The Role of Education in Middle Childhood Pro Social Development

Question 1

What is Eisenberg’s (1986) definition of pro social behaviour?

Answer 1

voluntary behaviour intended to benefit another

Question 2

what happens to prosocial behaviour (PSB) during middle childhood?

Answer 2

it starts to include more costly and complex PSBs

Question 3

what does costly mean in the context of PSB?

Answer 3

the social, emotional or physical cost of the PSB, as well as the effort or time aspect of the behaviour

Question 4

what does the change in PSB in middle childhood mean for PSB?

Answer 4

it may become more complicated - PSB may harm or adversely effect another person or group

Question 5

give 3 examples of costly PSBs

Answer 5

• donating
• being involved in activism on broader societal issues
• interceding when witnessing antisocial behaviour directed at others

Question 6

is there a challenge with empathy during middle childhood? why?

Answer 6

PSB in infancy and toddlerhood is commonly low cost - the higher cost of PSB in mid ch

Question 7

what 3 things did Eisenberg (1987) want to investigate regarding PSB?

Answer 7

more complex PSBs, the role of reasoning and if there were gender differences as children age

Question 8

what did Eisenberg (1987) find?

Answer 8

children overall had complex reasoning over time that took into account context, diff needs of people and potential outcomes
- girls - reasoning became more concerned w role-taking, others’ positions and empathy
- empathy related to complex moral reasoning and PSB

Question 9

what affects PSB in middle childhood?

Answer 9

social norms - Warneken and Tomasello (2006)
role of parenting - Dunsmore et al. (2015)
genetics - Knafo et al. (2006)

Question 10

what did Warneken and Tomasello (2006) study on variation in social norms & PSB in middle childhood find?

Answer 10

• mid childhood considered the period when cultural variations in social norms would impact PSB
• could be due to increased socialization and learning

Question 11

what did Dunsmore et al. (2015) find regarding the role of parenting affecting PSB in mid childhood?

Answer 11

• children acted more pro socially in an experiment when parents gave person centered explanations, compared to giving process feedback or no feedback

Question 12

what did Knafo et al. (2006) find regarding the role of genetics affecting PSB in mid childhood?

Answer 12

twin study
- environment explained 47% of variance at 2 y/o, 3% of variance at 7 y/o
- suggests genetic contributions may become more prominent over time in explaining differences in PSB

Question 13

what 4 distinct groups of types of PSB patterns did Ma et al. (2020) find?

Answer 13

• low prosocial
• high prosocial
• primarily friendly (but not kind)
• primarily kind

Question 14

what were Ma et al. (2020);s findings regarding if types of PSB patterns predicted social issues in adolescence?

Answer 14

• low prosocial more likely to have peer relationship conflict during adolescence
• primarily friendly but not kind more likely to engage in relational aggr. in adolescence

Question 15

what did Ma et al.’s findings (2020) suggest for interventions?

Answer 15

should support kindness over the shallower focus of being friends

Question 16

what were the findings from Battistich (2003) regarding school based programs for pro social development (PSD)?

Answer 16

children in the program were higher in acceptance by their peers and lower in social anxiety - but no overall measures of adjustment observed over time
- inconsistent picture of support

Question 17

what did Johnson et al. (2013) find regarding school based programs to support PSD in children with depressed parents?

Answer 17

• the increased risk for children with depressed parents decreased over course of intervention, children displayed more PSB
• school based programs identified as key way to support childrens PSD