PSY 2105 Chapter Notes - Chapter 15.1: Mental Model, Moral Realism, Ethology
27 Apr 2018
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CHAPTER 15: FAMILIES AND PEERS
THEORIES OF SOCIALIZATION
•Evolutionary theory
Parental and peer relations are innate and reflect the evolutionary history of the species
we don’t have to learn it; babies focus more on the eyes when talking. Cry b/c want ppl to be there for
us
biological basis for adaptive behaviour, a basis set by evolutionary history of the species
any adult is presumably set by evolution to respond to children in appropriate ways plus
parents are especially likely to engage in caregiving practices that promote development of their
children because doing so serves to perpetuate their genes
evolution has provided males and females with somewhat different priorities with regard to mating
and subsequent child care
parental investment theory: females have considerably more investment in the survival and well-
being of their offspring than do males
innate underpinning to many of the behaviours that children direct toward their peers
ethologists don’t claim that such behaviours are totally under genetic control, because experience is
clearly necessary for their emergence. But they do claim that there’s important biological basis set by
evolution on which experience operates
two emphases on the ethological approach in the work on dominance hierarchies; the value of
comparative study and the importance of studying behaviour in the natural setting
•Environmental/Learning theory
Parents and peers can influence children’s development by reinforcing, punishing and modelling
Will say kids have to share
goal is to identify basic leanring principles that apply across a range of sitatuons, age grups, amd tpyes
of behaviour
soicalization doesn’t require discovery of new processes of leanring, the task, rather is to explain how
the basic basic processes apply in the socialization context
what changed over the years is the particular forms of learning that are stressed
early versions emphasized direct learning via reinforrcement and punishment,
parent’s dlivery and reinforcing or punishing consequences is intentional or sometimes they
unintentionally strengthen behaviour that they don’t wish to promote
Bandura: reinforcement and punishment are joined by observational learning that results from
exposure to a model, thus another basic way parents influence their children is by providing models of
behaviour that may then affect the child’s behaviour
peers provide reinforcing or punishing consequences as a child develops - attention, praise, sharing or
refusing to share, criticism, disapproval and peers are also models of behaviout and sometimes even
more important than parents
•Cognitive-Developmental theory
Interactions with parents and peers are crucial to cognitive development
Talk to them about why you should share; having convos and be able to practice having convos
parents hold beliefs both about children in general and about their own, some are unconsciousa nd
implicicmet such as internal working model or about child rearing.
child rearing emphasize the child’s cognitive contribution, chilfren are seen as striving to make sense of
both their parents’ positions and thier own eventuak behaviour (why should i clean my room?).
socialization invovles not only the teaching of specific behaviours but also the transmisson of genrea
attitudes or belief system
children lack the prwoer and authorirty of adult, they conform to what they percoeve to be the adjukd’s
views. the result is moral realism, characterized by a rigigid view of right and weong. when chilfren interact
with peers, the relation is much more one of equals, and there is a continual need for cooperating,
negotiating, and taking the point of view of the other
interaction with peers leads to the ability to consider different perspectives, an ability central to the
more advanced form of reasoning known as moral relativisim, more generally, interaction with peers is
important in breaking down the child’s egocentrism and encouraging more mature forms of thought
peers are also important in Kohlberg’s theoru of moral development. movement through Kohlberg’s
stages results partly from biological maturation, achieving a new stage rquires sufficent level of maturation
and experience with moral issue. Kohlberg especially stressed experiences in which the child encounters
different points of view and this is forced to consider and integrate different perspectives. Such
experiences of cognitive conflict may be especially likely in the give-and-take of the peer group
peers are alsp important in child’s thought and thinking about other children falls under social cognition
- the child’s understanding of the social and interpersonal world. Basic principle of the cognitive-
developmental approach is that the child’s cogntiive level is an important determinant of the child’s
behaviour, including towards other people
cognitive theorist expect older children who are advanced in their level of social reasoning to be
afvanced in their social behaviour as well
•Sociocultural approaches
Parents and peers nurture development when they provide experiences that are within the child’s zone
of proximal development
Teaching at level above where they are, but not too hard for them or else they won’t learn. Model
appropriate social skills – age 2, not talk about bullying but talk about sharing
parental models can be important contribitor to children’s behaviour and that cildren’s cognitive
capactieis affect both what they bring to and what they take away from scoialziation encounters.
Development is alwyas embedded wihti and is inseparable from a sociocultiral context. Devleopment is
socialization
parents can direct their child’s development most successfully when they work within the chid’s zone
for a particular domain, either through scaffolding in the case of explicit instructional encounters or through
guided participation as they scpialize the child in the ways of the home or the community more generally
emphassis on peers isn’t on the clash of differing persepectives but on the transmission of knowledge
or skills from a more exper peer to a less expert peer
bronfenbrenner’s ecological system theour show not only are children affected by the various
microsystems eithin which they develp, also imortant are the ways in which these systems related to one
another - the mesosystem. This model also catures an emphasis that is central to theory and research in
Document Summary
Parental and peer relations are innate and re ect the evolutionary history of the species we don"t have to learn it; babies focus more on the eyes when talking. Parents and peers can in uence children"s development by reinforcing, punishing and modelling. Interactions with parents and peers are crucial to cognitive development. Kohlberg especially stressed experiences in which the child encounters different points of view and this is forced to consider and integrate different perspectives. Such experiences of cognitive con ict may be especially likely in the give-and-take of the peer group peers are alsp important in child"s thought and thinking about other children falls under social cognition. The child"s understanding of the social and interpersonal world. Parents and peers nurture development when they provide experiences that are within the child"s zone of proximal development. Teaching at level above where they are, but not too hard for them or else they won"t learn.
