EMOTIONAL AND SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN EARLY CHILDHOOD I ERIKSON S THEORY INITIATIVE VERSUS GUILT A In Erikson s theory initiative versus guilt is the psychological conflict of early childhood It is resolved positively through play experiences that foster a healthy sense of initiative and through development of a conscience that is not overly strict B Play permits preschoolers to try new skills and cooperate with other children to achieve common goals C Freud s phallic stage of early childhood is a time when sexual impulses transfer to the genital region of the body D The Oedipus conflict is the conflict of the phallic stage in which the boy desires to possess his mother and feels hostile toward his father E In the Electra conflict the girl desires to possess her father and feels hostile toward her mother F In Freud s psychosexual theory the superego is the conscience which children obey to avoid feelings of guilt for misbehavior G The superego is formed and the Oedipus Electra conflicts are resolved through the process of identification in which children adopt into their personalities the characteristics of the same sex parent II SELF DEVELOPMENT A Foundations of Self Concept 1 Self concept is the set of attributes abilities attitudes and values that an individual believes defines who he or she is 2 Preschoolers usually describe themselves with concrete terms such as name physical appearance possessions and everyday behaviors 3 By age 3 they can also describe themselves in terms of typical beliefs emotions and attitudes 4 Preschoolers do not yet make explicit reference to internal dispositions 5 Children s struggles over objects seem to be positive efforts at forming boundaries between self and others B Understanding Intentions 1 By age 2 preschoolers already have intentions on their minds 2 By age 2 to 3 years understanding intentions extends to others 3 By the end of the preschool years children use a much wider range of information to judge intentionality C Emergence of Self Esteem 1 Self esteem is an aspect of self concept that involves judgments about one s own worth and the feelings associated with those judgments 2 Evaluations of our own competencies affect emotional experiences future behavior and long term psychological adjustment 3 Preschoolers sense of self esteem is not as well defined as that of older children or adults They usually rate their own ability as extremely high and underestimate the difficulty of a task 4 A high sense of self esteem contributes greatly to preschoolers initiative during a period in which they must master many new skills 5 Even a little criticism can undermine a preschooler s self esteem and enthusiasm for learning III EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT A Gains in representation language and self concept support emotional development B Self development also contributes to a rise in self conscious emotions such as shame embarrassment guilt envy and pride C Understanding Emotion 1 Early in the preschool years children refer to causes consequences and behavioral signs of emotion 2 Cognitive Development and Emotional Understanding a Preschoolers have an impressive ability to interpret predict and change others feelings b When presented with conflicting cues about a person s emotion preschoolers focus on the most obvious aspect of the situation to the neglect of other relevant information 3 Social Experience and Emotional Understanding a Preschoolers growing up in families that frequently talk about feelings are better at judging the emotions of others when tested at later ages b Make believe play with siblings is related to advanced emotional understanding C Emotional knowledge is of great help to children in their efforts to get along with others D Emotional Self Regulation 1 Language contributes to preschoolers improved emotional self regulation or ability to control the expression of emotion 2 Preschoolers know that emotions can be blunted by restricting sensory input talking to yourself or changing your goals 3 Because of the increased use of these self regulating strategies intense emotional outbursts become less frequent over the preschool years 4 Most cultures encourage their members to communicate positive feelings and inhibit unpleasant ones as a way of promoting good interpersonal relations 5 Temperament affects the development of emotional self regulation 6 Preschoolers vivid imaginations combined with their difficulty in separating appearance from reality make fears common in early childhood E Self Conscious Emotions 1 Self conscious emotions involve injury to or enhancement of the sense of self As children s self concepts become better developed they experience self conscious emotions more often 2 The presence of an audience seems to be necessary for preschoolers to experience selfconscious emotions 3 Self conscious emotions play an important role in children s achievement related and moral behavior F Empathy 1 Young children who react with empathy are more likely to share and help when they notice another person in distress 2 Compared to toddlers preschoolers rely increasingly on words to console others an indication of a more reflective level of empathy 3 Children are likely to react to the suffering of others in the same way that their parents respond to them IV PEER RELATIONS A Peers provide young children with learning experiences that they can get in no other way B Advances in Peer Sociability 1 Observing 2 to 5 year olds Mildred Patten concluded that social development proceeds in a three step sequence a Nonsocial activity is unoccupied onlooker behavior and solitary play b Parallel play is a form of limited social participation in which the child plays near other children with similar materials but does not interact with them c At the highest level preschoolers engage in two forms of true social interaction 1 Associative play takes place when children are engaged in separate activities but they interact by exchanging toys and commenting on one another s behavior 2 Cooperative play occurs when children s actions are directed toward a common goal 2 Recent Evidence on Peer Interaction a All play types coexist during the preschool years b Nonsocial activity is the most frequent form of behavior among 3 to 4 year olds c It is the type rather than the amount of solitary and parallel play that changes during early childhood d Certain types of nonsocial activity aimless wandering hovering near peers and functional play involving immature