PSY 376 Chapter 10

gender stereotypes

- broad categories that reflect our impressions and beliefs about females and males - well-adjusted boys supposed to be independent, aggressive, and powerful - well-adjusted girls supposed to be dependent, nurturing, and uninterested in power

popular children

children who are frequently nominated as a best friend and are rarely disliked by their peers

self-concept

domain-specific evaluations of the self

relational aggression

harming someone by manipulating a relationship

Why should moral exemplars be studied?

to be able to characterize the ideal endpoint of moral development

Although boys are consistently more physically aggressive than girls, might girls show levels of verbal aggression, such as yelling, that equal or exceed the levels shown by boys?

when verbal aggression is considered, gender differences often disappear, although sometimes verbal aggression is more pronounced in girls

Women have about ______ the body fat of men, where it is mostly concentrated around their _________. In males, fat is more likely to go to the ___________.

- twice - breasts and hips - abdomen

self-efficacy

the belief that one can master a situation and produce favorable outcomes

social cognition

thoughts about social matters

On average, males grow to be ________ taller than females. From conception on, females have a _______ life expectancy than males, and females are __________likely to develop physical or mental disorders. Males have ________ the risk of coronary disease compared with females.

- 10 percent - longer - less - twice

gender differences in emotion

- females express emotion more than do males, are better at decoding emotion, smile more, cry more, and are happier - males report experiencing and expressing more anger than females do - females are better than males at recognixing nonverbal displays of emotion - girls showed more positive emotions and more internalized emotions - however, overall gender differences in children's emotional expression were small - gender difference in positive emotions became more pronounced with age as girls more strongly expressed positive emotions than boys in middle and late childhood and in adolescence

developmental changes in emotions during the middle and late childhood years include the following:

- improved emotional understanding - increased understanding that more than one emotion can be experienced in a particular situation - increased tendency to be aware of the events leading to emotional reactions - ability to suppress or conceal negative emotional reactions - the use of self-initiated strategies for redirecting feelings - a capacity for genuine empathy

Improvements in middle and late childhood

- increase capacity of self-regulation: characterized by deliberate efforts to manage one's behavior, emotions, and thoughts, leading to increased social competence and achievement - in a study, higher levels of self-control assessed at 4 years of age were linked to improvements in the math and reading achievement of early elementary school children living in predominantly rural and low-income contexts - linked to developmental advances in the brain's prefrontal cortex

Which of Erikson's stages appears during middle to late childhood?

- industry vs inferiority - industry: children become interested in how things are made and how they work - inferiority: happens when industry is not supported

What are the components of moral personality?

- moral identity: when moral notions and moral commitments are central to their lives - moral character: has the willpower, desire, and integrity to stand up to pressure, overcome distractions and disappointments, and behave morally. displays virtues such as honesty, truthfullness, and trustworthiness, as well as those of care, compassion, thoughtfulness, and considerateness. - moral exemplars: people who have lived exemplary moral lives. their moral personality, identity, character and set of virtues reflect moral excellence and commitment

stepfamilies

- number of remarriages involving children has grown steadily in recent years. Also, divorces occur at a 10 percent higher rate in remarriages than in first marriages - about half of all children whose parents divorce will have a stepparent within fours years of the separation - only one-third of stepfamily couples stay remarried

One of the most consistent gender differences found is that boys are more ___________________ than girls are

- physically aggressive - difference occurs in all cultures and appears very early in children's development - physical aggression difference is especially pronounced when children are provoked - biological factors: heredity and hormones - environmental factors: include cultural expectations, adult and peer models, and social agents that reward aggression in boys and punish aggression in girls

Lawrence Kohlberg

- proposed moral development perspective - Piaget's cognitive stages of development served as underpinnings - suggested there are 3 levels of moral development that are universal - development from one level to another is fostered by opportunities to take the perspective of others and to experience conflict between one's current level of moral thinking and the reasoning of someone at a higher level - developed by interviewing children, giving them theoretical moral dilemmas to solve

From 8 to 11 years of age, children increasingly describe themselves in terms of ___________

- psychological characteristics and traits, in contrast with the more concrete self-descriptions of younger children - also increasing reference to social comparison

recommendations for caring for children after a disaster

- reassure children - allow children to retell events and be patient - encourage children to talk about any disturbing or confusing feelings, reassuring them that those feelings are normal - protect children from re-exposure to frightening situations - help children make sense of what happened

perspective taking

- the social cognitive process involved in assuming the perspective of others and understanding their thoughts and feelings - improves in middle and late childhood

children's friendships can serve six functions

1. companionship 2. stimulation 3. physical support 4. ego support 5. social comparison 6. affection and intimacy

Children go through six steps in processing information about their social world

1. selectively attend to social cues 2. attribute intent by interpreting social cues 3. establish social goals 4. access behavioral scripts from memory and generate problem-solving strategies 5. evaluate the likely effectiveness of strategies and make decisions 6. enact behavior

The most publicized criticism of Kohlberg's theory has come from

Carol Gilligan, who argues that Kohlberg's theory reflects a gender bias. According to Gilligan, Kohlberg's theory is based on a male norm that puts abstract principles above relationships and concerns for others and sees the individual as standing alone and independently making moral decisions. It puts justice at the heart of morality. She puts forth a care perspective in contrast to Kohlberg's justice perspective.

self-esteem

The global evaluative dimension of the self. Self-esteem is also referred to as self-worth or self-image.

domain theory of moral development

Theory that identifies different domains of social knowledge and reasoning, including moral, social conventional, and personal domains. These domains arise from children's and adolescents' attempts to understand and deal with different forms of social experience.

constructivist

a learner-centered educational approach that emphasizes the importance of individuals actively constructing their knowledge and understanding with guidance from the teacher

justice perspective

a moral perspective that focuses on the rights of the individual; individuals independently make moral decisions

direct instruction approach

a structured, teacher-centered educational approach that is characterized by teacher direction and control, mastery of academic skills, high expectations for students' progress, maximum time spent on learning tasks, and efforts to keep negative affect to a minimum

Three areas of socioemotional development in which gender similarities and differences have been studied extensively are

aggression, emotion and prosocial behavior

Moral rules are not _____________.

arbitrary. They are obligatory, widely accepted, and somewhat impersonal. Rules pertaining to lying, cheating, stealing, and physically harming another person are moral rules because violation of these rules affronts ethical standards that exist apart from social consensus and convention. Moral judgments involve concepts of justice, whereas social convention judgments are concepts of social organization. Violating moral rules is usually more serious than violating conventional rules

conventional rules

are arbitrary and can be changed by consensus

What factors influence movement through Kohlberg's levels?

argued that advances in children's cognitive development did not ensure development of moral reasoning. Instead, moral reasoning also reflects children's experiences in dealing with moral questions and moral conflict

Whereas Kohlberg's and Gilligan's theories have focused primarily on the development of moral reasoning, the study of prosocial moral behavior has placed more emphasis on the __________________

behavioral aspects of moral development. Children engage in immoral, antisocial acts such as lying and cheating and also display prosocial moral behavior such as showing empathy or acting altruistically. Even during the preschool years, children may care for others or comfort others in distress

children and self-control

boys usually show less self-regulation than girls do, which can translate into behavior problems

Bronfenbrenner's ecological theory emphasizes the importance of context; in his theory the macrosystem includes _________

cross-cultural comparision

sociometric status

describes the extent to which children are liked or disliked by their peer group

Second Step

focuses on these aspects of social-emotional learning from pre-K through the eighth grade: (1) pre-K: self-regulation and executive functioning skills (2)K-5: making friends, self-regulation of emotion (3) 6-8: communication skills, coping w stress, and decision making

controversial children

frequently nominated both as someone's best friend and as being disliked

neglected children

infrequently nominated as a best friend but are not disliked by their peers

rejected children

infrequently nominated as someone's best friend and are actively disliked by their peers

Behaving in a manner that violates one's moral identity places the ______ of the self at risk.

integrity

What criticisms have arised from Kohlberg's theory?

involve the link between moral thought and moral behavior, whether moral reasoning is conscious/deliberative or unconscious/automatic, the role of emotion, the contexts of culture and the family in moral development, and the significance of caring for others. also it is based more on moral thought than moral behavior

Kohlberg emphasized that ________

peer interaction and perspective taking are critical aspects of the social stimulation that challenges children to change their moral reasoning. Whereas adults characteristically impose rules and regulations on children, the give-and-take among peers gives children an opportunity to take the perspective of another person and to generate rules democratically

average children

recieve an average number of both positive and negative nominations from their peers

CASEL

targets five core social and emotional learning domains: (1) self-awareness (2) self-management (3) social awareness (4) relationship skills (5) responsible decision making

mindset

the cognitive view, either fixed or growth, that individuals develop for themselves

postconventional reasoning

the highest level in Kohlberg's theory of moral development. At this level, the individual recognizes alternative moral courses, explores the options, and then decides on a personal moral code.

preconventional reasoning

the lowest level in Kohlberg's theory of moral development. The individual's moral reasoning is controlled primarily by external rewards and punishment

care perspective

the moral perspective of Carol Gilligan, which views people in terms fo their connectedness with others and emphasizes interpersonal communication, relationships with others, and concern for others

conventional reasoning

the second, or intermediate, level in Kohlberg's theory of moral development. At this level, individuals abide by certain standards, but these standards set by others such as parents or society

Kohlberg maintained that _________

these levels occur in a sequence and are age-related: before age 9, most children use level 1, preconventional reasoning based on external rewards and punishments, when they consider moral choices. By early adolescence, their moral reasoning is increasingly based on the application of standards set by others, reflecting conventional reasoning. By early childhood, a small number of individuals reason in postconventional ways.

social conventional reasoning

thoughts about social consensus and convention, in contrast with moral reasoning, which stresses ethical issues

True or false: Kohlberg believes that the give and take among peers gives children an opportunity to identify the perspective of another person.

true

No gender differences in general intelligence have been revealed, but some gender differences have been found in some cognitive areas. Research has shown that in general girls and women have slightly better ___________ skills than boys and men, although in some verbal skill areas the differences are substantial

verbal