Unit Four: Early Childhood

Concept Web

Looking through the eyes of the developing person …

Looking through the eyes of the systems of support …

We have termed this stage in the developmental process of humans, the “Play Years”, because this aspect, as much as any other, seems to characterize the most important context in which development occurs. While we examine the physical development during this stage that moves from an emphasis on the Gross and McIlveen to the fine motor skills, we consider in greater detail the cognitive aspect of development as the child begins to think about its world. We examine three perspectives on the cognitive development of children including representation of experiences, learning and language development. In addition, we also consider the emotional and personality development of children particularly in play situations, in contexts ranging from the home to daycare and pre-school.

Unit Objectives

Knowledge

To understand biological changes during early childhood.
To understand cognitive changes during early childhood .
To understand socioemotional changes during early childhood.

Skills

To organize and integrate new knowledge and understandings by making connections with existing knowledge and understandings.
To organize and integrate new knowledge and understandings within the discipline of psychology.
To organize and integrate new knowledge and understandings with other disciplines.
To apply those concepts and understandings in a variety of practical, pertinent and contemporary issues.

Values

To appreciate the complex, dynamic, reciprocal and personal aspects of human social cognition, influence and interaction.

Lessons and Lesson Objectives

4.1 Unit Overview: Developmental changes during early childhood

What roles do nature and nurture play in the development of a young child?
How do the various domains influence development during early childhood?
What are the sociocultural influences on child development?

4.2 Looking through the eyes of the young child, what do you see?

What are the general characteristics of children during childhood?
What is the process of physical development during early childhood?
What is the process of cognitive development during early childhood?
What is the process of socioemotional development during early childhood?

4.3 What is the process of physical development during early childhood?

How does the brain develop during early childhood?
When does right or left “handedness” develop?
How important is nutrition to healthy and proper childhood development?

4.4 What is the process of cognitive development during early childhood?

What are the developmental changes in children’s cognitive abilities?
What is the process of language development in early childhood?
How does the sociocultural environment influence child development?
How do the theories of Piaget and Vygotsky compare?
What influence does culture have on cognitive development during early childhood?

4.5 What is the process of socioemotional development during early childhood?

Does birth order make a difference in the socioemotional development of the young child?

4.5.1 The self and the beginnings of personality

How and when do young children develop a sense of self?
How do personalities develop?
What aspects of a child's world influence personality development?

4.5.2 Socialization and play

Why do children play?
What are the different kinds of play behaviours?
How can parents encourage nonviolent play?

4.5.3 Moral development

4.5.4 Gender identity

How and when do children develop moral behaviour?
How do children learn values? How does a gender identity develop?
What are the differences between the genders?
What are the sociocultural influences on gender development?

4.6 Looking through the eyes of the systems of supports, what do you see?

How does the sociocultural context influence the development of a young child?

4.7 Action research in child development

Should parents be legally permitted to spank their children?
Are you afraid that television values are replacing family values?
Should the government be launching a national daycare program paid for by taxpayers?
Should parents be held accountable for the behaviour of their children?
Can you find evidence of Piaget's pre-operational stage of development in young children?
Can you find evidence to support Vygotsky's concept of scaffolding and the zone of proximal in young children’s cognitive development?
What is the nutritional value of fast food for young children?
How is playground safety for young children demonstrated?
What is the process of language development in young children?
What difference does birth order make in the socioemotional development of young children?
How is self-awareness demonstrated by young children?
Are there basic temperament and personality traits in young children?
Are there gender differences in aggressive behaviour?
How is moral behaviour developed and promoted in young children?
Is there an awareness of gender role differences in young children?
Are there gender differences in terms of aggression and emotional control in young children?
How are genders represented on television and in young children's books?
Should parental discipline of young children include spanking?
How are basic human values values developed and promoted in young children?
Should Canada implement a national daycare program?
Should parents be held accountable for the actions of their children?

4.8 Lifespan approach to development during early childhood

How is early childhood development described from the perspective of the lifespan approach?
How do the key issues and questions in developmental psychology relate to early childhood development?
How would each of the six theoretical perspectives on human development explain early childhood development?

Resources and Resource-Based Learning

Resource-based learning is an integral part of all units. The accompanying bibliography will assist you in incorporating a variety of resources from different media into each unit. This annotated bibliography should be available from your teacher librarian. It is available from Saskatchewan Learning through the website at www.sasked.gov.sk.ca/ or from the Learning Resources Distribution Centre at 306-787-5987. The bibliography contains annotations of current, useful resources including print, video, Internet sites, and other media selections. Teachers are encouraged to assess their current resource collection, identify those resources that are still useful, and acquire small quantities of each new title, rather than class sets, in order to provide students with a broad range of perspectives and information.

The following list of evaluated resource titles provides a starting point for developing a resource collection that is current and relevant, and that addresses students' various learning styles and abilities. Please refer to the bibliography for a complete list of resources giving the full citation, annotation, and ordering information. Please note that many of these resources can be ordered through the Learning Resources Distribution Centre (http://lrdc.sasked.gov.sk.ca/). Videos may be available from Media Group (http://www.sasked.gov.sk.ca/video). At the time of publication all of the resources listed here and in the bibliography were in print and available.

Please note that LRDC will be closing effective March 31, 2003. If you need assistance acquiring Saskatchewan Learning materials after that date, please contact 787-5987.

Print Resources

Boys Will Be Men: Raising Our Sons for Courage, Caring & Community

Child Abuse

Child Development

Domestic Violence

Readings in Child Development: A Canadian Perspective

Troublesome Children

Non-Print Resources

First Years Last Forever

Language Development

Myths of Childhood Series

Shaping Youngest Minds: How to Grow a Brain

Simple Beginnings? Child Development From Birth to Age Five

Welcome to Parenting: The First Six Years

Internet Sites

The following sites provide a brief overview of what is available. These sites were checked for availability in March 2002. To access sites that have been formally evaluated and linked to the curriculum visit the Evergreen Curriculum at the Saskatchewan Learning website - http://www.sasked.gov.sk.ca/docs/evergrn.html.

Aboriginal Head Start - Health Canada - http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hppb/childhood-youth/acy/ahs.htm

Childcare Resource and Research Unit - http://www.childcarecanada.org

I am Your Child - http://www.iamyourchild.org/toc.html

Saskatchewan Institute on Prevention of Handicaps - http://www.preventioninstitute.sk.ca

4.1 Unit Overview: Developmental changes during early childhood

This lesson examines the biological, cognitive and socioemotional aspects of the developmental process during early childhood.

What roles do nature and nurture play in the development of a young child?

The template Nature/Nurture and Human Development depicts the interactions between heredity, the environment and the organism. Note how heredity and experience combine to influence the organism. The next level of interaction happens between the current organism and the current situation that results in the current behaviour. This behaviour, in turn, influences the genetic dispositions and preferences of the organism and the cycle, or process, is repeated.

How do the various domains influence development during early childhood?

Physical development

The average child grows six centimetres in height and gains two to three kilograms a year during early childhood. Growth patterns vary individually though. By age five, the brain has reached nine-tenths of its adult size. Some of its size increase is due to the number and size of nerve endings. Gross motor skills increase dramatically during early childhood. Young children are more active than at any other period in the lifespan. Fine motor skills also increase substantially during early childhood (Santrock, 1999, p. 261).

Cognitive development

Piaget's stage of preoperational thought is the beginning of the ability to reconstruct at the level of thought what has been established in behaviour, and a transition from primitive to more sophisticated use of symbols. The child does yet think in an operational way. Preoperational thought consists of two substages: symbolic function (two to four years) and intuitive thought (four to seven years). The child's attention improves dramatically during the early childhood years, as does short-term memory. Young children develop a curiosity about the nature of the human mind. Advances in language development also occur during early childhood. Vygotsky's theory emphasizes the zone of proximal development, the merging of language and thought from three to seven years of age, and the sociocultural contexts of cognitive development. Child-centred kindergarten and developmentally appropriate education are important dimensions of early childhood development, as are quality Head Start programs. A current concern is that too many preschool and early childhood education programs place too much emphasis on academic achievement (Santrock, 1999, p. 261).

Socioemotional development

Authoritative parenting is associated with children's social competence. Parents need to adapt their strategies as the child grows older using less physical manipulation and more reasoning. Cross-cultural and ethnic variations occur. In some cases, siblings are stronger socialization agents than parents. Children live in changing families; more children today grow up in working mother and divorced families. Depression in parents is associated with adjustment problems in children. Peers are powerful socializing agents who provide a source of information and social comparison outside the family. Play also is an important aspect of the young child's development. Parten developed a number of categories of social play. Among the most important types of children's play are sensorimotor/practice play, pretense/symbolic play, social play, constructive play, and games. Television is another socializing influence in children's development. Children watch a huge amount of television; preschool children watch an average of four hours a day. A special concern is the television violence children see. Erikson believes that early childhood is a period when the self involves resolving the conflict between initiative versus guilt. In early childhood, the physical and active self becomes a part of self-understanding. Gender identity is the sense of being male or female which most children acquire by three years of age. Identification, social learning, cognitive developmental, and gender-schema theories have been proposed to explain children's gender development. Peers are especially adept at rewarding gender-appropriate behaviour. Piaget distinguished between the heteronomous morality of younger children and the autonomous morality of older children. In addition to moral thought, moral behaviour and moral feelings are important dimensions of children's moral development (Santrock, 1999, p. 261).

What are the sociocultural influences on child development?

Vygotsky's portrait of children's development suggests that children actively construct their knowledge, and that it is inseparable from social and cultural activities. In Vygotsky's theory, knowledge is situated and distributed among people and environments which include objects, artifacts, tools, books, and the communities in which people live, and collaborate, advanced through interaction with others in cooperative activities (Gross and McIlveen, 1998, p. 365).

4.2 Looking through the eyes of the young child

This overview lesson, which addresses the biological, cognitive and socioemotional development of the young child, addresses the “big picture” of early childhood development.

Lesson 4.3: Teacher Information

How does the brain develop during early childhood?

One of the most important physical developments during early childhood is the continuing development of the brain and nervous system. While the brain continues to grow in early childhood, it does not grow as rapidly as in infancy. By the time children have reached three years of age, the brain is three-quarters of its adult size. By age five the brain has reached about nine-tenths of its adult size. Part of the increase in brain weight is due to continued proliferation of communication pathways (via the growth of dendrites and axons) among the brain's various specialized areas in response to the child's specific experiences. Another part of brain growth is due to ongoing myelination - the insulating process that speeds up the transmission of neural impulses. Finally, several areas of the brain undergo notable expansion, in particular those areas dedicated to control and coordination of the body, the emotions, and thinking processes (Rose, 1989, p. 198).

When does right- or left-handedness develop?

Adults usually notice a child's hand preference during early childhood, but researchers have found handedness tendencies in the infant years. Even newborns have some preference for one side of their body over the other (Lefton et al., 2000, p. 62).

How important is nutrition to healthy and proper childhood development?

With their growth slowed, children need fewer calories per pound of body weight during the preschool years than they did from birth through toddlerhood - especially if they are modern, sedentary children who spend most of their time indoors. As a result, their appetites become markedly smaller, a fact that causes many parents to fret, threaten, and cajole to get their children to eat more. A related problem is that many children, like most adults, eat too few fruits and vegetables and consume too much fat. No more than 30 percent of daily calories should come from fat, but six out of seven preschoolers in the United States exceed that limit. Interestingly, one North American study found that both children whose family income is below the poverty level and children whose family income is three times above it are more likely to exceed the 30 percent fat limit, compared to those whose income lies somewhere in between (Berger, 2000, p. 244).

Perhaps more so than at any other stage of development, early childhood is a time of phenomenal cognitive growth and development, highlighted in particular by language development. It may take several class periods to cover all the information presented on this topic

(Berger, 2000, p. 277)

What is the process of language development in early childhood?

The social learning view suggests that speech is acquired through a combination of conditioning and imitation. Presumably, children are praised or otherwise rewarded by their parents for making sounds approximating those of their native language. In addition, parents often model sounds, words, or sentences for them.

A sharply different view has been proposed by linguist Noam Chomsky (1968): the innate mechanism view. According to Chomsky, language acquisition is at least partly innate. Human beings, he contends, have a language acquisition device – a built-in neural system that provides them with an intuitive grasp of grammar.

Cognitive theory recognizes the importance of both innate mechanisms and learning. This theory suggests that children possess certain information-processing abilities or strategies that they use in acquiring language (Baron et al., 1998, p. 294).

How does the sociocultural environment influence child development?

Vygotsky's portrait of children’s development suggests that children actively construct their knowledge, and that it is inseparable from social and cultural activities. In Vygotsky’s theory, knowledge is situated and distributed among people and environments which include objects, artifacts, tools, books and the communities in which people live, and

collaborative, advanced through interaction with others in cooperative activities.

Vygotsky described what he termed the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) for tasks that are too difficult for children to master alone but that can be learned with the guidance and assistance of adults or more skilled children. The lower limit of the ZPD is the level of problem-solving reached by the child working independently. The upper limit is the level of additional responsibility the child can accept with the assistance of an able instructor.

Closely linked to the concept of the zone of proximal development is the concept of scaffolding. Scaffolding involves changing support over the course of a teaching session. More skilled individuals adjust their guidance to fit the student's current performance level (Gross and McIlveen, 1998, p. 366).

What influence does culture have on cognitive development during early childhood?

The evidence that culture influences the development of cognitive abilities comes from a process that seems to be universal. In every culture, children become more adept at precisely those cognitive skills that are most valued by that culture, while other interests and skills atrophy. Thus, for example, children in the Micronesia islands are much better at interpreting weather and navigation signs than are, say, children growing up in a large city, who may have no awareness of the significance of various phases of the moon, types of cloud formation, or shifts in the wind. On their part, children of educated parents acquire skills that are well suited to abstract and scientific reasoning and their parents enjoy answering “why” questions that another parent might consider rude (Berger, 2000, p. 279).

4.5 Early Childhood Development: Socioemotional domain

This overview lesson presents a general picture of socioemotional development in early childhood.

Refer to Lesson 4.1: Unit Overview: Early childhood development for information regarding socioemotional development during childhood.

Does birth order make a difference in the socioemotional development of the young child?

Refer to Lesson 3.5 Infant Development: Socioemotional domain for information regarding birth order.

There are several forms of discipline for helping children as they grow into socially capable people:

This lesson addresses how young children develop from a basic temperament, to an increasing self-awareness and self-concept, to the beginnings of personality.

Lesson 4.5.1: Teacher Information

How, and when, do young children develop a sense of self?

Toward the end of the second year of life children develop a sense of self. During early childhood, some important developments in the self take place. Among these developments are facing the issue of initiative versus guilt and enhanced self-understanding (Alcock et al., 1998, p. 69).

How do personalities develop?

The psychodynamic approach as advanced by Sigmund Freud, proposed that personality and behaviour are determined more by psychological factors than by biological conditions or current events. He suggested that people may not know why they think, feel or act the way they do because they are partly controlled by the unconscious portion of the personality - the part of which people are normally unaware (Bernstein and Nash, 1999, p. 408).

The trait approach to personality makes three main assumptions:

Personality traits remain relatively stable and therefore predictable over time.

Personality traits remain relatively stable across diverse situations, and they can explain why people act in predictable ways in many different settings.

People differ with regard to how much of a particular personality trait they possess; no two people are exactly alike on all traits. The result is an endless variety of unique personalities (Bernstein and Nash, 1999, p. 413).

A cognitive-behavioural approach views personality as a set of behaviours that people acquire through learning and then display in particular situations. It defines personality as the sum total of the behaviours and cognitive habits that develop as people learn through experience in the social world (Bernstein and Nash, 1999, p. 421).

The phenomenological (humanistic) approach maintains that the primary human motivator is an innate drive toward personal growth that prompts people to fulfil their unique and natural potential. Like the planted seed that naturally becomes a flower, people are inclined towards goodness, creativity, love and joy. Proponents of this theory emphasise that each individual perceives reality somewhat differently and that these differences, rather than traits, instincts or learning experiences, are central to creating personality differences (Bernstein and Nash, 1999, p. 424).

What aspects of a child's world influence personality development?

Biology

Every individual is born with a distinct, genetically-based set of psychological tendencies, or dispositions. These tendencies, which together are called temperament, affect and shape virtually every aspect of the individual's developing personality. Temperament, and therefore personality, is not merely genetic. It begins in the multitude of genetic instructions that guide the development of the brain and then is affected by the prenatal environment (Berger, 2000, p. 219).

Birth order

Refer to birth order chart, Lesson Objectives and Teacher Information, Lesson 3.5 Infancy Development: Socioemotional domain.

Temperament

Researchers who study personality have found what are called the "big five" dimensions of temperament:

Extroversion: the tendency to be outgoing, assertive, and active
Agreeableness: the tendency to be kind, helpful, and easygoing
Conscientiousness: the tendency to be organized, deliberate, and conforming
Neuroticism: the tendency to be anxious, moody, and self-punishing
Openness: the tendency to be imaginative, curious, artistic and welcoming of new experiences (Baron et al., 1998, p. 336).

Culture

In every culture, preschool education not only includes but goes beyond cognitive preparation for later schooling. As an example, Japanese culture places great emphasis on social consensus and conformity. Therefore, Japan's preschools provide training in the behaviour and attitudes appropriate for group activity; children are encouraged to show concern for others and to contribute cooperatively in group activities. These social attitudes and habits prepare young children for both the formal school system and later work settings. In China, similarly, learning how to be part of the group is combined with creativity in self-expression, both drawn from the culture's Confucian ethic of disciplined study. In the United Sates, by contrast, preschools are often designed to foster self-confidence and self-reliance and to give children a good academic start through emphasis on language skills. Since most North American preschools are private, they vary a great deal in rules, curriculum and values (Berger, 2000, p. 296).

Parenting

Refer to Curriculum Support Materials, Memorandum from your child.

Family

Children’s emotional health is closely related to the emotional relationship between their parents. When these relationships are warm and constructive, such that the husband and wife feel loved, admired, and encouraged to act in ways that they themselves admired, the children are happy and healthy. Couples who are emotionally close, meeting each other’s needs and encouraging positive self-images in each other, become good parents. Since they meet each other’s needs, they do not use their children to live out their needs; since they are happy and satisfied, they can support and meet their children’s needs; and since their own identities are clarified, they see their children as distinct from themselves. All this helps the children become emotionally healthy people (Schlesinger, 1998, p.8).

Economics

No matter how maltreatment is defined or counted, it occurs more frequently as family income falls. This particularly true for neglect and physical abuse, which fall most heavily on children under age six who live in families with an income below the poverty line, an unemployed father, and four or more children. In such families, children obviously add to the financial pressures and are likely to become victims because of it (Berger, 2000, p. 302).

Maltreatment

The more we learn about child maltreatment, the more we see that its causes are many and its consequences extend far beyond any immediate injury or deprivation. Compared to well-cared-for children, chronically abused and neglected children tend to be underweight, slower to talk, less able to concentrate, and delayed in academic growth. Deficits are even more apparent in social skills; maltreated children tend to regard other children and adults as hostile and exploitative, and hence they are less friendly, more aggressive, and more isolated than other children. The longer their abuse continues, and the earlier it started, the worse their relationships with peers are. As adolescents and adults, those who were severely maltreated in childhood (physically or emotionally) often use drugs or alcohol to numb their emotions, choose unsupportive relationships, sabotage their own careers, eat too much or too little, and generally engage in self-destructive behaviour (Berger, 2000, p. 258).

Self-concept

Infants are not “given” a self by their parents or the culture. Rather, they find and construct selves. It is generally believed that awareness of “the self” develops from early experience. Indeed, one of the first stages in the development of thinking in the child is the capacity to distinguish what is “me” and what is “not me” (Alcock et al., 1998, p. 69).

Emotional regulation

The most important emotional development during early childhood is not the emergence of new emotions such as pride or guilt, but the growing ability to inhibit, enhance, maintain and modulate emotional arousal to accomplish one’s goals. This ability, called emotional regulation, is developed in response to society's expectations that preschoolers manage frustration and modulate emotional expression (Berger, 2000, p. 308).

Attachment and caregiving

The results of past caregiving are clearly exhibited by children’s reactions when another child cries in pain. Children who have been well nurtured and have formed secure attachments are able to regulate their own emotions and can express empathy, comforting the hurting child, reassuring the frightened child, or getting help if need be. Longitudinal research finds that those with insecure attachments respond abnormally to other children's distress (Berger, 2000, p. 309).

Social behaviour

One of the most important functions of the peer group is to provide a source of information and comparison about the world outside. Children receive feedback about their abilities from their peer group. Good peer relations may be necessary for normal socioemotional development. Social isolation, or the inability to “plug in” to a social network, is linked with many problems and disorders ranging from delinquency and problem drinking to depression.

Media

According to Neilson Media Research, in 1996 children between the ages of two to five in the United States watched 23 hours and 21 minutes of television each week. This is more than three hours a day, and it is at least three hours more a week than the viewing time of any other age group. Among the criticisms of television are the time it takes away from active, interactive and imaginative play; the faulty nutritional messages it sends; and the sexist, racist, and ageist stereotypes it provides that are particularly harmful for inexperienced, vulnerable viewers. Prosocial behaviour depends on emotional regulation, which is best learned through active social relationships. Television, passive observation, undercuts the very attributes, skills and values that lead to prosocial activity. However, the most compelling and convincing criticism of television concerns the antisocial behaviour it encourages, especially in children. The effect is interactive and cumulative; children who watch a lot of television are likely to be more aggressive than children who do not, and children who are already inclined to be aggressive are likely to watch a lot of violence. Television desensitizes children to violence in real life, making physical aggression seem normal. For all these reasons, children who watch substantial quantities of violent television are more likely than others to be bullies, more likely to retaliate physically for any perceived attack, more likely to be passive victims, and more likely to be passive onlookers rather than mediators when other children fight (Berger, 2000, p. 313).

4.5.2 Socialization and Play

Early childhood is often referred to as the “play years”. This stage of development establishes the foundation for all social behaviours and social interactions. It is, literally, the first step in determining, Who I Am.

Lesson 4.5.2: Teacher Information

Why do children play?

Play is pleasurable activity that is engaged in for its own sake. Play is essential to the young child's health. Play increases affiliation with peers, releases tension, advances cognitive development, increases exploration and provides a safe haven in which to engage in potentially dangerous behaviour.

For Freud and Erikson, play is an essential, useful form of human adjustment, helping the child master anxieties and conflicts. Because tensions are relieved in play, the child can cope with life's problems.
Piaget believes that play advances children's cognitive development. Play permits children to practise their competencies and acquired skills in a relaxed, pleasurable way.
Vygotsky also believes that play is an excellent setting for cognitive development, especially the symbolic and make-believe aspects of play, as when a child substitutes a stick for a horse and rides the stick as if it were a horse.
Play encourages exploratory behaviour by offering children the possibilities of novelty, complexity, uncertainty, surprise and incongruity (Santrock, 1999, p. 240).

What are the different kinds of play behaviours?

Mildred Parten (1932) developed the following classification of children's play:

Unoccupied play occurs when the child is not engaging in play as it is commonly understood. The child may stand in one spot, look around the room, or perform random movements that do not seem to have a goal.
Solitary play occurs when the child plays alone and independently of others. Two- and three- year-olds engage more frequently in solitary play than older preschoolers do.
Onlooker play occurs when the child watches other children play. The child's active interest in other children's play distinguishes onlooker play from unoccupied play.
Parallel play occurs when the child plays separately from others, but with toys like those the others are using or in a manner that mimics their play.
Associative play occurs when play involves social interaction with little or no organization. In this type of play children seem to be more interested in each other than in the tasks they are performing.
Cooperative play involves social interaction in a group with a sense of group identity and organized activity. Little cooperative play is seen in the preschool years (Santrock, 1999, p. 241).

Parten's categories represent one way of thinking about the different types of play. However, other types of play are important in children's development. Whereas Parten's categories emphasize the role of play in the child's social world, the contemporary perspective on play emphasizes both the cognitive and social aspects of play.

Sensorimotor play is behaviour engaged in by infants to derive pleasure from exercising their existing sensorimotor schemas. Infants initially engage in exploratory and playful visual and motor transactions in the second quarter of the first year of life. By nine months of age, infants begin to select novel objects for exploration and play, especially objects that are responsive such as toys that make noise or bounce. By 12 months of age, infants enjoy making things work and exploring cause and effect. At this point in development, children like toys that perform when they act on them.
Pretense/Symbolic play. Between nine- and 30 months of age, children increase their use of objects in symbolic play. They learn to transform objects - substituting them for other objects and acting toward them as if they were these other objects. Dramatic play or "make-believe" often appears at about 18 months of age and reaches a peak at about four- or five- years of age, then gradually declines. In the second year, infants begin to understand the social meaning of objects. For example, two-year-olds may distinguish between exploratory play that is interesting but not humorous, and “playful” play which has incongruous and humorous dimensions.
Social play is play that involves social interactions with peers. Parten's categories are oriented towards social play.
Constructive play combines sensorimotor/practice repetitive play with symbolic representation of ideas. Constructive play occurs when children engage in self-regulated creation or construction of a product or a problem solution.
Games are activities engaged in for pleasure. They include rules and often competition with one or more individuals (Santrock, 1999, p. 241).

How can parents encourage nonviolent play?

Four-year-olds are busy trying to master their fears, understand mortality, and gain a sense of power in a big, often frightening world. These factors, which naturally converge in four- and five-year-olds, lead to a fascination with guns. The fact that your son is fascinated with guns right now does not mean that he will grow up to be a violent person. Rather, it means he is developmentally on target, trying to understand the power of guns, what makes people get hurt, and what makes them die, why everyone on TV is so obsessed with guns and killing, and why his parents get so upset when he points his finger at someone and pretends to shoot them.

Families have a wide range of responses to gun play. At one end of the spectrum, kids are equipped with realistic Uzi imitations, and at the other, gun play is banned altogether. Yet even in households where toy guns are not allowed, children still find ways to explore their interest in weapons; they build guns out of Legos, pick up sticks and say, “bang! bang!” or eat their peanut butter sandwiches in the shape of a gun.

Here are some guidelines for responding to your son's fascination with guns while encouraging nonviolence:

Set parameters for the play. When we forbid a form of play, that play often goes underground and we lose an opportunity to help our children figure out answers to their questions. Make it clear to children that any play which intimidates, hurts or frightens another child is unacceptable. Then clarify the rules about guns at your house: “In our family, you are not allowed to point guns at any people or pets without their permission.” Or, “I want you to keep your gun play outside.”
Provide props for play that have multiple uses. Giving children open-ended props encourages flexibility and creativity. When a child makes a gun out of plastic blocks, ten minutes later, those plastic blocks can be transformed into a container ship. However, when children play with highly realistic guns, those guns can only shoot and kill.
Make your values clear. Children care deeply about how we see the world. Share your perspective with your son, “When I see you playing with guns, it really upsets me because people can be hurt by real guns.”
Help children deal with their fears. Often gun play increases when children are feeling fearful. Children look for symbols of power (such as guns and swords) to help them feel more secure. Helping children deal with their fears can take some of the intensity out of their gun play.
Let your kids know that people are working to stop violence in the real world. Kids sometimes use gun play to cope with fears about violence in the real world. If your child seems scared of real violence, talk about people who are working to stop fighting and end war. This can help kids feel safer and therefore, less driven to engage in gun play.
Provide kids with alternatives to gun play that help them feel powerful. Four- and five-

year-olds love to be competent. Providing them with real work experiences such as carpentry, cooking and gardening can channel some of the energy being directed into gun play in a new, more creative direction (Davis and Keyser, 1997, p. 339).

4.5.3 Moral development during childhood

Moral development begins in early childhood. This lesson describes the theories of moral development, knowing what is “right” and “wrong”, and the processes by which children learn basic values.

Lesson 4.5.3: Teacher Information

How do children develop moral behaviour?

Theories of moral development:

Social learning theorists argue that moral behaviours are acquired through classical and operant conditioning. We resist temptation because we have been reinforced for so doing and punished for transgressions. Social learning theorists also recognize the importance of modeling or observational learning. The development of self-control is strongly influenced by models and by patterns of direct reinforcement children encounter, that is, adults’ disciplinary measures.

Cognitive developmental

Kohlberg’s theory states that the child is in the first level of moral development (preconventional morality) characterized by:

- Stage 1: Punishment and obedience orientation, what is right or wrong is determined by what is punishable and what is not.

- Stage 2: What is right and wrong is determined by what brings rewards and what people want.

Piaget's Theory

- Heteronomous morality is the first stage of moral development in Piaget's theory, occurring from approximately four to seven years of age. Justice and rules are conceived of as unchangeable properties of the world, removed from the control of people. The heteronomous thinker judges the rightness or goodness of behaviour by considering the consequences of behaviour, not the intentions of the actor. For example, the heteronomous thinker says that breaking twelve cups accidentally is worse than breaking one cup intentionally while trying to steal a cookie (Gross and McIlveen, 1998, p. 382).

How do children learn values?

Every interaction with children provides an opportunity to teach values. While no parent tries to make every kiss goodnight a lesson, it is useful to think about the opportune times for teaching in families.

Children learn about our values through daily interactions with us. When we think about teaching values to kids, we often think about taking them to church or having a talk with them about lying, teaching them about sharing or encouraging them to give during the holiday season. Yet we teach values every day in our ordinary daily encounters.
Children learn through our example.
Children learn through the values we strive towards. While it is true that children learn through what we model, it is not true that you need to have mastered a value before you teach it to your children. All of us have some values that are woven into the very fabric of who we are. At the same time, most of us have values we are newly adopting, that we haven't practiced or integrated. Even if we move toward our values in tiny increments, children will pick up on our intention and commitment, and learn that they, too, can strive toward a vision they haven't yet attained.
Children learn values through the way we do things as a family.
Children learn values and beliefs through their exposure to the larger world. Through friends, extended family, books, TV and the experiences they have in their community, children absorb values and societal norms.
Children learn values through our explanations of the world (Davis and Keyser, 1997, p. 6).

4.5.4 Gender Identity

Gender, by definition, refers to the state of “femaleness” or “maleness”. This lesson addresses how young children develop a sense of gender identity and gender roles.

How does a gender identity develop?

Even at age two, gender related preferences and play patterns are apparent. Children already know whether they are boys or girls, can identify adult strangers as mommies or daddies, and apply gender labels (Mrs., Mr., lady, man) consistently. That simple cognitive awareness becomes, by age three, a rudimentary understanding that male and female distinctions are life-long. By age four, children are convinced that certain toys are appropriate for one gender but not the other. Four year-olds criticize peers who choose toys that are not appropriate for their gender and are proud of themselves when they act in gender-typical ways. When given a choice, children play with other children of their own sex, a tendency apparent at age two and clear-cut by age five. By age six, children have well formed ideas (and prejudices) about sex differences and also know which sex is better (their own) and which sex is stupid (the other). Stereotypes and taboos are also evident in fantasy play, where most of the other restrictions of daily life disappear (Berger, 2000, p. 326).

What are the differences between the genders?

Genuine behavioural differences do exist between the sexes and people's stereotypes are not entirely inaccurate. But the differences are fewer in number, smaller in size and far more complex than stereotypes suggest.

Social behaviour and personality: Studies indicate that males tend to be more aggressive than females, both verbally and physically. This disparity shows up in early childhood.
Aggression: One of the most consistent gender differences is that boys are more aggressive than girls. Another is that boys are more active than girls. The aggression difference is especially pronounced when children are provoked. These differences occur across cultures and appear very early in children's development. Biological factors include heredity and hormones. Environmental factors include cultural expectations, adult and peer models, and social agents who reward aggression in males and punish aggression in females
Emotional control: An important skill is to be able to regulate and control your emotions and behaviour. Males usually show less self-regulation than females, and this low self-control can translate into behavioural problems. In one study, children's low self-regulation was linked with greater aggression, teasing others, overreaction to frustration, low cooperation and inability to delay gratification (Santrock, 1999, p. 318).

What are the sociocultural influences on gender development?

Although parents do encourage “sex-appropriate” play, there is evidence that biological factors may play an initial role in children's preferences. Although fathers are less likely to give dolls to one-year-old boys than to one-year-old girls, the boys

who do receive the dolls are less likely to play with them (Snow, Jacklin and Maccoby, 1983). Perhaps adult expectations and encouragement build upon children's preferences, producing an amplifying effect. Then, because boys’ toys provide more opportunity for developing motor skills, visuospatial skills, and inventiveness, and girls' toys provide more opportunity for nurturance and social exchange, some important differences in sex roles may become established.

Once children begin to play with other children outside the home, peers have a significant influence on the development of their gender roles. In fact, Stern and Karraker (1989) found that the behaviour of two- to six-year-old children was even more influenced by the knowledge of a baby's gender than was the behaviour of adults. By the time children are three years old, they reinforce gender-typed play by praising, imitating or joining in the behaviour. In contrast, they criticize gender-inappropriate behaviour (Langlois and Downs, 1980). Parents indirectly encourage gender-stereotyped play by seeking out children of the same sex as playmates for their own children (Buskist at al., 1997, p. 399).

4.6 Looking through the eyes of the system of supports

This lesson addresses the various roles and functions of the support systems that nurture and promote healthy development of the young child. If students come from a different culture, inviting them or their parents to share their experiences of parenting and child rearing would be most valuable.

Lesson 4.6: Teacher Information

What influence does the media have on early childhood development?

According to Neilson Media Research, in 1996 children between the ages of two and five in the United States watched 23 hours and 21 minutes of television each week. This is more than three hours a day, and it is at least three hours more a week than the viewing time of any other age group. Among the criticisms of television are the time it takes away from active, interactive and imaginative play; the faulty nutritional messages it sends; and the sexist, racist, and ageist stereotypes it provides that are particularly harmful for inexperienced, vulnerable viewers. Prosocial behaviour depends on emotional regulation, which is best learned through active social relationships. Television, passive observation, undercuts the very attributes, skills and values that lead to prosocial activity. However, the most compelling and convincing criticism of television concerns the antisocial behaviour it encourages, especially in children. The effect is interactive and cumulative; children who watch a lot of television are likely to be more aggressive than children who do not, and children who are already inclined to be aggressive are likely to watch a lot of violence. Television desensitizes children to violence in real life, making physical aggression seem normal. For all these reasons, children who watch substantial quantities of violent television are more likely than others to be bullies, more likely to retaliate physically for any perceived attack, more likely to be passive victims, and more likely to be passive onlookers rather than mediators when other children fight (Berger, 2000, p. 313).

What influence does economic status and conditions have on early childhood development?

No matter how maltreatment is defined or counted, it occurs more frequently as family income falls. This particularly true for neglect and physical abuse, which fall most heavily on children under age six who live in families with an income below the poverty line, an unemployed father, and four or more children. In such families, children obviously add to the financial pressures and are likely to become victims because of it (Berger, 2000, p. 256).

What effects does social class have on parenting and child rearing?

In most Western countries, social class differences in child rearing have been found. Working class and low-income parents often place a high value on external characteristics such as obedience and neatness. By contrast, middle-class families often place a high value on internal characteristics such as self-control and delay of gratification. There are social class differences not only in child rearing values but also in parenting behaviours. Middle-class parents are more likely to explain something, use verbal praise, use reasoning to accompany their discipline and ask their children questions. By contrast, parents in low-income and working class households are more likely to discipline their children with physical punishment and criticize their children more (Santrock, 1999, p. 232).

4.7 Action research in early childhood development

This summary lesson will integrate all of the concepts covered in this unit, by actively engaging students in the design and conduct of research in developmental psychology

Lesson 4.7: Suggested issues and research methods

Type of Research	Suggested Research Topics
Survey Conducting research using a survey involves going out and asking questions about the phenomenon of interest.	Should parents be legally permitted to spank their children? Are you afraid that television values are replacing family values? Should the government be launching a national daycare program paid for by taxpayers? Should parents be held accountable in some way for the behaviour of their children? Should parental discipline of young children include spanking?
Naturalistic Observation In naturalistic research, the observer does not intervene at all. For all intents and purposes, the researcher is invisible and works hard not to interrupt the natural dynamics of the situation being investigated.	Can you find evidence of Piaget's pre-operational stage of development in young children? Can you find evidence to support Vygotsky's concept of scaffolding and the zone of proximal in young children’s cognitive development? How is playground safety for young children demonstrated? What is the process of language development in young children? How are basic human values values developed and promoted in young children? What is the process of language development in young children? How is self-awareness demonstrated by young children?
Topical A topical research study involves the acquisition, synthesis, organization, and presentation of information. Typically, the topical research study will involve both paper based as well as web-based resources. Additional information may be gained through the other research methods and strategies.	What is the nutritional value of fast food for young children?
Interview The interview method of research, typically, involves a face-to-face meeting in which a researcher (interviewer) asks an individual a series of questions.	Are there basic temperament and personality traits in young children? Are there gender differences in aggressive behaviour? How is moral behaviour developed and promoted in young children? Is there an awareness of gender role differences in young children? Are there gender differences in terms of aggression and emotional control in young children? How are genders represented on television and in young children's books?
Case study A case study is an intensive study of one individual. Typically, the case study is based on interviews with the subject regarding his or her background, present thinking or actions; it may also utilize interviews of others who know the individual. Additional case study material may be obtained through observation, experiments and standardized tests, such as personality inventories and intelligence tests.	Children values impressions of media mental schemas play behaviours toys

Experimental research

Experimental researchers take care to create an environment in which they can make causal statements. They manipulate variables, randomly assign participants to various conditions, and seek to control other influences that could affect their research.

Research one of the following topics:

Piaget's preoperational stage of development
Vygotsky's concept of scaffolding and the zone of proximal development
Language development

4.8 Perspectives on child development

In this summary lesson, we consider how the lifespan approach to human development can be used as a lens through which we can view early childhood development.

Looking through the eyes of the developing person ...

Looking through the eyes of the systems of support ...

Lesson Objectives	How is child development described from the perspective of the lifespan approach? How do the key issues and questions in developmental psychology relate to child development? How would each of the six theoretical perspectives on human development explain child development?
Suggested Instructional Strategies Direct Independent Interactive Indirect Experiential	Think-Pair-Share: Lifespan approach Using the Think-Pair-Share instructional strategy, direct the students to provide examples of how the lifespan approach helps describe the process of human child development. Discussion/Group activity: Key issues and questions Use the four key issues and questions found in the Teacher Information section to discuss the key questions as they relate to child development. Break the class into four groups or discuss with the whole class. Jigsaw: Theoretical perspectives on human development Divide the class into six groups, and assign one of the six theoretical perspectives to each group. Direct each group to support its perspective on human development with specific examples from the information provided in the unit. What evidence can group members find to support their theoretical perspective? Each group will then present its theoretical perspective on child development. Synthesize the findings and examples from each group. Create a comparison chart to compare the results. Reflection/Discussion: Analogies of development Development is like (1) a staircase, (2) a seedling in a greenhouse, or (3) a strand of ivy in a forest (Santrock, 1999). Reflect on, and discuss how each of these analogies describes the nature of development. Construct your own analogy. Development is like …
Making Connections	Psychology Squares! The students can create their own version of Psychology Squares! to play against other teams. Have the students design and create a board game as a means of review for the unit. The students can use any other board game format or create an entirely new format.
Resources	Curriculum Support Materials: The Lifespan Perspective on Human Development Curriculum Support Materials: Theoretical Perspectives on Human Development

Lesson 4.8: Teacher Information

How is child development described from the perspective of the lifespan approach?

The lifespan perspective on human development has seven basic characteristics. Development is:

Life-long

No age period dominates development.

Multi-dimensional

Development consists of biological, cognitive, socioemotional and spiritual dimensions.

Multidirectional

Some aspects of development increase, while others decrease.

Plastic

Depending on the individual's life conditions, development may take many paths.

Historically-embedded

Development is influenced by historical conditions.

Multidisciplinary

Psychologists, sociologists, anthropologists, neuroscientists and medical researchers all study human development and share a concern for unlocking the mysteries of development throughout the lifespan.

Contextual

The individual continually responds to and acts on contexts, which include a person's biological makeup, physical environment, and social, historical, and cultural contexts (Santrock, 1999, p. 10).

How do the key issues and questions in developmental psychology relate to child development?

From the time of its establishment, several key issues and questions have dominated the field of developmental psychology. Among these issues are the nature of developmental change, the importance of critical periods, lifespan approaches versus the more focused approaches, and the nature-nurture issue.

Continuous change versus discontinuous change: In continuous change, developmental change is gradual, with achievements at one level building on those of previous levels. In contrast, discontinuous change occurs in distinct stages or steps. Each stage brings about behaviour that is assumed to be qualitatively different from behaviour at earlier stages.
A critical period is a specific time during development when a particular event has its greatest consequences. Critical periods occur when the presence of certain kinds of environmental stimuli are necessary for development to proceed normally.
Lifespan approaches versus a focus on a particular period: Developmentalists now believe the entire lifespan is important, for several reasons. One is the discovery that developmental growth and change continue during every part of life. Furthermore, to understand fully the social influences on people of a given age, we need to understand the people who are, in large measure, providing those influences. For instance, to understand development in infants, we need to unravel the effects of their parents’ ages on the social environment.
Nature versus nurture: One of the enduring questions of development involves how much of people’s behaviour is due to their genetically-determined nature and how much is due to nurture, the physical and social environment in which a child is raised. In this context, nature refers to traits, abilities and capacities that are inherited from one’s parents. Nature encompasses any factor that is produced by the predetermined unfolding of genetic information - a process known as maturation. These genetic, inherited influences are at work as we move from the one-celled organism that is created at the moment of conception to the billions of cells that make up a fully-formed human being. In contrast nurture refers to the environmental influences that shape behaviour. Some of these influences may be biological, such as the impact of a pregnant mother’s substance abuse on the fetus, or the amount and kind of food available to children. Other environmental influences are more social, such as the ways parents discipline their children and the effects of peer pressure on adolescents (Feldman, 2000, p. 10).

How would each of the six theoretical perspectives on human development explain child development?

Lifespan development has produced a number of broad conceptual perspectives representing different approaches to development. Each broad perspective encompasses a number of theories, explanations and predictions concerning phenomena of interest. A theory provides a framework for understanding the relationships among an organized set of principles or facts. The six major theoretical perspectives include:

Piaget	Vygotsky
Active learning - The child's own search for understanding, motivated by the child's inborn curiosity	Guided participation - The adult’s or other mentor's aid in guiding the next step of learning, motivated by the learner's need for social interaction.
Egocentrism - The preschooler's tendency to perceive everything from his or her own perspective and to be limited by that viewpoint.	Apprenticeship to thinking - The preschooler's tendency to look to others for insight and guidance, particularly in the cognitive realm.
Structure - The mental assumptions and modalities (schema) the child creates to help him or her organize an understanding of the world. Structures are torn down and rebuilt when disequilibrium makes new structures necessary.	Scaffold - The building blocks put in place by a “teacher” (a more knowledgeable child or adult) or a culture. Learners use scaffolds and then discard them when they are no longer needed.
Symbolic thought - The ability to think using symbols, including language. This ability emerges spontaneously at about age two and continues life-long.	Proximal development - The next step in cognition, the ideas and skills a child can grasp with assistance but not alone; influenced not only by the child's own abilities and interests, but also by the social context.