Key Terms

1.0 Images of Life-Span Development: Tony's Physical Development

autonomy

2.0 Physical Development in Early Childhood

congenital

deprivation dwarfism

myelination

gross motor skills

fine motor skills

handedness

basal metabolism rate (BMR) malnutrition

oral rehydration therapy (ORT)

3.0 Cognitive Development

operations

symbolic function substage

egocentrism

animism

intuitive thought substage

centration

conservation

attentional training

attention

salient dimension

relevant dimension

short-term memory

task analysis

syllogism

MLU _:

language rule systems

overgeneralization

zone of proximal development (ZPD)

child-centered kindergarten

developmentally appropriate practice

Project Head Start

Project Follow Through

direct instruction

affective education

educational outcomes

teacher-caregiver

Essay and Critical Thinking Questions

Comprehension and Application Essay Questions

We recommend that you follow either our guidelines for "Answering Essay and Critical Thinking Questions," or those provided by your instructor, when preparing your response to these questions. Your answers to these kinds of questions demonstrate an ability to comprehend and apply ideas discussed in this chapter.

1. Explain why toddlers pose more problems and offer more rewards than infants to parents.

2. Explain why some children are unusually short.

3. What is myelination? What is its role in development?

4. Identify and explain at least three concerns of developmentalists about toddlers' nutrition.

5. Explain what factors contribute to toddlers' risk of illness and death?

6. What does Piaget mean by the "operations"? Also explain how preoperational thought differs from sensorimotor thought.

7. Explain at least two examples of a Piagetian conservation task. Compare and contrast Piaget's and Gelman's analyses of childrens' success or failure on a conservation task.

8. Describe short-term memory, and indicate how it changes in young children.

9. Characterize Brown's findings about language development in children.

10. What is a zone of proximal development (i.e., a ZPD)? Also explain the respective activities of child and teacher as a child moves through a ZPD.

11. Compare and contrast Piaget's and Vygotsky’s views about what causes the development of thought and language.

12. Characterize the philosophy and activities of a child-centered kindergarten.

13. Characterize and explain at least three of the controversies regarding preschools and preschool experiences.

14. Imagine that you are a parent with a prospective preschooler. Explain what you would do before attending a session with a preschool director and what kinds of questions you would ask during the meeting.

15. Compare and contrast the Japanese and American views of early childhood education.

Chapter 9 Socioemotional Development in Early Childhood Summary

1.0 Images of Life-Span Development: The Diversity of Families and Parenting

Contemporary families and incredibly diverse. The socioeconomic status affects parents and how they interact with their children, sometimes for better, other times for worse.

2.0 Families

Parenting Styles. Baumrind indicates that there are four types of parenting styles, each associated with different aspects of the child’s social behavior. Authoritarian parents are restrictive, punitive (наказывающие, карательные), and controlling. Their children tend to bе ineffective in social interactions. Authoritative parents encourage the child to be independent, place limits and demands on the child, and give the child warmth, along with verbal give and take. Their children are socially competent, self-reliant, and socially responsible. Permissive-indifferent parents are uninvolved in their children's lives and do not control them. Their children show a lack of self-control. Permissive-indulgent parents, are highly involved in their children's lives but do not control or set limits on their behavior. Their children show a disregard for rules and regulations.

Adapting Parenting to Developmental Changes in the Child. Parents need to adapt their style of parenting as a child grows older. An emphasis on reasoning should increase, and the use of physical manipulation should decrease.

Cultural, Ethnic, and Social Class Variations in Families. The most common parenting style m the world is authoritative parenting. Ethnic minority families differ from White American families in their size, structure, composition, reliance on kinship networks, income, and education. Extended families are common to Black American and Hispanic American families. In most Western cultures, social classes vary in their childrearing patterns. Working class and low-income parents place a higher value on external characteristics whereas middle-class parents value internal characteristics.

Sibling Relationships and Birth Order. More than 80 percent of American children have one or more siblings. Sibling relationships are generally more negative than parent-child relationships. Siblings may have a stronger socializing influence on a child than parents in areas such as dealing with peers, coping with difficult teachers, and discussing taboo subjects. In general, first-born children receive more attention from the mother than do later-born children. A younger sibling will tend to observe and imitate an older sibling, whereas an older sibling will not do this with a younger one. Researchers increasingly argue that birth order is overemphasized and begun to look at factors such as number of siblings, age of siblings, age spacing of siblings, sex of siblings, and their individual temperaments.

The Changing Family in a Changing Society. Changes in American families include an increasing number of ethnic minority families, working mother families, families in which there is a divorce, stepparent families, and families in which child abuse occurs.

Working Mothers. More mothers work outside the home now than in previous generations. Working mothers can have both positive and negative effects on children; however, there is no negative long-term effects. Working parents often feel guilty about being away from their children.

Effects of Divorce on Children. Divorce is common in America; a large percent of the children born in the 1970s have spent some time in a single-parent home. The overly simplistic father-absent model of divorce has been supplanted by an emphasis on the complexity of the divorced family, pre and post-divorce family functioning, and varied responses to divorce. Among the important factors in understanding the effects of divorce on children are age at the time of divorce, family conflict, sex of the child, and the nature of custody. In recent years, developmentalists have, focused on the children's diverse response to divorce and factors that promote or retard children's adjustment

Depressed Parents. Depression is a common problem for adults. Parental depression is associated with problems and adjustment and disorders such as depression in their children.

3.0 Peer Relations

Peer Group Functions. Peers are others about the same age or behavioral level who serve as powerful social agents. Social contacts and aggression are characteristics of same-age peers. Peer groups provide a source of information and comparison about the world outside the family.

The Distinct but Coordinated Worlds of Parent-Child and Peer Relations. Peer relationships are different from interactions with adults. As research on bully behavior has demonstrated, the nature of parent-child interactions can affect-the quality of peer interactions. Healthy family relations usually promote healthy peer relations.

4.0 Play

Рlау’s Functions. Play is an important activity that is engaged in for its own sake. Different theorists indicate that play promotes affiliation with peers, tension release, cognitive development, and exploration. Play therapy has been used in therapeutic settings with young children to provide a medium through which the therapist can learn about the conflicts that a child experiences and how a child copes with those conflicts.

Parten's Classic Study of Play. Parten described six categories of play: unoccupied, solitary, onlooker, parallel, associative, and cooperative. Young children engage more in solitary and parallel play whereas older children engage more in cooperative and associative play.

Types of Play. In contrast to Parten's emphasis on the role of play in a child's social world, contemporary views emphasize both the cognitive and social aspects of play. Recent studies of play examine sensorimotor, practice, pretense/symbolic, social, and constructive play. Play is different from games that include rules and competition. Play is a multidimensional, complex concept.

5.0 Television

Television's Many Roles. Children watch a great deal of television. Television has positive and negative effects, For example, television provides the child with information about a wider variety of views and knowledge than may be available from the child's immediate environment. It also exposes children to violence and aggression, which they may then imitate, and typically stereotypes minorities. Television also can teach prosocial behavior.

Amount of Television Watched by Children. Preschool children watch an average, of 4 hours' of television per day and elementary school children averaged 11 to 28 hours of television per week. Up to 80 percent of the prime-time shows have violent episodes.

Effects of Television on Children's Aggression and Prosocial Behavior. Viewing television at age 8 is correlated with the seriousness of criminal acts as an adult. Although television is not the only causal influence, experts believe that it induces aggression and antisocial behavior in children. Viewing prosocial behavior on television is associated with increased positive behavior by children.

6.0 The Self

Initiative Versus Guilt. Erikson's stage that characterizes early childhood is initiative versus guilt. Children resolve this conflict by engaging in self-generated actions or by feeling guilty over these activities. Children develop a conscience during this time.

Self Understanding. The self is particularly important in understanding development. Self-understanding is the child's cognitive representation of self. Self-understanding begins with self recognition about the age of 18 months, but most children's view of the self focuses on external characteristics, a physical self or an active self.

7.0 Gender

What is Gender? Sex refers to a biological dimension; gender refers to a social dimension. Gender identity is the sense of being male or female, typically acquired by age 3. Gender role is the ser of expectations that prescribe how females or males should think, act, or feel.

Biological Influences. Several biological arguments have been made to explain differences between males and females. Both Freud and Erikson have argued that psychological differences between males and females result from anatomical differences—that anatomy is destiny. A second biological influence is hormonal level. Estrogen in females and androgen in males are responsible for genital development. Although all acknowledge genetic, biochemical and anatomical differences between the sexes, the concept of interaction between biological and environmental factors means different tiling to different child developmentalists. This issue is whether biological influences on social behavior are direct or indirect.

Social Influences. Parents, culture, schools, peers, the media, and other family members affect gender, development. Identification theory derives from Freud's views. Social learning theory of gender emphasizes the observation and imitation that governs gender role development. Parents affect gender development. For example, fathers, who play an important role in sex typing both boys and girls, behave differently toward sons and daughters. Parents often encourage boys and girls to engage in different kinds of play behaviors even in infancy. Boys are typically more constrained in their play behavior than are girls. Parents treat boys and girls differently by allowing boys more freedom and by protecting girls more. Peers also play a role in socializing sex typed behavior by criticizing those who play in sex-crossed activities and reinforcing those who play in sex-appropriate activities. In elementary school, female teachers reinforce feminine behaviors in both boys and girls. Historically, in the United States, education has been male-defined rather than gender-balanced. Despite improvements, television still portrays males as more competent than females.

Cognitive Influences. Cognitive factors are also important in gender development. According to Kohlberg's cognitive developmental theory of gender, children are trying to make sense of their world and to create categories that simplify information processing. According to gender schema theory, children's attention and behavior are guided by an internal motivation to conform to gender-based, sociocultural standards and stereotypes. Schema allows the child to generate expectations about a person on the basis of their sex and to develop expectations about his or her own appropriate behavior on the basis of the sex of the self. Gender is present in the language children use and encounter. Sexist language, such as the use of the pronoun “he” when referring to everyone, is common and may limit or constrain thinking.

8.0 Moral Development

What Is Moral Development? Moral development concerns the rules and conventions about what people should do in their interactions with others. Developmentalists study how children think, behave, and feel about such rules and regulations.

Piaget’s View of How Children's Moral Reasoning Develops. Piaget viewed moral development in two stages. The stage of heteronymous morality is associated with younger children about 4-7 years old. In this stage, children evaluate good or bad based on the consequences of behavior, without regard to intention. The child sees rules as unchangeable and given from a higher authority and believes that punishment is mechanically connected to transgressions—the concept of immanent justice. In Piaget's second stage of moral development, autonomous morality, older children about 10 and older believe that the intention of the actor is the primary consideration in evaluating an action as good or bad. The child understands that rules are conventional and open to negotiation. In Piaget's view, social understanding conies out of the peer group.

Moral Behavior. Social learning theorists invoke the processes of reinforcement, punishment, and imitation to explain how children barn moral behavior. A key ingredient of moral development from the social learning perspective is the child's ability to resist temptation and to develop self-control. Cognitive rationales are more effective in getting a child to resist temptation than threats or punishments alone. A second behavior that has been examined is delay of gratification, which is closely related to resistance to temptation. Mischel believes that self-control, including the ability to delay gratification is influenced by cognitive factors. The child can instruct himself or herself to be more patient.

Moral Feelings. Moral feelings are also an important aspect of moral development. For example, the superego is the moral branch of personality according to psychoanalytic theory. Avoiding feelings of guilt can prevent the performance of a behavior, or in making reparations after a transgression. Feelings of empathy for the distress of another appear early and may lead a young child to attempt to alleviate the other's distress. Empathy has a cognitive component—perspective taking. Both positive and negative feelings contribute to children's moral development,

9.0 Contemporary Concerns

Sociocultural Worlds of Development 9.1: Black and Hispanic Family Orientations. Ethnic minority families differ from White American families in their size, structure, composition, reliance oil kinship networks, income, and education, Extended families are common to Black American and Hispanic American families.

Perspectives on Parenting and Education 9.1: Parenting Recommendations for Communicating with Children about Divorce. Ellen Galinsky and Judy David outline six recommendations for how parents can communicate with their children about divorce. These issues vary from explaining the separation to providing support for one's children and oneself.

Life-Span Practical Knowledge 9.1: Children:The Challenge. Rudolph Dreikur's book is a widely recommended guide to parental discipline of children by a mental health professional.

Life-Span Practical Knowledge 9.2: Raising Black Children. James Comer and Alvin Poussaint, two respected experts on Black children, address the questions of ethnic minority parents and parents from low-income backgrounds trying to raise emotionally healthy children.

Life-Span Practical Knowledge 93: The Boys mid Girls Book about Divorce. Richard Gardner writes for children who need to cope with their parents separation and divorce. This book is most appropriate for children 10-12 years or older in age.

Life-Span Practical Knowledge 9.4: Growing Up with Divorce. Neil Kalter's book is for use by divorced parents who want to help their children avoid emotional problems. It addresses the problems and concerns of children at different ages and sexes throughout each stage of a divorce.

Life-Span Practical Knowledge 9.5: The Preschool Years. Ellen Galinsky and Judy David describe the normal development of children from 2 to 5 years of age. They also provide practical advice about solving preschooler's everyday problems.

Life-Span Health and Well-Being: Some Working Parent Solutions When Work/Family Interference Occurs. Ellen Galinsky and Judy David offer the following advice regarding work/family interference: (a) make a list of the problems, (b) understand expectations and determine if they are reasonable, (c) solve one problem at a time, (d) provide escapes, (e) enjoy exercise, and (f) find social support.