Erikson, Piaget, and Parenting in Early Childhood Chapter 3: Part 1 Early Childhood

Guiding Questions How did Erikson view young children? How do young children think and understand according to Piaget? What are four commonly identified “styles” of parenting? What factors are associated with child maltreatment?

Erikson’s Stages of Psychosocial Development Stage 3: Initiative vs. Guilt 3 – 5 years Goal to obtain purpose—healthy balance between individual interests and the interests of others Allow so responsibility and freedom Emphasize that actions affect other people too Talk about emotions of the child and others

Jean Piaget’s Perspective on Children’s Thinking Children desire to make sense of their experiences. Children construct their understanding of the world Children create theories like scientists Though these theories are incomplete, they make the world seem more predictable.

Jean Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development Formal Operational Adolescence & adulthood11 years & up Concrete Operational Middle & late elementary7-11 years Preoperational Preschool & early elementary2-7 years Sensorimotor Infancy0-2 years

Stage Two: Preoperational Preschool & Early Elementary (2-7 years) Symbols are words and gestures that signify something else. They are representations.

Limitations in Ability to Use Mental Operations Young children are limited in their ability to mentally “manipulate” symbols or to use logical rules to understand many cognitive concepts. Conservation—mental ability to understand the quantity/mass of something does not necessarily change just because its appearance changes Centration—centering or focusing on only one aspect of a problem Reversibility

Criticisms of Piaget’s Theory Underestimates cognitive competence in infants and young children. Overestimates cognitive competence in adolescents Vague with respect to processes and mechanisms of change. Does not account for variability in children’s performance. Undervalues the influence of the sociocultural environment on cognitive development.

Common Parenting Behaviors Providing direct instruction--telling a child what to do, when, and why Modeling behavior Counterimitation--learning what should not be done by observing the behavior Providing feedback Reinforcement--consequence that increases the likelihood that a behavior will be repeated in the future

Common Parenting Behaviors Punishment--applying an adverse stimulus (spanking, grounding, scolding, yelling, etc.) Negative reinforcement trap--unwittingly reinforcing a behavior you want to discourage Time-out--punishment that involves removing children who are misbehaving from a situation to a quiet, unstimulating environment

The Four Parenting Styles 1)Authoritarian – high demands, low response 2)Authoritative – combines fair amount of demands and response 3)Permissive – high response, low demands 4)Disengaged/Uninvolved – low response and demands

Potential Effects of Parenting Styles in Some Samples of American Children Authoritative: Is best for “most American children most of the time,” tend to have higher grades and are responsible, self reliant and friendly Balance is key! Children typically thrive on a parental style that combines control, warmth, and affection. Authoritarian: Children may be unhappy and have lower self-esteem Permissive: Children tend to be impulsive with little self-control Uninvolved: Children often do poorly in school and are aggressive

Children’s Contributions Age--parents have to adjust their parenting as children age because the effectiveness of certain types of parenting change Temperament--as parents realize what type of temperament each child has, the style will have to be adjusted Behavior--children’s behavior helps determine how parents treat them, and the resulting parental behavior influences

Parenting Gone Wrong: Child Maltreatment Physical abuse--involving assault that leads to injuries including cuts, welts, bruises, and broken bones Sexual abuse--involving fondling, intercourse, and other sexual behaviors Emotional/psychological--involving ridicule, rejection, and humiliation Neglect--children do not receive adequate food, clothing or medical care

The Prevalence of Maltreatment 1 million children annually suffer from neglect or abuse 60% are neglected 15% are physically abused 10% are sexually abused 10% are psychologically abused

Risk Factors for Abuse or Neglect Cultural values and social condition in which parents rear their children Social isolation is another factor Stress History of abuse

More Risk Factors Parents that maltreat children were usually maltreated themselves Often use ineffective parenting techniques and have such high expectations their children could never reach Parental relationship is dysfunctional Children who are often ill are at greater risk for abuse Stepchildren are also at higher risk

Effects of Abuse Abused children are usually more aggressive Lower performance in school Lower quality peer relationships More likely to become depressed as they reach adolescence Despite the risks of these effects, some children show ego-resilience in the face of this adversity

Preventing Abuse Acceptable levels of punishment must change Families can be taught more effective ways to cope with stressful situations Early childhood intervention programs Parents who were maltreated need help to have the knowledge to avoid it with their children