The Family

Parents play 3 roles:

1. Direct instructors

2. Indirect socializers (models)

3. Provider and controllers of opportunities

Parenting Style and Practices

• “Parenting styles” refers to parenting behaviors and attitudes that set the emotional climate of parent–child interactions.

• Four main parenting styles (Baumrind,1973):– Authoritative

– Authoritarian

– Permissive

– Rejecting–neglecting

Authoritative ParentsThe Parents• demanding, but warm and responsive.• Set clear standards.• Allow children to develop autonomy.• attentive to children’s concerns and needs.• consistent in discipline.The Children• tend to be competent, self-assured, popular with peers,

and low in antisocial behavior and drug use as teens.

Authoritarian ParentsThe Parents• cold and unresponsive to children’s needs.• controlling and demanding.• Expect children to comply with their demands

without question or explanation.

The children• tend to be low in social and academic competence,

unhappy, unfriendly, and low in self-confidence.

Permissive ParentsThe Parents• responsive to their children’s needs• lenient with their children.• Do not require their children to regulate themselves or behave

appropriately.

The children • tend to be impulsive, lacking in self-control, and low in school

achievement.• As adolescents, they engage more in misconduct and drug use.

Rejecting–Neglecting ParentsThe parents• disengaged, undemanding, unsupportive, and low in

responsiveness• Don’t set limits/rules or monitor children’s behavior.The children• tend to have disturbed attachment as infants and toddlers

and, later, problems with peer relationships.• As teens, they exhibit antisocial behavior, depression and

social withdrawal, drug use, risky sexual behavior, and low academic and social competence.

Family Dynamics

More to “family” than parenting

# of sibs, sibs’personality, birth order

All members influence each other

All are effected by social support

Developmental changes in the child changes family dynamics

Changes in the family structure (divorce, new siblings)

Wrap Up: Course Objectives• To introduce basic questions, theories and methods of

developmental approaches to psychology.

• To show how developmental approaches to psychology can begin to answer these questions

• To help you to ask the right questions and distinguish a good design and founded conclusions from unfounded ones.

• To be interesting!

Why Study Child Development?

• In order to be better parents.

• In order to help choose and shape social policies.

• In order to understand human nature.

Applying What We’ve Learned

• Pick a good partner!“The practical lessons of child-development research for

parents begin even before they become parents. Given the importance of genetics, pick a partner whose physical, intellectual, and emotional characteristics suggest that he or she will provide your child with good genes. Given the importance of the environment, pick a partner who will be a good mother or father. In terms of long-term impact on your child, this choice almost certainly will be the most important decision you ever make.” (Siegler, et. al., 2003)

• Ensure a healthy pregnancy• Form a secure attachment (display positive emotion, be consistent, be

responsive)• Be an authoritative, not an authoritarian or laissez-faire parent!

(Provide support, “guided participation”, involve your child in decision making)

• Expose children to a second language: the earlier the better• Provide a stimulating environment

– Books: First you learn to read, then you read to learn…– Discussions of emotions, narratives…long-term impacts on

language proficiency, theory of mind, social intelligence etc. etc. • And much more…

Applying What We’ve Learned

General Conclusions• Multifaceted and complex interactions

between Nature and Nurture

• Multiple sources of sociocultural effects