Development of the Self and Social Cognition

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Development of the Self and Social Cognition
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C. H. Cooley (1902) and G. H. Mead (1934)

• Key Points to the Development of Self
• Self-concept is a function of social interactions
  and it undergoes many changes over the course of
  a life-time.
• Newborns initially have no concept of self
• They must first discover their existence separate
  from their environment (i.e., objects, people).
• Once infants make this important distinction
  between self and non-self, they establish
  interactive routines with close companions (i.e.,
  develop socially) and learn that their behavior
  elicits predictable reactions from others.
• Looking Glass Concept

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Emerging Self

• Although theorists and researchers disagree as to
  the prevalence of the emerging self at birth,
  most acknowledge that it is present within 2 to 3
  months of life.
• Margaret Mahler believes that the child makes no
  distinction from the self and the environment at
  birth. The chick in the egg concept because
  all needs are being met from its environment,
  there is no need to differentiate.
• Brown (1998) and Meltzoff (1990) believes that
  the child does have an ability to distinguish the
  self from the environment.
• Conclusions are drawn from findings which
  identify changes in child responses regarding the
  emergence or anticipation of his on hands
  approaching mouth and an ability to discriminate
  her own voice when crying from the voices of
  other infants.
• As noted by Piaget, continued experimentation
  produces an awareness and understanding of their
  actions and how it influences the
  environmentPersonal agency.

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Self-Recognition

• Self-Recognition appears to develop in children
  around 15 to 17 months in some children, however,
  more seem to demonstrate self-recognition within
  18 to 24 months (Lewis and Brooks-Gunn,1979).
• Healthy and secure attachments seem to foster
  self-recognition in infants
• Mastery of ones environment starts first with
  the self and then expands to significant others,
  and inevitably the environment.
• The emergence of self-recognition sets the stage
  of later social and emotional outcomes such as
  feelings of embarrassment and pride.
• Categorical self.
• Toddlers awareness of self makes them more
  sensitive to the unique differences in others and
  they demonstrate early signs of classifying
  (i.e., age, sex, ethnicity).

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Preschoolers Sense of Self

• Preschoolers generally tend to describe
  themselves in concrete and physical ways
• Preschoolers tend not to describe themselves in
  psychological ways

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Childrens Theory of Mind and Private Self

• Theory of mind. The understanding that people
  are cognitive beings with mental states (beliefs,
  motives, feelings, and intentions) that are not
  always accessible to others and that often guide
  their beliefs.
• Public self (or me). Those aspects of self that
  others can see or infer.
• Private self (or I). Those inner, or subjective
  aspects of self that are known only to the
  individual and are not available for public
  scrutiny.

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Self-Esteem Development

• Self-esteem is fostered by secure attachments. A
  relatively healthy and stable sense of
  self-esteem is established by age 4 and 5.
• Unidimensional vs. Multidimensional Self-esteem
• Susan Harters Notion of Self-Perception

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Self-Perception Profile for Adolescents (Harter,
1989)

• Scholastic Competence
• Athletic Competence
• Social Acceptance
• Physical Appearance
• Behavioral Conduct
• Close Friendship (adolescents)
• Romantic Appeal (adolescents)
• Job Competence (adolescents)
• According to Harter, children between 4 and 7
  tend to have inflated egos because they tend to
  rate themselves highly in several domains.

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• Childrens views of self tend to reflect their
  imagination and desires more than their actual
  capabilities. However, by age 8 children view of
  self tend to become more accurate.
• Children begin to shape more of their
  understanding of self based on others views.
  Looking glass.
• Relational self-worth. Feelings of self-esteem
  within a particular relationship context (e.g.,
  with parents, with male classmates) may differ
  across relationship contexts.

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Changes in Self-Esteem

• Is self-esteem a stable construct over time?
• According to Erikson, self-esteem is affected
  when we experience certain changes or crises
  (biological, social, cognitive).
• Parenting style and influence affects
  self-esteem.
• Peers influence self-esteem. Social
  comparison/experimentation

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Development of Achievement Motivation and
Academic Self-concept

• Achievement motivation. A willingness to strive
  to succeed at challenging tasks and to meet high
  standards of accomplishment.
• According Robert White, from infancy onward,
  human beings are intrinsically motivated to
  master their environmentsto have an effect on or
  to cope successfully with a world of people and
  objects. Mastery motivation.
• Infants struggle to execute tasks (turn knobs,
  open cabinets, operate toys)

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Mastery Motivation

• Stipek and associates (1992) examined mastery
  motivation in 1 to 5 year olds by presenting them
  with a series of tasks and observing expression
  after succeeding or failing.
• Joy in Mastery. Display pleasure in mastering a
  challenge. Do not seek recognition for their
  success and consequently do not express much
  regret upon failure. Instead, they transition to
  new tasks. (0-2 years).
• Approval Seeking. Begin to anticipate the
  evaluation of others regarding their performance.
  They seek recognition for their success and
  expect disapproval when they fail at tasks. (2-3
  years).
• Use of Standards. Children begin to react more
  independently to their successes and failures.
  They develop self standards and are less
  dependent on others for recognition. Tend to
  display feelings of pride or shame regarding
  their competence.

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• Studies have identified correlations in children
  in high mastery motivation to demonstrate high
  academic performance.
• Home Influences--Three important factors
• The quality of the childs attachment. Children
  securely attached tend to be better
  problem-solvers display eagerness to learn and
  approach tasks and demonstrate their competence.
• The character of the home environment. Studies
  have shown that the quality of the home
  environment in the 1st year of life was
  correlated with later academic performance in
  school. Supportive environments foster IAO
• Intrinsic achievement orientation (IAO). A
  desire to achieve in order to satisfy ones
  personal needs for competence or mastery (as
  opposed to achieving for external incentives such
  as grades).
• The child rearing practices that the parents use.
  Parents who stress independence training (doing
  things on their own) and who warmly reinforce
  self-reliant behavior contribute in positive ways
  to mastery motivation. Studies supporting
  Vygotskys scaffolding view support the approach
  of supportive mentoring and independence training
  in helping children to reach particular goals.

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• Parents can foster motivation by
• Setting high standards and encouraging children
  to succeed
• Praise their success/downplay their failure
• Provide children room to make decisions but set
  parameters
• Parents can foster poor motivation by
• Uninvolved or offer little guidance with children
• Highly controlling
• Nag continually about homework
• Offer tangible bribes for good grades or harp
  incessantly about bad grades

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Peer Group Influences

• Peer pressure can have both positive and negative
  effects on mastery motivation in children
• Peer pressures that interfere with academic
  achievement may be especially acute for many
  lower-income African American and Latino students
  and may help explain the lag in academic
  achievement with respect to Euro Americans and
  Asian American students.
• According to Steinberg (1992), peers among low
  income African American and Latino ethnic groups
  tend to discourage academic performance and some
  high achieving minority students run the risk of
  being rejected from their peer groups. Perceived
  as acting white.

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Group Process

• Theoretical Camps
• Psych Phenomenological
• Cognitive Behavioral
• Ethological
• Social Behavioral
• Ecological

• Develop separate theoretical groups
• Explore key and critical issues as a function of
  these groups
• Explore theory and research generation

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Questions for Consideration

• Given your theoretical emphasis, what is the most
  important factor for considering self development
  in infants? Why?
• When does the self develop? What are three
  important conditions necessary for the
  development of a healthy self?
• Is the development of the self a stable
  construct?
• Explain the role of parent-child interaction.
  What do parents need to know in order to foster
  healthy self development?
• I believe that early development of self is
  critical for setting the tone to identity
  development during adolescence and even
  adulthood. Offer feedback that supports or fails
  to support this position.
• Can an experience in early infancy significantly
  disrupt identity development in later childhood?
  Explain?
• Where do these camps agree? On what grounds do
  they differ?
• What type of methodological procedures could be
  employed to better conduct research to support
  your theoretical positions?