Social Development Summary
1. Introduction: theories of social development
The study of social development is…
a description of children’s social behavior and how it changes as children get
older. It is a description about their ideas about themselves and other people,
their relationships with peers and adults, their emotional expressions and
displays their ability to function in social groups.
a tracing of continuities and discontinuities in children’s social behavior,
relationships, and ideas over time.
an explanation of the processes that lead to changes in social behavior and to
individual differences among children.
an examination of how other aspects of development – cognitive, perceptual,
language, and motor development – underlie children’s social behavior.
an investigation of the influences of parents and peers, school and the media,
and culture and biology on children’s social behavior and ideas.
Social development: a brief history
Medieval period = period in which people viewed children as miniature adults
and did not recognize childhood as a distinctive period deserving special
attention.
Children were not values or treated with the same care as they are today.
o Many children died in infancy and early childhood, and if they survived,
they were forced to labor in mines and fields.
o Child labor laws to protect children’s health and welfare = introduced in
1800s.
As people began to recognize children’s value and vulnerability, the need to
understand their development became clear as well.
Scientific study of children’s development:
o Darwin (1872) development of emotions – a key element of social
development.
o Hall (1904) questionnaires to document children’s activities, feelings,
and attitudes.
o Watson (1913) behaviorally oriented view – conditioning and
learning are the processes by which social and emotional behavior are
acquired and modified.
Emotional responses are learnable.
o Freud (1905) biologically oriented view – social development is the
product of how adults handled children’s basic drives.
o Gesell (1928) social skills simply unfold over the course of infancy
and childhood.
Question 1: How do biological and environmental influences affect social
development?
Nature-nurture issue:
Role of nature (biology) = hereditary and maturation.
1
, Social Development Summary
o The course of development is largely predetermined by genetic factors
– which guide the natural maturation or unfolding of increasingly
complex social skills and abilities.
o Maturation = a biologically determined process of growth that unfolds
over a period of time.
Role of nurture (environment) = learning and experience.
o Genetic factors place no restrictions on the ways that environmental
events shape the course of children’s development.
o By properly organizing the environment, they could train any infant to
become an athlete for instance.
Answer on the question: both biological and environmental factors influence
social development. The question today is how the expression of a particular
inherited biological characteristic is shaped, modified, and directed by a
particular set of environmental circumstances.
Question 2: What role do children play in their own development?
Extent to which children contribute to their own development:
Early scholars tended to believe that children were simply passive organisms
who were shaped by external forces.
However, children are active agents who, to some extent, shape, control, and
direct the course of their own development.
o Children are curious seekers of information who intentionally try to
understand and explore the world about them.
o They actively seek out particular kinds of information and interactions.
o They actively modify the actions of the people they encounter.
Over the course of development, children participate in reciprocal
interchanges with other people.
o Transactional = ongoing interchanges between social partners such as
parent and child across time that result in modifications of the social
behavior of each.
Throughout development, children’s social behavior is constantly undergoing
changes as a result of this mutual influence process.
Question 3: What is the appropriate unit for studying social development?
The early focus was on the individual child as the unit of analysis. However, other
units are also important.
Focus on the social dyad = a pair of social partners, such as friends, parent
and child, or marital partners.
Larger units including social triads (e.g., mother-father-child).
Social groups that children form or join outside the family have their own rules
and provide significant contexts for children’s social development.
All of these units – individuals, dyads, triads, and groups – are important.
Question 4: Is development continuous or discontinuous?
Developmental change
Continuous = each change building on earlier experiences in an orderly way.
2
, Social Development Summary
o Development as smooth and gradual, without any abrupt shifts along
the path.
o Noticeable changes in behavior are simply part of an ongoing series of
smaller shifts.
Discontinuous = a series of discrete steps and the organization of behavior is
qualitatively different at each new stage or plateau.
o The concerns of each phase of development and the skills learned in
that phase are different from those of every other phase.
o Piaget and Freud: stage theories of development.
As children get older, they move through different stages
At each new stage, they learn new strategies for understanding
and acquiring knowledge and for managing interpersonal
relationships.
These new strategies displace earlier ways of dealing with the
word.
Our judgment of continuity/discontinuity depends on the power of the lens we
use when we look at changes across ages.
o If we look from a distance or over a fairly long period of time, marked
differences are evident – suggesting that there are distinct
developmental stages in social behavior and social relationships.
o If we look more closely, we find that such changes do not happen
suddenly – there is a great deal of variability in social behaviors even at
the same point in time.
Third view of social development (c): gradual shifts and changes as children
slowly learn new strategies, and gradually adopt the best and most advanced
ones.
Most social development scholars recognize the value of both continuous and
discontinuous view; they see development as continuous but interspersed with
transitional periods in which changes are relatively abrupt.
Transitional periods may be the result of physical changes, such as learning to
walk, which offers infants new opportunities for interaction or the onset of
puberty, which changes the way children think about themselves.
Transitions may be the result of cultural changes, such as the entry into junior
high school, which brings children into larger social groups and a more
complex social organization.
3
, Social Development Summary
Some view these transitional periods of reorganization as opportunities for
intervention or changes in developmental trajectories.
Question 5: Is social behavior the result of the situation or the child?
Whether children’s behavior is the same in different situations (e.g., school, home).
Developmental psychologists differ in the importance they assign to ‘person
factors’ versus ‘situation factors’. Many resolve the dilemma by stressing the
dual contributions of both personality and situational factors.
o Children seek out situations in which they can display their
personalities. Genetic predispositions lead children to niche-pick
situations that are compatible with their genetic make-up (aggressive
children are more likely to enter a gang than a stamp collectors’ club).
o At the same time, children’s selection of these experiences may
strengthen their predispositions as they get older (tendency to behave
aggressively).
Question 6: Is social development universal across cultures?
Racial and ethnic groups present children with diverse experiences, but how much
effect do these experiences have on children’s social behavior?
Some argue that culture-free laws of development apply to all children in all
cultures.
o Children in every culture acquire the basic foundations of social life
(e.g., learning to recognize other people’s emotional expressions).
Others argue that the cultural settings in which children grow up play a major
role in their development.
o In some cultures, older siblings care for children.
o It is very unlikely that children would develop social attitudes and
behaviors identical to those of children with very different child-rearing
experiences.
Most argue that some aspects of social development are universal and other
aspects are attributable to culture.
o Although all children develop social understanding, the rates at which
social milestones are reached very across cultures.
o So, both universal aspects of development as well as cultural contexts
are important.
Question 7: How does social development vary across historical eras?
Cultures not only differ from one another but also differ over time. These changes in
structures of families and the way people communicate can affect children’s social
development
Rates of divorce and remarriage increased, childbearing has delayed, family
sizes have decreased, the likelihood of mothers working outside the home has
increased and children’s exposure to peers in childcare has increased.
4
1. Introduction: theories of social development
The study of social development is…
a description of children’s social behavior and how it changes as children get
older. It is a description about their ideas about themselves and other people,
their relationships with peers and adults, their emotional expressions and
displays their ability to function in social groups.
a tracing of continuities and discontinuities in children’s social behavior,
relationships, and ideas over time.
an explanation of the processes that lead to changes in social behavior and to
individual differences among children.
an examination of how other aspects of development – cognitive, perceptual,
language, and motor development – underlie children’s social behavior.
an investigation of the influences of parents and peers, school and the media,
and culture and biology on children’s social behavior and ideas.
Social development: a brief history
Medieval period = period in which people viewed children as miniature adults
and did not recognize childhood as a distinctive period deserving special
attention.
Children were not values or treated with the same care as they are today.
o Many children died in infancy and early childhood, and if they survived,
they were forced to labor in mines and fields.
o Child labor laws to protect children’s health and welfare = introduced in
1800s.
As people began to recognize children’s value and vulnerability, the need to
understand their development became clear as well.
Scientific study of children’s development:
o Darwin (1872) development of emotions – a key element of social
development.
o Hall (1904) questionnaires to document children’s activities, feelings,
and attitudes.
o Watson (1913) behaviorally oriented view – conditioning and
learning are the processes by which social and emotional behavior are
acquired and modified.
Emotional responses are learnable.
o Freud (1905) biologically oriented view – social development is the
product of how adults handled children’s basic drives.
o Gesell (1928) social skills simply unfold over the course of infancy
and childhood.
Question 1: How do biological and environmental influences affect social
development?
Nature-nurture issue:
Role of nature (biology) = hereditary and maturation.
1
, Social Development Summary
o The course of development is largely predetermined by genetic factors
– which guide the natural maturation or unfolding of increasingly
complex social skills and abilities.
o Maturation = a biologically determined process of growth that unfolds
over a period of time.
Role of nurture (environment) = learning and experience.
o Genetic factors place no restrictions on the ways that environmental
events shape the course of children’s development.
o By properly organizing the environment, they could train any infant to
become an athlete for instance.
Answer on the question: both biological and environmental factors influence
social development. The question today is how the expression of a particular
inherited biological characteristic is shaped, modified, and directed by a
particular set of environmental circumstances.
Question 2: What role do children play in their own development?
Extent to which children contribute to their own development:
Early scholars tended to believe that children were simply passive organisms
who were shaped by external forces.
However, children are active agents who, to some extent, shape, control, and
direct the course of their own development.
o Children are curious seekers of information who intentionally try to
understand and explore the world about them.
o They actively seek out particular kinds of information and interactions.
o They actively modify the actions of the people they encounter.
Over the course of development, children participate in reciprocal
interchanges with other people.
o Transactional = ongoing interchanges between social partners such as
parent and child across time that result in modifications of the social
behavior of each.
Throughout development, children’s social behavior is constantly undergoing
changes as a result of this mutual influence process.
Question 3: What is the appropriate unit for studying social development?
The early focus was on the individual child as the unit of analysis. However, other
units are also important.
Focus on the social dyad = a pair of social partners, such as friends, parent
and child, or marital partners.
Larger units including social triads (e.g., mother-father-child).
Social groups that children form or join outside the family have their own rules
and provide significant contexts for children’s social development.
All of these units – individuals, dyads, triads, and groups – are important.
Question 4: Is development continuous or discontinuous?
Developmental change
Continuous = each change building on earlier experiences in an orderly way.
2
, Social Development Summary
o Development as smooth and gradual, without any abrupt shifts along
the path.
o Noticeable changes in behavior are simply part of an ongoing series of
smaller shifts.
Discontinuous = a series of discrete steps and the organization of behavior is
qualitatively different at each new stage or plateau.
o The concerns of each phase of development and the skills learned in
that phase are different from those of every other phase.
o Piaget and Freud: stage theories of development.
As children get older, they move through different stages
At each new stage, they learn new strategies for understanding
and acquiring knowledge and for managing interpersonal
relationships.
These new strategies displace earlier ways of dealing with the
word.
Our judgment of continuity/discontinuity depends on the power of the lens we
use when we look at changes across ages.
o If we look from a distance or over a fairly long period of time, marked
differences are evident – suggesting that there are distinct
developmental stages in social behavior and social relationships.
o If we look more closely, we find that such changes do not happen
suddenly – there is a great deal of variability in social behaviors even at
the same point in time.
Third view of social development (c): gradual shifts and changes as children
slowly learn new strategies, and gradually adopt the best and most advanced
ones.
Most social development scholars recognize the value of both continuous and
discontinuous view; they see development as continuous but interspersed with
transitional periods in which changes are relatively abrupt.
Transitional periods may be the result of physical changes, such as learning to
walk, which offers infants new opportunities for interaction or the onset of
puberty, which changes the way children think about themselves.
Transitions may be the result of cultural changes, such as the entry into junior
high school, which brings children into larger social groups and a more
complex social organization.
3
, Social Development Summary
Some view these transitional periods of reorganization as opportunities for
intervention or changes in developmental trajectories.
Question 5: Is social behavior the result of the situation or the child?
Whether children’s behavior is the same in different situations (e.g., school, home).
Developmental psychologists differ in the importance they assign to ‘person
factors’ versus ‘situation factors’. Many resolve the dilemma by stressing the
dual contributions of both personality and situational factors.
o Children seek out situations in which they can display their
personalities. Genetic predispositions lead children to niche-pick
situations that are compatible with their genetic make-up (aggressive
children are more likely to enter a gang than a stamp collectors’ club).
o At the same time, children’s selection of these experiences may
strengthen their predispositions as they get older (tendency to behave
aggressively).
Question 6: Is social development universal across cultures?
Racial and ethnic groups present children with diverse experiences, but how much
effect do these experiences have on children’s social behavior?
Some argue that culture-free laws of development apply to all children in all
cultures.
o Children in every culture acquire the basic foundations of social life
(e.g., learning to recognize other people’s emotional expressions).
Others argue that the cultural settings in which children grow up play a major
role in their development.
o In some cultures, older siblings care for children.
o It is very unlikely that children would develop social attitudes and
behaviors identical to those of children with very different child-rearing
experiences.
Most argue that some aspects of social development are universal and other
aspects are attributable to culture.
o Although all children develop social understanding, the rates at which
social milestones are reached very across cultures.
o So, both universal aspects of development as well as cultural contexts
are important.
Question 7: How does social development vary across historical eras?
Cultures not only differ from one another but also differ over time. These changes in
structures of families and the way people communicate can affect children’s social
development
Rates of divorce and remarriage increased, childbearing has delayed, family
sizes have decreased, the likelihood of mothers working outside the home has
increased and children’s exposure to peers in childcare has increased.
4
