Introduction to Self and Personality in Developmental Psychology

Introduction to the Lecturer and Course Context

• Lecturer Profile: Dr. Annette

  • Dr. Annette is a developmental psychologist who also teaches psychology at the $300$ level (specifically PSYCH $326$).

  • She is originally from Calgary, Canada (Western side, near the Rocky Mountains), and moved to New Zealand in $2009$.

  • Her academic journey includes an undergraduate and master's degree from the University of Calgary, focusing on language development. She completed her PhD at Queen's University in Ontario (Eastern Canada), studying language development and selective learning. Her post-doctoral research fellowship was at the University of Maryland in the United States, where she specialized in infant cognition.

  • Dr. Annette runs the Early Learning Lab and a research group at the University of Auckland, consisting of postgraduates (PhD and Master's), a postdoc fellow, and undergraduate volunteers. A prerequisite for the team photo is "jazz hands."

  • Personal anecdotes: Her son, Jackson (now $10$ years old), is frequently featured in her lecture videos. She participated as a dancer in the opening ceremonies of the $1988$ Winter Olympics in Calgary.

  • Office Hours: Dr. Annette holds office hours after Tuesday lectures during the weeks she is teaching. She is also available via email or Zoom by appointment.

• Course Structure and Relationship to PSYCH 326

  • PSYCH $200$ focuses on the foundations of developmental psychology, introducing core theories and basic research findings.

  • PSYCH $326$ builds upon these foundations by exploring individual differences, cultural contexts, and the depth of current research landscapes.

  • The current module covers Self and Personality. Note: The textbook chapter includes sections on gender, sexuality, temperament, and identity; however, these specific topics are reserved for PSYCH $326$ and are not examinable in PSYCH $200$.

Definitions of the Self

• Personality

  • Definition: An organized combination of attributes, motives, values, and behaviors that are unique to each individual.

  • Personality is often compared to a fingerprint; everyone has a different "recipe" of traits. These traits inform how individuals perceive the world, their personal values, and their actions.

  • Example: An extrovert gains energy from social interaction and seeks out others, while an introvert may find the same context overwhelming.

• Self-Concept

  • Definition: One’s perception of their own attributes and traits ("what I am").

  • It is critical to note that self-concept is a perception, not necessarily a reflection of reality. For instance, someone might perceive themselves as having an amazing outgoing personality, while others might view them as obnoxious.

• Self-Esteem

  • Definition: An evaluation of self-worth based on the self-perceptions that make up the self-concept ("how good/positive I am").

  • This is an evaluative and broad judgment of the self-concept rather than just a description of traits. It involves determining if one's perceived qualities are positive or negative.

Influences on Personality Development

• Biological Foundations (Nature)

  • Human personality is shaped by evolution and how the species has adapted to environments over time.

  • It includes genetic foundations and dispositional traits (e.g., the Big Five: openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism). These traits are generally broad and stable, influencing thoughts and feelings throughout life.

• Experience and Context (Nurture)

  • Characteristic Adaptations: Individuals adapt their behaviors to specific situations. For example, an extrovert might tone down their behavior if they receive a negative reaction from a specific social partner.

  • Narrative Identities: The internal stories we construct about ourselves based on past experiences and projections of the future.

  • Culture and Context: Cultural norms dictate whether certain personality traits are viewed positively.

  • Metaphor/Example: Dr. Annette shared an experience in Japan where she yelled to a friend across the street, violating the local social convention of quietness in public. This context would make high-volume extraversion feel less positive than it might in North America.

Theoretical Perspectives on the Self

• Social Learning Theories

  • Argue that personalities change in response to environmental changes and contexts.

  • Mechanisms include behavioral rewards/punishments, observational learning, and reinforcement.

  • Modern perspectives emphasize that while early caregivers are important, peers, teachers, and broader culture also play significant roles in development as children age.

• Psychoanalytic Theories (Freud and Erikson)

  • Stage-based: Argue that everyone progresses through the same sequence of stages.

  • Stability: Freud proposed that personality is largely set in early childhood; who you are at $5$ years old is essentially who you will be at $30$.

  • Emphasis is placed on early experiences and internal anxieties (e.g., anxieties about parents) as the primary drivers of personality formation.

The Emergence of Self in Infancy

• The Existential Self ($0$ to $6$ months)

  • The first step is distinguishing oneself from the rest of the world and recognizing one's own existence as a separate unit.

  • Bahrick et al. ($1985$) Study: Infants ($5$ months old) sat in a high chair with their legs obscured. They were shown two TV screens: one with a live contingent feed of their own legs and one with a non-contingent (prerecorded) feed of another baby's legs.

  • Finding: Infants looked significantly longer at the non-contingent display, suggesting they noticed a discrepancy between their internal feelings of movement and the visual feedback. This demonstrates an early mapping of the self.

• Agency and Interaction

  • Babies begin to realize they can act upon the world (e.g., moving hands to make noises or manipulate objects), which further develops the sense of self.

• Joint Attention ($12$ months)

  • Involves the awareness that two people are attending to the same thing.

  • Infants use gaze-following and pointing to direct a partner’s attention.

  • Example: In a lab study, Jackson (Dr. Annette's son) noticed a flashing ring and looked back and forth between the researcher and the ring to share the experience. This shows an appreciation that others have different visual perspectives that can be aligned through intervention.

• Self-Recognition/Self-Awareness ($18$ to $24$ months)

  • Mirror Task (Rouge Task): A marker or sticker is surreptitiously placed on a child's forehead. They are then placed in front of a mirror.

  • Evidence of Success: If the child reaches for the sticker on their own forehead rather than reaching toward the mirror, they have recognized that the image in the mirror is themselves.

  • Variability: There is significant individual difference in the timing of this milestone. At $16$ months, Jackson showed confusion but did not explicitly remove the sticker, whereas most children develop this capacity by $20$ to $24$ months.