Emotional and Social Development in Early Childhood Questions

What four components make up a preschooler's developing self-concept?

Attributes, abilities, attitudes, and values.

What type of parent-child relationship fosters a positive, coherent self-concept in a young child?

A warm, sensitive parent-child relationship.

What specific type of parental reminiscing is important for fostering a coherent self-concept in children?

Elaborative reminiscing that focuses on the child's internal states.

What is self-esteem?

The judgments we make about our own worth and the feelings associated with those judgments.

What are four common self-judgments preschoolers make that contribute to their self-esteem?

Learning in school, making friends, getting along with parents, and treating others kindly.

A preschooler's high self-esteem contributes directly to their sense of what?

Initiative.

What three areas of improvement support a preschooler's emotional development?

Gains in representation, language, and self-concept.

What are the three core components of emotional competence that preschoolers develop?

Emotional understanding, emotional self-regulation, and self-conscious emotions/empathy.

What two factors are vital for the development of a child's emotional competence?

Parenting and peer relationships.

What do children realize by ages 3-5 that motivates behavior?

Desires and beliefs.

What is a key difficulty preschoolers have when trying to understand others' emotions?

Interpreting situations that offer conflicting cues about how a person is feeling.

Name three parenting behaviors that promote a child's emotional understanding.

Labeling and explaining emotions, expressing warmth when conversing, and discussing negative experiences.

How does language contribute to a preschooler's emotional self-regulation?

It improves their ability to manage the experience and expression of emotion.

What is a self-regulation strategy a 3-4 year old might use that involves covering their eyes or ears?

Restricting sensory input.

List four strategies for emotional self-regulation that appear by age 3-4.

Restricting sensory input, talking to themselves, changing their goals, and repairing a relationship.

Name three common fears of early childhood.

Monsters, ghosts, darkness, preschool/child care, or animals.

What are intense fears in early childhood that may require counseling called?

Phobias.

Around what age do self-conscious emotions like pride and shame become clearly linked to self-evaluation?

Around age 3.

How can parents promote adaptive levels of pride and shame in their children?

By focusing on how to improve performance, not on the child's worth.

What term describes actions aimed at benefiting others, often motivated by empathy?

Prosocial behavior.

Distinguish between empathy and sympathy.

Empathy is feeling with another person, while sympathy is feeling concern or sorrow for another person.

For children with poor emotion regulation, empathizing is more likely to lead to what rather than sympathy?

Personal distress.

What are two factors that promote the development of empathy in children?

A sociable, assertive temperament and a secure parent-child attachment relationship.

What is nonsocial activity in play?

A form of play characterized by unoccupied, onlooker behavior and solitary play.

What is parallel play?

A form of play where a child plays near other children with similar toys, but does not try to influence them.

What is associative play?

A form of play where children engage in separate activities but exchange toys and comments.

What is cooperative play?

A form of play oriented toward a common goal, as in make-believe play.

What type of play involves simple, repetitive motor movements and is common during the first 2 years?

Functional play.

What type of play involves creating or constructing something and is common between ages 3-6?

Constructive play.

What type of play involves acting out everyday and imaginative roles and is common between ages 2-6?

Make-believe play.

Name one type of nonsocial activity that is a cause for concern in early childhood.

Aimless wandering, hovering near peers, or functional play with immature, repetitive motor action.

According to the source, boys participate more in what type of play than girls do?

Rough-and-tumble play.

How do preschoolers typically define a friend?

As someone 'who likes you' and with whom you spend a lot of time playing.

What is the enduring quality of preschool friendships based on?

Mutual trust

What does a kindergartner's ease of making friends predict about their classroom behavior?

Cooperative participation, task persistence, and academic skills.

What is social problem solving?

Generating and applying strategies that prevent or resolve disagreements, resulting in acceptable and beneficial outcomes.

What are two direct parental influences on a child's early peer relations?

Arranging play activities and showing how to initiate contact.

What are two indirect parental influences on a child's early peer relations?

Secure attachment and sensitive, emotionally expressive parent-child conversations and play.

What disciplinary strategy promotes conscience formation by pointing out the effects of misbehavior on others?

Induction.

How do children primarily learn to behave morally according to social learning theory?

Largely through modeling.

What are three characteristics of an effective model of moral behavior?

Warmth and responsiveness, competence and power, and consistency between words and behavior.

What does repeated harsh punishment promote?

Compliance.

What are three undesirable side effects of repeated harsh punishment?

Models aggression, children react with anger, creates a conflict-ridden relationship.

How might European-American children view spanking differently than African-American children?

European-American children tend to see it as aggression, while African-American children are more likely to see it as in their best interest.

What are two common alternatives to harsh punishment?

Time out and withdrawal of privileges.

What are the three ways parents can increase the effectiveness of punishment?

Consistency, a warm parent-child relationship, and explanations.

What is one positive parenting strategy for handling a child's misbehavior?

Using transgressions as teaching opportunities.

What is the cognitive-developmental perspective's view of children in relation to social rules?

It regards children as active thinkers about social rules.

What are moral imperatives?

Rules that protect people's rights and welfare, where violations are seen as more wrong than other transgressions.

What are social conventions?

Customs determined solely by consensus, like table manners.

What are matters of personal choice?

Actions that do not violate rights and are up to the individual.

What is another term for proactive aggression?

Instrumental aggression.

What is the purpose of proactive (instrumental) aggression?

To act to fulfill a need or desire.

What is another term for reactive aggression?

Hostile aggression.

What is the purpose of reactive (hostile) aggression?

It is an angry, defensive response meant to hurt another person.

What are the three forms that both proactive and reactive aggression can take?

Physical aggression, verbal aggression, and relational aggression.

Which form of aggression is always direct?

Verbal aggression.

Compared with girls, what do boys display at higher rates?

Aggression.

What does exposure to violent screen media in childhood predict?

Aggressive behavior in early adulthood.

What is one strategy parents can use to regulate their children's screen media use?

Limit use and avoid using it as a reward.

What are child-rearing styles?

Combinations of parenting behaviors that occur over a wide range of situations.

What three features differentiate effective from less effective child-rearing styles?

Acceptance and involvement, control, and autonomy granting.

Describe the authoritative child-rearing style.

High acceptance and involvement, adaptive control, and appropriate autonomy granting.

Describe the authoritarian child-rearing style.

Low acceptance and involvement, high control, and low autonomy granting.

Describe the permissive child-rearing style.

High acceptance, low involvement, low control, and high autonomy granting.

Describe the uninvolved child-rearing style.

Low acceptance and involvement, low control, and indifferent autonomy.

Why are children more likely to comply with control from authoritative parents?

Because the control appears fair and reasonable.

What do authoritative parents convey that fosters self-esteem and maturity in their children?

Competence.

How do Hispanic, Asian Pacific Island, and Caribbean families often combine parenting styles?

They combine insistence on respect for parental authority with high parental warmth.

What is neglect as a form of child maltreatment?

Failure to meet a child's basic needs for food, clothing, education, or supervision.

What are the five interacting variables in ecological systems theory that contribute to child maltreatment?

Parents' characteristics, child factors, family conditions, community, and the larger culture.

Name three developmental areas that are impaired by child maltreatment.

Attachment security, emotional self-regulation, and empathy.

What is the most important factor in preventing mothers with histories of abuse from repeating the cycle?

A trusting relationship with another person.