Chapter 8:

DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY Psychosocial Development in Early Childhood

Source: Papalia & Martorell (15th ed.), Santrock (17th ed.), Boyd & Bee (7th ed.)
The Self-Concept and Cognitive Development Gender
• Self-Concept (sense of self) • Gender Identity
o Descriptive and evaluative mental picture of one’s o Awareness of one’s gender and all it implies in one’s
abilities and traits. society of origin.
• Self-Definition • Sex Differences
o Cluster of characteristics used to describe oneself. o Physically, among the larger sex differences are boys’
• Real Self higher activity level, superior motor performance,
o The self one actually is. especially after puberty, and greater propensity for
• Ideal Self physical aggression.
o The self one would like to be. o Sex-typed play preferences increase between
• Cultural Differences in Self-Concept toddlerhood and middle childhood, and the degree of
o Children from individualistic cultures view the nature sex-typed behavior exhibited early in life is a strong
of the self as stable and unchanging. indicator of later gender-based behavior.
o Children from collectivistic cultures, where social o Boys and girls do equally well on tasks involving basic
roles and interactions carry greater weight, are more mathematical skills and are equally capable of
likely to believe the self to be malleable. learning math but show variations in specific abilities.
• Disability and Self-Concept o Girls generally show a verbal advantage.
o Physical disabilities do not have a strong effect on • Gender Roles
self-esteem but do affect beliefs about physical o Behaviors, interests, attitudes, skills, and traits that a
competence and, to a lesser extent, physical culture considers appropriate for each sex.
appearance and social acceptance. • Gender-Typing
o Children with learning disabilities are also equivalent o Acquisition of a gender role.
to nonaffected peers in global self-concept but lower • Gender Stereotype
within the academic domain. o Preconceived generalizations about male or female
• Self-Esteem role behavior.
o The judgment a person makes about their self-worth.
o Before about ages 5 to 7, young children’s self- Perspectives on Gender Development
esteem is not firmly based on reality, and most young
children wildly overestimate their abilities.
o Children’s self-esteem also tends to be
unidimensional.
o High self-esteem is generally associated with positive
outcomes.
• Regulating Emotions
o Individualistic cultures tend to value the free
expression of emotions.
o Cultures with collectivistic and interdependent values
are more likely to encourage minimizing strong
emotional expressions, especially if those emotions
are negative.
• Understanding Emotions
o Social Emotions
▪ Emotions involved in the regulation of
social behavior that require self-awareness Biological Approach
and the understanding of others’ • Across the life span and starting early in development, men, on
viewpoints. average, have larger brain volume than women.
• Erikson: Initiative vs. Guilt • Girls’ brains have a higher proportion of gray matter (neurons)
o This conflict marks a split between two parts of the and a thicker cortex, and show greater cerebral blood flow.
personality: the part that remains a child, full of • Boys’ brains contain a higher proportion of white matter (axons
exuberance and a desire to try new things and test for communication between neurons) and larger volume in the
new powers, and the part that is becoming an adult, central subdivision of the bed nucleus stria terminalis.
constantly examining the propriety of motives and • Variations in Gender Identity
actions. o Transgender People
o Virtue: Purpose ▪ Individuals whose gender identity is
different from their biological sex.
Moral Development ▪ Children, especially girls, who will later
• Development that involves thoughts, feelings, and behaviors identify as transgender generally show
regarding rules and conventions about what people should do strong and persistent gender dysphoria
in their interactions with other people. early in childhood.
o Intersex
Piaget’s Moral Reasoning ▪ Those born with sexual or reproductive
• Heteronomous Morality (4 – 7 years old) anatomical variations not typical for male or
o Children think of justice and rules as unchangeable female bodies.
properties of the world, removed from the control of
people. Gender Dysphoria
o Immanent Justice - The feeling of psychological distress experienced by
▪ If a rule is broken, punishment will be meted individuals when there is a mismatch between gender
out immediately. identity and biological sex.
• Transitional Stage (7 – 10 years old)
• Autonomous Morality (10 years old and older) Evolutionary Approach
o They become aware that rules and laws are created • Children’s gender roles underlie the evolved mating and child-
by people, and in judging an action they consider the rearing strategies of adult males and females.
actor’s intentions as well as the consequences. • Theory of Sexual Selection (Darwin)
o Accepts change and recognize that rules are merely o Gender roles developed in response to men’s and
convenient conventions, subject to change. women’s differing reproductive needs.

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 Psychoanalytic Approach • Formal Games with Rules
• Identification o Organized games with known procedures and
o Adoption of characteristics, beliefs, attitudes, values, penalties.
and behaviors of the parent of the same sex. Example:
▪ Four square
Cognitive Approach ▪ Freeze tag
• Kohlberg’s Cognitive-Developmental Theory
o Gender knowledge precedes gendered behavior. Social Dimension of Play (Mildred Parten, 1932)
o Gender Constancy (Sex-Category Constancy) • As children get older, their play tends to become more social;
▪ Awareness that one will always be male or that is, more interactive and more cooperative.
female. • Parten incorrectly regarded nonsocial play as less mature than
o Gender Identity social play.
▪ Awareness of one’s own gender and that of • A preference for solitude is not necessarily associated with
others typically occurs between ages 2 and negative outcomes in adulthood, so it is reasonable to think the
3. same might be true for children.
o Gender Stability
▪ Awareness that gender does not change.
o Gender Consistency
▪ Realization that a girl remains a girl even if
she has a short haircut and plays with
trucks and a boy remains a boy even if he
has long hair and earrings typically occurs
between ages 3 and 7.
• Bem’s Gender-Schema Theory
o Children socialize themselves in their gender roles by
developing a mentally organized network of
information about what it means to be male or female
in a particular culture.
Gender and Play
Social Learning Approach • Gender Segregation
• Walter Mischel o Tendency to select playmates of one’s own gender.
o Children acquire gender roles by imitating models and • Boys tend to engage in more exploratory and rough-and-tumble
being rewarded for gender-appropriate behavior. play.
o Behavioral feedback, together with direct teaching by • Girls enjoy more symbolic and pretend play, as well as more
parents and other adults, reinforces gender-typing. structured, adult-supervised activities.
o Gender behavior precedes gender knowledge.
• In mixed-sex groups, play tends to revolve around traditionally
• Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory masculine activities.
o Children learn gender roles through socialization.
• The more salient gender is made, the more children believe in
• Family Influences gender stereotypes and the less they play with other-sex peers.
o Parents with more traditional gender-role beliefs tend
• Sex-typed play preferences increase between toddlerhood and
to react more negatively to children playing with
middle childhood.
cross-gender–typed toys.
• The degree of sex-typed behavior exhibited early in life is a
• Peer Influences
strong indicator of later gender-based behavior.
o Preschoolers generally play in sex-segregated
groups that reinforce gender-typed behavior.
Culture and Play
• Cultural Influences
• Cultural values affect the play environments adults set up for
o Cultural influences around us will influence the
children, and these environments in turn affect the frequency of
degree to which we become gender-typed.
specific forms of play across cultures.
• Cultural values also affect the opportunities children are given
Play
to play.
• Early locomotor play is believed to support gross motor skill and
• Children who behave in ways that are contrary to cultural values
neuromuscular development.
may be met with rejection from peers, while those who embody
• Exercise play increases from early childhood to the early
those values are likely to be accepted.
primary school years, and vigorous activity may help develop
muscle strength, endurance, efficiency of movement, and
Parenting
athletic coordination.
Forms of Discipline
• Social play allows children the opportunity to develop and
• Discipline
sustain friendships, practice cooperation, negotiate conflict, and
o Methods of molding children’s character and of
build complex social skills in coordination with peers.
teaching them to exercise self-control and engage in
• Pretend play has been linked to cognitive functions, such as acceptable behavior.
creativity, flexible thinking, perspective taking, and exploring the
• Reinforcement
bounds of fantasy and reality.
o Children usually learn more from being reinforced for
good behavior.
Cognitive Levels of Play (Smilansky, 1968)
o External reinforcements may be tangible (treats, more
• Functional Play (Locomotor Play) playtime) or intangible (a smile, a word of praise, or a
o Simplest level. special privilege).
o Play involving repetitive large muscular movements. o Whatever the reinforcement, the child must see it as
Example: rewarding and must receive it fairly consistently after
▪ Rolling a ball showing the desired behavior.
• Constructive Play (Object Play)
• Punishment
o Play involving use of objects or materials to make o There are occasions when punishment is necessary,
something. but it should be administered calmly, in private, and
Example: aimed at eliciting compliance, not guilt.
▪ House of blocks o Most effective when accompanied by a short, simple
▪ Crayon drawing explanation.
• Dramatic Play (Pretend/Fantasy/Imaginative Play) o It is important to remember that, in addition to
o Play involving imaginary people or situations. punishment for undesired behaviors, the desired
o Peaks during the preschool years. behaviors should be made clear.

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 o Children who are punished harshly and frequently Relationships with Other Children
may have trouble interpreting other people’s actions • Sibling Relationships
and words and may attribute hostile intentions where o The quality of sibling relationships tends to persist
none exists. over time and to carry over to relationships with other
o Young children who have been punished harshly also children.
show more externalizing behaviors such as physical • The Only Child
aggression and impulsivity. o As adults, only children, overall, were less likely to
• Corporal Punishment show signs of anxiety or depression than those
o Use of physical force with the intention of causing children born in families with siblings, particularly if
pain, but not injury, so as to correct or control they were born after the policy was reversed.
behavior. o Only children’s academic achievement and physical
o Counterproductive and should be avoided. growth were about the same as, or better than,
• Other Disciplinary Techniques children with siblings, although the differences were
o Inductive Techniques small.
▪ Disciplinary techniques designed to induce • Playmates and Friends
desirable behavior by appealing to a child’s o Through friendships and interactions with casual
sense of reason and fairness. playmates, young children learn how to get along with
▪ Tends to arouse empathy for the victim of others.
wrongdoing as well as guilt on the part of o They learn how to solve problems in relationships and
the wrongdoer. how to put themselves in another person’s place, and
o Power Assertion they see models of various kinds of behavior.
▪ Designed to discourage undesirable o They learn moral values and gender-role norms, and
behavior through physical or verbal they practice adult roles.
enforcement of parental control.
▪ Includes demands, threats, withdrawal of
privileges, and spanking.
o Withdrawal of Love
▪ Involves ignoring, isolating, or showing
dislike for a child.

Parenting Styles
• Baumrind’s Model of Parenting Styles
o Authoritarian Parenting
▪ Emphasizes control and unquestioning
obedience.
▪ Try to make children conform to a set
standard of conduct and punish them
forcefully for violating it.
▪ Less warm than other parents.
▪ Children tend to be more discontented,
withdrawn, and distrustful.
o Permissive Parenting
▪ Emphasizes self-expression and self-
regulation.
▪ Parents consult with children about policy
decisions and rarely punish.
▪ Warm, noncontrolling, and undemanding.
o Authoritative Parenting
▪ Emphasizes a child’s individuality but also
stresses limits.
▪ Loving and accepting but also demand
good behavior and are firm in maintaining
standards.
▪ Impose limited, judicious punishment when
necessary, within the context of a warm,
supportive relationship.
▪ Preschoolers with authoritative parents
tend to be the most self-reliant, self-
controlled, self-assertive, exploratory, and
content.
o Neglectful or Uninvolved Parenting
▪ Added by Eleanor Maccoby and James
Martin.
▪ Parents who focus on their needs rather
than on those of the child.
▪ Linked with both externalizing (such as
delinquency and defiance) and
internalizing (such as depression and
anxiety) behavioral problems in childhood
and adolescence.

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