Research that Benefits Children and Families— Uplifting Stories

I would like to share with you an interesting research article, written by Thompson (2008).  It has deepened and broadened my understanding about social and emotional development of young children.  By reading this research, I came to understand that far from egocentric, infants and toddlers advance significantly in their understanding of others’ feelings, desires, goals, intentions, and preferences during the first 2 years of life and, in so doing, establish the foundation for later social and emotional understanding.

An interesting experiment (as quoted below) reported by this article substantiate this early psychological understanding that turns upside down earlier beliefs about the developing young mind, especially the egocentric concept by Jean Piaget.   

        “An 18-month-old toddler sits at a table with a friendly experimenter.  Before them are two bowls of food:  One containing broccoli, the other Goldfish crackers.  As the toddler watches, the experimenter samples each food and, to the child surprise, the adult obviously dislikes the Goldfish crackers (frowning and saying “Ewww!”) and likes broccoli (smiling and saying “Mmmm!”) --- contrary to the preferences of nearly all young children.  The next thing that happens is equally surprising.  The experimenter reaches her hand to the child between the two bowls and says, “ I want some more.  Can you give me more?”  Toddlers overwhelmingly respond by giving the experimenter the food she prefers—the broccoli— even though it is the food that toddlers themselves dislike”.

I hope that this sharing will help you to gain some insights and enhance understanding about psychosocial development in young children.  

Reference:
Thompson, R.A. (2008, May). The Psychologist in the Baby. Journal of Zero To Three (28)5, 5-12.