313 Writing Assignment
Format:
• Aim for 3 double-spaced pages, 12-point font (Arial or Times New Roman)
Rubric:
• 5 points for quality of writing (clear, grammatical, error-free, organized).
• 5 points for addressing the prompts below and for following all instructions.
• 5 points for evidence of thoughtful, careful reading.
Instructions: read one of the below short articles and write a short essay that addresses each of
the following prompts:
1. Provide a clear and concise summary of main points of the article and how they are
supported. Please use your own words.
2. Did you have an initial reaction to the article? If so, what was it? Do you think there
might be another way to react to it? Do you agree or disagree with what it says? Why?
3. Connect the author’s argument(s) or claim(s) to 2-3 topics/research findings or theories
we have discussed in class. Does it fit with what we’ve learned? If so, how? If not, why
not?
4. Did the article raise any questions for you? What were they? If you could do your own
study to address one or more of your question(s), what would it be?
https://theconversation.com/children-are-natural-optimists-which-comes-with-psychologicalpros-and-cons-93532
https://letgrow.org/raising-confident-kids/
https://theconversation.com/parents-stop-nagging-kids-not-to-forget-set-visual-cues-instead90306
https://theconversation.com/is-social-media-damaging-to-children-and-teens-we-asked-fiveexperts-126499
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20191001-the-word-gap-that-affects-how-your-babys-braingrows
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/05/210512083440.htm
Peers, bullying/victimization
PSYC313 November 16, 2021
Importance of peers for cognitive
and emotional development
• Piaget: children more spontaneous and open with peers
when expressing ideas and beliefs than with adults
• Vygotsky: children learn new skills and develop cognitive
capacities with peers (may be especially true with mixed
ages
Friendships
Who do kids want to be friends with?
• Sociable
• Prosocial
• Similar
• Academic motivation
• Cooperativeness
• Antisocial behavior
• Shyness
• Cognitive maturity
• And they tend to be more similar!
• Neg emotions, attributions
• Proximate
• Neighbors, school classmates
Cultural differences
• How children behave with friends
• Example: bragging
• How they view friends as a source of support
• Less common in Spain and Cuba vs Canada
• How much time spent with peers
• ”Free range” kids (Okinawa, Japan) spend more time
with peers than those in cultures where movement is
restricted (e.g., Kenya)
• Reflects values (and perhaps realities of life in different
places)
• How much peer acceptance is related to happiness (esp. if
culture places emphasis on family obligations, orientation to
family, child obedience, etc.)
When do kids start to
have friendships?
• As early as around 2 years
• Children will show more preference for some
over others (smiling, touching)
• But they don’t necessarily “play with” their
friends in way older kids do (parallel play is
common)
• By 3 – 4 years, can maintain friendships and
identify “best friends”
Effects of
friendships
• Support and validation
• Buffer against mental health issues
• Buffer against unpleasant experiences
(social exclusion, teacher rejection)
• Benefits to social cognitive skills
• Context for dev of social skills and
knowledge that children need to form
positive relationships with others
• Children who discuss emotions with
peers develop better understanding
of mental and emotional states
• Gossip facilitates understanding of
social norms
• Increases in aggression/disruptiveness
• though most data are correlational
(Perceived) support of classmates/friends goes up a
bit while (perceived) support of teachers goes down
Cliques
• Especially prevalent in middle school/early adolescence
• Not very stable at first but increasingly so
• Tend to be similar
• e.g., in academic motivation, personality, conventionality,
popularity, etc.
• bidirectional relation (birds of a feather….but also become
more alike over time)
• Provide validation, acceptance (talk about status becomes
more common)
• Older adolescents become more autonomous but tend to
belong to “crowds” (e.g., jocks, geeks…)ßnot sure how
universal this is!
Peer status
• How one is viewed and accepted by peers
• Distinct from friendship
• Rejection by peers is associated with a range of developmental outcomes, including
dropping out of school, problem behaviors, independently of having close friends
• Typically measured by:
• asking children how much they like or dislike each of their classmates
• Asking children to nominate who they like the best, least
• Calculating sociometric status
• Degree to which children are liked/disliked by peers
• Typically classified into one of five groups: popular, rejected, neglected, average,
controversial
TABLE 13.3 Common Sociometric Categories for Peer Ratings
Popular—Children are designated as popular if they are rated by their peers as being
highly liked and accepted and highly impactful.
Rejected—Children are designated as rejected if they are low in acceptance and
preference and high in rejection but also high in impact.
Neglected—Children are designated as neglected if they are low in social impact—
that is, if they receive few positive or negative ratings. These children are not
especially liked or disliked by peers; they simply go unnoticed.
Average—Children are designated as average if they receive moderate ratings on
both impact and preference.
Controversial—Children are designated as controversial if they are rated as very high
in impact but average in preference. They are noticed by peers and are liked by
quite a few children and disliked by quite a few others.
Source: Bukowski et al. (2012).
Popular and likeable
• Popular doesn’t imply likeable (can be popular without
being likeable, though likeability is often present)
• Popular kids are often accepted, impactful, have high
status
• Often physically attractive
• Popular and prosocial (likeable) tend to be socially
skilled (prosocial, good at regulating own emotions)
• But kids who are popular and “cool” (not necessarily
likeable) tend to be higher than average in aggression
(often relational aggression)
Does our high school popularity affect us
today? (TEDx talk by Mitch Prinstein)
• What does Dr. Prinstein say about likeability vs. high status in
popularity?
• Which one of these is associated with worse outcomes?
Mitch Prinstein on popularity and likeability
Does our high school popularity affect us
today? (TEDx talk by Mitch Prinstein)
• What does Dr. Prinstein say about likeability vs. high status in
popularity?
• Which one of these is associated with worse outcomes?
Rejected children
• Social motives tend to be more negative (getting
even, showing others up)
• Two categories: withdrawn or overly aggressive
• Poor social skills
• E.g., difficulty coming up with constructive solutions
for difficult problems
• if wanting to take a turn on a swing, generates fewer and
weaker strategies
• theory of mind – difficulty understanding of others
emotions and feelings
Peer influence, good and bad
• Peer influence often thought of as negative
(“peer pressure”) but can go both ways
• peers could influence others to use more control to
delay gratification
• peers influence others to pursue academic activities
• Also, a lot of data are correlational, and we
know about gene-environment correlations….
• Children may select peers that are like them in terms
of social competence, aggression, etc…so what can
look like ‘negative peer influence’ may be selection
into negative peer group
• Some children less susceptible to peer influence
(more autonomous, especially with age)
Bullying and victimization
• Aggression against others initiated by an individual (bully)
• Types
•
•
•
•
Physical (hurting or threatening to)
Verbal (insulting, teasing)
Social (excluding, rumors)
Cyber (using tech to harass/upset)
• Fairly common and apparently universal
Bullying is common online
Who is likely to be a bully?
Cook et al., 2010 meta-analysis
• Significant externalizing behavior (defiant, aggressive, disruptive,
noncompliant)
• Internalizing symptoms (withdrawn, depressive, anxious, avoidant)
• Lacks social competence/trouble resolving problems with others
• Negative attitudes and beliefs about others/self
• Poor academic performance
• Perceives school as having a negative atmosphere
• Family environment characterized by conflict and poor parental
monitoring
• Negative community
• Negatively influenced by peers
Who is likely to be a bully victim?
Cook et al., 2010 meta-analysis
• Internalizing and externalizing problems
• Negative attitudes/beliefs about self/others
• Lower in social competence/social problem solving skills
• Lower academic performance
• Rejected/isolated by peers
• Negative community, family, and school environments
• A victim who is also a bully is also negatively influenced by peers
Effect sizes: some predictors stronger in
magnitude than others
Bullies and victims from a systems perspective
• Bully-victim dynamic exists in multiple, layered contexts
• Microsystem:
• Family: harsh, under-involved parenting (lack of social skill
development, regulation of externalizing behavior)
• Friends: lack of quality relationships to support social skill
development
• School: hostile climate
• Mesosystem:
• Relationships within the microsystem: the school’s relationship with
family (do they communicate/provide support?)
• Exosystem:
• Community: lack of family support, crime, drugs
• Macrosystem:
• Attitudes within culture and social class about aggression, dominance
displays
• Chronosystem:
• Historical: rise in concern about bullying and influences on child
development
Relational aggression
• Different tactics:
• Excluding others
• Damaging reputations (spreading rumors, gossiping)
• Withdrawing attention and friendship
• Common in middle-school but can start much earlier
• More commonly associated with girls, but unclear why
• Sociometric status is a predictor, but it’s complicated –
some research suggesting RA used as a tool for
maintaining popularity
• Remember: sometimes the popular kids are not well liked
Perusall activity for Thursday
• With your group, come up with ideas for a bullying intervention
• Use ideas from this lecture!
• We will discuss on Thursday.
Bullying and victimization activity, resilience
PSYC313 November 18, 2021
Perusall bullying
and victimization
intervention
activity
Guiding questions:
• What factor(s) would you want to target in
your intervention and why?
• How would you target these factor(s) in
your intervention?
• Who would you include in your
intervention and how would you include
them?
• How would you measure whether the
intervention had its desired effect?
Effect sizes: some predictors stronger in
magnitude than others
Bullies and victims from a systems perspective
• Bully-victim dynamic exists in multiple, layered contexts
• Microsystem:
• Family: harsh, under-involved parenting (lack of social skill
development, regulation of externalizing behavior)
• Friends: lack of quality relationships to support social skill
development
• School: hostile climate
• Mesosystem:
• Relationships within the microsystem: the school’s relationship with
family (do they communicate/provide support?)
• Exosystem:
• Community: lack of family support, crime, drugs
• Macrosystem:
• Attitudes within culture and social class about aggression, dominance
displays
• Chronosystem:
• Historical: rise in concern about bullying and influences on child
development
Questions
about Dr.
Masten’s talk
on resilience
• What is resilience, according to Dr. Masten?
• What does she mean by “ordinary magic”?
• What are the biggest threats to resilience?
• What are “resilience interventions” and what do they
target?
• Why is timing likely to be important in interventions?
Questions
about Dr.
Masten’s talk
on resilience
• What is resilience, according to Dr. Masten?
• What does she mean by “ordinary magic”?
• What are the biggest threats to resilience?
• What are “resilience interventions” and what do they
target?
• Why is timing likely to be important in interventions?
• How might the pandemic be presenting challenges to
resilience in children? What are some ways that families
could boost resilience in children during this time?
Purchase answer to see full
attachment