Human Development M4 written

Use the theories of Erikson, Piaget, Vygotsky, Bandura, and Kohlberg to answer the following questions for grades 1 – 6 (you must include information about 4 out of these 5 theories in some part of your essay).

How would you describe your social competence as a young child? Did it change over middle childhood (up until grade 6)? ?
Were you a high or a low status child?
Did you play predominantly with high or low status children?
Were you popular?
Think of a popular child in your school and an unpopular child (first names only).
Describe the popular child. Make sure you consider the characteristics that contributed to this child’s popularity. How do these characteristics compare with popular child characteristics you read about in your text?
Describe the unpopular child. Make sure you consider the characteristics that contributed to this child’s unpopular status. How do this child’s characteristics compare with unpopular child characteristics you read about in your text?
Writing Instructions

Length: 750 – 1000 words

References and citations should be in APA format. For example, (Lally & Valentine-French, 2017).

Note: For all written assignments, only the material assigned in the course should be cited. Show evidence of thoroughly reading and listening to the course resources.

General Instructions for Written Assignments
Your written assignment is intended to test your understanding of important concepts and discover how to sharpen your intellectual skills of analysis, synthesis, evaluation, and application. The intent of the written assignment is to provide an opportunity to more fully describe, explain, and analyze the books and other sources.

ANSWER

Human Development M4 Written

As a child grows, their social competence develops from early childhood to middle childhood. Many changes occur between these changes. Physical, emotional, social, and cognitive abilities develop between early childhood and middle childhood. Social competence in early childhood is the ability of children to understand their environment, gauge the wants and needs of others and then adapt to the situations. I grew up with an older sibling, which enhanced my early childhood social competence. According to Bandura’s social learning theory, children learn from their environment (Lally & Valentine-French, 2019). Having an elder sibling helps a child to be socially competent because they learn from their sibling. However, I would say I was selfish and egocentric. I did not understand the needs of my elder sibling, and I kept getting them in trouble. I expected my elder sibling to play the same games I did; if they did not, I would cry. I did not understand that they were not interested in playing the same games as me because they were older.

Over middle childhood, my social competence had improved quite a lot. I was better at associating with other children. According to Piaget’s cognitive theory, I was at the concrete operational stage. At this stage, I was no longer egocentric (Babakr et al., 2019). I understood things better. For example, I understood that sometimes my siblings did not want to play with me because they thought my games were beyond them. I understood this and often brought kids my age to the house so we could play together. I did not make a fuss when they did not include me. This is because I had developed my own personality and had peers I could call to come to my house, and we would play together. This enhanced my social competence. Having an older sibling also helped me relate with other children better, and I understood that sometimes their needs were not similar to mine.

I was more of a high-status kid. I learned a lot from my older sibling; thus, through the social learning theory, I learned how to balance my social life. This made me play with the high-status children in school and at home (Lally & Valentine-French, 2019). I had my own group of friends. We were never bullied, and our life in school was pretty easy. I was involved in school activities, which made me relate to more people in the school environment. I was not reactive to bullies, and this made them steer clear. I did not cry when teased, and I knew how to defend myself as a result of growing up with another child in the house. I would not describe myself as popular. I was not as popular as Cuthbert.

Cuthbert was a popular kid since middle school. She was always holding sleepovers. I was invited to the sleepovers at her house, which meant that I was nearly popular. The children that were not invited to her sleepovers were the unpopular ones. According to Erickson’s theory of industry vs. inferiority, children at that age always plan and get together. Those who were not industrious and felt inferior were the unpopular ones (Maree, 2021). They did not plan sleepovers, and most times, they kept to themselves. One boy in our class kept to himself till we joined junior high. He ate alone most of the time ad only had one friend. He was unable to establish friendships throughout middle childhood and late childhood. However, we went to the same high school, and he seemed to thrive in high school. It was like he gained a sense of personal identity when he got to high school, and this helped him get out of his shell (Lally & Valentine-French, 2019).

The unpopular boy in my class was called Billy. He was shy and was afraid of talking to most of us. He performed well in exams but rarely participated in public speaking activities. He was awkward and kept to himself most of the time. He was bullied as he was an easy target for the bullies. He never had any sleepovers and did not participate in any of the activities. Compared to Cuthbert, the two were polar opposites. Cuthbert was a social bee. She participated in many class activities and other afterschool activities. She reacted with most people, and she had a group of friends. In retrospect, from Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory, Billy was an only child, which could explain why he found it hard to interact with the rest of us. On the other hand, Cuthbert had elder sisters and brothers; thus, through sociocultural theory, she learned how to interact with others. She was high-functioning, unlike Billy, who preferred to stay alone. According to Lally & Valentine-French (2019), Cuthbert was a popular-prosocial child while Billy was a rejected-withdrawn child. This can be seen in the differences in their habits and how they acted in school.

References

Babakr, Z., Mohamedamin, P., & Kakamad, K. (2019). Piaget’s cognitive developmental theory: Critical review. Education Quarterly Reviews, 2(3).

Lally, M., & Valentine-French, S. (2019). Lifespan development: A psychological perspective.

Maree, J. G. (2021). The psychosocial development theory of Erik Erikson: critical overview. Early Child Development and Care, 191(7-8), 1107-1121.