Learning Objectives

  1. Discuss young children’s emerging sense of initiative, self-concept, and self-esteem.
  2. Summarize the development of emotional understanding, regulation, and behavior in early childhood.
  3. Identify four parenting styles and their associations with child outcomes.
  4. Compare biological, cognitive, and contextual theoretical explanations of gender role development.
  5. Explain the function of play and the form it takes during early childhood.