2. PART III: EARLY CHILDHOOD
TOPIC 10: Psychosocial Development
1. Introduction
2. Fact or Fiction?
3. Emotional Development
4. Play
5. Challenges for Caregivers
6. Moral Development
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7. Closing Thoughts
3. Fact or Fiction? Fiction Fact
1. Most young children underestimate
their own abilities.
2. Permissive parenting is almost always
the most destructive parental style.
3. Physical aggression increases as children mature,
while verbal aggression declines.
4. The idea that some gender differences are
biologically based is becoming less well accepted
with each passing year.
Socioemotional Development
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PART III: Early Childhood
TOPIC 10: Psychosocial Development
4. Psychosocial Crises
What allows for emotional development during
Erikson’s stage of initiative versus guilt?
Emotional Regulation
Initiative versus Guilt
Self concept
Motivation
Possible as limbic
system connects with
prefrontal cortex
Understanding who you
are in relationship to self-
esteem, appearance,
personality, and various
traitsPreschool children mostly
“intrinsically” motivated
with a drive or reason to
pursue a goal that comes
from within
initiative vs guilt: Erikson’s third psychosocial crisis, in which children
undertake new skills and activities and feel guilty when they do not
succeed at them.
4Photo credits, left to right: Fancy Collection/SuperStock; moodboard/SuperStock; Fancy Collection/SuperStock
PART III: Early Childhood
TOPIC 10: Psychosocial Development
5. Motivation
Motivation comes either from a person’s own desires (intrinsic) or from
the social context (extrinsic).
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Intrinsic motivation is apparent when children invent dialogues for
their toys as well as converse with imaginary friends.
Imaginary friends are make-believe friends who exist only in a child’s
imagination that can help combat loneliness and aid emotional
regulation.
PART III: Early Childhood
TOPIC 10: Psychosocial Development
6. Psychopathology
What is the relationship between emotional regulation and psychopathology in children?
Externalizing problems Internalizing problems
• turning emotions and distress inward
• difficulty with emotional regulation
• excessively feeling guilt, shame,
worthlessness
• lashing out at others or breaking things
• difficulty with emotional regulation
• expression of powerful feelings
• uncontrolled physical or verbal outbursts
psychopathology: An illness or disorder of the mind.
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PART III: Early Childhood
TOPIC 10: Psychosocial Development
7. Play is timeless and universal
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PLAY
Rough and Tumble Play Sociodramatic Play
Play that mimics
aggression through wrestling,
chasing, or
hitting, but in which there is no
intent to
harm.
Pretend play in which
children act out various roles and
themes
in stories that they create.
PART III: Early Childhood
TOPIC 10: Psychosocial Development
8. Parenting Styles
What are four basic parenting styles?
Authoritarian Authoritative Permissive Neglectful/Uninvolved
• High behavior
standards
• Strict punishment of
misconduct
• Little communication
• Sets limits but
listens
• Flexible
• High nurturance and
communication
• Little discipline,
guidance, or control
of misconduct
• Indifference
• Unaware of what
happens in child’s
life
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PART III: Early Childhood
TOPIC 10: Psychosocial Development
9. How do theorists explain sex and gender differences in young children?
Theories of Gender Differences
sex differences: Biological differences
between males and females, in organs,
hormones, and body types.
gender differences: Differences in the
roles and behavior of males and females
that are prescribed by the culture.
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Photo credits: Top left: Fancy Collection/SuperStock; Top right: moodboard/SuperStock; Bottom left: Fancy Collection/SuperStock; Bottom right:
PART III: Early Childhood
TOPIC 10: Psychosocial Development
10. Theories of Gender Differences
What is your argument? What could be a counterargument?
Statement: Girls tend to play in small groups,
with one or two friends, while boys tend to
play in larger, less intimate groups.10
moodboard/SuperStock
PART III: Early Childhood
TOPIC 10: Psychosocial Development
11. Gender and Destiny
What gender patterns should children learn?
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Photos: moodboard/SuperStock
PART III: Early Childhood
TOPIC 10: Psychosocial Development
12. Empathy and Antipathy
How do children show aggression?
The Four Forms of Aggression
Type of Aggression Definition Comments
Instrumental aggression Hurtful behavior that is aimed
at gaining something (such as a
toy, a place in line, or a turn on
the swing) that someone else has
Often increases from age 2 to 6;
involves objects more than
people; quite normal; more
egocentric than antisocial
Reactive aggression
An impulsive retaliation for a
hurt (intentional or accidental)
that can be verbal or physical
Indicates a lack of emotional
regulation, characteristic of 2-
year-olds. A 5-year-old can
usually stop and think before
reacting
Relational aggression Nonphysical acts, such as insults
or social rejection, aimed at
harming the social connections
between the victim and others
Involves a personal attack and
thus is directly antisocial; can be
very hurtful; more common as
children become socially aware
Bullying aggression
Unprovoked, repeated physical
or verbal attack, especially on
victims who are unlikely to
defend themselves
In both bullies and victims, a
sign of poor emotional
regulation; adults should
intervene before the school
years
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PART III: Early Childhood
TOPIC 10: Psychosocial Development
15. Closing Thoughts
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What would you identify as the important
milestones and lessons young children learn
about their feelings and relationships with the
people in their lives?
Describe an important socioemotional
development during early childhood.
PART III: Early Childhood
TOPIC 10: Psychosocial Development
16. PART III: Early Childhood
TOPIC 10: Psychosocial Development
Editor's Notes
Instruction:
Click to reveal each statement, then the category.
Please note, this page is available to use with a clicker system.
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Instruction:
Click to reveal details about each expression of psychopathology.
Maturity affects emotional regulation. A 2-year-old might throw a temper tantrum, but 5-year-olds usually have more self-control—they might pout or curse, but not hit and scream. Also, a 2-year-old may show extreme fear and distress over things like a stranger wearing a hat or a drain in a bathtub, but 5-year-olds would have greater self-control. Externalizing and internalizing children have trouble regulating the expression of emotions—they either have too little self-control or they control themselves too much.
Girls usually develop emotional regulation ahead of boys, especially when comparing externalizing emotions. In adolescence, girls are more often depressed, and this may be the result of too much internalizing.
In both boys and girls, research suggests that extreme externalization or internalization predicts future psychopathology.
Instruction:
Click to reveal details about each parenting style.
These styles were identified by Diana Baumrind around 50 years ago; her study included 100 preschool children in California, all of whom were middle-class European Americans.
Multicultural and international research has found that specific discipline methods and family rules are less important than parental warmth, support, and concern.
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Instruction:
Answers from developmentalists about questions related to gender vary. This is also true of mothers and fathers and people from different cultures.
Instruction:
Click to reveal details about each kind of aggression.
Aggression grows out of antipathy—feeling of dislike or even hatred for another person. When children act on those feelings, they display antisocial behavior—deliberately hurtful or destructive feelings or behavior to another person.
On the other hand, when children show feelings and actions that are helpful and kind and of not obvious benefit to themselves, they display prosocial behavior.
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Instruction:
What would you identify as the important milestones and lessons young children learn about their feelings and relationships with the people in their lives?
Examples: learning social play; Clarifying gender roles; Learning emotional regulation