Life span - chapter 10

Emotional Regulation

Ability to control when and how one expresses emotions

Forms due to connections between limbic system + prefrontal cortex

Most important psychosocial accomplishment between ages 2 and 6

Why is Emotional Regulation impressive?

It requires effortful control

Erickson’s 3rd psychosocial crisis

Initiative vs Guilt

More purposeful behaviors & coping with growing challenges from outside

Children undertake new skills and activities and feel guilty when they do not succeed at them

Guilt

Internally focused

Self-condemnation for specific acts

Shame

Externally focused

Perceived loss of others’ esteem

Self-concept

An understanding of who one is

includes self-esteem, physical appearance, and various personal traits

Pride

High positive self-concept

Foundation for practice & mastery

Protective Optimism

a phase in early childhood when children tend to overestimate their abilities in a positive and self-confident way, even when their actual skills don’t yet match their beliefs.

Confidence helps in persistence

Erikson, “children are unrealistic”

Motivation

The impulse that propels someone to act

comes either from a person’s own desires or from the social context

Intrinsic vs Extrinsic motivation

Intrinsic: “I do it bc I want to”

Extrinsic: “I get a reward if I do this”

Play

Productive and enjoyable activity for children 
Brain matures with complex social play + social interactions
Form of play changes with age and culture

Factors subverting play

• Prioritizing homework/ academics

• Electronics

• Adults controlling instead of freedom

Types of Social Play

1. Solitary play

2. Onlooker play

3. Parallel play

4. Associative play

5. Cooperative play

Forms of play

Rough-and-tumble play

Sociodramatic play

Empathy

Prosocial behavior

EX: helping/forgiving one another

• sharing toys

Antipathy

Antisocial behavior

EX: behaviors that hurt others/society

• stealing

• excluding others

Active Aggression Types:

1. Instrumental Aggression

2. Reactive Aggression

3. Relational Aggression

4. Bullying

Instrumental Aggression

Hurtful behavior aimed at gaining something that someone else has.

• increases with age

• EX: pushing line at ice cream truck

Reactive Aggression

Impulsive retaliation for a hurt that can be verbal or physical

• “spur in the moment”

• decreases with age

• EX: hitting someone because they bumped into your

Relational Aggression

Nonphysical acts aimed at harming social connections between the victim & others

• increases with age

• EX: “I’m telling everyone you peed your bed”

Bullying

Unprovoked, repeated physical or verbal attack

• EX: can take form of any of the other three aggressions

Psychopathology

studies how you overcome emotion and the emotion balance of internalized and externalized

Internalizing problems 

• Turning emotions and distress inward

• Difficulty regulating emotions

• Excessive feelings of guilt, shame, worthlessness

Externalizing problems

• Lashing out / Breaking things
• Difficulty regulating emotions
• Expressing powerful feelings
• Uncontrolled physical or verbal outbursts

Diana Baumrind & categories

(1967-1972)

• Expressions of warmth

• Strategies for discipline

• Communication

• Expectations for maturity
  • Demandingness & responsiveness

Parents

 Primary influence on children’s emotions

Authoritarian/ Autocratic

• High levels of demandingness

• Low levels of responsiveness

• High behavioral standards AND strict punishment

• Little communication

Long-term outcomes of Authoritarian/Autocratic

• Well-behaved in front of adults but may act out when alone/ with peers

• Rebelliousness

• Less Self- confidence than peers

• Become conscientious, obedient, and quiet, BUT NOT happy as adults

Permissive / Indulgent

• High Responsive

• Not demanding

• High nurturance and communication

• BUT little discipline, guidance, or control

Long term outcomes of Permissive/Indulgent

• Poorer self-regulation

• Often act out to get attention from adult

• Dependent as adults, less mature than peers

• As adults: lack self-control, affects relationships and happiness

Authoritative

• Equal amounts of responsiveness and demandingness

• Parents set limits and enforce rules,

• BUT flexible and listen to children

Long-term outcomes of Authoritative

• Popular with peers, confident, and exploratory

• Mature behavior

• Less likely to act out or to rebel

• As adults: tend to be successful, articulate, happy/ generous 

Neglectful/ Uninvolved

• Low in demandingness AND responsiveness

• Indifference toward children

• Unaware of child’s life

Long-term outcomes of Neglectful

• Immature, sad, despondent, lonely

• At risk of abuse from others

Problem with Baumrind’s Styles

Greater focus on parental attitudes than on daily interactions

Influences on parental styles

1. Child's temperament

2. Parent's personality

3. Social context

What do developmentalists recommend for parenting style

Given a multicultural and multicontextual perspective, developmentalists hesitate to
recommend any particular parenting style

Sex versus Gender

Sex = biological 

Gender = social construct 

Psychoanalytic Theory

Phallic stage
• Oedipus & Electra complexes
• Development of superego - starts to feel guilt
• Identification - adopts mannerism of the same-sex parent

Behaviorism + Gender roles

1. Reinforcement & Punishment

Children are rewarded for behavior that matches societal gender expectations, and discouraged when they behave outside of those expectations.

• EX: A boy is praised for playing with trucks, but teased when playing with dolls 

2. Learning Through Teaching

• Parents, teachers, media, and culture teach children gender norms through language, expectations, and reactions.

• Children internalize roles, values, and morals that align with what their culture defines as "masculine" or "feminine."

Cognitive Theory + Gender differences

• Gender Schema develops: framework in children’s brain

• Children build their schemas based on:

• Personal experiences

• Cultural messages

• Observations of how people of each gender behave

EX: In class, a child sees that only girls wear dresses. They then think, “dresses are for girls”

• Gender schema = developed:

  • Categorize themselves and others as male or female

  • Choose toys, clothes, friends, and activities that match their gender identity

  • Reject things associated with the “opposite” gender

Sociocultural Theory

• Cultural enforces gender distinctions
– Separate activities & dress codes

EX: In Ghana, men iron and women wash clothes

Evolutionary Theory + Gender differences

Sexual attraction is urges reproduction of the next gen
– Young boys and girls practice becoming attractive to the other sex