PSYC 333 Lecture Notes - Lecture 35: Mirror Test, Cognitive Development, Premarital Sex
2 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Self-Concept
• Self – the combination of physical and psychological attributes unique to each individual
• Self-differentiation – child recognizes they have their own unique identity that is
separate from everyone else
• Personal agency – responsibility for some events (baby learns that kicking the mobile
makes it move)
• Rouge test – test is children know they are themselves when they look in a mirror where
parents put red marks on their head. If the child wants to take it off, it indicates that they
recognize it is them in the mirror and that the red mark doesn’t belong there.
o 5m – recognize themselves as “familiar”, but not necessarily them
o 18m – recognize is it themselves in the mirror
o 2y – limited to present self (if you put a sticker on the forehead of a 2-year-old
and show them a mirror after two minutes, the child does not recognize the sticker
is on *their head. If you put the sticker on their head and show them a mirror
right away, then they will recognize the sticker shouldn’t be there)
o 4y – extended self (will take the sticker off in those 2 minutes, but won’t after a
longer amount of time)
• As children become more aware of their self, they become more socially skilled and they
experience self-conscious emotions like guilt, embarrassment, shame, and pride
• Besides cognitive development, children learn self-recognition from…
o Parents and friends saying “you are so fast! you are so sweet!”
o Parents encouraging child to do things on their own encourages independence
o Secure attachment promotes higher self-recognition
• Cultural differences
o American students describe themselves with individualistic/personal descriptors
(more competition-driven)
o Japanese students describe themselves with social/relational descriptors (more
socially driven)
• Genotypic influences on the child’s self-concept are stronger for boys than for girls
Self-esteem
• Self-esteem – evaluation of one’s worth based on self-concept
• Declines around middle school and becomes more stable into adulthood
• Low self-esteem is strongly associated with failure to gain approval of friends in girls,
and lack of romantic competence in boys
• Importance of self-esteem
o Higher self-esteem is associated with lower occurrences of conduct disorders
(stealing, violence)
o Self-esteem level is linked with depression, medical conditions, and diseases
o Less self-esteem is associated with lower economic prospects
• Democratic home styles (finding a good middle to their child’s wishes) increases self-
esteem (Instead of taking Jimmy to see a real rocket, they agree to take him to a rocket
museum)
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• Lowest in collectivist societies (Japanese) because while western culture emphasis self-
love, while other they emphasize success for the help of their family this leads to
increased stress on collectivist children to do well for others
• Achievement motivation – willingness to strive to succeed at challenging tasks
• White’s Theory: Achievement Motivation – there is an inborn drive to master the
environment
o Phase 1 (before age 2) – Joy in Mastery
o Phase 2 (age 2) – Approval-seeking
o Phase 3 (age 3+) – use of standards (pride after success, shame after failure, less
dependent on how other people evaluate you)
• Why does self-esteem diminish during adolescence?
o Dweck’s Learned Helplessness Theory
▪ Mastery orientation – persist after failure, increase effort
▪ Learned helplessness orientation – attributes failures to stable and
internal factors (stops trying, but persists over time)
o Use of person-orientated praise rather than process-oriented praise
(incorrect: you finished the puzzle, you’re so smart! Vs. correct: you worked
really hard on that puzzle, good job!) teaches child that failures are attributed
to lack of ability, rather than lack of effort = personalization
Stable cause
Unstable cause
Based on ability (I am hopeless at math)
Based on effort (I should have studied more)
Internal cause
External cause
Stable
Ability (I’m hopeless at math,
whether the material is easy or
hard)
Task difficulty (test was so hard,
whether I’m good/bad at math)
Unstable
Effort (could have done better
if I had studied more)
Luck (every question on the test were
the ones I studied)
Abstract Identity (who will I be in the future?)
• Identity – firm and coherent sense of who one is, where one is headed, and where one
fits into society
• Among minority youth, greater identity formation conflicts tend to arise for mixed-
identity adolescents and cross-ethnic adoptees, and minority children living in Caucasian
neighborhoods
• James Marcia: Identity status:
o Identity diffusion – no sense of having choices because they have not attempted
to make a commitment to any identities
o Identity foreclosure – willing to commit to some roles, values, or goals; conform
with the expectations of others
o Identity moratorium – explores new identities and ready to make own choices,
but not ready to commit to one (identity crisis)
o Identity achievement – makes commitment to identity
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Sex Differences and Gender-Role Development
• Gender Role Standards
o Females – expressive, sensitive
o Male – dominant, competitive
• Sex – biological identity
• Gender – cultural identity
• Gender-typing – process of acquiring a gender identity and the motives, values, and
behaviors considered appropriate for their biological sex
• Are gender stereotypes cultural myths?
o No bases for facts in stereotypes, they could just be due to well-ingrained
cognitive schemas taught in children
o Male/female dichotomy is not universal Bugi people in Indonesia have 5
genders
• Home influences
o Parents expect sons to outperform daughters in math
o Son’s successes are due to ability, and daughter’s due to hard work
• Cultural differences – collectivist societies encourage conforming to gender role
standards
• Subcultural variations (may be due to differences in education/family life)
o Middle class adolescents have more flexible gender role attitudes
o African American children hold less stereotyped views of women than European
children
• Societal influences
o Males assigned greater status
o Males feel stronger pressure to adhere to gender appropriation codes
o Most girls comply with prescriptions for feminine roles
o Males have heightened activity levels
• Gender-typing theories
o Evolutionary
▪ Males and females have different pressures males need to be more
aggressive to make their genes pass on and have special skills for hunting,
while women need to be more nurturing to bring up a baby
▪ Criticisms: ignores differences in historical periods
o Genetics
▪ Males might be better with visual/spatial processing because their toys are
more provoking in that way (building blocks, legos, cars)
▪ hormones can influence behaviors testosterone influences male
behaviors, and estrogen influences women behaviors
o Cultural
▪ Arapesh tribe – both males and females were taught to be expressive
(suggests expression is learned, not inherited)
▪ Mundugumor – both genders are taught masculinity
o Psychobiosocial
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Vs. correct: you worked really hard on that puzzle, good job!) Teaches child that failures are attributed to lack of ability, rather than lack of effort = personalization. Based on ability (i am hopeless at math) Based on effort (i should have studied more) Ability (i"m hopeless at math, whether the material is easy or hard) Effort (could have done better if i had studied more) Task difficulty (test was so hard, whether i"m good/bad at math) Luck (every question on the test were the ones i studied) Likely to display limited aggression (criticize test score or hair) Have more earlier in development: antisocial intention of harm or injuring another individual. Push another kid because you don"t like him and want to make him cry. Get to something that will indirectly affect them (push another kid down to get his toy or kill sister"s hamster to make sister sad)
