Social and Emotional
Development in Early Childhood
Chapter 8
Erik Erikson’s Stage-Initiative vs.
Guilt
Psychological conflict of Early Childhood
 Resolved positively through play
experiences that foster healthy sense of
initiative and development of conscience
that is not overly strict
 Play is important to preschoolers
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Phallic Stage-Freud
Sexual impulses transfer to genital region of
body
 Oedipus Conflict-boy desires to posses
mother and hostile towards father
 Electra conflict-girl desires to posses father
and feels hostile toward mother
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Self Concept
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Sum of total attributes, abilities, attitudes and
values that an individual believes to help define
who he/she is
Preschoolers-describe self using concrete terms
(name, physical appearance, possession, and
everyday behaviors)
Can describe emotions, and beliefs and attitudes
by 3 ½.
Firmer sense of self allows for cooperation
Self-Esteem
Preschoolers usually rate on abilities as
extremely high and underestimate difficulty
of task.
 Desire to master new skills
 Even a little criticism can undermine a
preschooler’s self-esteem and enthusiasm
for learning
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Emotional Development
Rise in self-conscious emotions such as
shame, embarrassment, guilt, envy and
pride
 Preschoolers can interpret, predict, and
change other’s feeling
 Fears are common
 Vivid imaginations
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Empathy
Begins to develop at this age
 Modeled after parents response to emotional
event
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Parten’s types of play
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Nonsocial activity- unoccupied, onlooker behavior
and solitary play
Parallel play-child plays near other children with
similar materials but does not interact with them
Associative play-children are engaged in separate
activities but they interact by exchanging toys and
commenting on one another’s behavior
Cooperative play-occurs when children’s actions
are directed toward a common goal
Sociodramatic play
Role play and dramatic play
 Common during preschool years
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First Friendships
Important in these years to social emotional
development
 Friendship-pleasurable play and sharing of
toys-no long term enduring qualities at this
time
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Discipline
Positive reinforcement-model appropriate
behavior, consistency with rules, warm and
responsive
 Punishment-can promote momentary
compliance
 Harsh punishment-models aggression,
avoidance of punishing adult, should be
avoided

Alternatives to Punishment
Time-out
 Withdrawal of privileges
 Positive discipline
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Gender Typing
Developing gender roles
 Age 2 children can label on gender and of
other persons
 Family teachers and peers and television
can influence gender typing with
preschoolers
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Parenting Styles
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Authoritative-rational, democratic approach
 Happy, self-confident, and self-control in child
Authoritarian- demanding and low in responsive
to children’s needs.
anxious, withdrawn, and unhappy and hostile
Permissive-undemanding
immature, have difficulty controlling impulses,
overly demanding and depended on adults