There are a couple of sections in your textbook that you can review for this assignment. They are the section on "Social Referencing" and "Fathers as Social Partners" on page 146 and then the "Psychoanalytic Theory on page 150-151. After reviewing these sections, you are to REFLECT on your own experiences (or your own thoughts in your head if you have no experiences with children) connecting social referencing and Erikson's first two stages of his psychoSOCIAL theory of Development. (I emphasized the "social" in psychosocial... because Erikson wanted to be different than Freud and suggest that we are SOCIAL creatures and our personality develops by SOCIAL interactions.) Based on these concepts, answer the following questions and then reflect by coming up with your own examples.
ANSWER the following questions in 2-4 sentences for each:
- How is social referencing important in infancy?
- Describe Erikson's first stage (crisis) that happens in the first year of life. How might this relate to social referencing?
- Describe Erikson's second stage (crisis). How does this relate to social referencing and the first stage/crisis?
REFLECTION: Examples of Social Referencing
This activity will be easier if you have children as you probably have plenty of examples off the top of your head. If you do not have children or do not have experience with babysitting, this activity will be harder to come up with some situation because you will have to make up a scenario.
In an TWO paragraph essay, give two concrete (specific) examples of Social Referencing that an infant or toddler did or might do with a parent. Try to be as detailed as possible with the situation. Describe what was going on before, during, and after your example. Include in your answer how it relates to Erikson's theory of a sense of Trust or Autonomy and why you believe that.
For Example: (please do not use my example, but one of my scenarios might be the following... true story, by the way) My son was playing in his sandbox one day last week. It is one of those "turtle" sandboxes with the lid on it. We have it on the concrete slab on our back patio as it is easier to sweep up the sand when he throws the sand out of the box. (It seems like we have more sand outside the box than inside the box.) Anyway, as he was stepping out of the box he both tripped on the lid and slipped on the sand and fell on his knees and hands. He immediately looked up at me (social referencing) to see what he should do... and depending on my face, would determine what his feelings and emotions were... I smiled and said, "Oppsie! It's OK!" I kept smiling and went over to him as I was only a few feet away and picked him up. I dusted him off, and said, "Brush it off, its OK, you are OK. We fall down sometimes." I am sure I said some other things, but my main focus was to make sure he saw that I saw it was 'no big deal' and everything was just fine. According to Erikson, this would also show a sense of 'trust' as I, his father, is there for him. To show him that he is safe even if he did get hurt. It might also start to show a sense of 'autonomy' because if he does fall again in other situations, that he can get up, dust himself off and keep going. Or that he can get up on his own and seek assistance if I, or his mother, is not near.
You may have noticed that I could have went on about how father's are important as social partners in other ways that mothers are not. My bride, may have had a different look to my son and then when he 'social referenced' her, he may have had a completely different reaction. I am not saying one is better than the other, but different social referencing from different people can provide a different social bond or personality development in the infant/toddler. In later chapters we will look at different types of play and the benefits of them.