Expert answer:Weekly Discussion
Expert answer:Part 1 Watch the following short film, theory of mind.mov FROM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJkB6nrk1CA . (transcript), which demonstrates the theory of mind using a juice box experiment. At around four years of age, a fundamental change occurs in children’s understanding of others’ behaviors or what is also called theory of mind. Using your knowledge from our readings, watch the video to determine which stage both Jacob and Patrick are currently in respectively. Discuss both Jacob’s and Patrick’s reaction to the “mean monkey.” What stage would Erickson say each child is in? How do these different stages influence their values and attitudes? Do you think it is possible for a child over the age of three to have trouble understanding that his or her beliefs can be false? Explain your reasoning. Guided Response: Your initial post should be at least 250 words in length. Part 2 Regardless of a child’s unique qualities, one thing remains the same; to improve learning and behavior, children must develop strong self-regulation skills. Read the article from the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), “Developing Young Children’s Self-Regulation Through Everyday Experiences from https://www.earlychildhoodireland.ie/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Self-Regulation_Florez_OnlineJuly20111.pdf..” The marshmallow experiment is a famous test conducted by Walter Mischel at Stanford University and discussed by Daniel Goleman in his popular work. In the 1960s, a group of four-year-olds were given a marshmallow and promised another only if they could wait 20 minutes before eating the first one. Some children could wait and others could not. The researchers then followed the progress of each child into adolescence, and demonstrated that those with the ability to wait were better adjusted and more dependable (determined via surveys of their parents and teachers), and scored an average of 210 points higher on the Scholastic Aptitude Test. Read the American Psychological Association (APA) article, “Delaying Gratification from http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/willpower-gratification.pdf.” Reflect on the information in the NAEYC article, the article, and your text and explain how toddlers with better self-regulation skills are less likely to demonstrate behavior problems in preschool. Explain why these self-regulation skills are so important and how you will promote the learning of self-regulation. How will you deliberately teach self-regulation as part of everyday experience? Share an example of your own self-regulation skills that you can model for others. Guided Response: Your initial post should be at least 250 words in length. Resources 1. (n.d.). Delay of gratification (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.. Retrieved from ttp://www.med.uottawa.ca/sim/data/Images/Delay_gratifica… This article examines the experiments of Walter Mischel and others, which focused upon the nature and development of delayed gratification in young children. Read this article to successfully complete this week’s discussion “Self-Regulation.” Accessibility Statement (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. Privacy Policy (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. 2. Florez, I. R. (2011). Developing young children’s self-regulation through everyday experiences (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.. Young Children. Retrieved from http://www.naeyc.org/files/yc/file/201107/Self-Reg… This article discusses the importance and the ease of enforcing self-regulation skills in young children. Read this article to successfully complete this week’s discussion “Self-Regulation.” Accessibility Statement does not exist. Privacy Policy (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. Multimedia 1. Whippman, R. (Director). (2008). Divide of the sexes: Gender roles in childhood (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. [Television series episode]. In T. Livingstone (Executive producer), Child of Our Time: A Year-by-Year Study of Childhood. United Kingdom: Films for the Humanities and Sciences. Retrieved from https://secure.films.com.proxy-library.ashford.edu… This video follows children to investigate how social forces help children form their ideas about gender roles and create different expectations for boys and girls. Accessibility Statement (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. Privacy Policy (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. 2. Zmaster4000. (2010, January 12). Theory of mind.mov (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. [Video file]. Retrieved from This video shows specific examples of the theory of the mind. Watch this video to successfully complete this week’s discussion “The Theory of Mind.” Transcript Accessibility Statement (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. Privacy Policy (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. Recommended Resource Multimedia 1. Chris Akina. (2009, September 24). The marshmallow test (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. [Video file]. Retrieved from This video shows an experiment investigating children make decisions regarding delayed gratification, and when this ability develops in children. Watch this video to help you complete this week’s discussion “Self-Regulation.” Accessibility Statement (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. Privacy Policy (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.
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Cognitive and Emotional Outcomes:
Infancy and Toddlerhood
Learning Objectives
By the end of the chapter, you will be able to:
• Understand the attitudes and beliefs of infants and toddlers with regard to
their cognitive development.
• Explain the attributions and motives associated with infancy and toddlerhood.
• Describe the role self-esteem plays during infant and toddler development.
• Analyze how parental values impact infants and toddlers.
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Pre-Test
CHAPTER 3
Introduction
H
ave you ever considered the qualities that distinguish an infant from a toddler
or those that make them similar? If you have spent any time around children,
you know that there are many cognitive and social differences between the two.
Developmentally speaking, children are considered infants from the moment they are
born until they are approximately 18 months old. They are then considered toddlers from
18 months to 2 years old.
Infants and toddlers differ in the ways they explore the world around them. Infants often
begin learning through physical experiences, which can be seen by the way they put anything and everything in their mouths when they are very young. Toddlers, on the other
hand, learn about their world at a higher level and use all five senses to figure out how
things work. You may notice that both groups are highly motivated to accomplish tasks
that they have set for themselves, such as getting to toys or treats that are out of reach. The
key players in infants’ and toddlers’ microsystems influence what these children will place
value upon in the future. As you may have experienced in your own life, parents (and others within your microsystems) emphasize certain ideas over others, and their beliefs and
feelings directly affect yours, which ultimately played a role in who you are today.
This chapter will also explore the idea of self-esteem and self-awareness in infants and
toddlers, and how these develop as children age. Within this context, we will discuss the
concepts of mastery motivation and achievement motivation, the ideas of attributions and
motives in infants and toddlers, as well as their learned values.
Pre-Test
1. A scheme is a term Bronfenbrenner used to describe organized patterns of
behavior that are used in particular situations.
True
False
2. Temperament impacts how children react to events in their environment.
True
False
3. Regardless of environment, imprint of biology, parents, and culture, every infant
is born with a personality or temperament that guides and influences his or her
approach to the world.
True
False
4. The development of values occurs in a social setting.
True
False
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Section 3.1 Attitudes and Beliefs
CHAPTER 3
Answers
1. False
The answer can be found in Section 3.1.
2. True
The answer can be found in Section 3.2.
3. True
The answer can be found in Section 3.3.
4. True
The answer can be found in Section 3.4.
3.1 Attitudes and Beliefs
W
hen investigating infants’ and toddlers’ attitudes and beliefs, we can look to the
microsystem of Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model. It is here in the microsystem (the system in which the developing child interacts daily) that infants and
toddlers spend the majority of their day. The people who make up infants’ and toddlers’
microsystems—such as parents, siblings, and teachers—are those who have the biggest
impact on their attitudes and values. Children exposed to more encouraging, positive
people in their microsystems are more likely to take on those attitudes as they grow up.
In addition to examining the role that Bronfenbrenner’s microsystems play on infants’
and toddlers’ attitudes and beliefs, understanding the cognitive development that arises
in infancy and toddlerhood is important. It is because of these developments in cognitive
functioning that later attitudes and beliefs can be formed. Therefore, we will begin our
discussion by examining infants’ and toddlers’ cognitive development and focus on Jean
Piaget’s first stage, sensorimotor, as it is directly relevant to infancy (see Section 2.3).
Sensorimotor
Put simply, infants learn by using their five senses (touch, taste, smell, sight, and hearing)
and their increasing abilities to move about their environment. For example, imagine that
Amelia, a 9-month-old, has been given a bright red, squeaky rubber ball. What do you
think she will do with it? Piaget believed that Amelia would hold it (touch), observe it
intently (sight), put it in her mouth (taste), and squeeze it to produce a squeak (sound). By
doing this, Amelia is able to classify this object as smooth, bright, loud, and soft. Although
she is still months away from being able to say the word ball, she now knows what a ball
is based upon her sensory experience. As Amelia becomes more mobile, her exposure to
new objects increases dramatically. Amelia is no longer restricted to only playing with
what her parents put in front of her; as she begins to crawl and walk, Amelia will begin to
explore her new environment.
Piaget (1954) divided the sensorimotor stage into six distinct substages. These substages
are based on schemes. A scheme is a term Piaget used to describe organized patterns of
behavior used in particular situations. These patterns of behavior become increasingly
more sophisticated and elaborate as the child ages.
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CHAPTER 3
Section 3.1 Attitudes and Beliefs
Use of Reflexes
(Birth–1 month)
In this first substage, use of
reflexes, infants use their reflexes
to explore objects that are handed
to them. For example, Juan, a
week-old baby, will instinctively
grasp his father’s finger when
it is placed in his hand. This is
known as the grasping reflex. All
typically developing children are
born with the grasping reflex. The
absence of reflexes may be a sign
of a neurological impairment.
Primary Circular Reaction
(1–4 months)
Laura Dwight/Corbis
A one-week-old baby will instinctively grasp a finger when it is
placed in her hand.
The second substage is the primary circular reaction, which is characterized by infants
who actively explore the environment, and thus most of their experiences and focus are
with their own body. A classic example is Juan at one month old, who sucks on his thumb
for pleasure after accidentally putting his thumb in his mouth for the first time. When the
action becomes repetitive, it turns into a circular reaction.
Secondary Circular Reaction (4–8 months)
The third substage, the secondary circular reaction, is marked by an infant intentionally
seeking a reaction from a person or object. For example, Juan, now 7 months old, repeatedly pushes his blocks off his high chair and watches as each of the blocks falls to the
floor—and then watches his mother pick them up.
Coordination of Secondary Circular Reactions (8–12 months)
The fourth substage, coordination of secondary schemes, is characterized by more purposeful and deliberate behaviors. For example, Juan, now 9 months old, is lying in his
crib when he accidently bats and hits the mobile; this makes the mobile light up and play
music. Consequently, Juan repeats hitting the mobile, seeking the musical and lighted
response. Juan is now coordinating his actions to bring about a certain effect.
Tertiary Circular Reactions (12–18 months)
The fifth substage, tertiary circular reactions, is marked by behaviors in which toddlers
alter their actions to discern different consequences or reactions. At this age, the toddler
is intrigued by different results of his actions and will “experiment” to see different outcomes. For example, Juan, now 16 months, will step on, squeeze, and throw his favorite
ball to get the ball to squeak and light up.
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Section 3.2 Attributions and Motives
CHAPTER 3
Mental Combinations (18–24 months)
The sixth and final substage, mental combinations, is characterized by toddlers who are
now able to think about and anticipate consequences without resorting to action. Juan,
now 22 months old, is able to put specific blocks in their specific containers. He now
knows, without trial and error, that the triangle shape goes into the triangle slot on the top
of his bucket. He knows where the square, circle, and star blocks go as well. These types
of cognitive advancements go hand in hand with the toddler’s newly developing sense of
the world around him.
Object Permanence
Have you noticed that when young babies want something, they can be easily distracted
if the item is removed from their sight? For infants the old adage “out of sight, out of
mind” is very true. Piaget coined the term object permanence as the understanding that
a person or object still exists when it is out of sight. Infants do not have this understanding. In other words, when an object “disappears,” a young infant will not try to look for
it, because he or she no longer believes it exists. A popular game that many parents and
teachers engage children in to see if the child has object permanence is peek-a-boo. Once
a child has the ability to understand that objects or people still exist even when they are
covered or hidden, the game of peek-a-boo becomes a reciprocated activity that most
infants enjoy playing.
One of the ways that we now know that children begin to learn and understand that they
do exist separately from other people and objects is through the idea of object permanence. Although Piaget argued that this cognitive shift occurred late in infancy (around 8
to 10 months), other researchers have suggested that object permanence may be present
in infants as young as three and a half to five months of age (Baillargeon, 1993; Spelke,
Breinlinger, Macomber, & Jacobson, 1992).
When we apply Bronfenbrenner’s (1979, 1989, 1993, 1995, 2005) ecological model in conjunction with this milestone, it becomes even more important. When toddlers begin to
understand others’ behaviors, they look to the people closest to them, to people within
their microsystems, to model their own behaviors and beliefs after. Therefore, as role
models, members of these microsystems must be aware that everything they say or do
can influence the toddlers’ attitudes and beliefs.
3.2 Attributions and Motives
J
ust as we saw with the acquisition of attitudes and beliefs, Bronfenbrenner’s (1979,
1989, 1993, 1995, 2005) ecological model also affects children’s attributions and motives.
Members of the children’s microsystems can intentionally and unintentionally teach
these infants and toddlers certain behaviors or beliefs about what they can or cannot
accomplish. Attributions are defined as explanations for one’s performance or causes of
events, while motives are defined as needs or emotions that cause a person to act.
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CHAPTER 3
Section 3.2 Attributions and Motives
Attributions
Attributions can be both external and internal to the individual. External attributions
occur when individuals place the blame for behavior or performance on someone or
something other than themselves. For example, Sophia, a 22-month-old, is playing with a
toy that no longer lights up. She pushes the blue button on her toy repeatedly and when it
doesn’t work, she sits on the floor and cries. When her parents come running to see what
is wrong, Sophia responds that her toy is broken. Internal attributions, on the other hand,
occur when individuals place the blame for behavior or performance on themselves. In
that same example with Sophia, when her parents ask her what is wrong, she responds,
“I can’t do it; I can’t get my toy to work!” Sophia’s reaction to her toy, whether internal or
external, is likely dependent upon her parents’ reactions in similar situations.
Motivation
Humans have an inborn motive to explore,
understand, and control their environment
(White, 1959). For example, Kasey, a 7-monthold, has just learned to crawl. Kasey’s mother
finds it hard to keep her on the carpet now
because Kasey is crawling all over her house in
an effort to explore every aspect of her environment. This is called mastery motivation and is
evident in infancy (Sparks, Hunter, Backman,
Morgan, and Ross, 2011; Wang, Hwang, Liao,
Chen, & Hsieh, 2011).
Achievement motivation is used to explain the
motivation of some children to achieve mastery of challenging tasks (McClelland, Atkinson,
Clark, & Lowell, 1953). For example, 1-year-old
Hemera/Thinkstock Finn constantly tries to get into his parents’ DVD
collection. His parents have placed a large wicker
Even for the youngest children,
basket in front of the DVD cabinet in an effort to
achievement motivation can cause infants
deter Finn from opening the doors and spilling
to move items, such as a heavy basket, to
the contents of the cabinet all over the floor. Finn
get to their goal.
spends a majority of his time attempting to move
the basket in an effort to gain entry to the cabinet.
In fact, his parents continue to add heavier items to the basket as a way of preventing Finn
from being able to move it. However, each time Finn is able to move the basket, he smiles
at his exhausted parents, as he has mastered the challenging task of moving the heavy
basket and getting into the DVDs.
Parents and others in children’s microsystems have the ability to help cultivate this
achievement motivation in infants and toddlers as they age by teaching them to master
tasks for their own satisfaction, as achievement motivation does not take into account the
opinions, needs, or desires of others. Infants and toddlers are concerned only with their
own wants and needs, which we will explore in the next section.
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Section 3.2 Attributions and Motives
CHAPTER 3
Self-Regulation
Moving on, we should look at how children’s
individual temperaments affect their attributes
and motives. Infants come into the world with a
set of reactions to their environment that include
activity, emotion, and attention (Rothbart &
Rueda, 2005). Infants vary tremendously in their
reactions to events: Some babies are easily frustrated while other babies have good attention
spans and seek out exciting events. Children with
good self-regulation easily adapt to new events in
their environment. Self-regulation is a construct
that relates to how individuals control their emotions and actions and adapt their emotional state
depending on the situation (Jennings et al., 2008).
How does self-regulation impact children’s
Philip & Karen Smith/SuperStock
developmental outcomes? Temperament refers
to individual differences in reactivity and selfToddlers with good self-regulation
regulation believed to have a biological origin
skills easily adapt to changes in their
(Rothbart & Derryberry, 1981). Temperament environment, such as stepping in cool water.
impacts how children react to events in their
environment. Every infant is born with a personality or temperament that guides and influences his or her approach to the world,
which is independent of environment, imprint of biology, parents, and culture. In other
words, the systems in Bronfenbrenner’s (1979, 1989, 1993, 1995, 2005) ecological model
do not play a role in an infant’s temperament. Children with an easygoing temperament
are more likely to adjust to changes in their environment more easily, whereas children
who are difficult are more likely to need more time to adjust to new situations.
Though infants are born with a particular temperament, members of their microsystems
play an important role in shaping their behaviors by being proactive and responding
appropriately to create an environment that best suits the children’s temperaments. Posner and Rothbart (2000) suggested that understanding the mechanisms of self-regulation
would lead to advances in the diagnosis, prevention, and even treatment of developmental disorders such as attention deficit disorder and learning disabilities. According
to Kopp (1982), children become capable of control, including the awareness of social
demands and the ability to start, stop, or maintain behavior, between the ages of 12
months and 18 months. By 24 months, children acquire self-control, which means they
can start, stop, or maintain behavior even in the absence of external monitors such as
parents. By 36 months, children become capable of self-regulation, or flexibility of control processes that help the individual adapt to the changing demands of the situation
(Kochanska, Coy, & Murray, 2001).
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Section 3.3 Self-Esteem
CHAPTER 3
3.3 Self-Esteem
E
gocentrism (see Section 2.3) can ultimately be witnessed by examining self-esteem.
However, it is difficult to examine infants’ and toddlers’ senses of self-esteem, as they
lack an understanding of how they differ from others. At this stage in life, infants
and toddlers are developing a sense of self, which leads to an emergence of self-awareness.
Children begin to develop a sense of self early in infancy. The idea of self-concept has
been defined as an individual’s perception of his or her identity as distinct from others
(Berger, 2008). From birth, infants are aware that they are physically distinct from their
surroundings (Rochat, 2003). Infants between the ages of 4 and 10 months begin to make
things happen and may experience the realization that they can control external events.
This marks the primer to Bandura’s (1993) notion of self-efficacy (see Section 1.1). It is
during infancy that children develop not only a sense of their unique position relative to
others and their environment but also a sense of their abilities to impact others and their
environment. This correlates to Bronfenbrenner’s (1979, 1989, 1993, 1995, 2005) ecological
model in that children are impacted by key players in their microsystems, and those same
people are impacted by the children. It is a reciprocal system that greatly influences how
children behave.
Theorist Erik Erikson (1950, 1968) described the personality development of individuals
as the outcome of their interactions with their social environment, which reflects Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model as well. Erikson placed human development within eight distinct stages of social development. The first stage of psychosocial development provides
the foundation for a child’s self-esteem.
Erik Erikson and Social Development
Vanessa Davies/Getty Images
During Erikson’s first stage of psychosocial
development, children begin to trust that
their caregivers will tend to them when
they cry or need something.
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Erikson theorized that the primary task of infancy
is the establishment of trust. In this first stage,
trust vs. mistrust, a child, typically from birth to
18 months, must learn to trust the caregivers and
their environment to meet his or her basic needs.
For example, Matri, a 4-month-old child, cries
to let her mother know that she is hungry. Matri
trusts that her mother will hear her cries and ultimately meet her needs. Matri’s mother responds
to her daughter’s cries and begins to breastfeed
her. Matri’s mother trusts that when her daughter
has a need that must be met, she will cry to let her
know. A child whose needs are not being met will
ultimately develop a sense of mistrust in his or her
caregivers and environment. The notion of a trusting relationship is reciprocal in that infants trust
that when they cry or let their needs be known,
trusting caregivers will meet their needs. Likewise, caregivers trust that when infants have a
need, they will let their needs be known so that
they can be taken care of.
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Section 3.3 Self-Esteem
CHAPTER 3
Erikson’s trust vs. mistrust stage can go hand in hand with Bronfenbrenner’s ecologi …
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