Developmental Psychology

Achieve Test Prep: Developmental Psychology

name a few. An often underestimated factor which impacts an individual’s self-esteem is peers. If children are neglected, teased, or bullied, their self-esteems may decrease. Family structure can help with self-esteem. The makeup of the family structure does not matter. For example, it does not matter if the parents are single or married, the sexual orientation of the parents, or if there is extended family living in the house. A low conflict, highly supportive home environment plays a very important role in a child’s development of self-esteem. Difficulties of Adjustments: There are many times of adjustment during middle childhood. These periods of adjustment can be anything from moving, new school years, family differences, etc. Times of adjustment can cause anxieties, frustrations, and even aggressiveness. Aggressive behaviors have been shown to be more prevalent in males than females, especially in regards to physical aggression. Males tend to learn more via observation, than females. Female children tend to mimic emotional manipulation they observe, while male children tend to mimic physical aggression they observe. Freud postulated the Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis , which states that whenever someone’s effort to obtain a goal is blocked, the result is frustration. Frustration may lead to aggression because the desired goal was obstructed. Aggression is cause by frustration and aggression is an innate drive in all people. Alfred Bandura put forth the notion of Social Learning Theory , which differs from behavioral theories in that Social Learning Theory emphasizes the importance of cognitive processes of the learning experience. Based on Social Learning Theory, aggression is learned via observation and the more it is observed, the more the aggression is repeated. Bandura set up the ‘Bobo Doll Experiment’ which allowed two groups of children to watch videos of other children’s interaction with the Bobo doll. Each group of children was allowed to play with the doll after viewing their respective videos. The children, who had viewed the video with violence that went unpunished, exhibited violence and aggression towards the doll. However, the children who had viewed the video where violence was punished were reluctant to be aggressive towards the doll.

Possible Conflicts in Middle Childhood: 1. Social phobias

a. Stem from a fear of leaving home and being away from parents b. More common in females than males c. Deeper issue is generally separation anxiety from both parents and child

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