Introduction to Abnormal Child and Adolescent Psychology. Robert Weis

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СКАЧАТЬ style="font-size:15px;">      Social Learning

      Behaviors can also be acquired by observing others. Albert Bandura and colleagues (Bandura, Ross, & Ross, 1961) demonstrated that children who watched adults behaving aggressively toward a Bobo doll often imitated the adults’ aggressive actions. Bandura’s social learning theory proposed that learning through imitation or modeling was a primary mechanism of behavioral acquisition. Social learning was especially likely when models were similar to children in age and gender and when models were reinforced for their actions.

      Modeling is also used to explain and to treat child behavior problems. For example, parents who model anxiety to their children can increase their children’s likelihood of developing an anxiety disorder. A mother who is afraid of social situations might model this fear to her daughter. Specifically, she might avoid attending social gatherings and worry about appearing foolish in public. She might also tell her daughter that other people are critical and judgmental, thereby increasing her daughter’s fear of social situations. As a result, her daughter might develop anxiety and a tendency toward social withdrawal (Knappe, Beesdo-Baum, Fehm, Lieb, & Wittchen, 2012).

      A therapist might also use modeling as a means to reduce the daughter’s social anxiety. Specifically, the therapist might ask the child’s teacher to pair the girl with a “classroom buddy”—a female classmate who shows well-developed social skills and is willing to model appropriate social behavior. By watching her “buddy,” the girl might discover that social situations are often pleasant and are rarely catastrophic. Consequently, her social anxiety may decrease (Scaini, Belotti, Ogliari, & Battaglia, 2016).

       Review

       Classical conditioning occurs when children associate two stimuli together in time. Behaviors acquired through classical conditioning can be extinguished using exposure techniques.

       Operant conditioning occurs when children associate a behavior with an environmental consequence. Reinforcement always increases the likelihood of future behavior; punishment always decreases the likelihood of future behavior. Reinforcement and punishment can be positive or negative.

       Social learning occurs when children acquire a behavior through imitation or modeling.

      How Is Cognitive Development Important to Understanding Childhood Disorders?

      Cognitive Development

      Cognitive development refers to changes in a child’s capacity for perception, thought, language, and problem-solving. Jean Piaget’s stage theory provides a framework for thinking about cognitive development in children and adolescents. According to this theory, development progresses through a series of four broad stages in an invariant sequence. Each stage is characterized by greater sophistication in children’s cognitive abilities (Barrouillet, 2015; Carey, Zaitchik, & Bascandziev, 2015).

      Infants in the sensorimotor stage (0–2 years) develop an understanding of themselves and their surroundings largely through happenstance or trial and error. This stage is marked by the emergence of object permanence, the notion that objects exist even when the child cannot see them; pretend play, acting “as if” one object (e.g., a doll) is another (e.g., a real baby); and increased use of language. Deficits in motor skills, pretend play, and language during this stage can indicate a range of neurodevelopmental problems.

      Preschoolers in the preoperational stage (2–6 years) engage in increasingly more sophisticated use of language and representational thought. They can form a more complex understanding of their world and can begin to plan their actions before engaging in them. Children in this stage develop theory of mind, that is, the notion that other people have mental states (i.e., “minds”) that can be different from their own. As a result, children can begin to take the perspective of others, understand others’ motives and feelings, and respond with empathy. Conditions such as autism spectrum disorder and social communication disorder are characterized by delays in theory of mind and empathic understanding.

      School-age children (6–12 years) fall in the stage of concrete operations. Throughout elementary school, these children develop greater capacity for conservation, that is, understanding that objects may change in appearance, but their amount or quantity remains constant. Conservation is tied to the physical world rather than to abstract ideas. Consequently, children in this stage can learn about subjects connected to the physical world (e.g., arithmetic, reading) but are typically not ready for more abstract subjects (e.g., algebra, literary analysis).

      Finally, adolescents (≥12 years) achieve the stage of formal operations, characterized by logical-deductive reasoning. At this stage, adolescents can begin to use general principles to determine specific truths, enabling them to engage in more abstract thought. Formal operations allow adolescents and young adults to comprehend algebra and geometry, psychology and sociology, or philosophy and political science—subjects that young children cannot understand.

      Social Cognition

      Social cognition is an important aspect of cognitive development that concerns our capacity to think about social situations. Social cognition is based on social information processing theory, a general model for how humans perceive, judge, store, and retrieve social information. Central to the notion of social cognition is the idea that we form schemas, or mental models about ourselves and others. These schemas are based on prior interpersonal experiences, and they guide and direct future social behavior. For example, a child with well-developed social skills and many friends might expect a new classmate to be friendly. He might approach the new classmate and ask him to play during recess. In contrast, a child who is socially awkward and rejected by her peers might anticipate that a new classmate would also reject her. Consequently, she might avoid the new classmate (Bargh, 2013; Fiske & Taylor, 2013).

      Problems with social information processing underlie many childhood disorders. For example, children who engage in aggressive behavior toward peers typically have negative schemas regarding themselves and others. Furthermore, when confronted with social problems, they tend to perceive others’ actions as hostile or rejecting and have difficulty generating peaceful problem-solving strategies (Dodge, Godwin, & Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group, 2013). Similarly, children with depression often view themselves as ineffective in social situations. When confronted with social problems, they tend to shy away from others, often leading others to reject them, confirming their low self-worth. Fortunately, therapies have been developed to improve children’s social information-processing skills and alleviate children’s behavioral and emotional problems (Michl, McLaughlin, Shepherd, & Nolen-Hoeksema, 2013).

       Review

       Piaget identified four stages of cognitive development. These stages describe children’s increased capacity for thinking, problem-solving, and language.

       Social cognition refers to children’s ability to think about social situations and solve interpersonal problems. Some childhood disorders are associated with social problem-solving biases or deficits.

      How Is Emotional Development Important to Understanding Childhood Disorders?

      Emotional Development

      Emotional development refers to the emergence and refinement of a child’s experience, expression, understanding, and regulation of feelings (Odle, 2016). The process of emotional development reflects the child’s physical maturation, increased cognitive СКАЧАТЬ