Development Psychology cont.
Children’s understanding of the world (cont.)
Theory of Mind
Ability to consider others’ thoughts
Diverse desires – people may have different desires
Diverse beliefs – people may have different beliefs
Knowledge access – people may not have access to information
False belief – people may not express real feelings
This theory is very crucial in social interactions
They can learn that someone is lying
Language development in early childhood
Vocabulary growth – learn 9000 words at ages 2-6
o Fast mapping – learn new
Autism spectrum disorder
Deficits in social interaction
o Lack theory of mind
o Often avoid interacting with others
Deficits in communication (verbal and nonverbal)
o Parroted speech (echolalia) or limited speech
Repetitive patterns of behavior or interests
o Often adjust poorly to change
o May include self-injurious behavior
NOT the same as intellectual disability
o Children with ASD may be hard to test
Variation in tests and symptoms
Affects 1 in 88 children (more common in boys)
Cause unknown
o Genetic factors (identical twin concordance rate 90%)
o Environmental factors
o Vaccines NOT linked to ASD
Psychosocial Development in Early Childhood
Erikson: Initiative vs. Guilt
Initiative – motivation to do things
o Autonomy = ability;
Caregivers should praise their efforts
Avoid harsh criticism
Self-concept and self-esteem
Self-concept – self-description in categories
o Categorical self – external qualities (e.g., physical descriptors, favorite
activities/possessions)
o With age, it focuses more on internal qualities
Self-esteem – evaluative judgment of self
o Often positive in young children due to lack of comparison
Self-control
Response initiation – ability to delay action until you have evaluated all of the information
Response inhibition – ability to stop a behavior that has already begun
Delayed gratification – ability to hold out for a larger reward by forgoing a smaller
immediate reward
o Marshmallow test – predicts good academic performance, health
Gender
Socially constructed aspects of masculinity and femininity
Gender identity – sense of one’s own gender; often occurs at 3 years old and fully develops
in adolescence
Gender roles – expectations associated with gender; affected by social and cultural
messages
Gender schemas – conceptions of the attributes associated with maleness or femaleness
Gender dysphoria – distress caused by mismatch between gender identity and biological sex
o Mismatch itself is not a disorder (APA)
Gender roles and stereotypes affect development
o Belief
Baumrind’s parenting styles
Based on two dimensions: control/expectations (control) and warmth/responsiveness
(providing the needs of the child)
Each dimension can be high or low
Authoritative – high control and high responsiveness
o emphasis on communication, appropriate negotiation
o associated with children’s competence and confidence
Authoritarian – high control and low responsiveness
o parents may be overly strict and aloof
o children may fear rather than respect parents
Permissive – low control and high responsiveness
o parents provide little structure and allow child to make the rules
o associated with insecurity, poor self-discipline
Uninvolved – low control and low responsiveness
o associated with worst outcomes for children
Parenting styles and culture
Baumrind’s model assumes authoritative is best
o Creates qualities valued in individualistic cultures
o Creates qualities valued in midde-/upper-class SES
Some groups value authoritarian parenting
o Collectivistic – obedience and compliance more values
o SES – working class jobs emphasize obedience and compliance; parens may
encourage these qualities
Spanking
Numerous studies indicate negative outcomes
More aggressive behavior
More likely to break rules
Lower vocabulary scores due to lack of transaction with parents
Sibling relationships
Important for social skills development
o Empathy, sharing, and cooperation
o Negotiation and conflict resolutions
Quality of relationship affected by:
o Quality of parent-child relationship
o Emotional/behavioral characteristics of children
o Age of children
Play
Freud
o Release pent-up emotions
o Manage emotional distress in secure environment
Vygotsky and Piaget
o Development of child’s intellectual abilities
o Learning social skills (compromise, communicate)
Parten’s classification of types of play in preschool children (can also be seen as stages of play)
Unoccupied play – children’s behavior seems more random and without a specific goal
Solitary play – children play by themselves, od not interact with others, nor are they
engaging in similar activities as the children around them
Onlooker play – children are observing other children play
Parallel play
Associative play
Cooperative play
Children and the media
2/3 of kids age 6 and under watch up to 2 hours of TV daily
Screen time negatively affects development
o Lower vocabulary scores
o Less active, hands-on play
o Associated with attention problems later
Child abuse and neglect
Types of child maltreatment
o Neglect – most common
o Physical abuse
o Psychological maltreatment
o Sexual abuse
May occur separately or in combination
Sexual abuse
Stress and Child Development
Normal, everyday stress can help children build coping skills
Long-lasting or extreme stress can affect:
o Brain development in hippocampus and amygdala
o Affects memory abilities, emotional regulation
o Immune system functioning
o Ability to cope with future stress
Supportive, caring adults are crucial
Middle and Late Childhood
Physical Growth
Growth rate continues to slow
Muscle strength and lung capacity increase
Ability to engage in strenuous physical activities
Brain development in middle/late childhood: brain growth
Frontal lobes become more developed (especially ages 10-12)
Improvements in logic, planning, attention, and memory
Myelination in:
o Association areas (areas where sensory, motor, and cognitive function connect) –
improves information processing speed and reaction time
o Hippocampus (transfers information from short term to long term memory) –
hippocampus does not develop hen there is abuse
Physical activity in children
25% of children count playing video games as exercise
E-sports
Physical education in schools declined in recent years
o Increasing again due to health concerns
Childhood obesity
