Exam #4 - Child Psych

What’s the difference between a peer and a friend?

A peer is just a person that is equal to you in both age and status in an environment.

A friend is a person in which you have an inimate and reciprocated postive relationship.

• A friend can be a peer but a peer is not a friend.

Harlow’s Mother - Only Monkey Study Findings

When infant monkeys were completely isolated from peers and reintroduced later in life, they acted agitated toward peers and were unsure how to act. They also exhibited self harm behaviors while alone in captivity.

Parten’s Stages of Play

A study which determined the extent to which children play with others in a developmental sequence

Stage 1 - Nonsocial Activity (Parten)

Solitary play or observational play usually exhibited by children 2 and under

• Children will watch the environment but only breifly (unoccupied)

• Children watch other children but do not try to join in (onlooker)

• Chilren will be engrossed in their own activity and will not attempt to engage with other (Solitary)

Stage 2 - Parallel Play (Parten)

Playing side by side with little interaction usually exhibited by children 4 and up.

• Typically engaged in similar activites but play independently

Stage 3 - Associative Play (Parten)

Children share toys, swap materials, and comment on their own behavior but do not have a shared goal.

• Exhibited by children 4 and up.

Stage 4 - Cooperative Play (Parten)

Children play with peers in an organized acticity with a shared goal

• EX: Playing soccer, building the tallest tower, playing house

• Exhibited by children 4 and up.

Peer Groups

A frienship group of around 3-10 children that usually make up the same sex and race.

• Engage in rough-and-tumble play

• May help form domiaince and hierarchy that reduces aggression

When do peer groups emerge?

Ages 6-10

Dominance Hierarchy

A stable order of members in a peer group that will predict who will win when a conflict arises. It shows how they assert themselves in a disagreement.

Rough-and-Tumble Play

A type of peer interaction that involves good-natured, sociable play fighting

Cliques

A small group of people that share similaries likes academic motivation, shyness, and appearence that is typically affected by school year

When do cliques and crowds emerege?

Adolescence

Crowds

When cliques join together

When do children start to show prefences for some children over other children?

At 12-18 Months

What do 20 month olds do with friends?

They initiate more interactions with some children over others

What do 3-4 Year olds do with friends?

They make and maintain friendships and have a “best friend”

How would a 6-8 year old define a friend?

They have a concrete view of friendships, defining friends based on shared activities like playing

• Friends easily dissolve and form

How would a 8-10 year old define a friend?

They are defined by mutual liking and closeness

• Friendships take long to form but are not patched up easily

How would a 11-15+ year old define a friend?

Frienships are defined by intamiacy, mutual admiration, and loyality

• Emphasis of forgiveness, meaning frienships are more difficult to dissolve

Outcomes of a Reciprocated Best Friend

• Positive social functioning

• Self-percieved competence

• Lower rates of interalizing problems

Sociometric Status

The degree to which a child is liked or disliked by their peers

How is sociometric status measured

Through peer nominations and ratings of likability

Popular Children

Children that are rated by their peers as being highly liked, accepted, and impactful.

• Tend to have a high number of low-conflict reciprocated friends

• Tend to have more emotional and behavioral strengths

How are popular children determined?

High prestige, athletic ability, aggression (sometimes), physcial attractiveness, or wealth that give them power over peers

Popular Pro-social

• Good academics & emotional regulation

• Friendly

• Adapt behavuor to group

• Promote constructive solutions

Popular Anti-social

• More athletic than academic

• Aggressive and tough

• Relational aggression to enhance status

  • Exclusion

  • Rumor Starting

Popular Pro-social Children’s Outcomes

Less anxiety and depression, more positive social experiences, and healthy romantic and social relationships

Popular Anti-social Children’s Outcomes

Poorer psychosocial outcomes and less happy

Rejected Children

Children that are low in acceptance and preference and high in rejection and impact.

• Tend to be anxious and rated lower by teachers

• Trouble in finding solutions in difficult social situations

Rejected Aggressive

• Conduct problems, aggression, and ADHD

• Hostile attributions; poor anger regulation

• Aggression doesnt obtain status but causes scorn

Rejected Withdrawn

• Passive, awkward, and timid

• Feel lonely and concerned about being scorned

• More likely to be bullied

Relational Aggression

A covert set of manipulative behaviors used to hurt someone through damage to relationships, threats of harm, or both

Rejected Children Outcomes

Lonliness, low self esteem, high rates of anxiety, depression, & academic and social problems

Neglected Children

Children who are not nominated as liked or disliked by peers

Controversial Kids

Children who are nominated as very liked and very disliked by peers

Controversial Kids Outcomes

No known outcomes

Neglected Kids Outcomes

Tend to be the most well adjusted

How did Piaget develop his theory of moral judgement?

Through a series of obervations and open-ended interviews that included stories.

• Cup Example

Main differences between younger and older children (Piget’s Moral Judgement Theory)

Younger children value outcome over intention while older children value outcome and intention

Premoral Stage (Piget’s Moral Judgement Theory)

-Children show little concern and awareness for rules

-Children do not play games systematically with the intention of winning

Premoral Stage Age Range

From Birth - Age 5

Heterononmous Morality (Piget’s Moral Judgement Theory)

Children view rules as handed down by authority and unchangeable givens. They would believe the 15 cups is worse than the 1 cup.

• Moral Realism

• Moral Absolutism

• Immanent Justice

Heteronomous Stage Age Range

Ages 5-7

Moral Realism

The belief that rules are external features of reality

Moral Absolutism

When a child will not change the rules no matter what

• “We play this way” “My mom says!!”

Immanent Justice

The belief that rule violations lead to punishment or retribution

• EX: A child breaks a rule and gets away with it but falls and scrapes their knees later. The child will think that the fall is punishment for breaking the rule

What is Heteronomous Morality also called?

Morality of Constraint

Transition Period (Piget’s Moral Judgement Theory)

When children reach Piaget’s concrete operational stage of cognitive development and have more interactions with peers, they start to percieve other’s perspectives and cooperate

Transition Period Age Range

Ages 7-10

Autonomous Morality (Piget’s Moral Judgement Theory)

Children no longer accept blind obedience to authority as the basis of moral decisions. Rules are now viewed as flexible, socially agreed on principals that can be revised by majority view.

• Can view different perspectives

• Ideal Reciprocity

• Equalitarianism

Autonomous Morality Age Range

11+ Years

What is Autonomous Morality also called?

Moral Relativism

Ideal Reciprocity

The belief that you “do unto others as you would have them do unto you”

Equalitarianism

Belief in equal justice for all

Criticisms of Piget’s Moral Judgement Theory

• Many children take motives and intentions into account when judging morality

• Piaget underestimated children

  • If questions focus on intention and equalize outcome, heteronomous children will understand intention

• Kids can be both heteronomous and autonomous

Heinz Dilemma

The question of whether a man (Heinz) should steal a drug that could potentially save his dying wife from a druggist who will not accept any alternative forms of payments for his drug that costs 10x the price to make.

Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Reasoning

The idea that children’s moral reasoning develops over time and is universal. It develops slowly and is not equal through every person.

Preconventional Level of Moral Reasoning

A child at this level focuses on getting rewards are avoiding punishment

Stage 1: Punishment and Obedience Orientation

A child’s moral actions are motivated by avoidance of punishment and what is seen as right to authorities. The child does not consider the interests of others or recognize that those interests might differ from their own.

• Prostealing: “If you let your wife die, you will get in trouble”

• Antistealing: “You’ll be caught and sent to jail if you steal it”

Stage 2: Instrumental Purpose Orientation

Focuses on what is best for the child’s own interest or involves euqal exchange between people (EX: you hurt me, so I hurt you)

• Prostealing: “The druggist can do what he wants and Heinz can do what he wants.”

• Antistealing: “Heinz is running more risk than it’s worth to save a wife who is near death

Conventional Stage of Moral Reasoning

Morality is centered on social relationship with a focus on compliance with social duties and laws.

Stage 3: Good Boy-Good Girl Orientation

Good behavior is doing what is expected by people who are close to the person or what people generally expect of someone in a given role (e.g. “a son”)

• Prostealing: Your family will think you’re an inhuman husband if you don’t

• Antistealing: Everyone will think you are a criminal and you will bring dishonor onto your family

Step 4: Social Order-Maintaining Orientation

Moral behavior involves fulfulling one’s duties, upholding laws, and contributing to socity or one’s group. The individual is motivated to keep the social system going and to avoid a breakdown in its functioning.

• Prostealing: It is Heinz’s duty to protect his wife; it is a vow he took in marriage. It is wrong to steal, so he will have to pay the druggist later or accept the penalty

• Antistealing: It’s natural thing for Heinz to want to save his wife but it is still his duty to obey the law. If he is allowed to steal, then everyone would start breaking the law and there would be no civilization.

Postconventional Stage of Moral Reasoning

Moral reasoning is centered on ideals and focuses on moral principles.

Stage 5: Social Contract Orientation

Moral behaviors involves upholding rules that are in the best interest of the group (“the greatest good for the greatest number”) are impartial, or were mutually agreed upon by the group. If society agrees that a law is not benefiting everyone, that law should be changed.

• Prostealing: Although there is a law against stealing, the law wasn’t meant to violate a person’s right to life.

Social Contract Orientation: Universal Ethical Principle Orientation

Commitment to self-chosen ethical principles that reflect universal principles, such as life, liberty, basic human rights, and the dignity of each human being

• If Heinz does not do everything he can to save his wife, he is putting a value over the value of life. Respect for human life and personality is absolute and people have a duty to save another from dying.

Gilligan’s Critique on Moral Reasoning

She questioned whether Kohlberg’s theory adequately represents feminine morality

• Kohlberg emphasizes justice (masculine) while women valye caring (feminine ideal)

• Little evidence of any gender differences

Does one’s stage of moral reasoning predict prosocial and antisocial behavior?

Yes, higher stage adolescents have a stronger association with more prosical behavior and less antisocial behavior.

Moral Decisions

Children understand concepts of right and wrong, fairness, justice, and individual rights apply across contexts and supersede rules or authority

• EX: Knowing it’s not okay to steal another child’s toy

• Parents heavily influential

Social Conventional Judgments

Concpets regarding the rules and convention through which societies maintain order.

• EX: Not wearing pajamas to school, saying please, calling a teacher by professor

• Helps kids negotiate interactions with peers and adults in their environments

Personal Judgement

Individual preferences (no right or wrong choices)

• EX: Clothing choices, spending money, choice of friends, etc.

• Establishes autonomy

Strict Equality (Distributive Justice)

Allocating the same number of resources to all recipients

• A child will give every child an equal amount of cookies

• Younger Children

Merit (Distributive Justice)

Using merit as a reason to divide resources

• Giving more cookies to the child that did all of their chores

Benevolence (Distributive Justice)

Perceived fairness of how rewards and costs are shared by group members

• Working more hours means you get more cookies than those who work less hours

Mischel’s Marshmallow Test

Children are placed in front of a marshmallow and told to wait 15 minutes without eating it. If they do it successfully, they’ll recieve a seconf marshmallow. It tested delay of gratification, with most semi-passing.

Hot Properties

More reflexive, emotional way of thinking during delay gratification that makes you want to give in

• EX: Thinking how a marshmallow smells or tastes

Cool Properties

More reflective way of thinking during delay of gratification that distracts you from temptation

• EX: Thinking of shape

Abstract Hypothetical Transformations

Older children can imagine an inticing stimuli as something else to help with delay gratification

• EX: Imagining a marshmallow is a cloud

Prosocial Behavior

Voluntary behavior intended to benefit others, such as by helping, sharing with, or comforting

Empathy

An emotional response to another’s emotional state or condition (e.g., sadness, poverty) that reflects the other person’s state or condition.

What must children do to experience empathy?

They must be able to identify the emotions of others (at least to some degree) and understand that another person is feeling an emotion or is in some kind of need

Sympathy

A feeling of concern for another in response to the other’s emotional state or condition.

What must children do to experience sympathy?

They must be able to take the perspective of others

Development of Empathy and Sympathy - 14 Months

Children become emotionally distressed when they see another person is upset

Development of Empathy and Sympathy - 18-25 Months

Toddlers share personal objects with an adult that has been harmed by another person or comfort them

Development of Empathy and Sympathy - 2 Years Old

More likely to comfort someone who is upset than to become upset themselves

Development of Empathy and Sympathy - 2-4 Years Old

Prosocial behaviors increase while others decrease as they begin to understand social norms

Cooperation

A form of prosocial behavior, one that may be driven by sympathy but may also be driven by a child’s sense of fairness.

Development of Cooperation - 14 Months Old

Able to cooperate with another adult or child to reach a goal that would benefit them both

Development of Cooperation - Middle Childhood into Adolescence

Cooperation increases do in higher levels of moral reasoning and perspective-taking

Parenting and Prosocial Behavior

• High levels of prosocial behavior and sympathy in children tend to be associated with constructive and supportive parenting including authoritative parenting.

• Physical punishment leads to a lack of sympathy and prosocial behavior

• If punished for not exhibitng prosocail behavior, they may enagage in it later in life to primarliy avoid punishment or recieve a reward

Antisocial Behavior

Disruptive, hostile, or aggresive behaviors that violate social norms or rules and that harm or take advantage of others

Instrumental Aggression (Proactive)

Aimed at obtaining an object, privilege, or space

When does Instrumental Aggression occur the most?

12 Months and then again during preschool years

Physical Aggression

Injury or property damage

When does Physical Aggression occur the most?

It begins around 18 months and increases until 2 or 3

Hostile Aggression (Reactive)

Meant to harm someone

Verbal Aggression

Threats of injury and name calling

• More common in late preschool years

Relational Aggression

Damage to another’s peer relationships

• More common during adolescence