bergerca10e

SUMMARY

Learning to regulate and control emotions is crucial during early childhood. Emotional regulation is made possible by maturation of the brain, as well as by experience.
In Erikson’s psychosocial theory, the crisis of initiative versus guilt occurs during early childhood. Children normally feel pride, sometimes mixed with feelings of guilt. Self-concept develops; preschoolers think they are quite wonderful.
Both externalizing and internalizing problems signify impaired self-control. Some emotional problems that indicate psychopathology are first evident during early childhood.

All young children enjoy playing—preferably with other children of the same sex, who teach lessons in social interaction that their parents do not.
Active play takes many forms, with rough-and-tumble play fostering social skills and sociodramatic play fostering emotional regulation.

Three classic styles of parenting have been identified: authoritarian, permissive, and authoritative. Generally, children are more successful and happier when their parents are authoritative, expressing warmth and setting guidelines.
A fourth style of parenting, neglectful/uninvolved, is always harmful. The particulars of parenting reflect the culture as well as the temperament of the child.
Awareness of gender differences begins early, particularly in clothes, toys, playmates, and future careers.
Freud emphasized that children are attracted to the opposite-sex parent and eventually seek to identify, or align themselves, with the same-sex parent. Behaviorists hold that gender-related behaviors are learned through reinforcement, punishment (especially for males), and social modeling.
Cognitive theorists note that preoperational thinking leads to gender schemas and therefore stereotypes. Sociocultural theorists stress that cultures vary a great deal in the specific of gender norms, and children learn from what they observe.
Universal theories note that in all cultures, humans have the powerful need to belong to their group; evolutionary theory contends that gender differences aid the reproduction of the species.

Both nature and nurture affect moral development, which is intertwined with emotional regulation and the emergence of empathy. Throughout early childhood, children develop standards of right and wrong.
Prosocial emotions lead to caring for others; antisocial emotions lead to harming others. Patterns of behavior, learned in early childhood, continue later in childhood and beyond.
Punishments can have long-term consequences. Both corporal punishment and psychological control may have adverse effects. Time-out and induction may be more effective.