Early Childhood: Self-Concept

Preschoolers have a surplus of energy,

________approach new things with increased sense of purpose and direction.

Preschoolers self- concepts often self- defined by

________ observable characteristics, concrete skills or likes.

Preschoolers tend to measure competence based on

________ their own accomplishments as opposed to others- what they can do at age 2 vs. 5;

Many self-descriptions are

overly, unrealistically positive which is appropriate and normal for this age

Autism is associated with impairment in

theory of mind—showing deficits in understanding of social-emotional processes and behavior

Limitations of child’s theory of mind:

* Poor at inferring what people know or are thinking about
* Holding 2 pieces of information on false belief task – what is expected ; and what others might believe

Factors contributing to preschoolers’ theory of mind:

* Language and verbal reasoning
* Executive function
* Make-believe play
* Social interaction

Young preschoolers are not yet able to compare themselves to others because

cognitively they cannot keep two things—their own behavior and the behavior of another person—in mind at the same time.

Without being able to compare their own performance to the performance of another person,

almost everything they do can be the “best” in their eyes

Comparison based on age over

ability

By age 4, children also describe themselves in terms of

more common, basic emotions and attitudes

By age 5, children have

more of a sense of their own personality traits.

At preschool age, they can talk about

what makes us the “same” and “different”

In Preschool Years it’s common to do activities such as “All About me” , “I am special”, to

help children develop and foster positive self concept

Preschoolers try to initiate activity;

that is, they want to do things, to create, and to make things happen (initiative).

However, young children may fail at these attempts to do things by themselves, and

that can lead to guilty feelings that they have done something wrong (guilt)

Preschoolers are convinced more that they are their own person,

though they still identify intensely with their parents

As children continue to move through early childhood,

the self becomes tied to what the child can do.

Erikson describes the central issue of the next stage as

initiative versus guilt.

In the early childhood years, children develop in many ways that

enhance their self-understanding.

Theory of mind

The understanding that others have beliefs, desires, plans, hopes, information, and intentions that may differ from our own

Typically- developing children attain theory of mind at

roughly 3– 4 yrs old through a progression of stages starting at around 18 months