Solution Manual for HDEV 6th Edition Rathus,

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Solution Manual for HDEV 6th Edition Rathus,

Chapter 8
Early Childhood: Social and
Emotional Development
Chapter Overview

This chapter covers social and emotional development in early childhood. The first part of the
chapter examines parental influences on a child’s development, including discipline techniques,
transmission of values and standards, and Baumrind’s ideas about the dimensions of warmth-
coldness and restrictiveness-permissiveness. Sibling and peer influences are discussed next.
Then, the topics of play, prosocial behavior, and aggression (including relations between
aggression and violence in the media) are covered under the section on social behavior. Next,
aspects of the development of personality and emotional development are presented. Early
childhood fears and developing concepts about the self are discussed, as well as the stage of
initiative versus guilt from Erikson’s theory.

This chapter summarizes the organization of the brain and its contribution toward differences in
gender. An explanation of the role sex hormones play in such differences is also provided. There
is a description of the social cognitive theory as it relates to gender typing and children’s
decisions on appropriate behaviors. The implications of the cognitive-developmental theory on
gender differences during early childhood are explored. Kohlberg’s gender typing theory is
summarized. The key components of this theory (gender identity, gender stability, and gender
constancy) are defined. This chapter concludes with a discussion on gender schema theory.

Chapter Learning Objectives

Having read the chapter, students should be able to achieve the objectives given below.
• Discuss the two parenting dimensions of warmth-coldness and restrictiveness-
permissiveness and relate these dimensions to parenting styles and child outcomes
• Describe inductive, power-assertive, and withdrawal discipline techniques as well as how
these techniques influence children
• Explain Baumrind’s parenting styles—authoritative, authoritarian, permissive-indulgent,
and rejecting-neglecting
• Explain how siblings influence each other
• Discuss child behaviors that are associated with the birth of a younger sibling
• Analyze regression to baby-like behaviors following the birth of a sibling
• Describe how birth order may impact child outcomes

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• Describe the importance of peer interactions on the social, physical, and cognitive
development of a child
• Explain the importance of child’s play
• Define “dramatic play”
• Describe the kinds of play identified by Piaget—functional play, symbolic play,
constructive play, and formal games
• Describe the six kinds of play identified by Parten: (a) unoccupied play, (b) solitary play,
(c) onlooker play, (d) parallel play, (e) associative play, and (f) cooperative play
• Compare nonsocial play with social play
• Discuss the gender differences in play
• Discuss the development of prosocial behavior (altruism)
• Describe how empathy develops during early childhood
• Describe how perspective-taking skills change as children mature
• Explain the development of prosocial behavior due to rewards and punishments
• Describe the developmental patterns of aggression
• Compare the different theoretical approaches to aggression in children—genetics,
cognitive, social cognitive, and physical punishment
• Describe the development of a sense of self or self-concept
• Define the categorical self
• Describe the difference between children with high self-esteem and children with low self-
esteem
• Discuss Erikson’s initiative versus guilt stage and how it relates to early childhood
psychosocial development
• Discuss changes in the fears of children during the preschool years
• Define “stereotype” and “gender role”
• Describe the development of gender roles for males and females within this culture
• Discuss the observance of gender differences as children mature
• Explain the role of evolution in gender differences
• Summarize brain organization and its contribution to gender differences
• Explain the role of sex hormones in the development of gender differences
• Describe the social cognitive theory as it relates to gender typing and children’s decisions
on appropriate behaviors
• Describe the implications of cognitive-developmental theory on gender differences during
early childhood
• Summarize Kohlberg’s gender typing theory: (a) gender identity, (b) gender stability, and
(c) gender constancy
• Define “gender identity,” “gender stability,” and “gender constancy”
• Summarize gender-schema theory

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Chapter Outline

I. Dimensions of Child Rearing

• Parents have different approaches to rearing their children.

• Investigators of parental patterns of child rearing have found it useful to classify them
according to two broad dimensions: warmth-coldness and restrictiveness-permissiveness
(Baumrind, 1989, 2013).
o Warm parents are affectionate toward their children.
▪ They are caring and supportive.
o Cold parents may not enjoy their children and may have few feelings of affection for
them.
▪ They are likely to complain about their children’s behavior, saying they are
naughty or have “minds of their own.”
• The children of parents who are warm and accepting are more likely to develop internal
standards of conduct—a moral sense or conscience (Gauvain et al., 2013).
• Consistent control and firm enforcement of rules can have positive consequences for the
child, particularly when combined with strong support and affection (Grusec & Sherman,
2011).
o This parenting style is termed the authoritative style (Baumrind, 2013).
• On the other hand, if “restrictiveness” means physical punishment, interference, or
intrusiveness, it can give rise to disobedience, rebelliousness, and lower levels of cognitive
development (Larzelere et al., 2013).
• Permissive parents supervise their children less closely than restrictive parents do.
o Permissive parents allow their children to do what is “natural,” such as make noise,
treat toys carelessly, and experiment with their bodies.

A. How Parents Enforce Restrictions

• Inductive methods aim to teach knowledge that will enable children to generate
desirable behavior on their own.
o The main inductive technique is “reasoning,” or explaining why one kind of
behavior is good and another is not.
• Power-assertive methods include physical punishment and denial of privileges.
o Parents may insist that power assertion is necessary because their children are
noncompliant.
o Use of power-assertion is related to parental authoritarianism as well as children’s
behavior (Larzelere et al., 2013).
o Parental power assertion is associated with lower acceptance by peers, poorer
grades, and more antisocial behavior in children.

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• Some parents control children by threatening withdrawal of love.

o They isolate or ignore misbehaving children.
o Withdrawal of love may foster compliance but also instill guilt and anxiety
(Grusec et al., 2017).

B. Parenting Styles: How Parents Transmit Values and Standards

• Diana Baumrind (2013) focused on the relationship between parenting styles and the
development of competent behavior in young children.
• She used the dimensions of warmth-coldness and restrictiveness-permissiveness to
develop a grid of four parenting styles based on whether parents are high or low in each
dimension.
• Baumrind (2013) applies the label authoritative to parents who know what they want
their children to do but also respect their children and are warm toward them.
o Compared with other children, the children of authoritative parents tend to show
self-reliance and independence, high self-esteem, high levels of activity and
exploratory behavior, and social competence.
• “Because I say so” could be the motto of parents that Baumrind labels as authoritarian.
o Authoritarians value obedience for its own sake.
o They have strict guidelines for right and wrong and demand that their children
accept them without question.
o Authoritarian parents do not communicate well with their children or respect their
children’s viewpoints.
o Baumrind found the sons of authoritarian parents to be relatively hostile and
defiant and the daughters to be low in independence and dominance (Baumrind,
2013).
• Permissive-indulgent parents are low in their attempts to control their children and in
their demands for mature behavior.
o They are easygoing and unconventional.
o Their brand of permissiveness is accompanied by high nurturance (warmth and
support).
• Rejecting-neglecting parents are also low in their demands for mature behavior and
attempts to control their children.
o Unlike indulgent parents, they are low in support and responsiveness.
o The children of permissive-indulgent parents, like those of neglectful parents, are
less competent in school and show more misconduct and substance abuse than
children of more restrictive, controlling parents.
o Children from permissive-indulgent homes, unlike those from neglectful homes,
are fairly high in social competence and self-confidence (Baumrind, 1991).

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C. Effects of the Situation and the Child on Parenting Styles

• Parenting styles depend partly on the situation and partly on the characteristics of the
child (Grusec, et al., 2017).
• Parents prefer power-assertion to induction when they believe that children understand
the rules they have violated and are capable of acting appropriately.

II. Social Behaviors

• During early childhood, children make tremendous advances in social skills and behavior
(Underwood & Rosen, 2011).
o They learn how to share, cooperate, and comfort others.

A. Influence of Siblings

• Siblings serve many functions, including giving physical care, providing emotional
support and nurturance, offering advice, serving as role models, providing social
interaction that helps develop social skills, making demands, and imposing restrictions
(Holden et al., 2011).
o In early childhood, siblings’ interactions have positive aspects (cooperation,
teaching, nurturance) and negative aspects (conflict, control, competition) (Parke
& Buriel, 2006).
o There is more conflict between siblings when the parents play favorites (Scharf et
al., 2005).

Adjusting to the Birth of a Sibling

• The birth of a sister or brother is often a source of stress for preschoolers because of
changes in family relationships.
• Children show a mixture of negative and positive reactions to the birth of a sibling.
• They include regression to baby-like behaviors, such as increased clinging, crying,
and toilet accidents.
• The same children may also show increased independence and maturity, insisting on
feeding or dressing themselves and helping to care for the baby (Underwood &
Rosen, 2011).
• Anger and naughtiness may increase.
• Parents can help a young child cope with the arrival of a baby by explaining in
advance what is to come.

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B. Birth Order

• Firstborn children, as a group, are somewhat more highly motivated to achieve than
later-born children (Barclay, 2015).
• Firstborn and only children appear to perform better academically and are more
cooperative (Damian & Roberts, 2015).
• On the negative side, firstborn and only children show somewhat greater anxiety levels
and are somewhat less self-reliant than later-born children.
• Later-born children may learn to act aggressively to compete for the attention of their
parents and older siblings (Carey, 2007).
o They also tend to be somewhat more rebellious and liberal than firstborn children
(Beck et al., 2006; Breining et al., 2017).
o Parents are more relaxed and flexible with later-born children.

C. Peer Relationships

• Peer interactions foster social skills—sharing, helping, taking turns, and dealing with
conflict (Wentzel & Ramani, 2016).
o Physical and cognitive skills develop through peer interactions.
• By about two years of age, children imitate one another’s play and engage in social
games such as follow the leader (Coelho et al., 2017).
• Also by this age, children show preferences for particular playmate—an early sign of
friendship (Wentzel & Ramani, 2016).
o Friendship is characterized by shared positive experiences and feelings of
attachment (Grusec & Sherman, 2011).
o Even early friendships can be fairly stable (Rubin et al., 2006).

D. Play—Child’s Play, That Is

• Children’s play is meaningful, pleasurable, and internally motivated. Play is fun but also
serves important functions in the child.
o Play helps children develop motor skills and coordination (Burghardt, 2015).
o It contributes to social development because children learn to share play materials,
take turns, and try on new roles through dramatic play.
o It supports the development of such cognitive qualities as curiosity, exploration,
symbolic thinking, and problem solving (Bergen, 2015; Christie & Roskos, 2015).

Play and Cognitive Development

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• Jean Piaget ([1946] 1962) identified kinds of play, each characterized by increasing
cognitive complexity (De Lisi et al., 2015).
o Functional play—beginning in the sensorimotor stage, the first kind of play
involves repetitive motor activity, such as rolling a ball or running and
laughing.
o Symbolic play—also called pretend play, imaginative play, or dramatic play,
symbolic play emerges toward the end of the sensorimotor stage and increases
during early childhood (Mottweiler & Taylor, 2014).
o Constructive play—children use objects or materials to draw something or
make something, such as a tower of blocks.
o Formal games—games with rules include board games, which are sometimes
enhanced or invented by children, and games involving motor skills, such as
marbles and hopscotch, ball games involving sides or teams, and video games.

Parten’s Types of Play

• In classic research on children’s play, Mildred Parten (Dyson, 2015; Henricks, 2015)
observed the development of six types of play among 2- to 5-year-old nursery
schoolchildren: unoccupied play, solitary play, onlooker play, parallel play,
associative play, and cooperative play.
• Solitary play and onlooker play are considered nonsocial play, that is, play in which
children do not interact socially.
• Nonsocial play occurs more often in two- and three-year-olds than in older
preschoolers.
• Parallel play, associative play, and cooperative play are considered social play; in
each case, children are influenced by other children as they play.
• Parten found that associative play and cooperative play become common by age five.
• Girls are somewhat more likely than boys to engage in social play (Underwood &
Rosen, 2011).
• Nonsocial play can involve educational activities that foster cognitive development.

Gender Differences in Play

• Research shows that infants show visual preferences for gender-stereotyped toys as
early as three to eight months of age (Alexander et al., 2009).
• Although preferences for gender-typed toys are well developed by the ages of 15 to
36 months, girls are more likely to stray from the stereotypes (Underwood & Rosen,
2011).
• Girls and boys differ not only in toy preferences but also in their choice of play
environments and activities.

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• Another well-documented finding is that children begin to prefer playmates of the

same gender by the age of two.
• Two factors may be involved in the choice of the gender of playmates in early
childhood.
o One is that boys’ play is more oriented toward dominance, aggression, and
rough play (Hines, 2011).
o The second is that boys are not very responsive to girls’ polite suggestions.

E. Prosocial Behavior

• Prosocial behavior, also known as altruism, is intended to benefit another without

expectation of reward.
• Prosocial behavior includes sharing, cooperating, and helping and comforting others in
distress.
• It is shown by the preschool and early school years and is linked to the development of
empathy and perspective taking (Grusec & Sherman, 2011).

Empathy

• Empathy is sensitivity to the feelings of others and is connected with sharing and
cooperation.
• Empathy promotes prosocial behavior and decreases aggressive behavior, and these
links are evident by the second year.
• Girls show more empathy than boys (Ball et al., 2017).
o It is unclear whether this gender difference reflects socialization of girls to be
attuned to the emotions of others or genetic factors.

Perspective Taking

• According to Piaget, preoperational children tend to be egocentric.

o They tend not to be able to see things from vantage points of others.
• Perspective-taking skills improve with age and so do prosocial skills.
• Among children of the same age, those with better developed perspective-taking
ability also show more prosocial behavior and less aggressive behavior (Spinrad &
Gal, 2018; Spinrad & Eisenberg, 2017).
• Parents foster prosocial behavior when they use inductive techniques such as
explaining how behavior affects others.
• Parents of prosocial children are more likely to expect mature behavior.

Influences on Prosocial Behavior

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• Although altruistic behavior is defined as prosocial behavior that occurs in the

absence of rewards or the expectations of rewards, it is influenced by rewards and
punishments.
o Children who are rewarded for acting prosocially are likely to continue these
behaviors (Grusec & Davidov, 2015).
o Parents of prosocial children are more likely to expect mature behavior from
their children.

F. Development of Aggression

• Aggressive behavior, as other social behavior, seems to follow developmental patterns.

• The aggression of preschoolers is frequently instrumental or possession oriented
(Persson, 2005).
• By age six or seven, aggression becomes hostile and person oriented.
• Aggressive behavior appears to be generally stable and predictive of social and
emotional problems later on, especially among boys (Nagin & Tremblay, 2001; Tapper
& Boulton, 2004).
o Toddlers who are perceived as difficult and defiant are more likely to behave
aggressively throughout the school years (Olson et al., 2000).

G. Theories of Aggression

• Aggression in childhood appears to result from a complex interplay of biological factors

and environmental factors such as reinforcement and modeling.
• Evidence suggests that genetic factors may be involved in aggressive behavior,
including criminal and antisocial behavior (Bezdjian et al., 2011).
• Cognitive research with primary schoolchildren finds that children who believe in the
legitimacy of aggression are more likely to behave aggressively when they are presented
with social provocations (Yaros et al., 2014).
• Aggressive children are also often found to be lacking in empathy and the ability to see
things from the perspective of other people (Waller et al., 2017; Underwood & Rosen
2011).
• Social cognitive explanations of aggression focus on environmental factors such as
reinforcement and observational learning.
o Children who are thus rewarded for acting aggressively are likely to continue to
use aggressive means, especially if they do not have alternative means to achieve
their ends.
• Children who are physically punished are more likely to be aggressive themselves than
children who are not physically punished (Albert, 2017; Temple et al., 2018).

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• Physically aggressive parents serve as models for aggression and also stoke their
children’s anger.

Media Influences

• A classic experiment by Bandura, Ross and Ross (1963) suggests the powerful
influence of televised models on children’s aggressive behavior.
• Television is a fertile source of aggressive models, and most organizations of health
professionals agree that media violence contributes to aggression in children
(Huesmann & Eron, 2013; Huesmann et al., 2017).
• Following are the ways that depictions of violence make their contribution toward
children’s aggressive behavior (Anderson et al., 2015; Anderson et al., 2015).
o Observational learning
▪ Children learn from observation.
▪ TV violence supplies models of aggressive “skills,” which children may
acquire.
o Disinhibition
▪ Punishment inhibits behavior.
▪ Conversely, media violence may disinhibit—to encourage a response
that has been previously suppressed—aggressive behavior, especially
when characters “get away” with it.
o Increased arousal
▪ Media violence and aggressive video games increase viewers’ level of
arousal.
▪ Children are more likely to be aggressive under high levels of arousal.
o Priming of aggressive thoughts and memories
▪ Media violence “primes” or arouses aggressive ideas and memories.
o Habituation
▪ Children become used to repeated stimuli.
▪ Children exposed to violence are more likely to assume that violence is
acceptable or normal and become desensitized to it.
• Violent video games may create the greatest risk of violence because they require
audience participation (DeLisi et al., 2013; Lin, 2013).
• Playing violent video games increases aggressive thoughts and behavior in the
laboratory (Anderson et al., 2010: Gentile et al., 2017).
• Males are relatively more likely than females to act aggressively after playing violent
video games and are more likely to see the world as a hostile place.
• Cultural stereotyping of males and females, possible biological gender differences,
and moderating variable like academic achievement also figure in to the effects of
media violence.

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III. Personality and Emotional Development

• In early childhood, children’s sense of self—who they are and how they feel about
themselves—develops and grows more complex.
o They begin to acquire a sense of their own abilities and their increasing mastery of
the environment.

A. The Self

• The sense of self, or the self-concept, emerges gradually during infancy.

o Infants and toddlers visually begin to recognize themselves and differentiate
themselves from other individuals such as their parents.
• Almost as soon as children begin to speak, they describe themselves in terms of certain
categories, such as age groupings (baby, child, adult) and gender (girl, boy).
o Self-definitions that refer to concrete external traits have been called the
categorical self.
• Children with high self-esteem are more likely to be securely attached and have parents
who are attentive to their needs (Roisman & Groh, 2011).
• Preschool children begin to make evaluative judgments about two different aspects of
themselves by the age of four (Underwood & Rosen, 2011).
o One is their cognitive and physical competence and the second is their social
acceptance by peers and parents.
• Children also become increasingly capable of self-regulation in early childhood.

B. Initiative vs. Guilt

• As preschoolers continue to develop a separate sense of themselves, they increasingly

move out into the world and take the initiative in learning new skills.
o Erik Erikson (1963) refers to these early childhood years as the stage of initiative
versus guilt.
• Children in this stage strive to achieve independence from their parents and master adult
behaviors.
o Adults prohibit children from doing certain things, and children begin to
internalize adult rules.
o Fear of violating the rules may cause the child to feel guilty and may curtail
efforts to master new skills.
o Parents can help children develop and maintain a healthy sense of initiative by
encouraging their attempts to learn and explore and by not being unduly critical
and punitive.

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C. Fears: The Horrors of Early Childhood

• Children’s fears change as they move from infancy into the preschool years.
• The number of fears seems to peak between two-and-a-half and four years and then
taper off (Muris, 2017).
• Fear of social disapproval is not the most common fear among preschoolers.
o Preschoolers are most likely to fear animals, imaginary creatures, the dark, and
personal danger (Muris & Field, 2011).
• During middle childhood, children become less fearful of imaginary creatures, but fears
of bodily harm and injury remain common.
• Muris (2017) asserts that the origin of fears can involve multiple factors, including
genetics, conditioning, modeling (as in observing parents’ responses to a spider),
avoidance, and cognitive biases—such as viewing objects of fears as awful and beyond
one’s coping ability.

IV. Development of Gender Roles and Gender Differences

• Stereotypes create demands and limit opportunities for both genders.

• Cultural stereotypes of males and females are broad expectations of behavior that people
call gender roles (Leaper, 2018).
• Gender-role stereotypes develop in stages.
o Children learn to label the genders.
o At about two to two-and-a-half years of age, children can identify pictures of girls
and boys (Alexander et al., 2009).
o By age three, children display knowledge of gender stereotypes for toys, clothing,
work, and activities (Farr et al., 2018; Todd et al., 2017).
• Children become increasingly traditional in their stereotyping of activities, jobs, and
personality traits between the ages of three and nine or 10 (Liben, 2017).

A. Gender Differences

• According to gender-role stereotypes, people believe that females and males also differ
in their behaviors, personality characteristics, and abilities (Maccoby, 2015).
o Girls show somewhat greater verbal ability than boys, whereas boys show
somewhat greater visual-spatial ability than girls.

B. Theories of the Development of Gender Differences

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The Roles of Evolution and Heredity

• According to evolutionary psychologists, gender differences were fashioned by

natural selection in response to problems in adaptation that were repeatedly
encountered by humans over thousands of generations (Biernat & Sesko, 2018;
Bugental et al., 2015).
o Men, who have generally been the hunters, breadwinners, and warriors, are
more likely to be seen as adventurous, aggressive, and assertive.
o Women, who have more often been the homemakers and caretakers, are more
likely to be seen as affectionate, agreeable, and emotional.

Organization of the Brain

• The organization of the brain is largely genetically determined.

• The hemispheres of the brain are specialized to perform certain functions.
• Matthias Riepe and his colleagues (Grön et al., 2000) have studied the ways in which
humans and rats use the hippocampus when they are navigating mazes.
o Males use the hippocampus in both hemispheres when they are navigating
(Grön et al., 2000).
o Women, however, rely on the hippocampus in the right hemisphere along with
the right prefrontal cortex, an area of the brain that evaluates information and
makes plans.

Sex Hormones

• Researchers suggest that the development of gender differences in personality, along

with the development of anatomical gender differences, may be related to prenatal
levels of sex hormones (Berenbaum, 2018).

Social Cognitive Theory

• Social cognitive theorists consider both the roles of rewards and punishments
(reinforcement) in gender typing and the ways in which children learn from
observing others and decide which behaviors are appropriate for them.
• Socialization also plays a role.
• Parents, teachers, other adults—even other children—provide children with
information about the gender-typed behaviors expected of them (Leaper, 2018).
• Children are rewarded with smiles and respect and companionship when they display
“gender-appropriate” behavior.

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• Children are punished with frowns and loss of friends when they display
“inappropriate” behavior.

Cognitive-Developmental Theory

• Lawrence Kohlberg (1966) proposed a cognitive-developmental view of gender

typing.
• According to this perspective, children form concepts about gender and then fit their
behavior to the concepts (Zosuls et al., 2011).
• According to Kohlberg, gender typing involves the emergence of three concepts:
gender identity, gender stability, and gender constancy.
o The first step in gender typing is attaining gender identity.
▪ Gender identity is the knowledge that one is male or female.
▪ At two years, most children can say whether they are boys or girls.
▪ By the age of three, many children can discriminate anatomic gender
differences (Campbell et al., 2004; Zosuls et al., 2011).
o At around age four or five, most children develop the concept of gender
stability, according to Kohlberg.
▪ Children recognize that people retain their gender for a lifetime.
o By the age of five to seven years, Kohlberg believes that most children develop
the more sophisticated concept of gender constancy and recognize that
people’s gender does not change, even if they change their dress or behavior.

Gender-Schema Theory

• Gender-schema theory proposes that children use gender as one way of organizing
their perceptions of the world (Leaper, 2013; Martin & Ruble, 2004).
• A gender schema is a cluster of concepts about male and female physical traits,
personality traits, and behaviors.
• According to gender-schema theory, once children come to see themselves as female
or male, they begin to seek information concerning gender-typed traits and try to live
up to them (Liben et al., 2017; Tenenbaum et al., 2010).

Discussion Topics

Preschoolers’ Behavior

As pointed out in the text, preschoolers more readily comply with a request to do something than
to stop doing it. Thus, when preschoolers engage in unwanted activities, it is more effective to
direct them in how one wants them to behave instead of how one doesn’t want them to behave.

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 15

For instance, if a child is yelling inside a classroom, one might instruct the child to “use your
inside voice” instead of “stop yelling.” However, it is also important to be clear in one’s
directive.

Developments of Self-Concept during Early Childhood: The Self in Time

Although self-recognition is a facet of early self-concept, it is easily operationalized into the

“rouge test” and thus is often used in empirical studies. In the rouge test, a dab of red rouge is
surreptitiously placed on a child’s face. If a child has acquired “self-concept,” the child will
reach to his or her own face when he or she spots the rouge in the mirror. This is typically
achieved when a child is between 18 to 20 months of age. However, a child doesn’t achieve a
sense of self extended in time until about age three to four. This is typically indexed by a video-
delay task. In this task, a sticker is placed on the face of a child while being videotaped. After a
delay, the tape is played back for the children. Those that have achieved a sense of self in time
will reach to the sticker on their own face (Howe, 2004).

Howe, M. L. (2004). Early memory, early self, and the emergence of autobiographical memory.
In D. R. Beike, J. M. Lempinen, & D. A. Behrend (Eds.), The self and memory, (pp. 45–72).
New York, NY: Psychological Press.

Gender Differences in Pretend Play

Much research has indicated that girls are more likely than boys to have imaginary companions.
However, recent research has demonstrated that three- to four-year-old boys are more likely than
girls to impersonate characters (e.g., pretending to be a Power Ranger). Further, when boys
impersonate people, they are “significantly more likely than girls to act out supernatural beings
based on media figures.” This finding was interpreted to show that these preschool-aged children
are already well aware of gender roles, and even their pretend play is consistent with these roles.

Carlson, S. M. & Taylor, M. (2005). Imaginary companions and impersonated characters: Sex
differences in children’s fantasy play. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 51 (5), 93–118.

Aggressive Behaviors

According to the text, “Children, like adults, not only can be loving and altruistic, but they also
can be aggressive.” In the light of this statement, ask students to discuss the different factors that
might encourage a child to develop aggressive behavior. Is there an age limit up to which one
can control or eliminate such behavior? What methods can parents use if their child is being
aggressive? Do these methods vary in a single-parent household? Discuss.

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Class Activities and Projects

Parenting Types

Present the following parenting dilemma, and have students describe how parents with different
parenting style (authoritative, authoritarian, rejecting/neglecting, and permissive/indulgent)
might respond. The instructor can pose the question to the whole class or assign one parenting
style to each group. The instructor can even have the students present their answers in the form
of a short skit.

Your first-grader has been having trouble in math class. Hence, your child has
been learning math from a tutor once a week after school. The tutor is only
available on Mondays, and your child has a math test coming up in two days.
However, your child’s best friend that recently moved away is back in town for a
day, and that is a Monday. Your child is begging you to let him or her play with
the friend rather than going to the tutor. How will you respond?

Program to Reduce Aggression

Assign a small group of students to one of the theories of aggression presented in this chapter.
Based on the assigned theory, have students design an intervention program to reduce physical
aggression in preschoolers. (This will also require students to use the material on cognitive and
language development they learned in the previous chapter.) Have each group present their
program to the class. The class can now decide on the most effective program. (Instructor might
want to discuss the I Can Problem Solve! curriculum described below at this point to
demonstrate a successful program.)

Children’s Play

Have students go to local playgrounds and observe children playing. Have them develop coding
sheets prior to the observations, or have them take detailed notes on Parten’s play categories:
onlooker, parallel, associative, dramatic, and cooperative play. Students can also look for
instances of aggressive behaviors, child and parent conflicts, and gender differences. Do they see
the developmental trends as described by Parten?

Gender and Toys

Have students visit a toy store or find one on the web and examine the toy choices for
preschoolers. They should assess them for signs of stereotypical male or female behavior (e.g.,
dolls and trucks). Then have students consider the type of toys that they would buy for their own

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 17

children and the degree to which they think they would buy male stereotypical toys for their sons
and female stereotypical toys for their daughters. Finally, have students consider stereotypes,
such as “sissies” versus “tomboys,” and how they influence parents’ (mothers and fathers) toy
choices for their children (girls and boys).

Reduce Childhood Fear

Have students work in small groups. Have them pick a fear they personally had in preschool (or
use the fear of dogs if they cannot come up with one on their own). Students should use the
information provided in the book to make two specific suggestions to a parent trying to alleviate
this fear in their preschooler. If an adult had this fear, would you take a different approach?
Explain how differences in cognitive abilities relate to both the existence of fears and the
treatment of fears.

Gender and the Society

Have students discuss the different factors that affect a child’s gender orientation. Students can
come up with examples such as media, toys, books, friends, and the type of environment the
child grows in. Ask students why parents are conscious about their child’s gender. Do they fear
society, or is it human nature? Students should prepare a detailed list of the factors and write a
short essay on the questions mentioned above.

A Letter from a Concerned Mom: A Gender Case Study

Present students with one of four versions of a “Letter from a Concerned Mom.” The instructor
may want to assign a particular model of gender role development and ask students to respond
from that perspective, or one can allow students to choose one or more models. Students should
answer the following questions and then compose a reply to “Concerned Mom.”

Questions to be answered:
1. What is gender identity?
2. How do children develop gender stability?
3. How do children develop gender roles based on the following?
a. Psychoanalytical model
b. Social learning theory model
c. Cognitive-developmental theory model
d. Gender schema model
4. What is the “time table” for children developing gender stereotypes?
5. What are some questions you would want to ask “Concerned Mom” about this situation?

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 18

Version 1: My son, who is four-and-a-half years old, daily pretends to be female in

his play. He adores frilly things, purses, makeup, jewelry, etc. He is typically a
female character when pretending with his friends. Out of his many interests,
dancing is his favorite. I have allowed him to pretend to be the person he wants to
be. There are other characters like a firefighter, a policeman, and different animals
that my son could choose. Out of all these characters, he chooses female roles the
most often. When we are playing, he tells me, “I can’t be king because I am a
girl.” He has always enjoyed playing with girls but has several male buddies. My
husband and I disagree about the normalcy of this play. I believe it is healthy to let
him play the role of his choice. My husband thinks this has gone on too long and
that our son has gone overboard. We have quarreled about this. How concerned
should we be? Is this unhealthy play?

Version 2: My daughter, who is four-and-a-half years old, pretends to be male in

her play. She adores mechanical things, insects and bugs, and generally rough
play. She is typically a male character when playing with her friends. She has
many interests, but the one she loves the most is wrestling. I have allowed her to
pretend to be the person she wants to be. There are many other characters like a
ballerina, a princess, and different animals. Out of all these characters, she chooses
male roles the most often. When we are playing, she tells me, “I can’t be a prince
because I am a girl.” She has always enjoyed playing with boys but has several
female friends. My husband and I disagree about the normalcy of this play. My
husband believes it is healthy to let her play the role of her choice. I think this has
gone on too long and that our daughter has gone overboard. We have quarreled
about this. How concerned should we be? Is this unhealthy play?

Version 3: My son, who is four-and-a-half years old, daily pretends he is female in

his play. He adores frilly things, purses, makeup, jewelry, etc. He is typically a
female character when playing with his friends. Out of his many interests, dancing
is his favorite. I have allowed him to pretend to be the person he wants to be.
There are many other characters like a fireman, a policeman, and different animals,
but out of all these characters, he chooses female roles the most often. When we
are playing, he tells me, “I can’t be a king because I am a girl.” He has always
enjoyed playing with girls but has several male friends. My partner and I disagree
about the normalcy of this play. I believe it is healthy to let him play with
whatever he wants. My partner thinks this has gone on too long and that our son
has gone overboard. I believe that my partner is concerned that others will blame
our lifestyle on this problem (i.e. What do you expect from a boy with two
mothers?) We have quarreled about this. How concerned should we be? Is this
unhealthy play?

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 19

Version 4: My son, who is four-and-a-half years old, pretends to be female in his

play. He adores frilly things, purses, makeup, jewelry, etc. He is typically a female
character when he is playing with his friends. He has many interests, but dancing
is the one that he loves the most. I have allowed him to pretend to be the person he
wants to be. There are many other costumes like those of a fireman, a policeman,
and different animals, but out of all these characters, he chooses female roles the
most often. When we are playing, he tells me, “I can’t be a king because I am a
girl.” He has always enjoyed playing with girls but has several male friends. I
believe it is healthy to let my son play the role of his choice. However, at my son’s
preschool, the teachers have become alarmed at his play and have advised me that
my son has gone overboard. I believe that the teachers are concerned that since I
am a single mother, perhaps my son is missing out on a father figure. I don’t really
know how to answer some of his questions. How concerned should I be? Is this
unhealthy play?

Gender Differences

Divide students into groups of four to five, then ask them to make a list of things that they think
are meant only for boys or only for girls. If time permits, students can take a tour of the campus
and add more items to the list. After listing different items, students should give reasons why the
item in the list are meant solely for a boy or a girl.

Answer Key: Truth or Fiction?

1. Parents who demand mature behavior wind up with rebellious children, not mature
children.
Fiction. It is not true that parents who are restrictive and demand mature behavior wind up
with rebellious children, not mature children. As long as parents are not severe with the
children, consistent control and firm enforcement of rules can have positive consequences
for their children (8-1b).

2. First-born children are more highly motivated to achieve than later-born children.
Truth. It is true that firstborn children are more highly motivated to achieve than later-
born children. However, the difference is a group difference and does not apply to all
firstborn or later-born children (8-2b).

3. Children who are physically punished are more likely to be aggressive than children who
are not.
Truth. It is true that children who are physically punished are more likely to be aggressive

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 20

than children who are not. The reasons for the connection are not fully clear (8-2g).

4. There is no scientific evidence that violence in the media contributes to aggression.

Fiction. It is not true that scientific evidence is lacking on whether media violence
contributes to aggression. Studies going back half a century show that children imitate
violence they observe in the media (8-2g).

5. The most common fear among preschoolers is fear of social disapproval.

Fiction. Actually, preschoolers are more likely to fear animals, imaginary creatures, the
dark, and personal danger than social disapproval (8-3c).

6. A 2½-year-old may know that she is a girl but still think that she can grow up to be a
daddy.
Truth. A 2½-year-old will likely have developed gender identity but not yet gender
stability (8-4b).

Video Suggestions

Disciplining Children (1991, Films for the Humanities and Social Sciences, 10 minutes).
This video discusses the differences between discipline and punishment.

The Ecology of Development (1992, Insight Media, 30 minutes).

This video includes cross-cultural examination of families.

Brothers and Sisters: Sibling Relationships (1997, Films for the Humanities and Social Sciences,
55 minutes)
This is a documentary that includes interviews with experts exploring the emotional aspects of
the sibling bond.

Just Mom and Me: Single Motherhood (2000, Filmakers Library, 60 minutes)
This video examines households headed by mothers.

Lost Boys: Growing Up without a Father (1995, Filmakers Library, 30 minutes)

This video profiles several males who have experienced emotional problems growing up with an
absent father.

Play: A Vygotskian Approach (1996, Davidson Films, 26 minutes)

This video presents both Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s approaches and then discusses the critical role
of play in both cognitive development as well as socialization.

© 2020 Cengage. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part.
Solution Manual for HDEV 6th Edition Rathus,

21

Play and the Social World: Acquiring Social Intelligence (1994, Filmakers Library, 25 minutes)
This video includes imaginary and cooperative play and emphasizes the need for some adult
guidance in such plays.

Toys (1994, Filmakers Library, 45 minutes)

This video examines historical changes in the toys provided to children. It also includes a
discussion by Jerome Kagan about the relationship between toys and behavior (including
gendered behavior).

Emotional Intelligence: The Key to Social Skills (1997, Films for the Humanities and Social
Sciences, 30 minutes)
This video covers the cognitive and the social aspects of developing social skills.

Monsters in the Closet: Childhood Fears (1997, Films for the Humanities and the Social
Sciences, 17 minutes)
This video covers the fears of preschool children and discusses ways to help them deal with their
fears.

Key Terms

Authoritative Disinhibit
Authoritarian Self-concept
Permissive-indulgent Categorical self
Rejecting-neglecting Stereotype
Regression Gender role
Dramatic play Gender identity
Nonsocial play Gender stability
Social play Gender constancy
Prosocial behavior Gender-schema theory

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