Psychology 2021 - Emotional and social development in early childhood

Chapter 10

Foundations of self-concept

• being to develop in preschool

  • attributes

  • abilities

  • attitudes

  • values

• affects their sense of initiative

• stars describing themselves with internal states

Self-esteem

• judgements we make about our own worth and the feeling associated with those judgements

• preschools form many subcategories

Preschoolers subcategories of self-esteem

• learning things in school

• making friends

• getting along with others

• treating others kindly

Emotional competence in early childhood

need to understand your emotions before you can have relationships with others

• emotional understanding

• emotional self-regulation

• self-conscious emotions and empathy

  • strongly influenced by parenting

Understanding emotions in early childhood

• 3 - 5 year olds can interpret, predict, and change others’ feelings

  • infer how others feel based on their behavior

  • realize that thinking and feeling are interconnected

  • find ways to relieve other’s negative emotions

• trouble interpreting situations with conflicting cues

What parents can do to help kids understand emotions better in early childhood

• label and explain emotions

• express warmth and enthusiasm when having conversations

• discuss negative experiences and disagreements

Emotional self-regulation

• language development helps preschoolers’ manage the experience and expression of emotion

• many strategies

  • restricting sensory input

  • talking to themselves

  • changing their goals

  • repairing a relationship

Restricting sensory input

if something specific makes you angry/sad/mad, then move away from it

Talking to themselves

telling themselves that everything will be find and to calm down

Changing their goals

changing their goals to fit with what can actually happen

• if i cannot have this toy, then maybe i will get another one

Common fears of early childhood

• monsters

• ghosts

• darkness

• preschool and child care

• animals

Phobias

intense fears that may require counseling

Self-conscious emotions

• preschoolers become sensitive to praise and blame

• at 3 self-conscious emotions are linked to self-evaluation

Empathy in early childhood

• moves to prosocial behavior

• kids with poor emotion regulation, empathy can lead to personal distress

• development is promoted by

  • sociable, assertive temperament

  • secure parent-child attachment relationship

Prosocial behavior

actions aimed to benefit others

• not to gain anything, just to help others

Sympathy

feelings of concern or sorrow for another person

Forms of play in early childhood

• nonsocial activity

• parallel play

• associative play

• cooperative play

Nonsocial activity

• being alone

• watching others

• playing by yourself

Parallel play

• playing near others with similar toys but not interaction with them

Associative play

• playing separately but trading toys and chatting

Cooperative play

• working together towards a common goal

Concerning nonsocial activity

• aimless wandering

• hovering near peers

• functional play involving immature and repetitive motor action

Village/tribal cultures play

• interpretive play

• reflecting everyday roles and experiences

• vital activities in these cultures

  • cooking, hunting

Industrialized/urban cultures play

• inventive play

• generating make-believe scenarios

Friendships in early childhood

• friends are people who like you and spend lots of time playing with

• give praise and compliance to those they call friends

• offer social support

Characteristics of kindergarten programs that promote social competence

• excellent teacher preparation

• small group sizes

• low teacher-child ratio

• activities that promote daily development

Social problem solving

• generating and applying strategies that prevent or resolve disagreements

• results in outcomes that are acceptable to others and beneficial to the self

Promoting alternative thinking strategies (PATHS)

classroom program for kids that teach them social and emotional skills

Direct parental influences on early peer relations

• arranging informal peer play activities

• showing kids how to initiate peer contacts

• providing guidance on how to act towards others

Indirect parental influences on early peer relations

• secure attachment

  • lets kids be more emotionally in check and build better friendships

• sensitive and emotionally expressive parent-child conversation and play

Moral development in early childhood

sense of right and wrong

• shown in kids very early

  • externally controlled by adults

  • becomes regulated by inner standards

Psychoanalytic perspective in early childhood

• parents play a huge role in kids forming morality

  • helps make the child aware of feelings by pointing out the effects of misbehavior on others