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Developmental Trends: Social Cognition and Interpersonal Skills at Different Age Levels

by T. M McDevitt|J. E. Ormrod
Source: Pearson Allyn Bacon Prentice Hall
Topics: Social Development, more...

Infancy (Birth–2)

What You Might Observe:

  • Emerging awareness that other people have desires, goals, and intentions different from one’s own
  • Increasing engagement with other infants (e.g., watching and touching them, vocalizing, smiling at them, imitating them)
  • Appearance of simple prosocial behaviors (e.g., offering a teddy bear to a crying child) in the second year
  • Anger at caregivers who frustrate efforts toward desired goals
  • Conflicts with peers about toys and other desired objects

Diversity:

  • Infants who have frequent contact with age-mates (e.g., in group child care) tend to be more sociable.
  • Infants may be more inclined to show prosocial behaviors when caregivers model these behaviors.
  • Some children have “difficult” temperaments; they may be especially contrary in the second year, biting others or exhibiting frequent temper tantrums.

Implications:

  • Use words such as like, want, and think regularly in descriptions of yourself and children.
  • Allow infants to interact with one another under your guidance and protection.
  • Verbalize expressions of empathy and sympathy within earshot of other children.
  • Praise prosocial behaviors.
  • Set up the environment to reduce frustration and aggression; for instance, provide duplicates of favorite toys, and create separate areas for quiet play and active movement.
  • Explain to aggressive toddlers that some actions are unacceptable, and impose appropriate consequences (e.g., by placing a child in a short time-out).

Early Childhood (2–6)

What You Might Observe:

  • Increasing use of “feeling” and “thinking” words (e.g., want, sad, know)
  • Growing realization that the mind does not always represent events accurately (e.g., that a person may have a false belief)
  • Growing ability to take others’ perspectives, with some signs of empathy for people in distress
  • Increasing sharing and coordination of play activities (e.g., sociodramatic play)
  • Attempts to comfort people in distress, especially those whom children know well; comforting strategies not always effective
  • Some aggressive struggles with peers about possessions; increasing ability to inhibit aggressive impulses

Diversity:

  • Children whose parents talk frequently about thoughts and feelings tend to have a more advanced theory of mind.
  • Children with certain cognitive impairments (e.g., Asperger syndrome) and those with reduced exposure to language as a result of hearing impairments tend to have a more limited theory of mind.
  • Children are more apt to behave prosocially if they are consistently reinforced for such behavior.
  • On average, boys are more physically aggressive than girls.

Implications:

  • Talk often about various people’s thoughts, feelings, perspectives, and needs.
  • Recognize that selfish and territorial behaviors are common in early childhood.
  • Model sympathetic responses; explain what you are doing and why you are doing it.
  • Encourage children to give one another comfort when they can.
  • Praise any gentle, controlled, and constructive responses to frustration or provocation.
  • Comfort the victims of aggression, and administer appropriate consequences for the perpetrators. Explain why aggressive behavior cannot be tolerated.

Middle Childhood (6–10)

What You Might Observe:

  • Recognition that people’s actions do not always reflect their true thoughts and feelings
  • Growing realization that other people interpret (rather than simply remember) their experiences
  • Decrease in rigid stereotypes of particular groups of people (for most children)
  • Growing repertoire of conflict-resolution skills
  • Increasing empathy for unknown individuals who are suffering or needy
  • Increasing desire to help others as an objective in and of itself
  • Decrease in overt physical aggression, but with an increase in relational aggression and more covert antisocial behaviors (e.g., lying, stealing)

Diversity:

  • Children with certain disabilities (e.g., ADHD, autism, mental retardation) are more apt to have difficulty making accurate inferences about people’s motives and intentions.
  • Children whose families or communities consistently promote unflattering images of particular groups may continue to have strong prejudices.
  • Children whose parents value prosocial behavior are more likely to value it as well and to have genuine concern for others.
  • Some children consistently misinterpret peers’ thoughts and motives (e.g., by interpreting accidents as deliberate attempts to cause harm).
  • Some children become increasingly aggressive in the elementary grades.
  • Some children are bullies who regularly victimize vulnerable children (e.g., those without friends or those with disabilities).

Implications:

  • Assist children in their attempts to resolve interpersonal conflicts by asking them to consider one another’s perspectives and to develop a solution that addresses everyone’s needs.
  • Draw attention to a comforted child’s relief when another child helps (“Look how much better Sally feels now that you’ve apologized for hurting her feelings”).
  • Do not tolerate physical aggression or bullying. Make sure children understand rules for behavior, and follow through with appropriate consequences when children are aggressive.
  • Be on the lookout for children who seem to be frequent victims of others’ aggression; help them form productive relationships with peers.

Early Adolescence (10–14)

What You Might Observe:

  • Recognition that people may have multiple and possibly conflicting feelings and motives
  • Increasing sensitivity to body language and other nonverbal cues
  • Emerging ability to think recursively about one’s own and others’ thoughts
  • Decline in physical aggression
  • Frequent teasing and taunting of peers; emergence of sexual harassment

Diversity:

  • Self-disclosure is more common in girls than in boys.
  • Beginning at puberty, increased testosterone levels in boys contribute to their more aggressive tendencies.
  • Some adolescents with social-emotional problems (e.g., those with conduct disorders) show deficits in empathy for others.
  • Bullying behavior in some youngsters may temporarily increase after the transition to middle school or junior high.

Implications:

  • Conduct discussions that require adolescents to look at controversial issues from multiple perspectives.
  • Do not tolerate ethnic jokes or other remarks that show prejudice toward a particular group.
  • Communicate that giving, sharing, and caring for others should be high priorities.
  • Keep a watchful eye on students’ between-class and after-school activities; make it clear that physical aggression is not acceptable on school grounds.

Late Adolescence (14–18)

What You Might Observe:

  • Recognition that people are products of their environment and that past events and present circumstances influence personality and behavior
  • Use of peer group as a forum for self-exploration and self-understanding
  • Increasing awareness that members of any single category of people (e.g., women, people with disabilities) can be very different from one another
  • For many, less motivation to engage in aggressive behavior, often as a result of forming more intimate and rewarding relationships with others

Diversity:

  • Some high school students are exceptionally committed to making the world a better place (e.g., they may be active in Amnesty International, a group committed to preserving human rights around the world).
  • On average, youngsters who live in poor, violent neighborhoods are more apt to become aggressive.
  • Violence-prone adolescents often believe that hitting another person is reasonable retribution for unjust actions.
  • Substance abuse and sexual activity increase the probability of aggression.

Implications:

  • Talk about other people’s complex (and sometimes conflicting) motives, perhaps while discussing contemporary issues, historical events, or works of fiction.
  • Encourage community service work so as to engender a commitment to helping others. Ask adolescents to reflect on their experiences through group discussions or written essays.
  • Assign autobiographies and other readings that depict individuals who have actively worked for the greater good of society.
  • Enforce prohibitions against bringing weapons to school and other settings.

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