Chapter 12 Development of the Self and Social Cognition

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Chapter 12 Development of the Self and Social
Cognition
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The Emerging Self Differentiation and
Self-Recognition

• Self differentiation may be present in
  rudimentary forms at birth.
• Self-recognition through the rouge test
• Contributors to self-recognition
• Reaching a certain cognitive-developmental level
• Secure attachment with a caregiver
• Social and emotional consequences of
  self-recognition
• Secondary emotions (e.g., embarrassment)
• Newfound cooperation
• The categorical self
• "Who am I?" Responses of preschool children
• Preschoolers can characterize themselves on
  psychological dimensions such as sociability.

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The Emerging Self Differentiation and
Self-Recognition (cont.)

• Figure 12.1
• Average scores on a test of self-knowledge as a
  function of age and attachment quality.
• Adapted from Pipp, Easterbrooks Harmon, 1992.

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Childrens Theory of Mind and the Emergence of
the Private Self

• Early understandings of mental states
• Between ages 2 and 3, children talk about needs,
  feelings, desires.
• Origins of belief-desire theory
• Between ages 3 and 4, children recognize that
  beliefs and desires are different states.
• By 4 or 5 years of age, children realize that
  beliefs may be inaccurate.
• How does a theory of mind originate?
• Biological predisposition
• Pretend play
• Family conversations
• Resolution of conflicts among siblings
• Theory of mind is not present in all cultures by
  age 4.

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Conceptions of Self in Middle Childhood and
Adolescence

• Armed with a theory of mind, children change
  self-descriptions from listings of objective
  attributes to listings of inner qualities.
• Adolescents become aware that they are not the
  same person in all situations.

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Self-Esteem The Evaluative Component of Self

• Origins and development of self-esteem
• Secure attachment leads to positive working model
  of self.
• Components of self-esteem include scholastic
  competence, social acceptance, athletic
  competence, physical appearance, and behavioral
  conduct.
• Changes in self-esteem are not very dramatic, and
  global measures are relatively stable.
• Social contributors to self-esteem
• Parenting styles
• High self-esteem (warm and supportive parents)
• Peer influences
• Social comparison information plays an important
  role in shaping children's and adolescents'
  self-esteem.

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Development of Achievement Motivation and
Academic Self-Concept

• Early origins of achievement motivation
• Phase 1 Joy in mastery
• Phase 2 Approval seeking
• Phase 3 Use of standards
• Achievement motivation during middle childhood
  and adolescence
• Home influence on mastery motivation and
  achievement
• Quality of attachment
• The home environment
• Child rearing and achievement
• Peer group influences strong during childhood and
  adolescence

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Beyond Achievement Motivation Development of
Achievement Attributions

• Types of achievement attributions
• Ability Stable characteristic
• Effort Unstable from situation to situation
• Task difficulty Stable characteristic
• Luck Unstable from situation to situation
• Age differences in achievement-related
  attributions
• Young children have incremental view of ability
  (it is changeable).
• Older children (beginning between ages 8 and 12)
  have entity view of ability (it is stable).

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Beyond Achievement Motivation Development of
Achievement Attributions (cont.)

• Dweck's learned-helplessness theory
• Mastery-oriented students believe that increased
  effort will allow success.
• Learned-helplessness students believe effort will
  not increase success.
• Attribution training helps the helpless to
  achieve.

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Beyond Achievement Motivation Development of
Achievement Attributions (cont.)
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Beyond Achievement Motivation Development of
Achievement Attributions (cont.)

• Figure 12.5
• An overview of Weiners attribution theory of
  achievement

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Beyond Achievement Motivation Development of
Achievement Attributions (cont.)

• Figure 12.6
• Characteristics of the mastery-oriented and
  learned-helplessness achievement orientations.

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"Who Am I To Be?" Forging an Identity

• Marica's four identity statuses
• Identity diffusion No exploration, no commitment
• Foreclosure No exploration, commitment
• Moratorium Exploration, no commitment
• Identity achievement Exploration, commitment
• Identity formation takes a long time moratorium
  and achievement do not occur until college years.
• Identity formation need not be painful
  moratorium increases feelings of worth.

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"Who Am I To Be?" Forging an Identity (cont.)

• Influences on identity formation
• Cognitive influences Attainment of formal
  operational thought
• Parenting influences Loving, democratic style of
  parenting influences positive identity formation.
• Scholastic influences Attending college helps
  formation of identity.
• Social-cultural influence Foreclosure may be
  best in nonindustrialized nations.

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The Other Side of Social Cognition Knowing About
Others

• Age trends in person perception
• Younger than 7 or 8 Children characterize people
  in concrete, observable terms.
• Between ages 7 and 16 Children come to rely less
  on concrete attributes and more on psychological
  descriptors.
• Between ages 12 and 16 Adolescents generate
  psychological comparisons when describing others.

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Cognitive-Developmental Theory of
Social-Cognitive Development

• Preoperational children tend to center on most
  salient aspects of stimuli.
• Concrete-operational children are decentering and
  learning about stability of characteristics.
• Formal-operational children are able to think
  more logically and systematically about
  abstractions.

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Selman's Role-Taking Theory

• In order to know someone, one must be able to
  assume his perspective.
• Stage 0 Egocentric or undifferentiated
  perspective
• Stage 1 People can have different perspectives
  because different information has been received.
• Stage 2 Self-reflective role taking Points of
  view may conflict even with same information
• Stage 3 Mutual role taking Simultaneously
  consider own and another's perspective
• Stage 4 Societal role taking Compare
  perspectives with social system

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Social Influences on Social-Cognitive Development

• Social experience as a contributor to role taking
• Assuming different roles while playing together
• Equal status contacts among peers
• Disagreements among friends
• Social experience as a direct contributor to
  person perception
• The more experience a child has with peers, the
  more motivated the child should be to try to
  understand them, and the more practiced the child
  should become at appraising the cause of peers'
  behavior.

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Social Influences on Social-Cognitive Development
(cont.)