CPSY 4331 Unit 3 Exam

Development of self-concpet

1-2m: repeat acts centered on their bodies (thumb-sucking)

4-8m: repeated actions centered on environment (delight in making moblie move)

• habituate to own bodies

• protest when social exchanges disrupted

18-24m: recognize self in the mirror (rouge test with dot on nose)

2-3 years: use of lang to refer to self (me, mine)

Early self-definitions

focus on concrete characteristics

preschoolers and early school age: physical features, preferences, possessions, social characteristics, competencies

by age 8-10: more complex descriptions- focus on abilities and interpersonal attributes

Later self-defintions (adolescence and beyond)

more abstract and psychological

more aware of multiple selves

eventually more coherent and integrated

Alt approach to self defintions—> Eder

preschoolers have psychological conceptions of self long before they can express this in trait-like terms

• test via procedure that does not require advanced verbal skills

child self-view questionnaire (puppet show)

“when i get angry, I feel like hitting someone”

“I really like myself”

Can see how their well-being is, social closeness, etc is

Erickson’s theory of identity development

psychological development over the life span

how our self concept develops over time

development is cummulative

all development crises build on each other

• meaning issues of mistrust/ shame accumulate (or get better) over time

8 stages

Erickson’s theory of identity development (development involves vital involvement and a balance needed for healthy adaption)

how you relate to the word, and how the world relates to you, influences development

interaction of biological characteristics, psychological elements, and cultural context

balance between too much and little autonomy

Marica’s 4 stages of identity—> punnet square

Marcia’s 4 stages of identity—> findings

in general, move toward commitment

• either foreclosure or achievement

Moratorium= exploring options

• a heightened anxiety (not necessarily bad)

• common example: college years

Diffusion associated with more problems

Identity work continues throughout life span

Ethnic Identity Development- Infants

Enduring, basic aspect of the self that includes a sense of membership in an ethnic group and the attitudes and feelings related to that membership

Tends to be stronger among minority youth

• positive ethnic identity associated with higher self-esteem and better mental health

very young children are aware of racial and ethnic groups

• 3m: look longer at faces of own race (if they are exposed to that race)

• 9m: associated positive emotions with same race faces

• Implicit bias appear in early childhood

• Doll study—> pref for white doll.

What do we do to better ethnic identity development?

talk to kids about race

desegregation vs. integration

racial socialization strategies

• ethnic pride, preparation for bias

Awareness of own biases

Ethnic identity development—> Adolescence

Most active period of ethnic-identity development

• unexamined ethnic identity

  • Values, characteristics of dominant culture preferred/incorporated

• Ethnic identity search

  • eploring own ethnicity; questioning of majority culture

• Ethnic identity acheivement:

  • integration of minority and mainstream culture

    • openess and confidence about one’s ethnic identity

Phinney’s ethnic identity group—> punnet sqaure

Ethnic identity development- implications

biculturalism may be most positive way to resolve ethnic identity “crisis”

but difficult to accept norms of both cultures, if differ significantly

Self-esteem

one’s evaluation of one’s worth as a person based on an assessment of the qualities that make up self-concpet

High self-esteem

generally feel positively about one’s characteristics and competencies, while acknowledging weaknessl

low self-esteem

view self in less favorable light, dwelling on perceived inadequacies

Changes in self-esteem: ages 4-7 self-evaluations center on:

social acceptance

task/general competence

often overly positive and unrealistic

Changes in self-esteem: ages 8-10 self-evaluations center on:

physical, academic, and social competence

self-esteem typically declines why?

• social comparison

• more realistic appraisals

Changes in self-esteem compare early adolescence to adolescence

early adolescence: more differentiated and emphasis on interpersonal relations

adolescence: inclusion of romantic appeal and quality of close friendships

Bowlby’s working model theory predicts that securely attached children

construct a positive working model of self and one’s relationship

should evaluate themselves more favorably than insecurely attached children

Verschueren et al. 1996 development of self-esteem

4-5 year olds; asked questions about their worthiness; answered through a hand puppet

results: children with secure ties to their mothers:

• described themselves more favorably

• were rated as more competent by preschool teachers

Role of praise: mueller and dweck 1998

• 128 5th graders completed simple puzzle IQ tests

  • Half recived intelligence praise

  • Half recived effort praise

• Then offered them a challenging task that they could learn from, or an easy one

  • Intelligence praise: opted for easy one (avoid mistakes)

  • Effort priase: opted for challenge (opportunity to learn)

• Given the same IQ test again at the end

• Conclusions?

  • Children praised for intelligence→ fixed mindset

    • Lost motivation and enjoyment in activity

    • Avoided challenging tasks

  • Children praised for effort→ growth mindest

    • sought out challenge and increased effort/persverance

Note: this effect has been found to be robust among children of all different ages and ethnicities

How should we praise children?

Focus on thier:

• effort, strategies, focus/concentration, perserverance, improvement

Can you have too much self-esteem?

Findings are mixed:

• achievement→ high self-esteem rather than vice versa

• Involvement with delinquent peers→ higher self-esteem

• adolescents with high self-esteem→ more likely to use alcohol

how can children with low self-esteem be helped?

improve parenting/ parent-child relationships

foster “growth mindset”

work on skill improvement

Social cognition (durkin)

cognition about social phenomena

• how individuals learn about the world through their own actions and perceptions

Cognition as a product of social interaction

• how individuals learn about the world through interaction with others

Role-taking

the ability to assume another person’s perspective and understand their thoughts, feelings, motives, and behaviors

• a basic building block of social competence

• The foundation for increasingly mature social behavior

Difficulties in the development of social cogntion

people are not always predictable

we cannot observe the inner processes of people

people are also perceiving us and changing their actions based on their thoughts about us

what we do understand is further confused by our own emotional responses

What in the development of social cognition affects social reasoning?

complexity of reasoning ability affects social learning

Piaget’s cognitive development theory

skills attained in his proposed cognitive developmental periods seem to be in line with emerging social skills

Sensorimotor period

recognizing self as seperate entity→ self concpet

object permance→ attachement

peroperational period

decreasing egocentrism→ development of empathy

concrete operations

internalizing of thought→ logical, decentered thinking→ undersstanding of others’ perspectives

formal operations

abstract thought→ ability to see complexities in others’ behaviors, more abstract moral decisions

sex

refers to genetic and biological distincitions b/w males and females

gender

refers to our social assignment or slef-categorization as male, female, neither, or different.

What is the development of gender-typed behavior?

by age 2: show gender-related toy preferences

by age 3: sort occupation by gender, often rigid gender stereotypes.

Liben experiment on development of gender-typed behavior

examined 6-8 and 10-11 yr old perceptions of occupational status.

• tradtitionally “male” occupations rated as higher status (doctor, lawyer)

  • invented male occupations rated as higher status (“clisper” and “cartoner) by 10-11 yr olds

What flexibility do we see in changes of gender-stereotype flexibility?

with age, if parents engage in nontraditional roles, if encouraged to think more flexibility about gender, if have oppostie-sex older sibling

What are the stereotypes and how have they changed?

active, aggressive= male

emotional, caring= female

• our stereotypes about males and females have not changed much since the 1950s

To what degree do differences exist?

• more similarities than differences

• magnitude of differences is quite small

• a lot of overlap.

Differences in social behaviors

aggression: boys have more physical aggression

activity level: boys have more and it starts in the womb

compliance: girls have more

fearful, timid, cautious: girls have more

emotional expressiveness and responsiveness: girls have more (like masking negative emotions)

Help seeking: girls are more likely to seek help and this is constant across ages and cultures.

Benenson and Koulnazarian, 2008

3 and 6 yr olds, asked to complete four tasks, adult offered to help if needed

results: younger, lower SES children asked for help sooner than older, higher SES children, but girls asked for help sooner than boys, across ages.

Implications of differences in help seeking?

related to differences in percieved self-competence?

• maybe but few differences found at preschool/early school age

boys less encouraged when seeking help?

• maybe

Related to girls’ greater cooperativeness/affliation with adults?

• probably

Where do differences come from in gender development?

Biological influences, cognitive explainations, social factors

What are some cross-cultural evidence in biological influences?

simlarity in gender differences across diverse cultures

• concerns with using this as evidence of biological influences= could be a reflection of similarity in gender socialization

What are some hormal evidence for differences in gender development?

from animal models

• exposure to increased testosterone prenatally

  • more rough and tumble play

• girls exposed to androgens prenatally (CAH), later engage more in traditonally male activites.

Pasterski 2005: Hormonal evidence

do children with CAH display more pref for male-perferred toys?

how do parents socialize toy preferences in CAH girls?

3-10 yr olds (65 kids with CAH and 52 unaffected siblings)

played alone with mother and father, measured time spent with each toy and coded parent responses

results: girls with CAH displayed more male-typical preferences than their unaffected sisters (no differences for boys), both mothers and fathers had more positive responses to sex-typical toy play.

• esp true for CAH girls playing with girls’ toys

what does this tell us about socialization practices?

• socialization didn’t override possible biologicla predispositions

differences in brain structre and lateralization

female brains show more activiation in socail regisons

• emotion center larger

male brains are more lateralized for spatial tasks

• threat center larger

MAJOR caution in interpreting findings like these!!

• are differences in brain structure the CAUSE or EFFECT?

Other evidence for biological influences Bruce—> Brenda—> David Reimer story

born a boy until accident during circumcision led to alter him to a girl. Treated as a girl= initial reports of great success

by late childhood/early adolescence: brenda very unhappy, never identified as female, 14 got reconstructive surgery to return to orginal sex

Social learning perspective

• observational learning: esp attending to same-sex models

• differential reinforcement: encouraging sex-typed behavior, actively reinforcing sex-typed behavior, punishing non-sex typed behavior

Parents with social influences are:

• more likely to…

  • talk more to girls and encourage girls to express feelings

  • encourage boys to be more independent and risk-taking

• Mothers treat sons and daughters more similarly

  • fathers engage in more rough tumble play esp. with sons

  • Fathers show more negative reaction to sons playing with female-stereotpyed toys

    • but this may be changing

Parents with social influences are: (culturally)

less prominent differences in black families

more prominent differences in latino families

Father-absent homes (social influences on gender)

• more influential on young sons

  • more tolerance for gender-inconsitent behaviors

• impact on girls in adolescnec

  • higher risk of early sexual activity

• chidlren in lesbian parent homes (less gender stereotyped)

peers influence on gender development

• children self-segregate by gender from early age

  • playground osbervations: preschoolers play with same-sex playmates 3.5x as much as opposite sex

• group norms evolve within same-sex groups

  • girls use polite requests/persuasion, but boys use commands

  • boys tend to dominate in mixed-sex settings

• Peers react negativly to gender-inconsistent behavior

  • esp. true for boys

do same-sex peers shape gender-typed behavior? (Martin and Fabes)

observational study of preschoolers over a 6 m period

-observed activity level and gender-typed toy preferences

results: more time spent playing with same-sex peers

• greater INCREASES in activity level and sex-typed choices of toys for BOYS

• greater DECREASES in activity level, and INCREASED sex-typed choices of toys for GIRLS

Are classrooms biased against boys?

• girls are higher on rule following

  • boys are more likely than girls to be reprimanded

  • boys (active) behavior often stereotyped as problematic.

• boys are more likely than girls to have a learning disability, ADHD or to drop out.

• most teachers are female, esp in elementary schools

Are classrooms biased against girls?

-boys can get more attention: call on boys more and instruct them more

-teachers more liekly to: interrupt girls, praise boys for knowledge, girls for neatness