Chapter 12: Social development Slides prepared by Randall E. Osborne, Texas State University-San Marcos, adapted by Dr Mark Forshaw, Staffordshire University, UK 1

Homo psychologicus 2

Feral and institutionalized children Victor: wild boy of Averyron Early social interaction very important for normal development –Harlow – rhesus monkeys isolated from mother grow up ‘antisocial’ or ‘asocial’ –reversible within six-month sensitive period 3

Early Social Interaction Lorenz and imprinting Conspec and Conlearn –Brain mechanisms that allow for orienting towards and learning faces (See Figure 12.1) 4

Early Social Interaction Babyness –Lorenz’s term for attractiveness of big eyes and heads Joint attention –Socially defined objects of attention Gaze following –Dyadic and triadic gaze relationships Pointing –Protoimperative: goal-oriented –Protodeclarative: object- or event-oriented 5

Attachment 6

Proximity seeking Secure base Separation protest Bowlby –Infants of many species show attachment to mother figure –Stranger anxiety 7

Strange Situation Strange situation –secure attachment (60%) –avoidant attachment (20%) –ambivalent attachment (15) –disorganized attachment (5%) Cultural variations in attachment –German mothers foster independence –Japanese mothers traditionally stay at home with child, so Japanese children tend to show less exploratory behaviour in the strange situation 8

Working Models of Attachment Parents’ attachment styles affect those of children Internal working model –Child has expectations about how carer will respond when child feels insecure 9

Attachment Variables Temperament –Child’s temperament can influence attachment style –Behavioural inhibition Goodness of fit –Extent to which environment matches up to child’s temperament –Matching up of parent behaviour with child temperament 10

Development of Social Cognition 11

Discovering Others and Their Minds Child must learn to recognise that others exist and are ‘real people’ Social cognition is ‘thinking about other people’ Sometimes infants make mistakes and think non-living objects are ‘people’ Egocentrism –Children have problems with mental perspective taking 12

Theory of Mind Theory of mind –false belief test (see Figure 12.8) –children passing false belief test at ages 3 and 5 Autism –mindblindness Deaf children 13

Who Am I? 14

Self-recognition As children age, they begin to acquire a sense of self Begins with noticing their own bodily movements Later development of self-esteem –A sense of self-worth 15

Self-Control Maccoby (1980) identifies need to inhibit own behaviours –Inhibition of movement –Inhibition of emotion –Inhibition of conclusion –Inhibition of choice Children with strict parents tend to show LESS self-control! 16

Gender Development Gender socialization Gender differences –Baron-Cohen –Male brains more likely to systematise –Female brains more likely to empathise Not just human gender differences...female chimps play with dolls! 17

Erikson’s Stages 18

Erikson’s Stages 19

Erikson: Parents & Peers Who am I? –who should I be? Erikson’s stages of life and tasks that must be confronted Adolescence marks a shift in emphasis from family relations to peer relations when defining self 20

Moral Development How do children learn to decide what is right and wrong? Prosocial Behaviour –altruism Social learning theory –Observational learning –Vicarious punishment 21

Moral Development: Piaget Piaget — children’s thinking changes in three important ways: –from realism to relativism –from prescriptions to principles –from consequences to intentions Moral reasoning is a skill 22

Kohlberg’s Stage Theory Preconventional stage –What will happen to me? Conventional stage –What do others normally do? Postconventional stage –How does it fit with my values? 23

Moral Intuition: The Tram Problem 24