forms of social interaction Associative play children
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