Psychology 21 –Developmental Psychology: The Child
Dr. Kent T. Yamauchi
Chapter 10: Early Childhood: Psychosocial Development
(Berger, The Developing Person Through Childhood and Adolescence, 8th Edition)
OVERVIEW
Chapter 10 explores the ways in which young children begin to relate to others in an everwidening social environment. The chapter begins where social understanding begins, with
emotional development and the emergence of the sense of self; with their increasing social
awareness, children becomes more concerned with how others evaluate them and better able to
regulate their emotions.
The next section explores how children use play to help with their emerging ability to regulate
their emotions. Although play is universal, the form varies by culture and gender.
The third section discusses Baumrind’s parenting patterns and their effects on the developing
child. The effects of the media on parenting and family life in general are also explored.
The chapter continues with a discussion of moral development during early childhood, focusing
on the origins of helpful, prosocial behaviors in young children, as well as antisocial behaviors
such as the different forms of aggressive behavior. The usefulness of the different forms of
discipline, including punishment, in the child’s developing morality is also considered in this
section.
The chapter concludes with a description of children’s emerging awareness of male-female
differences and gender identity. Five major theories of gender-role development are considered.
Emotional Development
Initiative versus Guilt
Pride
Guilt and Shame
Motivation
An Experiment in Motivation
Culture and Emotional Control
Seeking Emotional Balance
Externalizing and Internalizing Problems
Sex Differences in Emotional Regulation
Caregivers and Emotional Regulation
Play
Peers and Parents
Cultural Differences in Play
The Ecological Context
Changing Social Circumstances
Active Play
Rough and Tumble
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Drama and Pretending
Challenges for Parents
Parenting Styles
Baumrind’s Three Patterns of Parenting
Authoritarian Parenting
Permissive Parenting
Authoritative Parenting
Table 10.1: Characteristics of Parenting Styles Identified by Baumrind
Implications of Parenting Style
Cultural Variations
Children, Parents, and the New Media
Table 10.2: Average Daily Exposure to Electronic Media
Importance of Content
Family time
Moral Development
Empathy and Antipathy
Aggression
Types of Aggression
Table 10.2: The Four Forms of Aggression
Developmental Patterns
Parental Discipline
A View From Sciences: Discipline and Children’s Thinking
Physical Punishment
Psychological Control
Social Punishment
Becoming Boys and Girls
Sex and Gender
Theories of Gender Differences
Psychoanalytic Theory
A Personal Perspective: Berger and Freud
Behaviorism
Cognitive Theory
Sociocultural Theory
Epigenetic Theory
Gender and Destiny
Summary
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