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Child Psychology: A Contemporary Viewpoint, First Canadian Edition

E. Mavis Hetherington, University of Virginia
Ross D. Parke, University of California
Mark Schmuckler, University of Toronto at Scarborough

Emotional Development

Application Questions


1		Erik Erikson identified eight stages of human psychosocial development, with each stage presenting a tension or crisis between opposing extremes that the individual needs to resolve on the road to maturity. The first stage, labelled basic trust versus mistrust, characterizes development from birth until about 18 months of age. During infancy, infants need to learn that the world is a safe place and that their needs will be taken care of in a consistent, responsive manner. How do parents instill a sense of safety and trust in their young infants? How does neglect and abuse disrupt that sense of security?



2		In his model of psychosocial development, Erik Erikson's sixth stage, labelled intimacy versus isolation, occurs during the young adult years. Here, young adults form close emotional relationships and make commitments to significant others. How do the emotional experiences of early life support the ability of the young adult to reach out to strangers and ultimately form significant emotional commitments?



3		Are you aware of the subtle differences between praise and encouragement? Praise is a type of reward and a form of behaviour management. Praise can make children dependent on others to judge the value of their work and can inhibit self-evaluation and self-confidence. On the other hand, encouragement helps children identify their own feelings of pride or success. Encouraging comments allow children to self-evaluate without damaging their autonomy. While praise can foster external judgment, encouragement can foster internal satisfaction. How would you classify each of the examples listed below? Please add your own examples. I am proud of you. I'll bet you feel good about that. Good work! How did you figure that out? The end of the story made me laugh. I like how Billy is sitting. Thank you for your help. You did a super job.



4		Damage to pride or self-esteem generally is expressed in some undesirable behaviour. Bad feelings usually beget bad actions. How can a power struggle be avoided? One answer is to respect both self and others during conflictual situations. Mutual respect helps prevent discipline problems. Mutual respect involves accepting another for who they are instead of trying to make them into what you want. Many adults have trouble accepting children's reasoning. They try to get children to accept adult reasoning. Describe a childhood situation where you were not fully "heard" by an adult. Were you forced to accept the adult's interpretation of your situation? How did this affect your trust for that adult? Now, describe an interpersonal conflict that ended with a win/win outcome. What allowed for mutual respect to occur?



5		Children construct social knowledge as a result of reflecting on their experiences. A child's motivation to experiment and master social skills is directly related to how his or her emotional needs are met. When parents are warm, attentive and help explain limits, children are more likely to be secure, confident and socially competent. Children notice when parents respectfully consider their ideas and feelings. Parents model both verbal and nonverbal ways to express feelings. How do you deal with your emotions? Do you hold them in and hide them when you are upset? Or, are you a "yeller" when things go wrong? How did your parents express their emotions? On a scale of 1-10 (equating 1 with no expression of feelings and equating 10 with aggressive expression of feelings), rate how you express the following feelings: anger joy disappointment surprise sorrow nervousness Now, on a scale of 1-10 (equating 1 with no expression of feelings and equating 10 with aggressive expression of feelings), rate how your mother (or main female caretaker) expresses the following feelings. Then, rate how your father (or main male caretaker) expresses the same feelings. Finally, what is the relationship between how you express feelings and how your parents (or caregivers) express the same feelings? What does this suggest about how modelling might shape the display of emotions?

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