MODULE 6
Social Development
Socialization is the process by which the child learns to live with others and acquires the patterns
of behavior and thought that characterize his culture.There has been a great deal of interest in
child rearing practices partly because of the immediate practical applicability of this sort of
knowledge and partly because of the importance of early socialization experience in theories of
personality.
As you read through the text, try to answer the following questions.
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When does separation anxiety appear? What causes it?
How can the way parents deal with children lead to the development of guilt reactions?
What are solitary play, parallel play, associative play, and cooperative play?
What is sex typing?
When does the peer group become important?
What is the role of imitation in social learning?
THE ROLE OF THE FAMILY
The first socializing influence is the family, and in particular the mother or other caretaker.
During the first months of life the mother usually attends to the child's needs. She feeds him,
changes his diapers, and makes him comfortable. Thus the mother or caretaker is associated with
the reduction of needs.
As we have seen earlier, the child begins to recognize the person or persons who care for him
and to distinguish them from strangers in the second half of the first year of life. At this time the
child first begins to turn away from strangers and shows a strong preference for his mother. A
few months later the child begins to show separation anxiety. That is, when his mother leaves,
the baby may protest loudly, crying and showing every sign of extreme distress. Fleener and
Cairns (1970) tested infants ranging from 3 to 19 months, to determine their reactions to
maternal separation. The test involved the departure and then return of the mother and another
female and the results showed that only the infants of 12 months and over showed a greater
tendency to cry upon the departure of the mother than of the other adult female.
Social demands begin sometime during the second year. The infant begins the process of
weaning, in which he must give up sucking the breast or bottle and drink from a cup instead. The
sucking response is very strong in babies. Weaning means the loss of the nipple and its pleasures.
Many of the child's first social adjustments (e.g., weaning and toilet training) depend on
physiological maturity.
Another social demand placed on the developing child is toilet training. The child had no
restrictions at all placed on his urination and defecation when he was a very young infant. Other
people looked after his needs and kept him dry and clean. During the second year of life,
however, the child is usually required to try to control his bowels and bladder. Toilet training is
the growing child's first real experience with social discipline.
Socialization requires that many unaccustomed new behaviors be learned and that many natural
behaviors be eliminated
Before the twelfth month, the child is usually not physiologically mature enough for toilet
training. Training is accomplished more smoothly if it is put off until later. If toilet training is
started sooner than 18 or 20 months it is likely to be very slow and difficult. The mother may
resort to harsh disciplinary techniques. Some therapists claim that severe toilet training can cause
later personality problems, including aggressiveness, rigidity, and sexual anxieties.
The second year is also the time when the child first explores his environment on his feet. The
toddler now requires close attention and must undergo considerable frustration and punishment
as he is restricted from dangerous areas, from touching fragile things, and from many activities
in which he would otherwise have engaged. His behavior is no longer unrestrained, and his needs
are not always met without any demands on him. The process of socialization is underway.
Small children learn to meet most new demands by imitating their parents
Many studies have confirmed the common sense conclusion that parental models play a central
role in the child's social development. Children have opportunities to observe and imitate their
parents in many day-to-day activities. Such observational learning usually leads children to share
their parents' values, attitudes, and characteristic response styles. The pervasiveness of imitation
as a learning process is clearly evident in the naturalistic observation of children's play in which
they frequently reproduce the entire parental role including the appropriate mannerisms, voice
inflections and attitudes, much to the parents' surprise and embarrassment.
The parents train the child to their standards of behavior. They urge him to act in certain ways
that are acceptable to them, and punish him if he fails to meet their standards. As the child learns
what is expected of him, he begins to try to control his own activities. He nevertheless takes the
values of his parents as his own. Then, whenever he fails to meet these standards he may provide
his own punishment, i.e., that unpleasant, anxious emotion that we call guilt.
Sears, Maccoby and Levine (1957) conducted a large-scale study of American child-rearing
practices. They found that parents use two major techniques of punishment: love-oriented
punishment and object-oriented punishment.
Punishment is an unreliable way to eliminate unwanted behavior
Love-oriented techniques involve punishments by isolation and punishment by temporary
withdrawal of affection. Object-oriented techniques involve physical punishment and restricting
or removing desired objects and privileges. Their studies indicate that children who score high
on measures of self-control and conscience were those whose mothers were warmly affectionate
but who used love-oriented techniques of punishment. Other studies have indicated that the use
of physical punishment does not lead to effective self-control procedures. Glueck and Glueck
(1950) found that boys who were delinquent were more likely to come from homes where the
threat or use of physical punishment was common. In their study Sears, et al.,(1957) concluded:
The unhappy effects of punishment have run like a dismal thread through our findings Mothers
who punished aggressive behavior severely had more aggressive children than mothers who
punished lightly. Mothers who punished toilet accidents severely ended up with bed wetting
children.Mothers who punished dependency to get rid of it had more dependent children than
mothers who did not punish. Our evaluation of punishment is that it is ineffectual over the long
term as a technique for eliminating the kind of behavior toward which it is directed.
THE SEX ROLE
The child also learns sex roles from the parents and from the society around him. The little girl,
identifying with her mother, usually learns that she is expected to cook, sew, and care for
children. The little boy may see that his father is strong and does not show emotion. The sex
roles accepted by the parents are soon reflected in the playthings of the child-little girls play with
dolls and boys play with more aggressively oriented toys. In one study cited by L. Kohlberg,
three- and five-year-old children were asked, "When you grow up, would you like to be a
mamma or a daddy?" The three-year-olds gave no consistent preferences, but 97% of the fiveyear-olds named the parent of the same sex. The sex typing is also apparent in the child's
attitudes: little girls are often gentler and more emotional, while boys may try hard to be tough
and hide their feelings.
These roles, whether biological or learned, last way into the older years -- even to age 90 and
101.
There seems to be considerable evidence, however, that some cultural leaders resist the idea that
the roles might be biologically determined. Christina Hoff Sommers, in her book "The War
Against Boys: how misguided feminism is harming our young men" (2000) marshalls
considerable data to support the notion that young men are being feminized in an attempt to
further the "equalization" of our society. She claims that in order to produce changes in our
society, based on the premise that girls are being made to feel inferior, that boys are being
encouraged by educators and psychologists to play with dolls, to feel guilty about being
competitive, and in general punished for acting in ways that might be different from girls.
THE ROLE OF THE PEER GROUP
The types of play in which a child engages reflect his attention span and degree of socialization
Solitary Play
When toddlers play, they have very little to do with each other. They may play in the same room,
or playground, or sand pile, but they characteristically play with their own toys without involving
other children. This type of play has been called solitary play to differentiate it from the more
mutual kinds of play that develop as the child matures.
Parallel Play
In parallel play, two or more children play near each other and exchange materials or comments,
but do not play together at one activity.
Associative Play
The third developmental step comes when the child joins with others in one activity, in a loosely
defined group whose membership shifts as children come and go. When several children make
sand castles at the beach, for example, they may share the job of making walls and turrets,
digging the moats, and perhaps consult with one another about digging a channel to these. As
members of the group lose interest and wander off, others may joining the activity.
Cooperative Play
Cooperative play occurs most often within peer groups.
Children playing cooperatively help each other to accomplish a joint venture, such as selling
lemonade or building a hut for their club, and each member of the group remains with the task
until it is finished or the group decides together to go on to other activities.
The progression from solitary to parallel to associative to cooperative play reflects the child's
growing ability to sustain his interest in an effort and to relate to other children.
Gelfand (1969) has pointed out that in the development of self-control in a social situation a very
important question is how the young child learns to delay the considerable immediate
gratification often gained from physically attacking someone who has displeased him or from
hoarding toys for his exclusive use. Several studies (Aaronfreed and Reber, 1965; Kagan,Pearson
and Welch, 1966) suggest that at least two factors are important in the acquisition of self-control:
(1) exposure to adults and children who serve as appropriate models for a young child to imitate;
(2) a social environment that rewards restraint and perhaps also punishes self-indulgence.
Children of different ages sometimes play well together, but often the older child becomes bored
or irritated by the younger child's lack of skill or understanding. The typical play group consists
of children of about the same age -- called peers. The group formed by children of the same age
is called a peer group. The importance of the peer group increases when the child goes to school,
since most schools segregate children into grades composed of children of about the same age
and level of social development.
School-age children are socialized by their teachers, their families, and by their peers. The peer
group assumes an important function in the life of children from the age of 6 onward. It helps the
child to develop a concept of himself, to evaluate the standards and values of adults in his life,
and to assess his own worth. The child may assume a position of leadership and dominance, or
he may learn to be docile and submissive. His experience with his peers influences the formation
of character traits that may last his entire life.
Some Current Changes in Children's Play
A new book, "Children at Play: An American History," by Howard Chudacoff, (reviewed in The
New York Times, August 14, 2007, page B1), suggests that children's play has changed
considerably in recent years. Children of baby boomers appear to engage in more controlled and
supervised play, suggesting that there is less freedom, imagination, and taking of risks by
modern children. Television and commercial toys have provided programmed entertainment,
substituting for improvised play by children themselves. Parents have used commercial games to
baby sit and pacify children. And parents have been all to eager to supervise and control play and
to tote children from one activity to another, leaving children little choice for creating their own
forms of amusement. Parents often pressure children to show success and expertise (little league
baseball, music lessons, gymnastics, hobby clubs, etc.) anything that would look good on later
applications to prviate schools or colleges. Chudacoff points out that neighborhood playgrounds
are now virtually deserted during off school and summer hours and that even during school,
children are overly supervisd caution children against potential accidents and inappropriate
behavior. In summary, children are seldom seen outdoors, spend much time inside by supervised
or programmed activities, and may be prevented from learning the rough and tumble
consequences that come with living in an unpredictable world.
IMITATION AND SOCIAL BEHAVIOR
Children imitate both desired and undesired behavior
Bandura (1963) pointed out that theories in the past have not adequately accounted for the
development of novel social behaviors in children. In order to rectify this state of affairs he and
his students began a series of experiments to determine the effects of social imitation. The
experimental procedures typically used are as follows: (1 ) children are allowed to observe a
model reacting to some situation; (2) this is then followed by a test period in which the child may
be presented with a similar situation and observations are made as to his tendency to imitate the
behavior of the model.
In one such study (Bandura, Ross, and Ross, 1963) children were shown movies of models
exhibiting aggressive acts which were rewarded. Upon subsequent testing, they found that such
exposure heightened the children's aggressive responses. It is interesting to note that these
findings are contrary to the predictions of the psychoanalytic model which views aggressive
behavior as a way for the child to discharge pent-up energies. In the past such theories have often
led educators and mental health workers to encourage hyper aggressive activity in order to
``drain off" all the aggressive energies. But Bandura's work as well as that of others (Lovaas,
1961; Parke and Walters, 1967; Kanfer, 1965) have indicated that vicarious participation in
aggressive activities increases, rather than decreases, aggressive behavior. From these studies
one could conclude that if we wish to prevent the child from behaving violently, we should
minimize the child's exposure to violence, especially those situations in which violence is
rewarded.
Other courses in developmental psychology:
After this introductory course in psychology, you may be interested in taking other courses in
developmental psychology. Such an area is a natural next step after this general course.
Developmental Courses in Psychology
COURSE #
TITLE
PREREQUISITES
Psych 330
Child Developmenta (for non-majors only) General Psych
Psych 430
Adolescent Psych
Psych 330 or 431
Psych 431
Developmental Psych
General Psych
Psych 435
Behavior Problems of Children
Psych 330 or 431
Psych 436
Development of Femaleness and Maleness
MODULE 6
PROGRESS CHECK 1
Now test yourself without looking back.
1. Number the following events in social development from 1
to 4 in the order in which they occur.
a. Toilet training may begin.
b.Separation anxiety appears.
c.Child recognizes caretakers.
d.Sex typing is initiated.
2. A baby is left by his mother in a room full of attractive
toys. The minute she leaves the room, the baby begins to cry
loudly, paying no attention to the toys. This reaction is
called___________________
3. The development of guilt reactions is most highly affected
by:
a. the amount of separation anxiety a child develops.
b. the age at which the child was weaned.
c. the process of adopting the sex role of the parent of the
same sex as the child. d. none of the above.
4. At what age is a baby typically old enough to begin toilet
training?
a. 6 months.
b.12 months.
c. 18months.
d. 24months.
5. Match each type of play below to the description(s) that
is(are) appropriate to it which follows (more than one may
be correct).
1 ) Solitary play
2) Parallel play
3) Associative play
4) Cooperative play
a. A group of boys and girls play store. Some children
stack old boxes on the shelves, some buy and sell, and
some make mud pies for sale. As children drift out of
the game, others join in.
b. Two children sit in a sand pile, each making his own
mound of sand. They exchange pails and shovels but do
not make any sand piles together.
c. Several children swing on swings, talking to each
other and trying to imitate each other's actions.
d. Many children play in a playground, each engaged in
his own activity of digging,exploring, or pretending.
These children do not interact -- each goes his own way.
e. Two children try to fly a kite. Each takes part of the
work, and they manage to get the kite into the air by
working together.
6. Identification with the parents causes the child to
take their values as his own. If he then behaves
unacceptably, regardless of whether or not he is
punished, he will feel_____________________________
7. A department store sets up its toy department so that
girls' toys are on one side of an aisle and boys' toys are
on the other. The difference in preferences for
playthings is due to
8. What is a peer group?
9. Bandura's research indicates that if children are
shown movies depicting acts of aggression which are
rewarded, the viewing child would tend to:
a. become more aggressive.
b.become less aggressive.
c. be unaffected by the film.